Newly Incorporated Municipalities (Nims) Result in the Creation of New Boundaries That Help Shape the Political and Social Fabric of the Country

Where are the Abstract Geographers? The creation of new cities can have dra- Newly Incorporated matic impacts on urban landscapes regarding Municipalities (NIMs) in the tax rates, land use patterns, school districts, South and the provision of other municipal services . Between 1990 and 2005, 193 newly incorporated municipalities (NIMs) were created Russell M. Smith in the South . The study of these new cities Department of Geography falls under the purview of the larger field University of North Carolina at Greensboro of boundary change . Boundary change can Greensboro, NC 27402-6170 take the form of annexation, consolidation/ Email: [email protected] merger, secession, the formation of special districts, and incorporation . This paper ex- Dr. Keith Debbage amines the current literature on the differ- Department of Geography ent forms of boundary change and provides University of North Carolina at Greensboro potential explanations for why municipal Greensboro, NC 27402-6170 incorporation is an area of research that has Email: [email protected] been overlooked by geographers . Through a case study of municipal incorporation in the South, this paper will then explore the ways in which geographers can contribute to our understanding of this topic . Key Words: municipal incorporation, boundary change, metropolitan fragmentation .

INTRODUCTION

The appropriate role of local government in American society has been the subject of much discussion among urban scholars for decades (Schneider 1986, Downs 1994, Or- field 1997, Rusk 2003) . Much of this national dialogue has analyzed the fragmentation of metropolitan regions into smaller-scale, locally administered governmental bodies . The end result has been a ‘Jeffersonian-style’ grass-roots revolution as small communities across America have incorporated for a variety of reasons: to control their own destinies, to protect property values, to reinforce racial divisions, and to provide basic urban services . Newly incorporated municipalities (NIMs) result in the creation of new boundaries that help shape the political and social fabric of the country . The South U .S . Census Region in particular is at the center of this trend .

Specifically, the South witnessed the for- ographers an opportunity to examine the role mation of 193 (55%) out of the 353 new segregation may play in the establishment of incorporations in the country between 1990 NIMs . Specifically, the incorporation of homo- and 2005 . geneous municipalities seems to be a growing Despite these profound geographic trend not only for white-dominated areas, but changes, municipal incorporation as a topic also for black- and Hispanic-dominated areas . of study is largely absent from the geogra- The incorporation of cities like Green Level, phy literature . A recent article on political North Carolina (73 .4% black) and Sedalia, geography research in the South stated that North Carolina (83 8%. black) are prime ex- “very few studies have appeared on the effi- amples of NIMs with largely homogeneous cacy of governmental structures in the South” black populations which recently decided to (Webster, et al . 2007, 7) . This is all the more establish cities . A sort of racial or ethnic clus- surprising, given the explicitly geographi- tering may be occurring along municipal lines cal dimensions of issues like metropolitan as opposed to traditional neighborhood lines . fragmentation, racial segregation, and land A more rigorous geographic analysis would use patterns . For example, the formation of greatly aid in the understanding of this phe- a city creates a new political entity that sub- nomenon and significantly contribute to the stantially reconfigures the spatial dynamics urban and political geography literature . of the metropolitan region . These new cit- Finally, urban geographers should be keenly ies may also impact the provision of services interested in the role that NIMs have on shap- within a region by adding another layer of ing land use patterns . Some case studies of bureaucracy to an already balkanized politi- municipal incorporation have argued that the cal landscape . In the end, the duplication of desire to better control land use and zoning de- existing services may result in an inefficient cisions is often a major impetus for establishing and excessively expensive delivery of services new municipalities . The balkanization of urban to the public . A geographic understanding areas through the formation of new cities that of such processes is essential in order to control land use and zoning patterns can lead to understand the impacts of NIMs on the increasingly complex transportation, environ- metropolitan landscape . mental, and land use planning problems . As a Metropolitan reform advocates support the result, regional planning efforts can be greatly consolidation of governments (i .e . annexa- hindered by such fragmentation . tions and consolidations/mergers) because, Geographers, then, have the potential to of- they argue, such actions help cities to grow fer unique spatial insights into these profound and become more efficient providers of pub- changes facing urban America as new cities lic services (Orfield 1997) . Conversely, oth- are incorporated . This paper first explores the ers argue that the addition of more service literature on boundary change . Secondly, it providers will lead to more competition and attempts to understand why municipal in- drive down the cost of service for the public -- corporation has remained a neglected area of the so-called public choice school of thought research by geographers . Finally, by examining (Tiebout 1956) . Public choice proponents the geographic patterns of incorporation in argue that “a more politically fragmented me- one region, the South, this paper attempts to tropolis promotes efficiency because residents, uncover some of the geographical trends in functioning as municipal consumers, choose NIM formation . from among different bundles of services and tax rates that the various municipalities offer” Boundary Change (Purcell 2001, 616) . SCHOLARSHIP The limited existing literature on municipal incorporation alludes to a distinct racial The scholarly work focused on boundary component to city formation, which offers ge- change includes research on annexations, se-

