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[美国]Local governments in USA [复制链接]

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只看楼主 倒序阅读 0 发表于: 2003-12-16
Most of the people here might think USA has a simple classification of local administration: i. e. state-county-city.

Actually this is an oversimplication. USA has a very complicate organization of local governments, although still much simpler than China.

USA currently has 50 states and the District of Columbia.

Except for Alaska and Lousiana, all other states in USA are divided into counties. Alaska has boroughs, whereas Lousiana has parrishes, which are equivalent to the counties of other states.

Not all counties(including boroughs and parrishes mentioned above) actually have governments, though:

1. Some countie are designated as city-counties and basically their governments serve as a city governments:

Alaska: City and Borough of Anchorage, City and Borough of Juneau, City and Borough of Sitka, and City and Borough of Yakutat;
California: City and County of San Francisco;
Colorado: City and County of Broomfield, and City and County of Denver;
Hawaii: City and County of Honolulu;
Kansas: Unified Government of Wyandotte County and City of Kansas City;
Montana: Anaconda-Deer Lodge County, and Butte-Silver Bow County

2. Some counties are consolidated with cities and their governments serve as a city governments (classified as metropolitan governments).

Tennessee: Hartsville-Trousdale County, Lynchburg-Moore County, and Nashville-Davidson County.

3. Some counties have governments as part of another government.

Florida: County of Duval (City of Jacksonville);
Georgia: County of Clarke (City of Athens), County of Muscogee (City of Columbus), County of Richmond (City of Augusta);
Hawaii: County of Kalawao (State of Hawaii);
Indiana: County of Marion (City of Indianapolis);
Kentucky: Lexington-Fayette Urban County
Lousiana: Parrish of East Baton Rouge (City of Baton Rouge), Parrish of Lafayette (City of Lafayette), Parrish of Orleans (City of New Orleans), and Terrebonne Parish Consolidated Government;
Massachusetts: County of Nantucket (Town of Nantucket), and County of Suffolk (City of Boston);
New York: Counties of Bronx, Kings, Queens, Richmond and New York (Borroughs of Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island and Manhattan, all parts of New York City);
Pennsylvania: County of Philadelphia (City of Philadelphia).

4. Counted as a county but actually a city and a District (equal to a state) is Washington City (the District of Columbia).

5. Cities located outside of any county or the its equivalent:

Maryland: Baltimore City
Missouri: St. Louis City
Nevada: Carson City
Virginia: all independent cities in Virginia, i. e. Alexandria, Bedford, Bristol, Buena Vista, Charlottesville, Chesapeake, Colonial Heights, Covington, Danville, Emporia, Fairfax, Falls Church, Franklin, Fredericksburg, Galax, Hampton, Harrisonburg, Hopewell, Lexington, Lynchburg, Manassas, Manassas Park, Martinville, Newport News, Norfolk, Norton, Petersburg, Poquoson, Portsmouth, Radford, Richmond, Roanoke, Salem, Staunton, Suffolk, Virginia Beach, Waynesboro, Williamsburg, and Winchester.

6. Although geographically the counties exist, but no functional county government.

Connecticut: Fairfield, Hartford, Litchfield, Middlesex, New Haven, New London, Tolland, and Windlam.
Massachusetts: Berkshire, Essex, Franklin, Hampden, Hampshire, Middlesex, and Worcester.
Rhode Island: Bristol, Kent, Newport, Providence, and Washington.

7. Certain areas in Alaska are designated as counties in census, but no organized county government there.

Alaska: Aleutians West, Bethel, Dillingham, Nome, Prince of Wales-Outer Ketchikan, Skagway-Hoonah-Angoon, Southeast Fairbanks, Valdez-Cordova, Wade Hampton, Wrangall-Paterson, and Yukon-Kayukuk.

Because of this, about 10% of the whole American population lives in area out of any county.

Subcounty governments include municipal governments and township governments.

Municipal governments include cities, boroughs (except for Alaska), towns (Except for Minnesota, New York, Wisconsin, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont and Maine) and villages.

The township governments exist in the co-called "township states" (as opposite to the county states):

Connecticut, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Vermont and Wisconsin.

