Here is the real answer.

Harold Schwartz did not think mail boxes lined up and down the street in front of each home was attractive. He said "No mail boxes".

Is this the real answer? Dunno. The salesman who sold us our house was one on Mr. Schwartz original salesmen and he is my source.

The box size may be a holdover from the days when most mail was small envelopes. Letter boxes. The PO is slow to adjust.

I have seen some boxes in other locations that are flatter and wider and will accommodate large envelopes with ease. These boxes are not only much better for the addressee they would make it much easier and faster for the deliverer.

Mal Delivery
 

Maybe it's just me, but just about anything that goes in my mailbox, could just as easily go in the trash. Anything worth getting...credit card statements, bank statements, investments, utility bill, etc. come to me via the internet and I pay them the same way...online banking. Just about everything I get in the mailbox is junk mail and goes into the trash. In fact, we have a mail station, similar to TV and we only check the mail every 3 or 4 days.

Generally the developer works hand in hand with the postal service to determine the best delivery method for a development. If it is a new area the postal service will push for central delivery and they generally prevail. Then the type of mailboxes is decided, ours are a nice alternative to the clusters of freestanding metal boxes that hold mail for about 16 addresses. Imagine having rows of those boxes lining a street behind your home. Curbside mailboxes have been a dying breed for years - delivery is costly, they cause many accidents as the postal vehicle pulls away from the box, and as stated above are targets for snowplows and baseball bats. If you build a house right in the middle of an established community of curbside delivery that is what you will get. (Holds true for just about all delivery, if all of your neighbors get door delivery you generally will get it as well. If they all walk to the corner to a cluster of boxes get ready to join the parade.)

The postal service has many types of delivery personnel. If you live in a city where delivery has been established for years you most likely have a "city letter carrier". If you live in the country you most likely have a "rural carrier". In some small towns you can only get your mail in a mailbox at the post office, likely placed there by the postmaster or a clerk. (There are many levels of postmasters and they can perform various duties. A postmaster of a small town can be a part time job, placing mail in PO boxes, selling stamps, and even sweeping the floor. The postmaster of most cities never touches the mail and has a staff of managers and supervisors to oversee the employees sorting and delivering the mail. There are varying levels in between.) Most delivery in The Villages is performed by contract employees. They are not career postal employees, have no benefits, but still have to go through security checks, drug tests, etc.

A general misconception about mail is that it is "my mail". Actually it is in control of the person who mailed it to you until the carrier delivers it to you. The sender can recall mail and control delivery. For example, if I send you an Express envelope I can waive the requirement for you to sign at the time of delivery. Often that mail is left in your mailbox. I can restrict delivery so it must be delivered to and signed for by you. I can request that mail be returned to me with your new address if you have moved. I can also retrieve mail anytime up until it is delivered by completing a form requesting recall of the mail. (In theory that sounds great but in reality chances of getting one piece of mail back can be tough. The postal service handles over 650 million pieces of mail every day, it's the old needle in the haystack story, but I think modern technology has made it an easier task.)

Now a brief on "junk" mail. I spoke about controlling the mail. You often control what junk mail you receive. If you subscribe to certain publications (let's use fishing as an example) they sell their mailing lists to companies that send you advertisements relating to fishing. If you buy from just about any mail order company you will be placed on their mailing list. When you buy a new appliance and fill out that handy registration card and answer that you like to travel, go hiking, and play golf you are opening the floodgates of advertising relating to those activities. True, a lot of what we get here is inviting us to some seminar on investing, etc. But take a close look at those catalogs and ads specifically addressed to you. Think about it for a minute and you may find you're getting John Deere advertisements because you once entered a drawing to win a free lawn mower. Five houses and about 9 years ago I took one of those 7 day bike tours to the Outer Banks. Somehow those ads (from the company I used and their competitors) have kept up with all of my moves and I still get them on a regular basis.

I agree with memason, everything in our mailbox is junk and we only check it every few days. Everything else come electronically. Companies are going to start charging people that want to have a paper bill sent to them every month. Need to keep up with the times! The mail service will eventually become more of a package delivery service just like UPS and FedEx. That is why so many of the commercials that you see for the post office are about their package delivery service!

Wow BogeyBoy, that was some explanation! I think you pretty much covered everything.
I was a mailman many years ago for a short time but never knew most of this stuff.
Thanks

Also if you are gone for a couple of days you do not have to worry about mail in box being tampered with.

Guilty here about driving but I always stop at the mail center on my way to the Colony Plaza Publix or the gym at Colony Cottage. I don't feel the need to pick up the mail every day and we can go two or three days sometimes before our mailbox is emptied.

Personally, I prefer the mailbox in front of each home for the convenience but there is good in having the mail center. Incoming mail is secure in those locked boxes and the same for outgoing mail in the secured mail slot.

that is really a concern here in TV:D