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More trivia, this time cities...

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Brandon M. Gorte

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Feb 9, 2000, 3:00:00 AM2/9/00
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Continuing on Rich Carlson's trivia, I'm going to add some here. Feel
free to add more. :-)

As stated, the largest city in Illinois is Chicago, but the largest
village is Arlington Heights (76,522), and the largest town is Cicero
(71,289). Arlington Heights is the 10th largest municpality in Illinois.

Of the 10 largest municipalities in Illinois, 7 of them are in the
northern 1/4 of the state, and 6 of them are in the Chicago area.

Of the 5 largest cities in Illinois, 3 of them are in the Chicago area:
Chicago, Aurora, and Naperville.

By the end of 200, Naperville will the the fourth largest city in
Illinois, surpassing Spingfield.

The largest city in DuPage County (discountin the sliver of Chicago) is
Aurora, also the largest city in Kane, Will, and Kendall Counties.

That makes Joliet, the county seat of Will County, the thrid largest city
in Will County. However, Joliet is the second largest city in Kendall
County.

In addition, there are 6 municipalities in Illinois over 100,000:

Chicago: 2,802,079
Rockford: 143,656
Aurora: 124,736
Springfield: 117,098
Naperville: 117,091
Peoria: 111,148

Of these, only Peoria is actively losing population.

Then there are 24 municipalities over 50,000 in the state.

Brandon Gorte
Undergrad in Geological Engineering
Michigan Technological University, Houghton, MI
<http://www.geo.mtu.edu/~bmgorte/freeway.html>


Calvin4887

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Feb 19, 2000, 3:00:00 AM2/19/00
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What exactly is the difference, in your opinion of a village, city, and town? I
would put village at under 2,000, town 2,000-10,000, city at 10,000-120,000 and
Metropolis at 120,000 and up.

MojaveNC

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Feb 19, 2000, 3:00:00 AM2/19/00
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I can't speak for the orig. author of this post...but out here in Nevada, a
village has less than 100 people, a town is anything between 100 and about
5,000,


MojaveNC

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Feb 19, 2000, 3:00:00 AM2/19/00
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5,000, (and if I can keep from accidentally hitting send this time), and a city
is anything with about 5000 people and up. Fallon, Nevada, is concidered a
city. Tonopah is a town(a big one at that.) Lyda, NV, with its 3 houses,
would be a perfectly sized village.

NC

G C Ruiner

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Feb 19, 2000, 3:00:00 AM2/19/00
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On 19 Feb 2000 02:11:52 GMT, calvi...@aol.com (Calvin4887) gummed:

>What exactly is the difference, in your opinion of a village, city, and town? I
>would put village at under 2,000, town 2,000-10,000, city at 10,000-120,000 and
>Metropolis at 120,000 and up.

In Kentucky, all incorporated places are classed as cities. A community
only needs 125 peeps to become a city in Kentucky. In Ohio, cities have
at least 5,000, while any incorporated place with less than 5,000 is
classed as a village.

I define "city" more on the basis of population density and whether a
place is urban in character. Bellevue and Dayton KY thus would be
classed as cities even though they have fewer peeps than Fort Thomas,
which would be classed as a town. Newport is a city; Southgate is a
town; Cold Spring is a town. Highland Heights is more of a city than a
town. A rural unincorporated place would be classed as a village.

--
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Marc Fannin

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Feb 19, 2000, 3:00:00 AM2/19/00
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calvi...@aol.com (Calvin4887) wrote:

> What exactly is the difference, in your opinion of a village, city,
> and town? I would put village at under 2,000, town 2,000-10,000, city
> at 10,000-120,000 and Metropolis at 120,000 and up.

Don't get confused by the term "town". In one case, it is simply a
shorthand term for "incorporated community" (sometimes
just "community"). In another, it is a specific term for a county
division (in the Northeast and Wisconsin), an entity which other U.S.
states call a "township".

As for the other terms: As others have stated, each state/province/etc.
has its own definitions for these terms. Ohio (where I happen to be)
assigns the term "village" to an incorporated entity with fewer than
5,000 people and "city" to the rest. "Town" is not used as an official
term at all. Other states may use a factor other than population to
determine status of their incorporated places.