110 Where are the Geographers? Newly Incorporated Municipalities (NIMs) in the South cessions, consolidations/mergers, formation effects of annexation requirements on over- of special districts, and incorporations . Each all annexation activity (Dye 1964, Wheeler of these types of boundary change can have 1965, McManus & Thomas 1979, Galloway dramatic impacts on the urban geography of & Landis 1986, Liner 1993, Carr & Feiock cities regarding tax rates, land use patterns, 2001) . Both broad research areas focus on school districts and the provision of other determining the relationship between the municipal services . The following section type of annexation available to municipalities reviews the recent literature in each of these and the frequency of annexation . sub-fields . Secession Annexation The process of secession involves the sepa- Annexation is the most common form of ration of a part of the city from the rest of boundary change, with thousands of munici- the municipality, offering residents the op- pal annexations occurring each year (Feiock portunity to “exit” a municipality without & Carr 2001) . Annexation is a process by having to relocate their place of residence which a city adds territory to its existing city (Hogen-Esch 2001) . Some secession efforts limits . Individual states set their own proce- involve an area becoming unincorporated, dures, creating a complex mosaic of policies while others lead to the incorporation of governing the process (Palmer & Lindsey new cities . Secession research has primarily 2001) . For example, several states in the focused on the Los Angeles region, driven Northeast only allow annexations to occur in part by the recent failed efforts by San through a state legislative approval process . Fernando Valley residents to secede from Los Others require the residents of the area be- Angeles (Keil 2000, Purcell 2001, Boudreau ing annexed to approve it, while a few even & Keil 2001, Hogen-Esch 2001, Hasselhoff allow municipalities to annex unilaterally 2002) . The primary focus of these studies (Palmer & Lindsey 2001) . Annexation is an has been on the organization of the groups important tool for municipalities to capture promoting secession, as well as the potential tax revenue (Rusk 2003) as well as a tool political ramifications if these efforts had for extending public services into unincor- been successful . porated areas . Recently, Smirnova and Ingalls examined Consolidation/Merger the effects of annexation laws on central city growth in a group of selected southern cities . Boundary change can also occur through The results revealed that more restrictive an- the amalgamation of existing governments, nexation requirements led to increased levels either at the same level (merger) or at differ- of political fragmentation and, as a result, less ent levels (consolidation) . The merging of tax revenue for central cities . Looser annexa- two cities is more common than the con- tion standards in some parts of the Southeast solidation of a city and a county (Feiock & allowed for increased central city growth and Carr 2001) . Despite the infrequent nature the ability to collect additional tax dollars of consolidations and mergers, considerable (Smirnova & Ingalls 2007) . research has been devoted to the process . Historically, annexation research takes two This research has focused on a variety primary forms: classification studies and the of different issues . Feiock and Carr have analysis of annexation activity . Some research examined the impact that city and county has attempted to classify state laws concern- consolidations had on economic develop- ing annexation (Sengstock 1960, Hill 1978, ment efforts (Feiock & Carr 1997, Carr & USACIR 1993, Palmer & Lindsey 2001) . The Feiock 1999) . Other studies have looked at second primary area of research examines the individual consolidation efforts around the