Among these states, the 6 New England States (Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont and Maine), plus New York and Wisconsin, the township governments are designated as towns, while in some part of Maine and New Hampshire, they care called as plantations and locations, respectively. In all the other township states, the township governments are designated as townships.

Some of the townships are absorbed by cities and no longer serve as a local government. Some of the townships lack the government altogether. Also in Iowa, the townships are subdivision of the county governments, not independent governments.






只看该作者 1 发表于: 2003-12-16
is it your original work or from someone else?
国之兴也, 其荣非他人所得攘; 国之亡也, 其辱非他人所得代。
只看该作者 2 发表于: 2003-12-16
From US census of Governments 2002 documents.
只看该作者 3 发表于: 2003-12-16
I wrote this article myself, but most of the data are from there.

以下是引用变速球在2003-12-16 5:18:51的发言:
From US census of Governments 2002 documents.
只看该作者 4 发表于: 2003-12-16
非常感谢,最好搞个中文版。当然不是阅读的问题,而是普及一下知识,呵呵:)
几个问题:
1、City and County of Broomfield(colorado)在哪?县名是什么?
2、你分析的第一条和第二条,Some countie are designated as city-counties and basically their governments serve as a city governments和Some counties are consolidated with cities and their governments serve as a city governments (classified as metropolitan governments)有什么区别?
3、Some counties have governments as part of another government是不是全县都是某个city government的一部分?如果这个city在这个县的中间,那么和前面两种情况有什么差别?
4、那些人口很少的县是怎么存在的?这些县还有法院吗?
5、Certain areas是完全没有governments,还是类似于派出机构?如果是前者,是不是类似于Connecticut的县?
缩省并县,省县直辖,县下设市,市镇平等
地域平等,市镇平等,设市平等(见头像)
省—县—适域市(5万起)、小广域镇,B、C。。。市
省—县域市(城市几乎充满县域,100万起)A市
欢迎关注微博http://weibo.com/qqmexh
只看该作者 5 发表于: 2003-12-16
1. The city and the county of Broomfield is the same area. It's in the northwest suburb Denver, Between US-36 and I-25. It's a very small county, only around 36k population and around 30~40 km^2

2. The category 1 is different from the category 2 and 3. In my category 1, the area is designated as both city and county, so the city is actually the county and vice versa. The category 2 and 3 are some kind of consolidation. The city and county might be different. In the case of Nashville-Davidson County, there are still another 6~7 cities existing inside the Davidson County. Which is also true for many cases in category 3. There are not a lot of difference between category 2 and 3, just the jurisdiction is different.

3. Other than the case of New York (in which the New York City covers the area of the five counties), other cities have no bigger area than its host county.

4. Counties in America were established by early legislation. Most of them are fixed and might never be changed. In many cases, counties were divided by retangular boxes, regardless of topography or population whatsoever. And certain counties might just keep losing population. I don't know about exactly how the governments are organized in those counties with very little population. Some kind of county government do exist in Loving county, though, although only around 100 people there.

5. These areas have city governments. These are mostly least populated area and outside of the city areas there may be few residents and no general-purpose government is actually needed in this case.
只看该作者 6 发表于: 2003-12-17
非常感谢:)
1、我看了地图,好像没有叫Broomfield的县,真的找不到,我看的是census.org上的地图。
2、不恰当的类比,你说的Nashville-Davidson County中仍然有其他city,那能不能看作是中国的地级市管县级市。因为外国人认为地级市应当翻译成metropolity。但是Nashville City同县内的其它cities又是什么关系呢?
3、至于这类,纽约的情况可以理解,但是其它并不能覆盖几个县的情况让我难以理解了,能不能解释的具体些?比如County of Marion是City of Indianapolis的一部分,那么按照中国人的想法,不是这个city就会cover整个county吗?
缩省并县,省县直辖,县下设市,市镇平等
地域平等,市镇平等,设市平等(见头像)
省—县—适域市(5万起)、小广域镇,B、C。。。市
省—县域市(城市几乎充满县域,100万起)A市
欢迎关注微博http://weibo.com/qqmexh
只看该作者 7 发表于: 2003-12-17
我或许可能回到你几个问题:

1 科罗拉多州-The City and County of Broomfield
http://www.ci.broomfield.co.us/
下面是一张典型的美国城市架构图:
City and County of Broomfield Organizational Chart


2,3 美国的County和City不应该把他们简单的看成中国的县市来比较,因为没有很大的可比性.