--
Marc Fannin musx...@kent.edu
http://www.personal.kent.edu/~musxf579/home.html


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Before you buy.

pkirby

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Feb 19, 2000, 3:00:00 AM2/19/00
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G C Ruiner wrote:
>
> On 19 Feb 2000 02:11:52 GMT, calvi...@aol.com (Calvin4887) gummed:
>
> >What exactly is the difference, in your opinion of a village, city, and town? I
> >would put village at under 2,000, town 2,000-10,000, city at 10,000-120,000 and
> >Metropolis at 120,000 and up.
>
> In Kentucky, all incorporated places are classed as cities. A community
> only needs 125 peeps to become a city in Kentucky. In Ohio, cities have
> at least 5,000, while any incorporated place with less than 5,000 is
> classed as a village.
>
> I define "city" more on the basis of population density and whether a
> place is urban in character. Bellevue and Dayton KY thus would be
> classed as cities even though they have fewer peeps than Fort Thomas,
> which would be classed as a town. Newport is a city; Southgate is a
> town; Cold Spring is a town. Highland Heights is more of a city than a
> town. A rural unincorporated place would be classed as a village.
>

In New Brunswick, incorporated villages should have a 3-digit
population, towns should have 4 digits, and cities should have 5 digits.

IMO, a village should be any built-up area that's not a town or a city.
Towns should have at least 2000 people (and at least 2 gas stations :)
), and a city is anything above 20,000.

--
J.P. Kirby (kirjtc2) -- Fredericton, NB, Can. -- pki...@brunnet.net
http://members.xoom.com/_XOOM/jpkirby/index.html |
http://roadlinks.cjb.net
"...from Bangor northward along the Maine Turnpike..."
-- Roger Griswold, WCSH-TV Portland ME/WLBZ-TV Bangor, 5:15 PM, 2/13/00

Brandon M. Gorte

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Feb 19, 2000, 3:00:00 AM2/19/00
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Calvin4887 <calvi...@aol.com> wrote:
: What exactly is the difference, in your opinion of a village, city, and town? I

: would put village at under 2,000, town 2,000-10,000, city at 10,000-120,000 and
: Metropolis at 120,000 and up.

In Illinois, the difference is in the style of government.

I don't remember what a town government is like, but Cicero (~65,000) is
the largest town in Illinois.

A village government has a board of trustees. These trustees are elected
at large in the village. The mayor presides over the trustees. The
largest village in Illinois is Arlington Heights (~77,000).

A city government in Illinois has a mayor (elected at large), and council
members (elected either at large or by district). Many of them also have
a strong city manager (i.e. Joliet). The largest city under this style of
government is Rockford (~140,000).

Chicago is a special case in Illinois, acting like a mini-state with it's
own governor (mayor of Chicago). It has districts from which aldermen are
elected, and a powerful, almost governor-like, mayor.

Michael Moroney

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Feb 19, 2000, 3:00:00 AM2/19/00
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In article <20000218211152...@ng-cf1.aol.com>,

calvi...@aol.com (Calvin4887) wrote:
> What exactly is the difference, in your opinion of a village, city, and town? I
> would put village at under 2,000, town 2,000-10,000, city at 10,000-120,000 and
> Metropolis at 120,000 and up.

The (legal) definitions vary by state. In New York, every square inch is a
part of a town or a city. A town can be small (smallest I've seen has
47 people) or large, one on Long Island has over a million. A town can have
a portion of it be a village, which has some self-governing powers but not
as much as a city. Again they can be small (20 odd people) to large (hundreds
of thousands on Long Island). Villages can sometimes span over parts of two
towns, and in a few the village and town are one and the same.
Cities can be fairly small to the size of NYC.

-Mike

Michael Torla

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Feb 20, 2000, 3:00:00 AM2/20/00
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There are legal definitions that pertain to stuff like this.

In Massachusetts (which is the only state I'm sure of the law, and you'll see I'm
not all that sure)

* wherever you are is a municipality.
* A municipality is a town unless
o The population exceeds 3000 (?)
o AND the municipality has voted to be governed by a city charter
o AND the city charter has been accepted by state government
* I believe there are two different kinds of villages in Massachusetts, those
with legal definition and those without, but in either case, a village is
subsection of a municipality.

I grew up in the town of Amherst, near the village of Cushman. The town of
Amherst, Massachusetts has a population of (roughly) 30,000 people, and have
deliberately chosen not to form a city charter, although on population is clearly
able so to do.

Andrew Smith

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Feb 21, 2000, 3:00:00 AM2/21/00
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In Indiana, the difference is in form of government ...

A city is run by a mayor (elected at-large, like in Illinois)
and a city council of representatives elected both in districts
and at-large in most cities.

A town is run by a town board, usually elected by district.

Any incorporated area is one of these. The rest (including
unincorporated hamlets) are governed by the county government
structure.

Indianapolis is a special case, in which city and county
governments are combined, as the city limits extend to the
county line.


