RICHMOND, Va. -- As the calendars rolls into 2024, the Richmond region — synonymous with "the 804" — will soon get another area code. Later this year, area code 686 will officially enter the fray.
The list of potential numbers within any given area code is immense but not unlimited, and officials expect new 804 phone numbers will run out in the third quarter of 2024.
Following that period, any new phone numbers within the same geographical region will be 686 numbers.
"Existing customers will keep their 804 area code and seven-digit telephone number. Phone numbers in the new 686 area code will not be assigned until all available phone numbers in the 804 area code are exhausted," according to a press release by the State Corporation Commission explaining the change, which was officially approved in November.
Area code relief measures are nothing new, 804 has been split twice in the last 30 years. You can read more about the why and how about area code changes here.
It is important to note, that all 804 numbers will remain the same. The 686 area code relief is expected to last 32 years, officials said.
Meriel Thornley was walking several dogs at Byrd Park on Tuesday.
She said area codes tend to bring along cultural connections with them, a number that speaks to people who call a region home.
"I’ll be ’804’ forever," Thornley said. "There’s a scene in ’Sex in the City’ where Kim Cattrall’s character is tasked with getting Sarah Jessica Parker’s character her ‘917’ New York area code back. That’s what it reminds me of: the ’804s’ are running out so we got to cling to them.”
Monica Seger and her young son Rowan were playing at the Lombardy Street playground Tuesday. If they remain in Richmond until he is old enough, Rowan will be a 686 kid.
"I’m sure he’ll just be happy to have a phone when that day comes so he’ll embrace it," she said with a grin. “Maybe it’s going to represent a new generation. The ‘686’ might be a new Richmond wave. I don’t know.”
“I think it’s always disappointing sort of and no one wants to change because we’re used to the ’804.’ But, it has to happen, and I guess it speaks to the growth that’s happened here the past couple of years," Seger said.
Noah-O created and operates the Broad Street store Charged Up, selling apparel that celebrates "the 804."
“Man, it’s still going to be the ‘804’ to me. That’s like an alternate," he said of the new area code. “It gives that sense of pride: things that say Richmond or ‘804’ on it.”
Noah-O said Richmond will always be synonymous with "the 804" in his view.
“It’s just a sign that the area’s growth. It happens everywhere once things grow to a certain point," he said. “[686] doesn’t sound real yet. I guess until I see it pop up on my phone it doesn’t exist. What is that!?”
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