以我个人为例: 我住Jersey City的时候,该市在行政区划上是归Hudson County所管辖,可是该市更是属于大纽约地区(New York City Metropolitan Area);所以,大多居民既有New Jersey的身份证,也有纽约的身份证(我自己就有);
然而在管辖权而言,Hudson County我从来没有接触过,他也没有来接触过我. 在该县的管辖地区来看,他有Jersey City那中大市,也有Harrison,Hoboken,Kearny这样的小城市.同此理Jersey City与其Hudson County里面其他的城市互补隶属,没有直接关系.
所谓郡县制,其政府行政制重点在于城市(CITY),County Council 管的很少. 其中简单的一点可以从美国邮政地址看出来,没有县的注明,只有所在地城市+州名(邮编).

美国这么大,其他州都可以自己修订法律,当然不排除个别状况,不过就我去过的几个地方而言, 美东的纽约州,新泽西州,康州,宾州,北卡其设置都是如此.从没有看到过city会cover整个county的.
县市同名这可以理解,可是County不可能被某市包括.就算是纽约市,其四周也是属于某郡县的,如东部的Long Island的Nassau County,和NYC的Bronx,Brooklyn同级别,曼哈顿同此理. 在纽约上州,那郡县划分就更明确了!
其中最明显的一点就是郡县之划分主要来分清其州内的行政疆界,地图都描的很清楚了!


欢迎补充! ;-p



国之兴也, 其荣非他人所得攘; 国之亡也, 其辱非他人所得代。
只看该作者 8 发表于: 2003-12-17
about 1, the broomfield county is relative a new county, founded in 1998 (might be the newest founded county in the States). Most of the recent maps have it.

about 2, 3, county and city in US is not really the relationship of upper government and lower government. They are both local government bodies. The city has some home-ruling rights, that means they are autonomous on certain issues such as police, fire station, and urban road maintenance. However, in terms of taxes, or driver's license and this kind of issues, you gotta meet the county. County also has the jail and provide public service for those outside any city.

New York City is consisted of 5 counties, which is rather an exception. Other cities in my knowledge never surpass their host county.

The city-county consolidation will result the single government body over the whole county. In some cases it means the city will cover the whole area of this county, in other cases there are still other independent cities out there.

In the Northeast the things are different. Many Northeastern States counties are traditionally weak and towns, townships and cities take care of most local governmental service.

只看该作者 9 发表于: 2004-12-16
you are supposed to be a foreinger living in china. is it true?
主張①省province府metropolis※(道region)-②郡city county縣county-③市city鎮township鄉municipality區borough※(坊precinct-社區commune村莊village)三級政府六級區劃■衆議院參議院聯合立法-地方自治-司法獨立......

