For well over a century, the city of Carmel-by-the-Sea, located on California’s Monterey Peninsula, has attracted celebrities, artists, and intellectuals. Jack London (one of the seaside town’s founders in 1906), Ansel Adams, Sinclair Lewis, Doris Day, John Madden, Betty White, and Brad Pitt are among the notable names to have resided in this hub of creativity and culture.
These days, there are approximately 3,200 residents in the one-mile-square city, which regularly features in “Best of” and “Top 10” lists in travel and lifestyle publications. Considering its small size, Carmel has a remarkably high number of art galleries, studios, theaters, antique shops, boutiques, restaurants, cafes, and bistros per capita, not to mention a beautiful white sand beach. It's also regularly described as one of the most dog-friendly communities in the United States.
If you’ve been lucky enough to visit, you’ll have probably noticed a few other unique features that set Carmel apart from nearly every other town in America.
Perhaps the best-known quirk of Carmel is that the buildings lack house numbers, though many have names (e.g., “Sea Haven” or “The Tree House”). Rather than the usual residential mail delivery, Carmel residents instead head to the local post office to collect their mail, ensuring the institution’s survival as a social hub.
However, this famous Carmel quirk is a bone of contention among residents, some of whom would prefer to have a “proper” address for the purposes of official documents, utility services, and deliveries. Directions have to be given based on cross streets, house names, or identifying architectural features.
There is also the issue of safety, as the lack of numbered addresses can cause small delays for emergency services, especially those that may not be familiar with the local geography, such as the wildfire-fighting CAL Fire.
On the other hand, some residents feel that this unique feature helps give Carmel its character and is a tradition worth preserving. While outsiders may sometimes struggle to find houses, most residents are very familiar with the layout, including longtime Carmel-by-the-Sea resident (and current mayor) Dave Potter, who told The Washington Post that “everybody knows where everybody lives (…) we’ve been like this for a hundred years.”
Last month, however, marked a significant development in the ongoing debate, as the city council voted 3-2 in favor of adopting street addresses. However, how that will be implemented remains to be seen, especially if the city’s elected leadership changes later this year.
Crazy about Carmel:
- Among the other unusual attributes of Carmel is the lack of parking meters, streetlights, and sidewalks beyond the downtown area. House size and height are limited, and there are no billboards or chain restaurants.
- You will, however, find more than 40 passageways and courtyards connecting the houses and shops, encouraging visitors to explore the unexpected and often fairytale-like layout of the village. (A certain amount of exploration is often necessary, whether desired or not, due to the lack of street addresses.)
- Technically, high heels are banned in Carmel-by-the-Sea unless you have a permit, though, unsurprisingly, this is not enforced by the police. This strange law originated in 1963 in response to lawsuits over the village’s uneven pavement due to tree roots underfoot.
- Clint Eastwood is undoubtedly one of Carmel’s most famous residents; he even served as mayor from 1986 to 1988.