111 Russell M. Smith and Dr. Keith Debbage country (Durning 1995, Lyons and Scheb found that the formation of special district 1998) . Additionally, Marando (1979) com- governments can be viewed as an alternative pleted one of the first national examinations and more expedient form of representation of consolidation, finding that “recent court for local populations . This is especially true cases and increasing city-county disparities when stricter state legislation becomes a major may indicate that consolidation will be less obstacle in the formation of new municipali- likely to be achieved in the near future” (420) . ties since the formation of a special district is Finally, Lyons and Lowery surveyed residents usually considerably easier . of two metropolitan areas (a consolidated government structure and a fragmented Incorporation metropolitan region) to determine levels of satisfaction with governmental services Incorporation is the legal process, estab- (1989) . They found that in general, citizen lished by state statutes, through which a new satisfaction with government services is com- city is created . Incorporation can fundamen- parable across consolidated and fragmented tally impact the urban geography of regions . metropolitan regions . The creation of a new city can result in the redistribution of wealth in a given locale due Special Districts to the potential changes in the amount of taxes paid by residents, and it can shape the Boundary change may also take the form of level of public services provided to residents the creation of a special district government . (e g. . water, sewer, fire and police services) . Special district governments are created to Scholarly research on municipal incor- provide particular services such as water and porations has primarily focused on either sewer service, fire or police protection, air- the frequency of incorporation (Rigos & ports, or hospitals . In some cases these are Spindler 1991, Burns 1994) or attempted created to fill an unmet need, while in others, to explain why specific communities attempt they are designed to compete with existing to incorporate (Martin and Wagner 1978, municipalities for service provision (Feiock Miller 1981, Hoch 1985, Rigos & Spindler & Carr 2001) . The definition of a special dis- 1991, Lazega & Fletcher 1997, Musso 2001) . trict government varies substantially across These studies have been carried out at ei- the country . Such creations are a rapidly ther the national or state level . However, in increasing phenomenon (Burns 1994) . 1991, Rigos and Spindler pointed out that Scholarship on special district governments “incorporation has yet to be studied in any has focused on the spatial distribution of systematic fashion”, and little has changed special district governments and the types of since then (1991, 76) . state policies that impact their creation and The dearth of research on incorporation is development (Bollens 1986, McCabe 2000) . a problem because the growth in the number Burns found that many special districts are of newly incorporated municipalities (NIMs) formed in response to citizen demands for has numerous implications for communities . public services (1994) . The growth in private Proponents of NIMs argue that they foster or alternative special district governments (e .g . a stronger sense of community amongst Business Improvement Districts and Com- local residents, allow for more choice and munity Benefit Districts) has also recently competition in the provision of services, and been examined (Baer & Marando 2001, Baer provide a ‘pure’ form of democracy by giv- & Feiock 2005) . Finally, some studies have ing the public direct input into the creation linked stricter state municipal incorporation of their municipality (Tiebout 1956) . Some laws with a rise in the formation of special argue that competition among existing and district governments (MacManus 1981, Bol- new municipalities may also result in a more lens 1986, Nelson 1990) . These studies have efficient provision of governmental services

