Misconceptions about town lines

[roadman65]

When I lived in Clark, NJ we all believed that the former Lehigh Valley Railroad was the border between Clark and two neighboring communities which were Scotch Plains and Westfield.  However, that was not the case.

As for the Clark/ Scotch Plains border it was Robinson's Branch of the Rahway River that was the actual boundary.  As far as Westfield goes it had a line that went on a very shallow angle from where Robinson's Branch became Middlesex Reservoir and Scotch Plains no longer was bordering Clark to cross the former LVRR where the at grade crossing of CR 611 was completely in Westfield, but where CR 613 crossed the LVRR over a bridge the crossing was completely in Clark.  In fact Clark had some of two subdivisions on the North side of the tracks, with one of them just a few houses on Dakota Street.

Yet, many of us thought that the railroad was the border of Clark.  Even the AT& T phone center on Cellar Avenue in Clark thought it was Scotch Plains and referred to it as being there, when in fact it was on Clark's side of the river and the maps show it.  Only where Lake Avenue crosses the Robinson's Branch does the township line deviate as the waterway was altered when the Lehigh Valley Railroad was built just in the same manner the Mississippi River was with some of the state lines between Kentucky and Missouri deviating from the River in some spots due to altering of the river, so was this one part.

Anybody else refer to one person's town as another per say?

Also, Rahway Prison is not in Rahway, NJ, but located in Woodbridge Township's Avenel neighborhood.  Another great misconception that Rahway citizens hate.

[Roadgeek Adam]

Also, Rahway Prison is not in Rahway, NJ, but located in Woodbridge Township's Avenel neighborhood.  Another great misconception that Rahway citizens hate.

Hence why it's called East Jersey State Prison even though we all call it Rahway State. Avenel's not happy with it either, but there's not much we can do.

[pianocello]

In Northwest Indiana, the Southlake Mall was built in an unincorporated area near the interchange between I-65 and US 30. Since the nearest town was Merrillville, everyone considered the mall to be a part of the town, referring to Merrillville as a shopping destination. About 10-15 years ago, the nearby town of Hobart annexed the previously unincorporated land that the mall and many other stores sit on, but people still refer to the area as "Merrillville."

[GaryV]

The Detroit Zoo is referred to as being in Royal Oak, but most of it is in Huntington Woods.  Only the entrance and the first couple exhibits are in the Royal Oak city limits.

Interestingly enough, Royal Oak is generally thought of as ending at Woodward Ave (except up at the northern end) and thus the zoo would not be in Royal Oak at all.  But the line goes west of Woodward to take in a few residential blocks and that portion of the zoo.

[golden eagle]

Many people would be surprised to know that the Las Vegas Strip is not in the city itself, but is in an unincorporated area.

Closer to my area, some people consider the Walmart in Pearl, MS, to be Brandon, though the Brandon city limits is a stone's throw away. Speaking of Brandon, some portions of the city of Flowood have Brandon addresses.

[mapman1071]

Usually is based on Zip Code. Some Zip Codes cross town or city lines, and some Zip Codes that border a town or city may be in a different town or city.
Examples:
Some Scottsdale, AZ Zip Codes are in Neighboring Phoenix, Cave Creek & Carefree.
Some Glendale, AZ Zip Codes are In Neighboring Phoenix 
And the worst examples Exist in Maricopa (Metro Phoenix), Pinal (Metro Phoenix & Metro Tucson) and Pima (Metro Tucson) are county islands surrounded by cities and towns, example: You could live at 15600 S 132nd Street Chandler, AZ 85255, but your house is in a county island not the city of Chandler, AZ   

[roadman65]

Lake Buena Vista, FL is part of Disney and the Reedy Creek Improvement District, but many of us think it is the commercial strip located outside of Disney World on FL 535 between I-4 and Lake Street(along Apopka-Vineland Road).

