Long Island Towns (New York, Hempstead, Brookhaven: houses, neighborhoods, schools)
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I noticed that towns such as Hempstead, Brookhaven and Islip rival cities in population such as Austin, Kansas City and Cincinnati. Why do Long Island towns stay so large (hundreds of thousands in population), and why don't they become cities--or at least split up into separate towns instead of so many large villages and hamlets?
A "town" on Long Island isn't like what you would consider a town to be most places. They're fairly large subdivisions of the County which have several communities located within them. People generally identify with the smaller subdivision of the Town they live in, which is either a village (incorporated) or hamlet (unincorporated). The difference between them is that a village has another layer of local government and a hamlet relies entirely on the larger town for governmental functions and services. Hamlets and villages are also most like "towns" in other parts of the country, and usually people will call the place they live a "town" even though it isn't.
"Town" and "City" in New York State terms are also fairly similar. Cities are more autonomous and generally provide more services independently of the County, but they both serve essentially the same function. LI towns also don't resemble anything close to typical cities, like the ones you listed. While the population and population density are very high, there isn't an urban fabric to LI whatsoever. It is purely suburban and very spread out....in eastern Suffolk County (where the Town of Brookhaven is located) even rural in most parts.
I noticed that towns such as Hempstead, Brookhaven and Islip rival cities in population such as Austin, Kansas City and Cincinnati. Why do Long Island towns stay so large (hundreds of thousands in population), and why don't they become cities--or at least split up into separate towns instead of so many large villages and hamlets?
Because most Long Islanders either came from NYC or their parents/grandparents did. And they left the city for various reasons including bad schools or overcrowded neighborhoods.
NYC has alot of great attributes but it is not known for protecting the quality of life of its residents. Schools even in the outer boroughs are often 4 story walk ups with no playfields. There is nothing like living in a formerly nice neighborhood of 1-2 family homes in Queens when developers are allowed to put up large multi-family (often ugly) houses around you. Or when the city puts a huge housing project or a homeless shelter right in the center of a middle class neighborhood.
NYC has made the very word "city" to be a bad word on Long Island.
because it allows us to have a gross duplication of services, tons of fire chiefs, school priniciples, water district supervisors and so many other things. That's why we pay so much more to live here. Plus most of Long Island is still pretty racist and I can name at least ten towns that would not want to be lumped together with the neighboring towns.
Concerning the issue of New York State "towns", which are sub-dividable, versus "townships", which, generally speaking, are not sub-dividable, the closest municipal entity to a "township" in New York State would be the coterminous town-village.
A coterminous town-village is where the town and the village have the same name and have the same exact border and the town supervisor/town board and the village mayor/board of trustees are the same.
Three of the 5 coterminous town-villages are in Westchester County (Harrison, Mount Kisco and Scarsdale), one is in Albany County (Green Island) and one is in Monroe County (East Rochester).
Thanks for the responses. Apparently, city=negative even though some cities can be just as small as typical towns (i.e. Rome, NY) or large yet spread out (i.e. Jacksonville, Fl). I've seen small cities that seemed more like towns in regards to how everyone knew each other, or didn't want their city to become too "big". It's amazing how an aversion to cities can exist no matter where one lives.
because it allows us to have a gross duplication of services, tons of fire chiefs, school priniciples, water district supervisors and so many other things. That's why we pay so much more to live here. Plus most of Long Island is still pretty racist and I can name at least ten towns that would not want to be lumped together with the neighboring towns.
I wasnt really getting at whole towns (like Town of Oyster Bay) becoming large cities but how a place like Long Beach is a "City" and Hempstead is not.
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