Multi-county Municipalities

[EastSideHBG]

Originally Posted by 3rd&Brown

Fascinating and odd.

I'm not used to this sprawling city business. I'm in PA and I'm pretty sure towns can't annex anything at this point.

The most confusing thing about PA, particularly for suburban jurisdictions, is that very often you live in a particular township but have a completely different mailing address slash zipcode slash place name. Almost no one uses the actual name of the township they live in to describe where they live. Generally the place name is tied to the local post office the name of which my guess is tied to what might have initially been the hamlet or village it served which was eventually usurped by the township.

I can think of a million examples, but I can imagine it's REALLY confusing for transplants to the area. And the names are rarely even related.

Concord Township = Garnet Valley
Whitemarsh Township = Lafayette Hill
Lower Merion Township = Gladwyne, Penn Valley, Bala Cynwyd, etc etc.
Willistown Township = Malvern
East Marlborough Township = Kennett Square

Sorta bonkers.

And the opposite of this, the areas that no longer wanted to be associated with the town/postal name mostly due to crime and decline and an attempt to make their real estate more attractive so they started using their own name which has been used for so long that it is now semi-official e.g. East Norriton and Jeffersonville which is still technically Norristown, PA.

USPS does recognize East Norriton now (but still recommends using Norristown) but asks to avoid using Jeffersonville within certain zip codes. Where it really becomes a lot of fun is when companies won't recognize certain mailing addresses due to the software they are using so circular verifications can occur

[Shawn]

Massachusetts hasn't had county governments since 1997-2000. There hasn't been annexation since 1912. So no multi-county municipalities. But we do have the whole unofficial areas with official zip codes thing.

Chestnut Hill (where BC is) isn't a real municipality; it's a "village" partially in Boston, partially in Newton, and partially in Brookline - but it has its own zip code, and you better believe Boston College addresses say "Chestnut Hill" and not Boston, Newton, or Brookline.

Basically every neighborhood in Boston does this too. You don't send a letter to someone in Upham's Corner to a Boston address; it's Dorchester, MA 02125. I have an aunt who used to live in the town of Rowley on the North Shore, but her postal address was for Byfield, MA 01922 (an unofficial village within Rowley).

There are probably over 100 "villages" in MA with their own zips that have no official standing whatsoever, but people still treat them like separate towns. It doesn't help that the Census sometimes treats these villages as separate designated census places. But I guess that's the entire point of a "Census designated place".

[PhilliesPhan]

The only multi-county municipality in PA I can think of is Bethlehem. Most of it lies within Northampton County, but part of it also lies within Lehigh County.

[muertecaza]

Originally Posted by plinko

Arizona now has a few, despite the fact that its 15 counties are generally huge.
Peoria, Wickenburg, Apache Junction, Queen Creek, and Marana all straddle two counties.

Yeah, while our counties are huge, are municipal boundaries are often huge as well. Sedona is another one - it's in both Coconino and Yavapai counties.

[JManc]

Originally Posted by Shawn

There are probably over 100 "villages" in MA with their own zips that have no official standing whatsoever, but people still treat them like separate towns. It doesn't help that the Census sometimes treats these villages as separate designated census places. But I guess that's the entire point of a "Census designated place".

These sound like hamlets in NYS; no official status as anything but they have a post office and their own zip code. My brother lives in one and all municipal services are handled by the town (which is any municipality other than a city in NYC).

Where I live in Houston, the city on my mailing address is "Kingwood" which was an unincorporated master planned development built in the 70's annexed by Houston in 1996.

[craigs]

Originally Posted by Shawn

Massachusetts hasn't had county governments since 1997-2000. There hasn't been annexation since 1912. So no multi-county municipalities. But we do have the whole unofficial areas with official zip codes thing.

Chestnut Hill (where BC is) isn't a real municipality; it's a "village" partially in Boston, partially in Newton, and partially in Brookline - but it has its own zip code, and you better believe Boston College addresses say "Chestnut Hill" and not Boston, Newton, or Brookline.

