New England Village
The New England town is the basic unit of local government in each of the six New England states. A somewhat unique institution that does not quite have a direct counterpart in most other U.S. more...
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states, New England towns are conceptually similar to civil townships in that they were originally set up so that all territory would be completely covered by them. However, New England towns tend to be of greater importance in local government and civic identity than civil townships are in most of the states where the latter exist. New England towns are legally incorporated and have all the powers that a city in other states would normally have. In addition, virtually all incorporated municipalities in New England are based on the town model; uncommon are statutory forms based on the concept of a compact populated place, such as a village or borough. New England is the only region of the country where this is the case. Because virtually all residents live within the boundaries of an incorporated municipality, county government in New England is typically weak or nonexistent. The towns are of much greater importance than the counties are.
Characteristics of the New England town system
Towns are laid out so that all land within the boundaries of a state is allocated to a town or other incorporated municipality. Except in some very sparsely populated areas of the three northern New England states (primarily in the interior of Maine), the concept of unincorporated territory, even in rural areas, is unknown. With the exception of those very sparsely populated areas, every square inch of land in New England is within the boundaries of a town or other incorporated municipality.;
Towns are legally incorporated and have all the powers that a city in other states would normally have. Most towns have traditionally been governed by a town meeting form of government.;
Towns are typically centered around a built-up populated place with the same name as the town (a "town center"). However, they usually cover a larger area than said place, encompassing additional built-up places and/or a mixture of extraneous urban and rural territory. There is no unincorporated territory between the towns; leaving a town always means entering another town or other municipality. In most parts of New England, towns are irregular in shape and size and are not laid out on any type of grid (there are some exceptions to this, however; most notably, much of the interior of Maine was originally laid out as surveyed townships).;
Since virtually all residents live within the boundaries of an incorporated municipality, residents receive most local services at the municipal level, and county government tends to be very weak. In some areas, county government has been completely abolished.;
Residents usually identify very strongly with their town for purposes of civic identity, thinking of the town as a single, coherent community. While it is not unheard of for residents to identify more strongly with villages or sections of a town that with the town itself, this is certainly the exception, not the rule.;
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