The ones in the neighborhoods around here were taken out many years ago aftr a spate of letter bombs. Do they mean even the ones outside the post office? (anyway, I nearly always go inside to mail my letters. I figure, it goes right into the bin and might stand a better chance of getting into that day’s pickup. Silly, but still. And, it’s a little bit of exercise lol.)

So many blue boxes have been taken away, very few left, and the ones that are there have narrow slots. Two letters at the time can go in, not much more. I suppose someone could put something damaging in those slots, ruining the letters in there. I do occasionally use the blue boxes, but if it's an important letter, I go in the PO and put it in the slot inside. I also try to mail early in the week so the letters aren't sitting around somewhere over the weekend.

Yes, here, too. Chevks are stolen, washed and rewritten for cash in large amounts. I guess online deposits makes this possible but i dont quite get how it works. Nevertheless Nevertheless, I walk into the PO to mail checks. Its only a couple blocks away.

Mail letters or bills??

Parking at my post office is scarce and metered. But since all the blue boxes in my neighborhood have been taken out over the last 20 years, I usually drive to the P.O. and drop my mail in the blue drop box there. I only go inside if I need to interact with staff.

I remember back when I was a child ( eons ago, I know...) there was a blue mailbox just outside my grade school and I would see boys throwing snowballs in the big slot opening. They laughed and ran away . I did not think it was funny as my family used that mailbox for letters and bill paying and they would be ruined. I went home and told the story and from then on they put their outgoing mail in our mailbox for the letter carrier to take.

I rarely mail anything. I never mail checks (don't know the last time I wrote one, TBH), and pay all my bills online. I don't have anyone to write letters to. The occasional greeting card goes into my own mailbox to be picked up by my mail carrier.

And yes - even the blue boxes on USPS property are being broken into.

Ugh what is wrong with society. I always figured the blue boxes outside of my post office were safer than my own mailbox for sending out important letters. Guess I need to go inside the building from now on. I'm lucky that I live pretty close to a post office and that there's usually plenty of parking.

Yes - read about that yesterday. They recommend against dropping in the boxes after last pickup, weekends, etc., and only dropping mail inside post offices, not in stand-alone outside boxes - even the ones outside @ post offices. Thieves are breaking into the curbside boxes in search of checks, gift cards, merchandise, etc.

Glad I mailed my ballot @ the inside box here. I did check and it's already shown as received.

As for putting it in your own mailbox for the postal carrier to pick up, our city requires mailboxes to be near front doors, away from the street, but neighboring municipality has residential boxes down by the roads, so I do think it depends on your area.

I would never leave any mail, incoming or outgoing, in my mailbox overnight. It is a roadside box.

My incoming mailbox is right next to my front door, and I leave mail there to be picked up. I normally put it outside at 10 AM, and the mail deliverer usually comes by at 11 or 11:30. I have security camera at my front door, and I am not afraid of someone stealing mail that I put out in the morning. I never mail anything at night, but I do frequently mail checks. I always mail payment to the pool maintenance guy.

We have a stand-alone blue box two blocks from our house, and my brother uses that but never leaves anything in it overnight. The post office is about five blocks away, on the other side of La Tijera Blvd, which is a very busy street. The post office has plenty of free parking.

In Cathedral City, neighborhood mail is delivered to a collection of about 20 boxes, and there is a slot for outgoing mail, which I use.

It's a puzzle to me why anyone would be dumb enough to break into a blue mail bin. There can't be much anything of value in outgoing mail mostly deposited by individuals and if that weren't enough of a good reason to discourage doing so, tampering with the mail or USPS property is a federal crime. Incoming, fine, perhaps one could happen upon new credit cards. I can't remember the last time I heard of such an incident in my area.

My mailbox is streetside. USPS's Informed Delivery service sends an email in the morning with front images of envelopes to be delivered that day. There's rarely anything important. We probably empty the mailbox only every 2 or 3 days or if walking out there. It isn't worth even the little bit of effort required to empty it. My normal mode is to open the box and then walk to the recycle bin to deposit what came.