Basically every neighborhood in Boston does this too. You don't send a letter to someone in Upham's Corner to a Boston address; it's Dorchester, MA 02125. I have an aunt who used to live in the town of Rowley on the North Shore, but her postal address was for Byfield, MA 01922 (an unofficial village within Rowley).

There are probably over 100 "villages" in MA with their own zips that have no official standing whatsoever, but people still treat them like separate towns. It doesn't help that the Census sometimes treats these villages as separate designated census places. But I guess that's the entire point of a "Census designated place".

The city of Los Angeles works similarly. Your address here is someplace like Van Nuys, North Hollywood, or Venice, not LA. It can be confusing.

[Steely Dan]

Originally Posted by craigs

The city of Los Angeles works similarly. Your address here is someplace like Van Nuys, North Hollywood, or Venice, not LA. It can be confusing.

Are there any places within LA that use "Los Angeles, CA" as their official address?


That does seem confusing from my Chicago perspective. I'm not aware of any place within the City of Chicago's municipal limits that doesn't use "Chicago, IL" as its official address.

[Derek]

Originally Posted by craigs

The city of Los Angeles works similarly. Your address here is someplace like Van Nuys, North Hollywood, or Venice, not LA. It can be confusing.

Originally Posted by Steely Dan

Are there any places within LA that use "Los Angeles, CA" as their official address?


That does seem confusing from my Chicago perspective. I'm not aware of any place within the City of Chicago's municipal limits that doesn't use "Chicago, IL" as its official address.

I’ve got a buddy that lives on Stoner Avenue in the Del Rey neighborhood in the City of Los Angeles, but they have a Culver City (which is a separate municipality) mailing address.

[sopas ej]

Originally Posted by Steely Dan

Are there any places within LA that use "Los Angeles, CA" as their official address?

Totally. As a very young child, my address was "Los Angeles, CA 90036." In fact, most of the city of Los Angeles south of Mulholland Drive uses an official Los Angeles ZIP. All of the official LA ZIP codes are "900##" south of Mulholland. The only exceptions are Venice, Pacific Palisades, Wilmington, and San Pedro, which don't follow the 900XX pattern and are addressed as "Venice, CA 90291" etc. All four are neighborhoods of the city of Los Angeles.

On the flip side, I used to work in Hollywood, and some people would actually write "Hollywood, CA 90028" but technically it should be "Los Angeles, CA 90028." I notice some people write "Century City, CA 90067" when it really should be "Los Angeles, CA 90067." Century City is considered to be a prestigious business address in LA.

[plinko]

Large parts of the central area of Los Angeles from downtown across Wishire to Santa Monica (including Century City) use Los Angeles as the city address. But yeah, there are many non conforming neighborhoods that don’t: Watts, Pacific Palisades, Baldwin Hills, Wilmington, San Pedro…

What’s always interesting is when it happens for ‘other’ reasons but is accepted by the post office. My mom for a time lived in a really nice part of Santa Ana, but her city name was ‘South Coast Metro’. I wonder why? Oxnard has this too with ‘Hollywood Beach’.

[JManc]

Where would you rather tell people you lived? Oxnard or Hollywood Beach. "Oxnard" sounds something you need an antibiotic for...

[sopas ej]

Originally Posted by plinko

Large parts of the central area of Los Angeles from downtown across Wishire to Santa Monica (including Century City) use Los Angeles as the city address. But yeah, there are many non conforming neighborhoods that don’t: Watts, Pacific Palisades, Baldwin Hills, Wilmington, San Pedro…

What’s always interesting is when it happens for ‘other’ reasons but is accepted by the post office. My mom for a time lived in a really nice part of Santa Ana, but her city name was ‘South Coast Metro’. I wonder why? Oxnard has this too with ‘Hollywood Beach’.

I don't know if it's still the case, but the "old money" of Montecito would always write their addresses as "Santa Barbara, CA." Supposedly it's only the "new money" that moved in that write their address as "Montecito, CA."