I used to think, that Downtown Disney (formerly Disney Village) was Lake Buena Vista which is why the area outside the resort became known as that.  I thought Disney dropped the name for the Village and later Downtown and that LBV was unincorporated so the name just stood for the area with all post Disney businesses along 535 just using that as a name cause it caught on.  Then I looked up the Reedy Creek Improvement District on line and found that it is technically one of two towns that are incorporated on Disney's Resort.

[cpzilliacus]

In the Washington, D.C. suburbs, there are many municipalities that have nearby reas (as defined by the Postal Service) that are much larger than their corporate limits.

In the Maryland suburbs we have:

Frederick;
Thurmont;
Chevy Chase;
Gaithersburg;
Rockville;
Chevy Chase;
Hyattsville;
Laurel;
Bowie;
Upper Marlboro;
Capital Heights; and
New Carrollton.

All have significant nearby unincorporated areas that have the same "city" name as the municipality of that name.

In Northern Virginia there are these:

Alexandria;
Falls Church;
Fairfax;
Vienna;
Manassas;
Dumfries;
Haymarket; and
Leesburg.

There are a bunch more that I did not enumerate.

[Brandon]

There are a lot of misconceptions about municipal boundaries, especially in the outlying areas, here in Illinois.  Here are but a few:

A section of Aurora that has a Naperville zip code: https://goo.gl/maps/0HJ5g  It's right next to an area of the City of Naperville.
The Caton Farm Road corridor in Joliet that has a Plainfield zip code.  Even includes Plainfield Township South High School (which is also in Kendall County): https://goo.gl/maps/sdx7U  Most of the area was previously unincorporated Plainfield Township prior ro annexation.
The wonderful Village of Woodridge and how it snakes from north to south: http://www.vil.woodridge.il.us/DocumentCenter/View/435  Parts could be Lisle, Bolingbrook, Darien, Romeoville, or Lemont depending on where you are.

[KEK Inc.]

Bothell, WA, is split in two counties (yet is one city).  All of the roads in Bothell follow the county numbering systems too, so it gets wonky at the line.

[noelbotevera]

Lake Buena Vista, FL is part of Disney and the Reedy Creek Improvement District, but many of us think it is the commercial strip located outside of Disney World on FL 535 between I-4 and Lake Street(along Apopka-Vineland Road).

I used to think, that Downtown Disney (formerly Disney Village) was Lake Buena Vista which is why the area outside the resort became known as that.  I thought Disney dropped the name for the Village and later Downtown and that LBV was unincorporated so the name just stood for the area with all post Disney businesses along 535 just using that as a name cause it caught on.  Then I looked up the Reedy Creek Improvement District on line and found that it is technically one of two towns that are incorporated on Disney's Resort.

There are some errors with Disney's location.
It is located in Bay Lake, Florida, a part of Orlando.
All mail is instead mailed to Lake Buena Vista, Florida, still part of Orlando.
The general public does not specify this and simply says Orlando, and think I'm wrong when I try to correct them. I have seen letters addressed to Disney World using Orlando and not Lake Buena Vista.

[hotdogPi]

Lake Buena Vista, FL is part of Disney and the Reedy Creek Improvement District, but many of us think it is the commercial strip located outside of Disney World on FL 535 between I-4 and Lake Street(along Apopka-Vineland Road).

I used to think, that Downtown Disney (formerly Disney Village) was Lake Buena Vista which is why the area outside the resort became known as that.  I thought Disney dropped the name for the Village and later Downtown and that LBV was unincorporated so the name just stood for the area with all post Disney businesses along 535 just using that as a name cause it caught on.  Then I looked up the Reedy Creek Improvement District on line and found that it is technically one of two towns that are incorporated on Disney's Resort.

There are some errors with Disney's location.
It is located in Bay Lake, Florida, a part of Orlando.
All mail is instead mailed to Lake Buena Vista, Florida, still part of Orlando.
The general public does not specify this and simply says Orlando, and think I'm wrong when I try to correct them. I have seen letters addressed to Disney World using Orlando and not Lake Buena Vista.