As for using the blue bins - I'm happy to take my chances, it's not a high risk activity.

We have rural delivery to a mailbox on a post the the end of our driveway. With the exception of a few months in 2021, our mail has always been reliable. Our small town lost two carriers and it took awhile to find new personnel.

@carolb_w_fl_coastal_9b

”As for putting it in your own mailbox for the postal carrier to pick up, our city requires mailboxes to be near front doors, away from the street, but neighboring municipality has residential boxes down by the roads, so I do think it depends on your area.”

Over here in Hillsborough County, new home owners need to put their mailbox at the curb.

Wall hung, front door boxes are grandfathered in for long time/current owners. If we sell our house, the buyers would have to install a new curb side box.

Within the last 10 or so years many houses on our street have sold. Where there was once a time when all the boxes were on the houses, all but about 2 are now at the curb.

I guess the local postmaster is in charge….

from USPS

“Can I choose where to put my mailbox?

Contact your local postmaster first. The USPS does not legislate the relocation of residential mailboxes nationally. Rather, they allow local postmasters to decide what is best for their geographic location and mail service.”

We still have the blue boxes all over here. Our entire neighborhood has had mailboxes at the curb since the homes were built in the mid 50’s. Many of the homes are set a ways up and back from the street, so maybe that was part of it.

This house came with a mail slot but there are no walking carriers only the ones using small trucks or now vans that actually have better heating and cooling. Supposedly if unable to walk to the box there is a method via letters from your doctor to have it delivered to the house.

It was suggested that I only do light exercise until my shoulder is fixed next year so I have been using checking on the mailbox several times a day as part of the light exercise.

ugh. this is reason #3486 why I miss living in a secure condo. we didn't have to worry about incoming or outgoing mail at all. even packages were safe sitting out there. plus it was nice to not have to put my shoes on when I wanted to go check it, LOL.

We have had a rash of holdups of mail people and the thieves are taking their keys. These include the keys to the blue mailboxes. They are stealing the mail and "washing" whatever checks they can. People around here have had thousands of dollars taken out of their accounts. Even though it can eventually be straightened out, it is still a nightmare. I had my checks for three different bills stolen that way in February. I watched my checking account online and noticed that a check I wrote later cleared but the three from that weekend did not. I heard about the problem from social media and went to the bank and stopped payment on those checks. Luckily two of the bills were local so I paid them in person. The third one I was able to pay online. Since then I always go into the post office itself to put my bill payments in the mail. Yes, I know I could pay all my bills online, I just don't care to do so. Personal preference.

murraysmom, even simpler than online payment is autopay. Do you question your electrical, internet or other home service bills that are the same or nearly so every month, car payments, or the like? Most don't. Set them up on autopay and there's nothing more to do. And there can be benefits. I think I save $25 per month on my Verizon family plan bill because of autopay. I'd do it anyway, but why not do things the easy way? Many of mine go to credit cards and I get more free points that way

It's hard to understand having a preference for something that costs more, takes more time, is inconvenient and that you believe comes with avoidable risks.

not all small vendors take online payments or apps though-- they get hit with a fee. my gardener won't. he's practically the only reason why I have a checkbook anymore.

We've had two issues in our community. One was thefts from the blue boxes, and most of those have been removed. Now our local PO is advising to bypass the one in front of it, even during operating hours, and to mail everything from inside. Grrr... For more than a year now, we've had an issue with community mailboxes. We all live in HOA subdivisions around here with community mailboxes and the master key has been stolen (many are saying this is an inside job since there has been no holdup). This has resulted in half a dozen thefts of the entire grouping of boxes (36-48 homes). Ours has not been hit, probably because it is on a heavily-traveled street, unlike some. Anyway, they finally arrested a guy, caught him redhanded, in possession of dozens of keys. Big article in the paper, blah, blah, blah, and yet it has also happened a few times since. So I dunno. Just don't mail stuff I guess. We mail very, very little, certainly no checks. But our two Airbnb property managers send our monthly checks via the USPO....