[Steely Dan]

Originally Posted by JManc

"Oxnard" sounds something you need an antibiotic for...

I think I'd rather suffer through a bout of Oxnard than endure a scorching case of Peoria.

But neither sound fun.

[TWAK]

Originally Posted by Steely Dan

Are there any places within LA that use "Los Angeles, CA" as their official address?


That does seem confusing from my Chicago perspective. I'm not aware of any place within the City of Chicago's municipal limits that doesn't use "Chicago, IL" as its official address.

Parts of unincorporated Sacramento County have an address of "Sacramento, CA" so it could be similar for unincorporated LA County.

[ThatDarnSacramentan]

Originally Posted by TWAK

Parts of unincorporated Sacramento County have an address of "Sacramento, CA" so it could be similar for unincorporated LA County.

Right, like how the airport has a Sac address despite being firmly outside the city limits.

And then you've got clean edges along the north and east county lines that leaves you with several houses and shopping centers cut in half. Probably makes for an interesting tax law case study.

[iheartthed]

Originally Posted by plinko

Large parts of the central area of Los Angeles from downtown across Wishire to Santa Monica (including Century City) use Los Angeles as the city address. But yeah, there are many non conforming neighborhoods that don’t: Watts, Pacific Palisades, Baldwin Hills, Wilmington, San Pedro…

This is the same as Queens, parts of the Bronx, and parts of Staten Island. I don't think any part of Queens uses "Queens, NY" as the address city, but instead uses the postal name. For mailing purposes it doesn't really matter what city you write as long as the zip code is correct, but it is still standard to use the post office name.

Some older people might still do this for places in Brooklyn like Williamsburg or Flatbush, but Brooklyn has been the standardized city name for the borough's addresses for many decades. And "New York" has been the standard naming convention for addresses on Manhattan island since before anyone alive today was born, although Roosevelt Island and Marble Hill use the post office names of "Roosevelt Island" and "Marble Hill".

[JManc]

Originally Posted by iheartthed

This is the same as Queens, parts of the Bronx, and parts of Staten Island. I don't think any part of Queens uses "Queens, NY" as the address city, but instead uses the postal name. For mailing purposes it doesn't really matter what city you write as long as the zip code is correct, but it is still standard to use the post office name.

Some older people might still do this for places in Brooklyn like Williamsburg or Flatbush, but Brooklyn has been the standardized city name for the borough's addresses for many decades. And "New York" has been the standard naming convention for addresses on Manhattan island since before anyone alive today was born, although Roosevelt Island and Marble Hill use the post office names of "Roosevelt Island" and "Marble Hill".

So someone from Brooklyn doesn't have "New York" but "Brooklyn", isntead, on their return address?

[craigs]

Originally Posted by sopas ej

Totally. As a very young child, my address was "Los Angeles, CA 90036." In fact, most of the city of Los Angeles south of Mulholland Drive uses an official Los Angeles ZIP. All of the official LA ZIP codes are "900##" south of Mulholland. The only exceptions are Venice, Pacific Palisades, Wilmington, and San Pedro, which don't follow the 900XX pattern and are addressed as "Venice, CA 90291" etc. All four are neighborhoods of the city of Los Angeles.

On the flip side, I used to work in Hollywood, and some people would actually write "Hollywood, CA 90028" but technically it should be "Los Angeles, CA 90028." I notice some people write "Century City, CA 90067" when it really should be "Los Angeles, CA 90067." Century City is considered to be a prestigious business address in LA.

I had a West Los Angeles address when I lived just west of Sawtelle and east of Santa Monica.

[iheartthed]

Originally Posted by JManc

So someone from Brooklyn doesn't have "New York" but "Brooklyn", isntead, on their return address?

Correct. Only Manhattan uses "New York".

[wanderer34]

I can mention Bethlehem, a city which spans two counties in the Lehigh Valley (Lehigh and Northampton Counties).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bethlehem,_Pennsylvania