The ZIP code (if it is correct) will accurately specify the part of Orlando.

[english si]

I have seen letters addressed to Disney World using Orlando and not Lake Buena Vista.

Which surely the USPS can deal with easily?

I'd imagine that, like the UK, they barely use the town to sort it out - the code and street address normally giving the right information, with fairly rare duplicates. Of course, UK codes are fine detailed enough that even the street is rarely needed to discern (seriously - the use of letters means that each code covers a few houses. There's unlikely to be too many duplicates in the 3-4 character front part either, though they can cover several villages, so there will be some), but even the 5-digit zipcodes aren't going to cause issues.

And given that it's a common mistake, even without the zipcode it would get there - OK a bit late and dog-earred as the USPS won't be happy, but...

[jeffandnicole]

I have seen letters addressed to Disney World using Orlando and not Lake Buena Vista.

Which surely the USPS can deal with easily?

I'd imagine that, like the UK, they barely use the town to sort it out - the code and street address normally giving the right information, with fairly rare duplicates. Of course, UK codes are fine detailed enough that even the street is rarely needed to discern (seriously - the use of letters means that each code covers a few houses. There's unlikely to be too many duplicates in the 3-4 character front part either, though they can cover several villages, so there will be some), but even the 5-digit zipcodes aren't going to cause issues.

And given that it's a common mistake, even without the zipcode it would get there - OK a bit late and dog-earred as the USPS won't be happy, but...

In the US, using the 9 digit zip code will get it to the correct street.  A house number will get it to the house.  Technically, that's all you need.  Everything else is duplicated info.

[silverback1065]

Many people would be surprised to know that the Las Vegas Strip is not in the city itself, but is in an unincorporated area.

Closer to my area, some people consider the Walmart in Pearl, MS, to be Brandon, though the Brandon city limits is a stone's throw away. Speaking of Brandon, some portions of the city of Flowood have Brandon addresses.

cgp grey has a good video on this, it's actually in paradise, and the reason shouldn't surprise anyone: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=naDCCW5TSpU

[cpzilliacus]

Bothell, WA, is split in two counties (yet is one city).

Maryland has municipalities that cross county boundaries, notably Mount Airy (Carroll and Frederick Counties), Queen Anne (Queen Anne's and Talbot Counties) and Hampstead (Carroll County and a small section in Baltimore County [the only part of Baltimore County that is within the corporate limits of a municipality]).  Delmar is in two counties, Wicomico County, Maryland and Sussex County, Delaware, and at least some municipal services "cross" the state line.   The City of Takoma Park used to be in Montgomery County and Prince George's County, but the county line was moved so that all of the city is in Montgomery County in about 2000.

[noelbotevera]

Derby Line, Vermont. When the houses were built when it became a town, there were still discussions on where the Canadian border was. When the Canadian Border was finally decided, it turned out that most of the buildings in Derby Line were also in Stanstead, Quebec. The buildings and roads that dip into Canada have refused to move for a long time.

[empirestate]

A famous misconception about borough lines is that NYC's Marble Hill neighborhood is in the Bronx.

More flippantly, a stereotypical misconception about the New York City boundary is that it coincides with the borough of Manhattan (below 125th Street, if we're really playing up the Manhattan-centrism).

[Scott5114]

Many of the businesses along the SH-9 corridor west of I-35 brand themselves as being in "Norman", as that is what zip code they are in. However, the businesses along the north side of the highway are technically in Newcastle and along the south side of the highway they are in Goldsby. This is all kind of stupid because the businesses are cut off from Norman proper by the river and many of them are chains that have locations in Norman, so it's less confusing to refer to them as "The McDonald's in Goldsby" or "The Shell in Goldsby" instead of "in Norman", where there are several other locations of the same business.

