A big part of why America has separately incorporated suburbs is racism. Move out of the urban core with its immigrants and blacks and use your taxes for de facto segregated schools. The core is then left with only the expenses but none of the income. Suburbs can't exist without the "urb." They only exist as in juxtaposition of the cities. States as higher powers should force reconsolidation of the boundaries.
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Typical of any government Is that it seeks only to grow. Rather than nurture their cores over seventy years and retain vibrancy, they ignore it and chase refugees to its edges. A re-focusing on what it is that makes a place vibrant would be welcome...doing so simply isn’t in governmental DNA.
12
I've got it! Just create money out of thin air. Recent history has shown that bubble economies are the new in thing. Just don't be around when they burst though.
9
How about we legally allow those seeking refuge from those whose farming has failed in Central America because of the climate crisis and those escaping brutal, unlivable conditions, to the dying cities in America and build these cities up again with their had work and dedication. It is a win-win situation for all.
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This sort of thing would be much more complicated to pull off in Pennsylvania, where there are township governments bordering, or often completely surrounding, cities and boroughs.
Although they are not mandated to provide as many services (police, fire, garbage pick up, etc.) as the boroughs and cities.
Those townships, which often have populations larger than the borough within/bordering it, also have their populations counted in the census. So, any annexation by a borough or city, would require the approval of the people within the targeted area. But, it would also have a negative effect on that township, as it's population would be decreased causing the township to lose federal/state money.
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Awww, don't cry for me Gov. Pritzker. We also left Illinois after seeing the wide abyss of political corruption and the bottomless pit of fiscal irresponsibility that has been its plight for at least 90 years. Before she passed from Alzheimers while still lucid, my mom begged me not to purchase any real estate within the boundaries of Illinois for those and many other reasons, such as the appalling incidence of gun related homicide. Instead we bought a house so close to the state line that I can see the unhappy town of Calumet City, a homicide high point, from my upper stories. Gunfire is frequently heard but not experienced behind our cordon sanitaire provided by local law enforcement, who I also support with intel in my Federal job. No more duping people into staying aboard the sinking ship, no matter how pretty the propaganda paints a picture, it's not worth one's life and prosperity.
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How about these declining cities recognize that their politics, far more liberal than the surrounding suburbs, is a major cause of the exodus? And as another comment stated, suburbs must incorporate ASAP as their own towns or cities to prevent this from continuing. Thankfully we live in a town which did just that years and years ago.
16
How does this affect schools? From my observations being shifted from a suburban district to a city district is what will really get people upset.
12
This sort of Borg assimilation (incorporation) of out lying land around cities has been a tactic for growth for a long time. Once they grab up more land, the cities then demand a sewer tax and other taxes to fund the newest citizen's needs – which they didn't want in the first place.
Between this and the use of civil forfeiture by the local police, speed traps, parking meters to create more offenses to be turned into revenue, who would not want to be a part of this Borg city state?!
19
People around Decatur must have been asleep at the switch for the last two decades. Just about every other suburb, maybe outside Illinois, took action to prevent annexation. You create your own town. Usually you also get to have your own school district. It is almost impossible to annex an operating city.
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If cities want to make a lot of enemies and generate ill-feelings that will manifest themselves in the future, go ahead.
7
Shouldn't there be better ways to accomplish the same goal, preservation of funding so all can benefit? Both cities and exurbs? Some kind of metropolitan area policies; and consideration of an urban planning concept and demand of such planning aid to safeguards those caught, "when a place dies"? Shouldn't there be exit or downsize planning demanded by law and related to these cases; planning that alleviates the burden/double whammy of cleanup costs AND loss of funding (massive, crippling detritus) and sticking it to those left behind? Decatur is among any number of like places in this country.
8
How does that work? You get more money but you also get more people to provide with roads, schools, sewers, and police. It doesn't seem like you're any better off.
12
@Will A city has a lot of fixed costs that don't go down with the population.
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@Will The answer is they let the maintenance go. Roads get worse, fewer police are funded (or the same number cover a larger area,) school repairs are not made, etc..
