Odd things about philly questions (Levittown, Chester: sale, to buy, subdivisions)

[jman07]

Why are there so many golf "clubs" and not public golf courses?

Why are the liquor laws so stupid and restrictive. Example.. You can buy liquor and wine in liquor stores, but not beer. You can buy beer in bars to take home.

What's whith all the "townships"? Aren't there counties? How are townships different?

The mummers are weird.

[Pennsport]

One answer to all your questions: money.

[Becca8377]

The liquor laws are not specific to Philly - it's a Pennsylvania state issue.

[FamousBlueRaincoat]

Townships are a smaller division of counties. Township is to county as county is to state.

Government services in areas not within the boundaries of another municipality (like a city, town, borough, etc.) are typically taken care of by the township. In the township I grew up in this amounted to like 10 cents out of my paycheck every two weeks that went into a road plowing fund. I'm not sure if the township did anything else besides that and running a recycle drop off place. And that was pretty much our government.

Maybe closer to Philly they are more involved than that.

[NYtoNJtoPA]

Originally Posted by FamousBlueRaincoat

Townships are a smaller division of counties. Township is to county as county is to state.

Government services in areas not within the boundaries of another municipality (like a city, town, borough, etc.) are typically taken care of by the township. In the township I grew up in this amounted to like 10 cents out of my paycheck every two weeks that went into a road plowing fund. I'm not sure if the township did anything else besides that and running a recycle drop off place. And that was pretty much our government.

Maybe closer to Philly they are more involved than that.

That was one thing I noticed about it here when I moved from NJ. Townships in PA are just subdivisions of the county, and the towns are just zip code tabulation areas. My town exists in portions of three townships in Bucks County. Jersey I believe is the only state that is fully incorporated and towns all have distinct boundaries.

[BPP1999]

Originally Posted by NYtoNJtoPA

That was one thing I noticed about it here when I moved from NJ. Townships in PA are just subdivisions of the county, and the towns are just zip code tabulation areas. My town exists in portions of three townships in Bucks County. Jersey I believe is the only state that is fully incorporated and towns all have distinct boundaries.

I'm not arguing with you but I'm not sure what you're saying. In PA, there are cities, boroughs, townships, and I think one or two towns. All of these places are incorporated. AFAIK NJ has the same municipal modes: city, borough, township, and town. I have never heard of a place in PA that is not incorporated.

You might be confusing your idea of "town" in PA with census-designated places. For example, "King of Prussia" is the regional name (and post office) for most of Upper Merion Township and "Fort Washington" is the post office for most Upper Dublin Township. In PA, there are definitely municipalities covered by multiple post offices (which is confusing).

I am pretty sure your statement "Townships in PA are just subdivisions of the county" is totally wrong.

[1ondoner]

In Chester county, there are close to 100 townships. I hope some of these townships share local government services such as fire, police, EMS, etc

Originally Posted by FamousBlueRaincoat

Townships are a smaller division of counties. Township is to county as county is to state.

Government services in areas not within the boundaries of another municipality (like a city, town, borough, etc.) are typically taken care of by the township. In the township I grew up in this amounted to like 10 cents out of my paycheck every two weeks that went into a road plowing fund. I'm not sure if the township did anything else besides that and running a recycle drop off place. And that was pretty much our government.

Maybe closer to Philly they are more involved than that.

[kyb01]

Originally Posted by jman07

Why are there so many golf "clubs" and not public golf courses?

Why are the liquor laws so stupid and restrictive. Example.. You can buy liquor and wine in liquor stores, but not beer. You can buy beer in bars to take home.

What's whith all the "townships"? Aren't there counties? How are townships different?

The mummers are weird.

The alcohol sale rules are about to change in PA somewhat. Soon you will be able to buy wine in some super markets.

[jman07]

Originally Posted by kyb01

The alcohol sale rules are about to change in PA somewhat. Soon you will be able to buy wine in some super markets.

So why the senseless stupid rules in the first place?

[NYtoNJtoPA]

Originally Posted by BPP1999

I'm not arguing with you but I'm not sure what you're saying. In PA, there are cities, boroughs, townships, and I think one or two towns. All of these places are incorporated. AFAIK NJ has the same municipal modes: city, borough, township, and town. I have never heard of a place in PA that is not incorporated.

You might be confusing your idea of "town" in PA with census-designated places. For example, "King of Prussia" is the regional name (and post office) for most of Upper Merion Township and "Fort Washington" is the post office for most Upper Dublin Township. In PA, there are definitely municipalities covered by multiple post offices (which is confusing).

I am pretty sure your statement "Townships in PA are just subdivisions of the county" is totally wrong.

I wasn't using "town" as a technical term. I live in Levittown, which is a census-designated place and zip code tabulation area in Pennsylvania. My township is Falls, but you don't address an envelope "Falls, PA", or "Middletown, PA" for Levittown. The only time you address an envelope "Bristol, PA" is when referring to Bristol Boro or areas of Bristol Twp outside of Levittown, Croydon or Newportville which are other unincorporated areas within Bristol Twp. From what I understand, Langhorne is the name that is used for Middletown Twp when referring to areas beyond Levittown, and there is also Parkland and Woodbourne, which I'm not sure if you address an envelope with those names or not, I've never seen it. Fairless Hills is also split between Falls and Bristol Townships. There is also Tullytown Borough which also contains some of Levittown, but I've seen Tullytown as an address.

One thing I haven't quite figured out is what constitutes Feasterville and what constitutes Trevose. I know it's mostly Lower Southampton Twp, but Trevose is supposed to be split between LS and Bensalem Twps. All of Bensalem is in Bensalem Twp, but not all of Bensalem Twp is Bensalem. There is Cornwells Heights, Eddington and Andalusia as well and they all use the same zip code. Feasterville appears to be mostly centered around the intersection of Street Rd and Bustleton Ave while Trevose is centered around Street Rd and Trevose Ave which extends from Brownsville Rd, correct? On the Lower Southampton/Bensalem Twp line. But where does Trevose end and Feasterville begin?

In New Jersey, the name of an area is usually the township's name and what constitutes its boundaries and stuff. This is all I am saying. Cherry Hill is a township. Voorhees is a township. And no other names are used in place of those. OK, Evesham includes Marlton which is a historic area that is a few blocks and because that is where their post office is, "Marlton" is often used in place of the township's name, but this is the exception to the rule in NJ.