There is a proposal to overlay a new area code over the existing 609 region due to the dwindling phone number options.
There's a certain amount of pride when it comes to the 609.
When someone comes into AC Ink in Atlantic City to get the area code tattooed on them, artist Andres "Dre Madtatter" Carrillo said it's usually put in a visible place so that they can show off where in New Jersey they come from.
"It's like a unity thing," Carrillo said. "It's the one thing we all have in common. We might not like each other, we may have problems with other people, but at the end of the day we are all 609."
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This tattoo from Dreamline Ink in Northfield shows 609 pride (Submitted photo) That unity will soon be divided as a new area code, the state's 10th, will be introduced in the 609 zone - which stretches from Mercer County to Cape May County -- to address the expected shortage of available numbers with that prefix.
The plan, which is currently under consideration by the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities, is to offer a new, yet to be determined, area code for new numbers in the region already serving 609 - otherwise known as an overlay.
The strategy lets existing 609 users keep their numbers.
"If they are going to run out of numbers, they are going to run out of numbers and you certainly don't want to see that happen," said Stefanie Brand, director of the New Jersey Division of Rate Counsel. Numbers with 609 are predicted to run out by 2018.
It is the primary interest of the division to make sure the public is educated about the change and aware of the public hearing for the change, scheduled for Feb. 23 in Trenton.
It won't be the first time phone-users are faced with an area code shake-up.
New Jersey's first area code was established in 1947 when the whole state used 201. But as the population -- and popularity of technology using phone lines -- grew, so did the need for new area codes.
The 609 area code was New Jersey's second, followed by 908, 973, 732 and 856. Then in the 1990s and early 2000s, three zones were each given a new code for new numbers -- an overlay similar to the one proposed in 609. Area code 551 was overlaid on 201, 862 was overlaid on 973, and 848 was overlaid on 732.
Rather than divide up the 609 area and force phone-holders to get a new area code, the overlay is being touted as the least disruptive option.
"Changing area codes has always been steeped in controversy," said Sean Duffy, psychology professor at Rutgers-Camden. "People have spatial attachment to their area codes for a variety of reasons. Changing a region's area code creates many obvious problems -- specifically to those outside the region who are not informed of the area code change."
But Duffy says there's also a sense of personal attachment to an original area code. He pointed at the change in Philadelphia when 267 was added, mostly for new cell phone users, in the 215 zone.
"215 does say Philly in a way that 267 does not," he said in an email. "There was a store on South Street marketing 215 shirts and stickers, and many songs by Philadelphia musicians (i.e., the Roots) mention 215. I remember seeing the Roots in Chicago some 20 years ago in Chicago, and when Questlove screamed, 'Anyone from 215?!' And I was the sole person in the audience screaming."
For some people in the 609 zone, those three numbers are engrained in their life. It's embossed on T-shirts and tattooed on arms.
On that tattoo grind... #Represent #NewJersey #Colorado #609-303 never forget yo roots pic.twitter.com/c5iYfe9IjV
-- Ty Farmer (@TyFarmer) December 21, 2013
When Randy Campoli was looking to make T-shirts, he turned to that identification. In his hometown of Long Beach Island and along the shore, he sells T-shirts that say "609 Life." For Campoli, he defines the 609 life as an easygoing one.
"We don't have the hustle and bustle of the city," Campoli said. "We just get three months out of the year. We're not high strung around here. We're more laid back. We're not like city folks."
Over at AC Ink, Carrillo paints a similar picture.
"It's a little free," he said. "It's a free life. A lot of people do as they please. We all have jobs and we all have bills to pay and stuff but as far as society's rules it's a little different here then anywhere else -- especially here in Atlantic City."
And if a new area code does get approved?
"This area will forever be 609 regardless of the situation," Carrillo said. "That's how deep it is. That's how deep the pride is. You're not going to let go of that just because someone decided to change the number."
Written comments can be sent until Feb. 27 to Irene Kim Asbury, Secretary of the Board, 44 South Clinton Ave, 3rd Floor, Suite 314, Post Office Box 350, Trenton, NJ 08625-0350 or by email with the subject "609" to board.secretary@bpu.nj.gov.
A public hearing is scheduled for Feb. 23 at 10 a.m. in the Merit System Room, 1st floor, 44 S. Clinton Ave., Trenton.
Don E. Woods may be reached at dwoods@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @donewoods1. Find NJ.com on Facebook.