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Why did populous cities like New York get simple area codes like 212 when the system was designed in 1947?

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Correct answer: To make dialing faster on rotary phones

On old rotary phones, dialing lower numbers took less time because the dial had a shorter distance to spin back. To save time and reduce wear on equipment, high-volume cities like New York (212) and Chicago (312) were given codes with the lowest possible clicks.

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Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA)

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