Everybody I pay regularly takes on-line payments/autopay. Even my church (Presbyterian) and the Mennonite-owned and operated lawn service that I use.

I doubt our mail boxes contain many cheques. People rarely use them any more. Our cast iron red pillarboxes are still ubiquitous and still in use. At home mail is delivered directly through the front door into the hall. Consequently mail is not collected from homes as the carrier has no access.

I'm glad I don't live in an area where I have to worry about this.

Maddie, it's the same here. If moving into an address within city limits within about the last 15 years, the carrier can request a mailbox at the curb. My house is about 500' from the street with a circular drive. I did not want to walk it in the dark, in winter weather checking mail. This house has a built in mail slot in the wall - when we moved in, we flirted, begged, groveled. The carriers use the mail slot and treat us as if grandfathered in. After all, it's not like they have to walk down the drive, they can drive in, walk 10 steps, drive back out. I've threatened all DHs friends with severe consequences (like Mama is going to thump you) if they ever park so haphazardly they block the drive before 6 PM (our mail is delivered late).

We still charm the carriers, saying thank you often. DH often meets them at their mail truck door so they don't have to get out, offers them bottled water on a warm day.

When DH was working he took any outgoing mail to the PO and inserted in the inside lobby wall slot early morning. Now that hes retired, he does the same only slightly later.

I've read newspaper accounts of the blue boxes being vandalized locally, like ice cream bars being dropped through the slot. Not too long ago, our neighboring sister city had someone dropping in a string with something sticky tied on the end, was pulling up mail. There used to be a blue box right at the curb outside the appliance store where I worked years ago - we used it all the time. Now I can't remember the last time I mailed something other than inside our PO. Not standing in line, that interior wall slot is just too safe and convenient.

We've had two theft rings caught in the past several years, both times involving perpetrators who had somehow (IIRC the first ring did involve a USPS employee) gotten keys to the blue boxes. They look for checks, credit and bank account numbers, gift cards, anything that they can turn to advantage.

Actually just last week someone in the neighborhood had a check stolen from the post office and "washed", re-written and cashed for a large sum.

Since the first time I heard about this, I always walk my outgoing mail into the PO.

FWIW, not everyone in the USA has access to the internet from home, which was reported throughout the pandemic, when kids were expected to log on to school from home. Many folks don't have bank accounts either.

Elmer, I don't want to. I am happy with the way I keep my books and money. Thanks for your concern.

Years ago I dropped a letter into the mailbox and immediately thought, "Something's not right." Then I realized that I smelled a bit of smoke. My friend got the letter, and told me that it had scorch marks on the envelope.

FWIW, local news from Oct. 17:

https://www.abcactionnews.com/news/local-news/i-team-investigates/thieves-targeting-checks-attack-mail-carriers-in-record-numbers

Here's the "Why" lady again. What has happened to change society for the worse?

My family home had an outside flap to a chute for mail. My DM would stick outgoing mail under the flap for our letter carrier to pick up -- in clear view of any passerby.

What's changed? We are no longer 'a community', but afraid of one another -- maybe angry or jealous? I put at least some blame on the lack of personal, face-to-face contact in our daily lives. It's sad that you 'know' a barista or the grocery store checker better than your neighbor.

I see it as a lot more desperate people out there...

I live in an all mail voting state. I only drop my ballot in places that I'm confident are secure, and you can track your ballot online. In states like this, it's important to vote early just in case it goes missing!

" Was there less crime or did we just not hear about it? "

Analyzing or trying to learn more about family stories told by people long gone sounds like a non-starter. As for crime during the 1920s and 30s (and 40s and 50s, etc), there was plenty of it, organized and otherwise.

i had a substitute mail carrier recently who left a package out in the open between 2 mailboxes (there are 6 all together) on a wooden frame. i was livid and called the post office to complain. i was told that was NOT proper (no kidding!!) and the postmaster would "have a word" with that carrier.

i live out in the country, far from a main road. that being the case, our roadside is always strews with empty fast food bags and numerous empty beer cans because the local teens party out here since they most likely won't get caught. that package could have so easily been stolen. 🤬