只看该作者 10 发表于: 2004-12-29
摘要翻譯一些:
以下是引用变速球在2003-12-16 4:52:36的发言:
Most of the people here might think USA has a simple classification of local administration: i. e. state-county-city.
Actually this is an oversimplication. USA has a very complicate organization of local governments, although still much simpler than China.許多人認爲美國的地方政府序列很簡單,即州-縣-市鎮;但它實際上很複雜,儘管比中國的還是要簡單些。
USA currently has 50 states and the District of Columbia.
Except for Alaska and Lousiana, all other states in USA are divided into counties. Alaska has boroughs, whereas Lousiana has parrishes, which are equivalent to the counties of other states.美國包括50個州和哥倫比亞特區。除阿拉斯加和路易斯安那外,其他州分為縣;阿拉斯加的borough和路州的parish類似於縣。
Not all counties(including boroughs and parrishes mentioned above) actually have governments, though:不是所有的縣都有政府。
1. Some countie are designated as city-counties and basically their governments serve as a city governments:一些縣作爲城市縣,相當於市政府。
Alaska: City and Borough of Anchorage, City and Borough of Juneau, City and Borough of Sitka, and City and Borough of Yakutat;
California: City and County of San Francisco;
Colorado: City and County of Broomfield, and City and County of Denver;
Hawaii: City and County of Honolulu;
Kansas: Unified Government of Wyandotte County and City of Kansas City;
Montana: Anaconda-Deer Lodge County, and Butte-Silver Bow County
以上是一些例子
2. Some counties are consolidated with cities and their governments serve as a city governments (classified as metropolitan governments).有些縣和市基本重疊,建立大都市政府。
Tennessee: Hartsville-Trousdale County, Lynchburg-Moore County, and Nashville-Davidson County.
3. Some counties have governments as part of another government.
有些縣的政府是另一個政府的一部分。
Florida: County of Duval (City of Jacksonville);
Georgia: County of Clarke (City of Athens), County of Muscogee (City of Columbus), County of Richmond (City of Augusta);
Hawaii: County of Kalawao (State of Hawaii);
Indiana: County of Marion (City of Indianapolis);
Kentucky: Lexington-Fayette Urban County
Lousiana: Parrish of East Baton Rouge (City of Baton Rouge), Parrish of Lafayette (City of Lafayette), Parrish of Orleans (City of New Orleans), and Terrebonne Parish Consolidated Government;
Massachusetts: County of Nantucket (Town of Nantucket), and County of Suffolk (City of Boston);
New York: Counties of Bronx, Kings, Queens, Richmond and New York (Borroughs of Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island and Manhattan, all parts of New York City);
Pennsylvania: County of Philadelphia (City of Philadelphia).
4. Counted as a county but actually a city and a District (equal to a state) is Washington City (the District of Columbia).哥倫比亞特區華盛頓市,可看作縣。
5. Cities located outside of any county or the its equivalent:市委於任何縣/br/prs外。
Maryland: Baltimore City Missouri: St. Louis City Nevada: Carson City
Virginia: all independent cities獨立市 in Virginia, i. e. Alexandria, Bedford, Bristol, Buena Vista, Charlottesville, Chesapeake, Colonial Heights, Covington, Danville, Emporia, Fairfax, Falls Church, Franklin, Fredericksburg, Galax, Hampton, Harrisonburg, Hopewell, Lexington, Lynchburg, Manassas, Manassas Park, Martinville, Newport News, Norfolk, Norton, Petersburg, Poquoson, Portsmouth, Radford, Richmond, Roanoke, Salem, Staunton, Suffolk, Virginia Beach, Waynesboro, Williamsburg, and Winchester.
6. Although geographically the counties exist, but no functional county government.
有縣但沒有事實上的縣政府。
Connecticut: Fairfield, Hartford, Litchfield, Middlesex, New Haven, New London, Tolland, and Windlam.
Massachusetts: Berkshire, Essex, Franklin, Hampden, Hampshire, Middlesex, and Worcester.
Rhode Island: Bristol, Kent, Newport, Providence, and Washington.
7. Certain areas in Alaska are designated as counties in census, but no organized county government there.阿拉斯加特定地區在統計時當作縣,但沒有縣政府。
Alaska: Aleutians West, Bethel, Dillingham, Nome, Prince of Wales-Outer Ketchikan, Skagway-Hoonah-Angoon, Southeast Fairbanks, Valdez-Cordova, Wade Hampton, Wrangall-Paterson, and Yukon-Kayukuk.
Because of this, about 10% of the whole American population lives in area out of any county.綜上原因,月10%的美國人住再不是縣的地方。
Subcounty governments include municipal governments and township governments.
縣下的政府包括城市政府和鄉鎮政府。
Municipal governments include cities, boroughs (except for Alaska), towns (Except for Minnesota, New York, Wisconsin, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont and Maine) and villages.
城市政府包括市,自治市(除了阿拉斯加的brg),鎮(除了mnst,ny),wscs,cntc,ri,mscst,nhpshr,vmt,mn和村。
The township governments exist in the co-called "township states" (as opposite to the county states):
Connecticut, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Vermont and Wisconsin.鄉鎮政府設立在這些州(相對於“縣”州):
Among these states, the 6 New England States (Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont and Maine), plus New York and Wisconsin,
the township governments are designated as towns, 包括6個新英格蘭州、紐約,威斯康星,稱為鎮;while in some part of Maine and New Hampshire, they care called as plantations and locations, respectively. 在面因和新罕不什兒的一些地區稱爲種植園或區In all the other township states, the township governments are designated as townships.其他設真的州的鄉鎮政府是鄉。
Some of the townships are absorbed by cities and no longer serve as a local government. Some of the townships lack the government altogether. Also in Iowa, the townships are subdivision of the county governments, not independent governments.有些鄉鎮被城市吞併;有些則沒有政府;在愛奧瓦,鄉是縣下的分區,但不是獨立的政府
主張①省province府metropolis※(道region)-②郡city county縣county-③市city鎮township鄉municipality區borough※(坊precinct-社區commune村莊village)三級政府六級區劃■衆議院參議院聯合立法-地方自治-司法獨立......

