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Agree with the wizard. “Town” has no real definition in NC.
Now Cary may be concerned about people (most likely corporations) outside of NC that come from areas where “town” does have a specific meaning with specific parameters and Cary might not want those folks thinking they are small potatoes
Location: River's Edge Inn, Todd NC, and Lorgues France
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Quote:
Originally Posted by GVoR
To tack onto this, Town (and City) typically have quantifiable characteristics as well.
Cities are generally 50K or more in population combined with densities of 1500 people/sq km (roughly 3800 people/sq mi). Anything smaller OR less dense is a town.
Cary is obviously above the total population number, but slightly under that density cutoff (think Cary is around 3100 people/sq mi).
In MA, the biggest "Town" population wise was Framingham, there were even jokes about it being a "town". Think the citizens voted like 4/5 years ago to give up the game and make it a "city".
I've never heard that before. Where did you read that?
Is that a definition or just a guideline?
That’s interesting there’s no legal difference between town and city here. Even on Long Island there’s a lot of confusion…people use town when they aren’t actually referring to the Town (uppercase T). And the “Towns” cover many,many “hamlets” and villages some of which have their OWN government structure and some which don’t. I like the more streamlined process here.
My guess is that towns originated as rafts of organized commercial/residential organization in a sea of “unincorporated” county area. Then more and more development attached itself to the raft as actual towns grew. Eventually the rafts butted up against each other. No unincorporated area in between. Maybe that’s when the local government decides it’s a city.
Is there any county-only land adjacent to Cary at this point? Let’s face it. Cary has now expanded address wise out of Wake County. But I don’t think those folks pay any Cary taxes. So they are not truly part of the town or city.
My guess is that towns originated as rafts of organized commercial/residential organization in a sea of “unincorporated” county area. Then more and more development attached itself to the raft as actual towns grew. Eventually the rafts butted up against each other. No unincorporated area in between. Maybe that’s when the local government decides it’s a city.
Is there any county-only land adjacent to Cary at this point? Let’s face it. Cary has now expanded address wise out of Wake County. But I don’t think those folks pay any Cary taxes. So they are not truly part of the town or city.
Cary has annexed some subdivisions in Chatham County.
So, those folks pay Cary taxes, Chatham County taxes, and fall under both those jurisdictions.
Cities are generally 50K or more in population combined with densities of 1500 people/sq km (roughly 3800 people/sq mi). Anything smaller OR less dense is a town.
Cary is obviously above the total population number, but slightly under that density cutoff (think Cary is around 3100 people/sq mi).
I couldn't quite put my finger on why city just didn't sound right to me for Cary, but I think it's the population density issue. I know we don't have a set criteria here, and I know Cary is relatively large compared to many other towns, but city still sounds funny to me. It seems so suburban still. It's good to have goals though, and maybe with some more urbanization and commercial development it might get there.
Is there any county-only land adjacent to Cary at this point? Let’s face it. Cary has now expanded address wise out of Wake County. But I don’t think those folks pay any Cary taxes. So they are not truly part of the town or city.
Quote:
Originally Posted by ncwheeling
Mike, there's probably not a universal answer, but do you know what service(s) Cary provides to these property owners (other than the Cary branding)?
Yes, there is still land in Wake adjacent to Cary that has not been annexed, mostly in the southwest. Light yellow is Cary's ETJ, so not annexed but envisioned to be at some point and thus subject to some of Cary's development regulations. There's also some white areas that aren't part of the ETJ and are just county. The purple line is the annexation agreement line between Cary and Apex over who will eventually absorb what.
And as Mike says, Cary residents in Chatham pay the same Cary taxes as residents in Wake do. (But they pay Chatham County taxes instead of Wake County.) And they receive all of the same services...water, sewer, trash, police, fire, etc.
I'm confused why anyone would think other than that. The whole reason to petition for annexation is to get access to these things. (Forced annexations are no longer a thing.)
That’s interesting there’s no legal difference between town and city here. Even on Long Island there’s a lot of confusion…people use town when they aren’t actually referring to the Town (uppercase T). And the “Towns” cover many,many “hamlets” and villages some of which have their OWN government structure and some which don’t. I like the more streamlined process here.
Kingdom of Cary works. Who is the king though?
Probably Jim Goodnight
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