112 Where are the Geographers? Newly Incorporated Municipalities (NIMs) in the South

(Ostrom 1994) . Critics of NIMs, however, ers included a unique coalition of Valley assert that the growth in new government business interests and Valley homeowner entities instead results in metropolitan frag- groups known as Valley VOTE . Opposing mentation and inefficient delivery of public their efforts to secede from Los Angeles were services (Jonas 1991, Cox & Jonas 1993, region-wide growth groups including the Foster 1993, Orfield 1997, Rusk 2003), Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce, economic and racial segregation (Hill 1974, the Central City Association of Los Ange- Weiher 1991, Teaford 1993), and the dupli- les, and the Los Angeles Times newspaper . cation of services by multiple governments Through his case study, Purcell shows that operating within an area (Marando 1979, the secessionists were trying to change the Lowery & Lyons 1989) . urban landscape so that they could more effectively influence local growth issues to WHERE ARE THE GEOGRAPHERS? their advantage . While these studies tangentially discuss municipal incorporation Municipal incorporation initiatives have as a form of boundary change, neither Cox not been a major research interest for geogra- and Jonas (1993) nor Purcell (2001) directly phers . What little geographic research exists studied municipal incorporations, focusing has only dealt tangentially with the subject . instead on annexation policies and seces- An example of this work is Cox and Jonas’s sion . case study of Columbus, Ohio and its evolv- What accounts for the limited partici- ing annexation policy (1993) . While this pation by geographers in the research on study did not focus on municipal incorpo- incorporation? One impediment is the tra- ration, it did allude to the relationships that ditional division of labor between disciplines . exist between annexation and incorporation . Historically, political scientists and scholars Cox and Jonas determined that Columbus’s of public administration have studied the annexation efforts played a pivotal role in politics of cities, and until recently, incor- determining the political geography of the poration has been seen as a primarily political county . Cox and Jonas further explained process . Meanwhile, much of the research that a key group that supported Columbus’s on boundary change has been published by annexation agenda was the local Chamber public administration scholars in journals of Commerce, who “lobbied for changes like State and Local Government Review, Ur- in state laws which made annexation easier ban Affairs Review, and the Journal of Politics, and incorporations more difficult for town- which are not traditional outlets for research ships lacking a sufficient tax resource base” by geographers . (Cox & Jonas 1993, 18) . Additionally, the Secondly, the creation of a municipality Chamber of Commerce “was instrumental is a complex event that has the potential in opposing incorporation moves among the to make any broad geographically based townships contiguous to Columbus” (18) . research challenging especially when theory Cox and Jonas remind us that incorporation on municipal incorporation is limited . Every and annexation initiatives are interwoven in state has different standards for incorporation the broader discussions of ‘growth machine’ that differ in terms of minimum population and local economic development theory and requirements, minimum distances from exist- can substantially influence boundary change ing cities, population density standards and and the broader political landscape . the minimum provision of services required Purcell examined the San Fernando Val- to incorporate . In addition, each municipal- ley secession movement in Los Angeles . ity is created for a unique combination of Purcell’s work analyzed the interest groups reasons, thus making it difficult to analyze on both sides of the debate to determine municipalities across the country as a coher- their motives (2001) . Pro-secession support- ent group .

113 Russell M. Smith and Dr. Keith Debbage

There is, however, a role for geographers in variability of NIMs by state within the South NIM research . In fact, many aspects of NIM U S. . Census Region . Secondly, the popula- formation are inherently geographical, from tion characteristics of Southern NIMs will tax rate and land use patterns to the provision be discussed in order to provide a broader of public services . Furthermore, the division context for understanding this geographic of space into political sub-units at the local phenomenon . Finally, it will be argued that scale has long been part of the political ge- a complex and uneven distribution of NIMs ographer’s sphere of influence . Geographers exists in the South characterized by a cluster- also have a role to play in the philosophical ing of NIMs in specific counties and states . debates between the metropolitan reform and We hypothesize that this clustering effect has the public choice perspectives on the delivery emerged partly in response to the aggressive of public services . annexation tactics of nearby larger cities . We relied on the Boundary and Annexa- NIMs in the South tion Survey (BAS), conducted annually by the US Census Bureau since 1972 to develop The primary objective of this research is to the database of NIMs . The BAS provides data conduct a geographical analysis of NIMs to on all boundary changes and incorporations determine the essential spatial attributes of that have occurred in the United States . newly incorporated municipalities that were Although the BAS is a self-reported survey established between 1990 and 2005 . Specifi- that may not include all the new recently cally, this research will examine the spatial incorporated municipalities in the United

Figure 1 . Spatial Distribution of NIMs established between 1990 – 2005 in the South Census Region . 114 Where are the Geographers? Newly Incorporated Municipalities (NIMs) in the South

