FROM THE EDITOR: How Would You Describe the 540?
Help the Advance figure out the proper word or words that best capture(s) our region.
By Martin Davis
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Email Martin
Here’s a challenge — In one or two words, how would you describe the readership area the Advance covers?
One reader pointed out recently that calling our region “the 540” has some geographic challenges. Notably, Fredericksburg sits at the edge of an area code that extends to Christiansburg and the New River Valley. Both well outside our reporting area. Moreover, Caroline County doesn’t even have a 540 area code.
Our reader, of course, is quite right.
We’ve thought about alternatives over the past two years:
Fredericksburg — Using the city name to both identify the locality, and to identify the region as a whole.
Positive — This is common conversational shorthand, and is shored up by the fact that some places outside the city lines have Fredericksburg as part of their mailing address.
Negative — Our readership area is so interesting because it’s incredibly diverse. Stafford readers who live in Ferry Farm and Chatham might not mind, but is this a fair moniker for Griffis-Widewater or Hartwood? Some in Spotsylvania welcome the connection, but large swaths of the county vocally reject it.
Greater Fredericksburg Area
Positive — It accurately captures our readership area
Negative — Still makes Fredericksburg the hub of the region, which it is geographically, but not culturally. Also, it’s a mouthful.
Several variations (none particularly satisfying) using some version of Rappahannock (Rapp, Rapp Region, the Rappahannock area)
Positive — It’s a geographic designation that touches Fredericksburg, Caroline, King George, Spotsylvania, and Stafford. So we all share in it.
Negative — The river affects each area differently. Not all feel an affinity for it or regularly interact with it.
Planning District 16
Positive — It does accurately capture our readership’s geographic area.
Negative — Bureaucratic designations are, by design, sterile. It lacks poetic elegance; nor does it hint at the distinctive traits that make our region special.
We’ve used all of these from time to time, but “the 540” — imperfect as it is — serves its purpose.
We’re seeking your help in finding a better way to briefly describe our area. Take a moment, and tell us your thoughts.
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