By Eva Galambos
Now that Sandy Springs has been a city for four-and-a-half years, it is high time for everyone in our city to use “Sandy Springs” in their address!
Everywhere I go folks tell me how pleased they are with how the city of Sandy Springs is working for them, and yet they then forget to change their return addresses to “Sandy Springs” from “Atlanta.”
My own neighborhood association publishes a directory, and I am chagrined to find that these lovely neighbors have forgotten to change their addresses to “Sandy Springs.”
Not everyone falls into this category. One lovely lady at a senior residence told me her tale of woe: “I requested Sandy Springs as my address on the checks from the bank, and the bank said it had to be Atlanta.” I marched right over to the bank, inquired, and her request for the correct address was immediately answered.
If more folks were like this lady and made a point of asking for their correct listing in their church, neighborhood and garden club directories, pretty soon everyone would get on board in this campaign to brand Sandy Springs correctly.
Businesses in Sandy Springs are gradually making the change to Sandy Springs. UPS, with its headquarters in our fair city, has always put out press releases identifying itself as “Sandy Springs based.” We are making the request ever more forcefully to the business community that their address should be changed to Sandy Springs.
The city is emphasizing to the utilities that they should send their bills correctly to their Sandy Springs addresses. Additionally, the city is contacting the firms that provide mailing lists to printers of address labels to get their lists corrected, while at the same time offering technical assistance to get this done.
The Atlanta Post Office has cooperated with Sandy Springs. It now recognizes Sandy Springs as the correct address for the entire ZIP Codes of 30328 and 30350, and for part of the ZIP Codes in Sandy Springs of 30342, 30327 and 30338. The Post Office is no longer a convenient excuse for anyone who has not changed their address labels and stationery to specify “Sandy Springs.”
Attracting new business to Sandy Springs, to redevelop our downtown and to fill empty offices in the Perimeter area, will be enhanced as the identity of Sandy Springs is emphasized and branded. Thus I call upon the entire community — business and residential — to check your stationery and business cards: Do they say “Sandy Springs?” If not, go to the printer!
Eva Galambos is mayor of the city of Sandy Springs.