States, response rates typically exceed 95 per- Table 1 . NIM Population Characteristics, cent (Miller 1988) . Response rates are high 2006 . Note that 2006 U S. . Census popu- because the Census Bureau and other federal lation estimates were utilized, since some agencies utilize the BAS data in allocating NIMs were incorporated in 2005 and did federal money . not have a 2005 census estimate . Source: One hundred and ninety-three NIMs U S. . Census Bureau . were created in the South Census region from 1990 to 2005, out of a US total of Mean Median 353 (Fig . 1) . The South accounted for 55% State Population Population of all NIMs during this time even though Size Size the region comprised just 36 .4% of the US population1 . North Carolina and Texas alone Alabama 2,010 787 accounted for just under one-quarter of all Arkansas 840 355 NIMs created within the United States, and, Florida 31,579 20,173 along with Alabama, Florida, Arkansas, and Oklahoma, were among the top ten states Georgia 413 375 nationally for incorporation activity . What’s Kentucky 467 358 more, all but one of the sixteen states in the South region witnessed some level of incor- Louisiana 9,317 9,317 poration activity . Maryland 683 683 A potential explanation for this uneven Mississippi 930 297 geographic phenomenon may be the an- North nexation standards of some of these states . 2,335 1,525 A national review of annexation standards by Carolina Palmer and Lindsey (2001) identified twenty- South 604 509 two states that allow municipal annexation Carolina without the consent of the affected property owners . This type of unilateral annexation Oklahoma 240 118 is viewed as the most aggressive form of an- Tennessee 2,536 2,612 nexation and is available in North Carolina, Texas 1,365 628 Texas, Oklahoma, and Tennessee which may explain the plethora of incorporations within Virginia 410 410 these states . However, Alabama, Arkansas, West 1,298 753 and Florida do not allow unilateral annexa- Virginia tion, which suggests that more research is needed if we are to fully understand the SOUTH 4,738 870 complex geographic patterns of municipal incorporation . Bridge is “a community where everybody re- The population size of NIMs also varied ally knows everybody’s name and where time greatly across the South . The mean popula- only makes the bonds of community pride tion of the 193 NIMs was 4,738, although grow stronger” (Beckwith 2002) . the median population was only 870, sug- While the majority of NIMs created be- gesting that the data is skewed and that tween 1990 and 2005 are relatively small in many Southern NIMs tended to be small population size, the South did witness the communities (Table 1) . One of the small- incorporation of twenty new cities that had est NIMs was the Town of Natural Bridge, populations greater than 10,000 . The largest Alabama, which incorporated in 1998 and of these was Miami Gardens, Florida with a had an estimated population of 28 in 2006 . population of 98,989 . In fact, a vast majority According to the Tuscaloosa News, Natural of these larger NIMs, sixteen of twenty, were

115 Russell M. Smith and Dr. Keith Debbage located in Florida . This is, in part, explained Table 2 . Counties with Multiple NIMs, by Florida’s rigorous incorporation stan- 2005 . Source: U S. . Census Bureau . dards, which require the largest minimum Number State County population thresholds in the South (5,000 of NIMs residents) . However, all of these Florida Alabama Tuscaloosa 3 NIMs had populations in excess of 10,000 (twice the minimum standard), suggesting Shelby 3 alternative factors beyond merely legislative Elmore 2 standards are at play . Jackson 2 Several potential explanations exist for Arkansas Hot Springs 3 the prevalence of well populated NIMs in Crittenden 2 Florida . First, most of these large Florida Faulkner 2 NIMs originated as extraordinarily large planned unit developments from incep- Florida Miami-Dade 8 tion . For example, the original 1969 plan Broward 3 for Palm Coast, Florida, had 48,000 homes Lee 2 on 42,000 acres (Palm Coast History 2007) . Monroe 2 The municipalities of Deltona, Weston and Volusia 2 Wellington all share similar large-scale development origins . Secondly, many of Florida’s Maryland Montgomery 2 NIMs have large populations as a result of Mississippi Alcorn 2 substantive in-migration that has greatly af- North Carolina Union 7 fected the State of Florida . Florida’s NIMs Guilford 5 have benefited from the large number of re- Alamance 3 tirees that have sought out the warmer climes of Florida . Likewise, these same NIMs have Forsyth 3 also grown in population due to the influx of Stanly 3 younger residents in search of employment Brunswick 2 opportunities . Finally, the well-populated Carteret 2 NIMs found in Florida may be the result of Columbus 2 stalled or prolonged efforts at incorporation . For example, Deltona, Florida, experienced Henderson 2 several failed incorporation attempts in 1987 Oklahoma Hughes 3 and 1990 before the City finally incorporated Garvin 2 in 1995 (Deltona 2007) . This delay may have Grady 2 allowed Deltona to grow in population prior South Carolina Charleston 2 to formally incorporating . A spatial analysis of NIMs in the South re- Tennessee Williamson 2 veals distinct clustering patterns . More than Texas Hidalgo 4 half (100) of the Southern NIMs are located Hood 3 in a county where at least one other NIM ex- Travis 3 ists (Table 2) . Of those counties with multiple Austin 2 NIMs, the leading counties included Miami- Brazos 2 Dade County (Miami, Florida) with eight NIMs and Union County, North Carolina Hays 2 (just outside of Charlotte) with seven NIMs . Kaufman 2 Guilford County, North Carolina also experi- Williamson 2 enced a comparable clustering effect with five West Virginia Marion 2 incorporations between 1990 and 2005 . The