只看该作者 11 发表于: 2004-12-29
以下是引用变速球在2003-12-17 3:11:50的发言:
about 2, 3, county and city in US is not really the relationship of upper government and lower government. They are both local government bodies. The city has some home-ruling rights, that means they are autonomous on certain issues such as police, fire station, and urban road maintenance. However, in terms of taxes, or driver's license and this kind of issues, you gotta meet the county. County also has the jail and provide public service for those outside any city.
美國的縣和市不是簡單的上下級關係。市在其轄區内有一定權利,如警察、消防、道路維護等。但是稅收、駕駛執照等事務應到縣里去辦;縣還有監獄,並為不屬於的地區提供公共服務。
New York City is consisted of 5 counties, which is rather an exception. Other cities in my knowledge never surpass their host county.紐約包括了5個縣,是個特例。沒有別的市超越了所在縣的邊界。
In the Northeast the things are different. Many Northeastern States counties are traditionally weak and towns, townships and cities take care of most local governmental service.在東北部,許多州的縣較弱,由鎮、鄉、市處理地方政務。
主張①省province府metropolis※(道region)-②郡city county縣county-③市city鎮township鄉municipality區borough※(坊precinct-社區commune村莊village)三級政府六級區劃■衆議院參議院聯合立法-地方自治-司法獨立......
只看该作者 12 发表于: 2004-12-29
city跨县的情况还是经常有的。至少我早尤他州的地图上见到过。
以下是引用湖鹰在2004-12-29 18:16:23的发言:
[quote]以下是引用变速球在2003-12-17 3:11:50的发言:
about 2, 3, county and city in US is not really the relationship of upper government and lower government. They are both local government bodies. The city has some home-ruling rights, that means they are autonomous on certain issues such as police, fire station, and urban road maintenance. However, in terms of taxes, or driver's license and this kind of issues, you gotta meet the county. County also has the jail and provide public service for those outside any city.
美國的縣和市不是簡單的上下級關係。市在其轄區内有一定權利,如警察、消防、道路維護等。但是稅收、駕駛執照等事務應到縣里去辦;縣還有監獄,並為不屬於的地區提供公共服務。
New York City is consisted of 5 counties, which is rather an exception. Other cities in my knowledge never surpass their host county.紐約包括了5個縣,是個特例。沒有別的市超越了所在縣的邊界。
In the Northeast the things are different. Many Northeastern States counties are traditionally weak and towns, townships and cities take care of most local governmental service.在東北部,許多州的縣較弱,由鎮、鄉、市處理地方政務。

[/quote]
缩省并县,省县直辖,县下设市,市镇平等
地域平等,市镇平等,设市平等(见头像)
省—县—适域市(5万起)、小广域镇,B、C。。。市
省—县域市(城市几乎充满县域,100万起)A市
欢迎关注微博http://weibo.com/qqmexh

只看该作者 13 发表于: 2005-01-01
我是照着变速球的话翻译的。你说的是都市区吗?