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Nathan Perry

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Feb 22, 2000, 3:00:00 AM2/22/00
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In article <Nwqr4kOJ...@world.std.com>,
mor...@world.std.spaamtrap.com (Michael Moroney) wrote:

> In article <20000218211152...@ng-cf1.aol.com>,


> calvi...@aol.com (Calvin4887) wrote:
> > What exactly is the difference, in your opinion of a village, city,
and town? I
> > would put village at under 2,000, town 2,000-10,000, city at
10,000-120,000 and
> > Metropolis at 120,000 and up.
>

> The (legal) definitions vary by state. In New York, every square inch is a
> part of a town or a city. A town can be small (smallest I've seen has
> 47 people) or large, one on Long Island has over a million. A town can have
> a portion of it be a village, which has some self-governing powers but not
> as much as a city. Again they can be small (20 odd people) to large (hundreds
> of thousands on Long Island). Villages can sometimes span over parts of two
> towns, and in a few the village and town are one and the same.
> Cities can be fairly small to the size of NYC.

Smallest city is about 2500 (the City of Sherrill). And I don't think the
Town of Hempstead or North Hempstead is up to a million yet.

--
_____________________________________________________________________
N.W.Perry __/ {
Rochester, N.Y. 甍__ | "Death to oatmeal!"
Boston, Mass. \|_=

Jim Guthrie

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Feb 23, 2000, 3:00:00 AM2/23/00
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Calvin4887 wrote in message
<20000218211152...@ng-cf1.aol.com>...

>What exactly is the difference, in your opinion of a village, city, and
town? I
>would put village at under 2,000, town 2,000-10,000, city at 10,000-120,000
and
>Metropolis at 120,000 and up.
This depends on both law and culture.
In British tradition, a City was the seat of an Bishop, in other words there
was a Cathedral. It did not depend on the size. Thus Middlesborough (sp.?)
was a Town, and Ely a City even though the former had a population in the
hundreds of thousands and the latter has about 5,000. A village was any
settlement not chartered as a Town. Hamlets were settlements that had no
local government. Canada sort of followed this tradition.
The issue of size comes up because the various States and Provinces have
rules about the minimum population needed to incorporate. The level of
incorporation determines grants from the higher government, and specifies
what services the local government can/must provide. Your home province (NB)
under Robichaud largely abolished local government out side the Cities (the
local councils have little to say over how funds are spent, and very
restricted powers to tax). In Alberta, many places stayed as Towns, even
though they could become Cities. They did this because the Province would
pay for many roads and utilities in Towns, while Cities were expected to pay
their own way. When the law was amended, the larger Towns decided to go for
the prestige of city-hood. (Those near Edmonton did this to emphasise their
sense of equality with our City. One of the largest urban areas near us is
called Sherwood Park (they were originally called Cambelltown but the Post
Office objected that there was a similar place name in NB) it now has about
70,000 people, but is still unincorporated. They advertise themselves as the
largest Hamlet in the world.


Nathan Perry

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Feb 24, 2000, 3:00:00 AM2/24/00
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In article <38b4...@champ.gov.edmonton.ab.ca>, "Jim Guthrie"

<jim.g...@gov.edmonton.ab.ca.delete> wrote:
> One of the largest urban areas near us is
> called Sherwood Park (they were originally called Cambelltown but the Post
> Office objected that there was a similar place name in NB) it now has about
> 70,000 people, but is still unincorporated. They advertise themselves as the
> largest Hamlet in the world.

Well, they're in close competition with Levittown, which is by NYS
standards a hamlet and of comparable population.

Bruce B. Reynolds

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Feb 24, 2000, 3:00:00 AM2/24/00
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An interesting contrast in this discussion are those places which were called
"City" but which never quite made it. A interesting book on such on such in
Arkansas is Donald Harrington, <Let Us Build Us a City: Eleven Lost Towns>,
New York, Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1986. An appendix lists all the place
names in the US which include "City" as part of the name, and the current
status of the
places.
--
Bruce B. Reynolds, Independent/Legacy Systems Consultant: Trailing Edge
Technologies, Glenside PA---Sweeping Up Behind Data Processing Dinosaurs


Matt Walcoff

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Feb 24, 2000, 3:00:00 AM2/24/00
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As of 1992, the lowest threshold for "city" designation of a
municipality was a population of 500, in three states: Arkansas,
Missouri and South Dakota. In Texas, you have to have 10,000
people to go from "village" or "town" to "city."

To recap, here's an article I posted a while ago that is on-topic
for this conversation. By no means should anyone think it's 100%
accurate. All data is from the Census Burueau, 1992.

