Municipal borders are legal creations, not natural features

Evidence

Consider the existence, and persistence, of municipal boundary lines. The borders of a town or village-​the city limits-​are often taken for granted. They seem natural, and, in fact, their squiggly lines often follow natural features like rivers or mountain ranges. But ultimately, there is nothing “natural” about them-​they are legal creations that define political space. Local boundary lines give powers and rights to those within the lines and exclude those outside the lines-​you live in Moneyville, you get Moneyville services-​its police and fire departments, its parks, its roads and sidewalks, and, impor­ tantly, its schools and easy access to employment opportunities; outside, you get none of these things. — Lawrence M. Friedman and Grant M. Hayden, American Law, 1347

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Municipal boundary lines perpetuate racial and class segregation — Lawrence M. Friedman and Grant M. Hayden, American Law: An Introduction, 1349; Legislative supremacy over local governments is limited in practice by politics, not law. — Lawrence M. Friedman and Grant M. Hayden, American Law: An Introduction, 444; Modern metropolitanization detached the real city from its legal boundaries — Lyn H. Lofland, World of Strangers_ Order and Action in…, 1122 (+2 more)

Broader Connections

• Modern metropolitanization detached the real city from its legal boundaries #expands (0.80) — Lyn H. Lofland, World of Strangers_ Order and Action in…, 1122
• National communities bore no determined relation to existing political borders #exemplifies (0.78) — Benedict Anderson, Imagined Communities, 191