What makes it a suburb?

[Katarina Witt]

^^Pittsburgh and Omaha both annexed other towns as well. From what I read somewhere, Nebraska law allows the city of Omaha to annex any town in Douglas County that is <10,000 people. I can't verify that right now. They've practically annexed the whole county. Denver annexed Highlands in 1902. I believe that is the last town they annexed.

[JR_C]

Originally Posted by pvande55

Not all States allow cities or villages to tax incomes, but most prevent annexation of a incorporated town by a larger one. There is in most cases no differences between a city and a village, and some states have eliminated the latter title. But any place that incorporates as a village is admitting it doesn't expect to get that big. (the Village of Schaumburg IL being the notable exception).

Originally Posted by nei

Hmm. A municipality doesn't incorporate here, a municipality is incorporated by definition. And the whole state is subdivided into municipalities [which may be towns or cities — only difference is the type of government]. Here's the incorporation date for the original municipalities.



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_o...s_at_formation

Most got subdivided later. Boston annexed other towns.

That's why I qualified my statement with "at least in Ohio." I only have a passing familiarity with the laws about municipalities in Ohio, but I'm totally ignorant of similar laws in other states.

Ohio's 88 counties were each divided into townships, are still unincorporated. Within a township, a group of residents can decide to incorporate. (there may be a minimum number of people necessary to start this process, but I don't know that number, off-hand) These people decide on the boundary they would like to incorporate, and everyone living in that boundary will then vote on the issue. In Ohio, the only difference between a city and a village (AFAIK) is that a village has less than 5000 people. If the population of a village grows, and exceeds 5000, they automatically become a city. A city/village can levy an income tax, but a township can't. And, it's easier for a neighboring city to annex township land. A city can try to annex land from a neighboring city/village, but the residents of that city/village get to vote on the issue.

I'm sure I'm oversimplifying this, too.

[wburg]

I think it varies widely state by state. In California, townships aren't really a unit of government, there are just cities and counties. Millions live in unincorporated areas at the heart of many urban areas--about a million people in Los Angeles County live in unincorporated areas which are fully developed suburbs. The so-called "Uncity" just east of Sacramento includes about half a million people, about as many as the city itself. There are smaller and recently formed cities like Citrus Heights, Rancho Cordova and Elk Grove, but many in the unincorporated areas resist incorporation because it represents "another layer of government." The biggest "city" in El Dorado County, in the Sacramento metro area, is El Dorado Hills, which is a census-designated place with no city government. Of course, because they are fully developed urban areas, they all have special districts intended to manage things like parks, fire, streets and other things ordinarily handled by city government, but all handled separately, and without an elected body to manage them, so in many ways it's less efficient than just having a city government and less responsible to the people, but is presented as an "anti-government" alternative. Generally a group like the local Chamber of Commerce fills in as a sort of ersatz mayoral body, but they can't make laws or create taxes, and aren't answerable to voters either.