这片帖子清楚的告诉了大家美国的县市之间不是简单的上下级关系,而它们之间更多的是法律联系这一点应该为各位所了解,而不局限于我、QQme、余澜涛等人。美国县、市镇不一定建立政府也是很好的启迪。我国许多地方完全也可以因地适宜。比如我认为韶山市虽然是县级,但是完全没必要成立市级政府,设个韶山市管理局就够了。
主張①省province府metropolis※(道region)-②郡city county縣county-③市city鎮township鄉municipality區borough※(坊precinct-社區commune村莊village)三級政府六級區劃■衆議院參議院聯合立法-地方自治-司法獨立......
只看该作者 14 发表于: 2005-01-01
这个么,是因为当地人认为设市不划算。向市缴的税比向县缴的要多。
当然,这在中国是不能选择的。
请看这篇:
http://www.chinanewsweek.com.cn/2003-07-25/1/1886.html
美国的另类城市化运动



  声明:刊用中国《新闻周刊》稿件务经书面授权并注明摘自中国新闻社中国《新闻周刊》。联系电话:88387124


  当传统城市的外围发展起来的时候,不受市政府管辖的地区正在繁荣起来,但是这些地区并没有发展为传统的城市。它们没有市长,没有市政厅,居民们也不用和官僚们做无谓的斗争。这些飞速发展的另类城市在美国反映了一种全国性的转变:告别层层叠叠的政府机构,把一些政府部门的职能移交给私人公司

  本刊特约撰稿/周柳宁(发自美国洛杉矶)

  每年大约有3500万游客蜂拥至拉斯维加斯。他们一到拉斯维加斯,就直奔拉斯维加斯大道,然后在这里商业区的灯红酒绿之中纵情狂赌,恣意狂欢。但是他们当中的大多数人并不是驻足拉斯维加斯,他们更愿意置身于一个叫做小天堂的地方。

  人类千年来第一种新型的城市空间

  小天堂到底是一个什么样的地方?它是一种奇怪的城市动物,它正在从内华达的沙漠到华盛顿郊区飞速发展的地区繁殖。

  当传统城市的外围发展起来的时候,不受市政府管辖的地区正在繁荣起来,但是这些地区并没有发展为传统的城市。它们具有传统城市所具备的很多特点:众多的人口,繁忙的商业中心,逶迤伸展的住宅小区。但是它们并不是传统意义上的城市,它们没有市长,没有市政厅,居民们也不用和官僚们做无谓的斗争。

  “这是人类几千年来第一种新型的城市空间。”马克·戈特迪埃纳如此说道。他是布法罗大学的社会学教授,《拉斯维加斯:一个全美城市的产生》一书的作者。“要理解这样的地方,就要完全摒弃原来关于城市的概念。”

  这些飞速发展的另类城市在美国反映了一种全国性的转变:告别层层叠叠的政府机构,把一些政府部门的职能移交给私人公司。对于这些地区的居民来说,成为一个传统意义上的城市毫无必要。

  小天堂以及很多大的另类城市,在美国的全国路线图上都不占一席之地,但是拉斯维加斯商业区的96%集中在小天堂,另有186700人常年居住在这块44平方英里的土地上。

  它是美国另类城市中人口最多的一个,但是大多数游客从未听说过它。甚至一些居民也不知道他们住在那里,毕竟他们的邮件上盖的都是拉斯维加斯的邮戳。

  其他另类城市,包括马里兰州的哥伦比亚和迈阿密附近的肯达尔都远近知名,而且早就出现在高速公路的标志牌和地图上。

  不管是名闻遐迩还是不为人知,很多另类城市都是根据房屋所有者协会严格的章程来进行管理的。其他一些,比如小天堂,则是基于赌博业和旅游业之类的雄厚商业基础发展起来的。它们大多数并不希望增加另一层政府机构,额外交税或者自己提供公共服务,即使那样做意味着具有更明显的城市特征。它们基本的公共服务,从供水和学校到警察和消防部门,都依赖于强有力的县政府。

  “这样就很好。”M. J.哈维这样说道。她长期以来就住在小天堂,是小天堂镇顾问委员会的主席,向克拉克县提供城市分区和规划方面的咨询意见。

  莫琳·麦卡维是华盛顿的城市土地研究所的研究员。她说:“老的城市界限令人产生错觉。像洛杉矶这样的城市有400平方英里,而像波士顿这样的城市却只有47平方英里。到底什么样的地方才能称为城市呢?”