Even Goldsby Gaming Center, a small casino well into Goldsby city limits, gets in on the act, appearing on some promotional items as "Goldsby Gaming Center in Norman"!

[DTComposer]

I have seen letters addressed to Disney World using Orlando and not Lake Buena Vista.

Which surely the USPS can deal with easily?

The zip codes that cover the area (32821, 32830, 32836) all have a default city of Orlando:

https://tools.usps.com/go/ZipLookupResultsAction!input.action?resultMode=2&companyName=&address1=&address2=&city=&state=Select&urbanCode=&postalCode=32821&zip=

...regardless of municipal boundaries. Zip code boundaries are much less likely to change than city boundaries, so when new cities are formed, annexations happen, etc., the zip codes retain their original city designations.

Other thoughts:

-Many people in the eastern (wealthier) section of Anaheim use Anaheim Hills in their addresses, I assume to give them some separation/exclusivity from the rest of Anaheim, even though USPS specifically requests to not use Anaheim Hills:

https://tools.usps.com/go/ZipLookupResultsAction!input.action?resultMode=2&companyName=&address1=&address2=&city=&state=Select&urbanCode=&postalCode=92807&zip=

It used to actually say "unacceptable - use Anaheim" on their site.

-Signal Hill was incorporated in 1924, but since it was entirely surrounded by Long Beach, used their postal codes for mailing (Long Beach 4, Long Beach 6, then 90804 and 90806) up until 2002 when it was finally given its own zip code of 90755.

[Brandon]

Bothell, WA, is split in two counties (yet is one city).

Living in a state where we have many municipalities that cross county lines, I don't see how that's special.  Our second largest one, Aurora, crosses into four different counties (DuPage, Kane, Kendall, and Will).

[silverback1065]

A famous misconception about borough lines is that NYC's Marble Hill neighborhood is in the Bronx.

More flippantly, a stereotypical misconception about the New York City boundary is that it coincides with the borough of Manhattan (below 125th Street, if we're really playing up the Manhattan-centrism).

I've always wondered what county NYC was in, so the boroughs are all different counties? Or is that only partly true?

[empirestate]

A famous misconception about borough lines is that NYC's Marble Hill neighborhood is in the Bronx.

More flippantly, a stereotypical misconception about the New York City boundary is that it coincides with the borough of Manhattan (below 125th Street, if we're really playing up the Manhattan-centrism).

I've always wondered what county NYC was in, so the boroughs are all different counties? Or is that only partly true?

It's entirely true. The five boroughs are exactly coextensive with five counties, three* of which have different names from each other:

-Manhattan/New York County
-Brooklyn/Kings County
-Queens/Queens County
-The Bronx/Bronx County
-Staten Island/Richmond County

*Technically, you could argue four, since the word "the" appears officially in the name of the borough of the Bronx, but not in the name of Bronx County. Also, Staten Island used to be called the borough of Richmond, but the borough name was changed to reflect the common practice of referring to the place by the name of the island.

[roadman65]

A famous misconception about borough lines is that NYC's Marble Hill neighborhood is in the Bronx.

More flippantly, a stereotypical misconception about the New York City boundary is that it coincides with the borough of Manhattan (below 125th Street, if we're really playing up the Manhattan-centrism).

Yes, I never thought that one, but I am sure that there are some people who do think that NYC is only Manhattan and not the 4 other boroughs. 

[empirestate]

As for misconceptions based on ZIP codes, those aren't so much about where town boundaries are as they are about failing to distinguish at all between a town (municipal entity) and a postal city/ZIP code (area designated by the post office to organize the delivery of mail). For whatever reason, people generally identify very strongly with what the post office calls their piece of territory (even though the receiving of mail at home is much less important than it used to be) and often barely refer to the actual governmental entity they live under, if there even is one.

(And it's not only ZIP codes; people will also identify with a school district, or just with a nearby municipality if they happen to live in an otherwise unnamed unincorporated area adjacent to it.)