Interesting facts about local governments:

COUNTIES:

Two states, Connecticut and Rhode Island, have no county
governments, although Connecticut's former counties are still
used for courts and sheriff's departments.

In 27 states, at least one county is governed by a board of
commissioners. Other county authorities are called boards of
supervisors (8 states), county councils (6), county commissions
(3) and county legislatures (2). Unique names include quorum or
levying court (AR), mayor (HI), fiscal court (KY), police jury
(LA), assistant judges (VA) and my favorite, the board of chosen
freeholders (NJ).

Hawaii and Alaska have areas that are in neither counties nor
municipalities. Kalawao County, the former leper colony in
Molokai, is governed directly by the Hawaii state government. A
mostly native-inhabited part of Alaska is not in a borough, the
Alaskan equivalent of a county.

In South Dakota, two counties coexistent with Indian reservations
contract out their county services.

Louisiana calls its counties "parishes."

MUNICIPALITIES:

All states refer to their larger centralized municipalities as
cities. Thirteen states have no other name for such
municipalities. However, 27 states have at least one town, 19
states villages and three states boroughs.

Generally, the term "town" is more common in the South, where it
is not confused with the other kind of "town." (see below)

Of states that have thresholds between towns or villages and
cities, the lowest is Arkansas, Missouri and South Dakota, where
you need only 500 people to become a city. In Texas, you need
10,000.

Some states have different laws for different classes of cities,
usually based on size. Alabama has no fewer than eight classes of
cities, plus towns.

TOWNS AND TOWNSHIPS:

These differ from the "municipalities" in that they generally
cover all the state or county, and they can contain more than one
centralized community. Some states include towns or townships in
the term "municipality," but the Census Bureau uses that term
only when referring to singular, centralized communities.

Twelve states have townships only and seven states towns.
Minnesota uses either term. Maine has both towns and plantations.

In nine states, towns and townships never include municipalities.
In five states, they include only smaller municipalities. In two
states, Indiana and Missouri, townships include municipalities,
although most Missouri counties don't have townships at all. In
four states, they may or may not include municipalities. In
Vermont, towns cover all territory except "gores," "grants" and
"unorganized towns." Those other areas are run by state-appointed
supervisors.

Townships exist as far west as the Dakotas, Kansas and Missouri,
but many are inactive or have dissolved in those states.
Washington State hasn't had townships since 1972, but still has
laws for townships on the books.

SCHOOLS:

In 36 states, school districts are independent, meaning they are
not part of any other government. In five states -- Alaska,
Hawaii, Maryland, North Carolina and Virginia, they are dependent
on state, city or county government. Nine states have both
independent and dependent schools.

States have all kinds of types of school districts. In
California, a "unified" school district governs both elementary
and high schools. An "exempted village" school district in Ohio
serves no cities, only villages and/or townships, but has been
made independent of the county "service center" (formerly the
county school board) by the state government.

Providence, RI is divided into several "school districts" that
send a representative to a citywide "school committee."

UNIGOVS:

Twenty cities, plus the town of Nantucket, MA, have joint
city-county (or city-parish or city-borough) governments. Most
are big cities, but some are smaller towns like Athens, GA;
Houma, LA; Anaconda, MT; and Lynchburg, TN.

Honolulu-Oahu County is considered both a county and a
municipality -- the only city in Hawaii.

Dade County, FL and Los Alamos County, NM provide some city-like
functions.

Outside of Virginia, where all cities are outside of counties,
three cities are in no county: Baltimore, St. Louis and Carson
City, NV. The counties that are coexistent with the boroughs of
New York City -- New York County (Manhattan), Kings County
(Brooklyn), Richmond County (Staten Island), Bronx County and
Queens County -- are considered inactive.

CONFUSION:

The word "borough" refers to small municipalities in Connecticut,
Pennsylvania and New Jersey. In Alaska, it is used in place of
counties, and in New York, it refers to the five parts of New
York City.

"Townships" usually are uncentralized units of local government
that can have multiple population centers inside them. But in
Maine, they refer to unorganized territory without local
government. In Montana and the Carolinas, townships are
administrative subdivisions of county government. In Virginia,
state law allows for the creation of a "township" if part of a
town (municipality) declines to join a town-county merger. As of
1992, that had not yet happened.

In the North, "towns" are analogous to townships, but in the
South, they are what northerners call villages or boroughs. In
Virginia, any municipality that is not independent of county
government is a town. In Nevada, towns are administrative
subdivisions of county government.

Alex Porter

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Feb 25, 2000, 3:00:00 AM2/25/00
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I call my MN town of 2,709 people a town, but the government calls it on its
forms "City of delano"

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