  没有市政府的边缘城市

  另类城市令人很难给它们贴上传统的标签。这一点在如何定义美国城市地区发展模式的巨大变化上表现得尤其明显,甚至人口普查局也被难住了,把它们称为“人口普查特别标明地区”。其他专家称之为边缘城市、无边缘城市、外围城市或者郊区城市,但是它们很多根本不是传统的城市。

  全美国有2000个这样的特殊地区,大多数规模较小,但是其中61个的人口超过5万,而其中41个的总人口达到了300万。

  大多数这样的地区能够发展起来而没有成为传统意义上的城市,是因为它们一方面有强有力的民间管理机构,另一方面有强大的县政府。

  很多社区在开发商建造成百上千栋房屋之前只是荒无人烟的沙漠和农田,现在这些社区多数由房屋所有者协会管理。这些协会制定公约,管理新住宅区的面貌和生活方式,还收取房屋所有者的各种应交费用以支付私有道路、绿化、照明和收垃圾的费用。县政府提供所有其他服务。

  居民们喜欢县政府提供的服务。他们不愿向市政府交税,因为市政府的税一般要高于县政府的税,而且很多房屋所有者已经交纳了很高的会费。

  社区要在没有市政府的情况下生存下去,只能在那些能够有效地提供基本公共服务的县才能实现。

  在华盛顿-巴尔的摩地区有13个大型的另类城市,这些地方都有特别强大的县政府。在马里兰州,蒙哥马利和其它县在收取州的所得税之外还自行征收所得税,而蒙哥马利县是知名的另类城市贝特斯塔和银溪的所在地。附近弗吉尼亚州的莱斯顿(人口56407)是“新城镇”的原型,但它不是一座传统意义上的城市。那些有影响力的房屋所有者和商业协会监督规划和环境问题,但是整个莱斯顿却依靠费尔法克斯县来提供大多数公共服务。

  另外一个另类城市是东洛杉矶,它靠洛杉矶县提供大多数公共服务。如同洛杉矶历史上的许多事件一样,东洛杉矶之所以没有被纳入洛杉矶市与供水问题有关。那些能够向洛杉矶提供直通管道、获得洛杉矶东北方向200英里以外的欧文山谷供水权的地区都被洛杉矶纳入自己的辖区,但是东洛杉矶(人口124283)不在供水管道的方向上。目前,它是洛杉矶县没有设立为市的地区中最大的一个地区。

  对拉斯维加斯说不

  内华达州的克拉克县面积7800平方英里(相当于新泽西州的面积),有150万居民,但是它只含五个传统意义上组建起来的城市,包括有48万人口的拉斯维加斯。美国人口最多的三个另类城市都在这个县,而且县政府提供大多数公共服务。交通繁忙的道路两旁的标志牌欢迎人们来到这些“城镇”,而这些“城镇”只不过是一个接一个的社区和购物中心。

  即使没有城市,克拉克县也已经得到了很大的回报。拉斯维加斯商业区是世界上最大的十个度假胜地的所在地,去年的赌博业收入达到47亿美元。

  这块商业区为什么没有成为拉斯维加斯市的一部分颇具传奇色彩。最初在市区以南开业的几家赌场于上世纪40年代向市政府要求接入该市的排水系统,被市政府拒绝了。接着,巴格西·西格尔于1946年来到此地,开办了弗拉明戈大饭店,并帮助其它两家饭店组成了卫生区,提供排水服务。1953年,小天堂成立。

  戈特迪埃纳,《拉斯维加斯:一个全美城市的产生》一书的作者指出,西格尔和其他创业者继续开发拉斯维加斯以南的地区,避免交纳市政府的税费。

  小天堂的社区没有任何动力去并入拉斯维加斯,因为企业要“维持可能的最低税率和最小的市政负担”,戈特迪埃纳写道。事实上,这一方案为大多数人所接受。

  拉斯维加斯市长奥斯卡·古德曼正在推动拉斯维加斯市和克拉克县的合并,但是这可能会面临强烈的反对。“人们并不是来看克拉克县的,他们是来看拉斯维加斯的,”他说道。“如果你问一下旅馆和赌场的老板谁是市长,他们会说是奥斯卡。”

  不论是否合并,小天堂正在得到更多的承认。联邦政府意识到了城市中心的巨大变化,并正在把大的另类城市的名字加到大都市的名字后面。基于这样的指导方针,内华达州的赌博业巨头现在有了一个新的标签:拉斯维加斯-小天堂大都会区。

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