8
A bad situation I guess... but something tells me that quite a few of these property owners still take advantage of the local city's services (Fire/Police/EMS, water/gas/sewer lines, et cetera). If you were truly that worried about being part of some city, you would've picked a property more than a half-mile outside the city limits.
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@Nobody Special Perhaps you can determine what far enough looks like but there is always someone with the ability to expand what "close enough" looks like.
That is a problem.
5
I don't have sympathy for people who are mad that the city annexed them. They most likely earned their wealth and incomes in the city and use city roads and other services. People who flee are "free riders" that end up pushing the cost of services onto others in a shrinking tax base. It is most likely not the fault of the city itself that it is shrinking. These cities in the Midwest have long been shrinking due to globalization.
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@Paul Thomas
So... if you live outside of a city, do not work in that city and in fact sought to get away from the problems of that city, you can still be forced to support that city?
It is one thing to impose a commuter tax but to expand a city's boundaries to make up for lost population to maintain federal and state aid is simply a gimmick that adversely affects those annexed.
What do all the small towns throughout the country do because they are losing people?
15
I have been to Decatur, Peoria, Rockford, Quad Cities, Bloomington, Freeport and East St. Louis many times over the years on business.
I watched them rise and fall as factories vanished. Along with agriculture.
Once all the railroads and cattle led to Chicago. Along with highways. And big business made demography and geography work for Chicago as an air travel hub as well. Art and sports options abound. But the climate can be extreme when people prefer sunshine consistent warmth.
11
Bloomington-Normal has continued to grow, in fact, partially insulated by major universities and a huge insurance employment base. Danville is an even better example of cities that have struggled for decades now.
6
@Daniel Fry
I have been to Danville and Quincy too.
A university makes a big difference. As does a major regional or national corporate base.
8
@Daniel Fry
When the nation was looking for a central Midwest railroad terminal hub the candidates were Galena and Chicago.
Galena surrendered without a fight believing that it's access to the Mississippi River was the key commercial perch.
Galena is best known for being the home of Mr. and Mrs. U. S. Grant before the Civil War.
6
A typically political solution. Fudge the numbers.
Adding population by expanding borders is 'faking' it.
You are now making an apples to oranges comparison because the 2020 boundaries include more than the 2010 boundaries.
If your city has lost population how can it justify annexing areas to add more people when the actual population in the original area has still gone down?
The people being annexed will now be part of a larger entity that provides worse services and taxes them at a higher rate. It appears that most are being annexed against their wishes. How is this possible?
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@cynicalskeptic Read more closely - these unincorporated are leaching off of city services (water delivery, EMS services, and in some cases job creation) but not paying their fair share of taxes.
20
@LAM Maybe the solution is to build a wall and charge an admission fee, yes?
2
I see this as a different issue. Young people see no future in these small cities and are rushing to the few super cities (New York, Chicago0, Washington, LA, San Fran, Dallas, Atlanta, Houston, Philly, Boston) for jobs and activities. We are becoming a country on metropolitan areas....and just a few at that.
27
Philly would be honored to have been included on this esteemed list!
8
@ Carl, it was—look again.
5
Even Richard Florida agrees that movement did not really happen. To the extent it ever did, it has started reversing. Yes, NYC and SF are different, but the other central cities are losing.
3
California allows areas targeted for annexation to vote it down. Change the laws to block these land grabs.
29
Unmentioned is the problem of pooling rural and urban citizens together. Thus, the suburban preferences for wide streets, endless parking lots, and big lot stores and strip malls will win out, and any desire for density will be thwarted by the rural people’s wishes.
14
This is an excellent development. While people flee cities for the suburbs and outlying areas, their lives still depend on the city they are not willing to support. So, they have to be forced into. Annexation is the right thing to do. Duluth has suffered for many years over a presumed loss of population, but when you add back in its surrounding suburb(s), you have nearly the same population as before. Since population drops affect not only tax revenues, but funding from states and federal sources, this annexation move is a necessity. Suburbs have no legitimate claim to existence.
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