116 Where are the Geographers? Newly Incorporated Municipalities (NIMs) in the South clustering of NIMs in specific counties can strategies . A good example of this is the recent be partially explained by a “herd mentality” proliferation of NIMs within the Greensboro/ where a local political culture is established Winston-Salem/High-Point Combined Sta- within a region that facilitates the spread tistical Area (CSA) . The Greensboro CSA of incorporation as a response to aggressive experienced a sort of incorporation frenzy annexation tactics of neighboring cities . For that lasted throughout the 1990s, generating example, Union County, North Carolina, fifteen NIMs during the study period (Fig . 2) . witnessed the incorporation of four new According to the Greensboro News & Record, towns within thirteen months . Residents of “incorporation fever has swept through the these NIMs stated their desire to avoid being Piedmont recently as small, rural communities annexed as a factor in favor of incorporation have decided to become towns rather than get (Goodman and Bernhard 1999) . These in- swallowed by a nearby city” (Barron 1996, corporations came on the heels of annexation B1) . At the center of this incorporation fever efforts undertaken by the City of Monroe, was the City of Greensboro, North Carolina, North Carolina, which originally planned which had developed detailed plans to annex to annex 1,900 acres (Goodman 1999) . A 45 square miles of property and capture an copycat effect seems to take place within a additional 22,000 residents during the early region after the first unincorporated commu- 1990s (Barstow 1993) . Greensboro’s planned nity successfully makes the transition to NIM unilateral annexation activity clearly spurred status . This seems to encourage other unincor- the incorporation of several of the region’s porated territories to consider incorporation newest towns .

Figure 2 . Spatial Distribution of NIMs established between 1990 – 2005 in the Greensboro/ Winston-Salem/High Point Combined Statistical Area . 117 Russell M. Smith and Dr. Keith Debbage

A geographical analysis of NIMs located ally, this research has uncovered a complex in the South Census Region has revealed and uneven pattern of NIM activity in the an uneven and complex spatial distribution South . The clustering of NIMs to certain to incorporation activity between 1990 and counties and states can be partially explained 2005 . Several states within the South Census by a “herd mentality” in which the success- Region (e .g . North Carolina and Texas) gener- ful incorporation of one unincorporated area ated a disproportionate share of incorporation spurs additional incorporations . Finally, this activity, while other states experienced a small paper has exposed the lack of research in gen- number of incorporations (e g. . Georgia and eral on NIMs by geographers . South Carolina) during this time period . A The dearth of geographic research in this potential explanation for this variation may be area affords numerous opportunities for the role that state annexation standards play in future research initiatives . More detailed determining the level of incorporation activity . case studies of those areas with abnormally However, annexation standards only offer a high concentrations of NIMs, for example, partial explanation for the incorporation would shed light on the processes that lead activity witnessed between 1990 and 2005 to the “herd mentality” discussed earlier . In in the South . For example, more than half addition, more work needs to be done at a of all Southern NIMs are located in counties national level to uncover key socio-economic that had already witnessed the incorporation and political variables that lead to certain of a NIM earlier in the study period . Clearly, patterns of incorporation . Municipal incor- more research is needed to better understand poration is a complex process with serious the complex geographic clustering effect that geographic ramifications . The increasingly characterizes many incorporation efforts . balkanized political geography of many Some of the literature has suggested that counties creates a wealth of issues ripe for many NIMs are formed as defensive incorpo- geographic analysis . rations to thwart the expansionist strategies of a nearby larger city (Rigos & Spindler NOTES 1991, Burns 1994) . Others argue that many NIMs are homogeneous enclaves of largely 1 .All population figures used in this paper white, upper-income residents that wish to are 2006 estimates by the US Census slam the door shut on their more diverse, Bureau . big-city neighbors (Blakely & Snyder 1997, Teaford 1997, Musso 2001) . Although the REFERENCES key casual agents that trigger NIMs remain unclear, it remains a research area that is well Baer, S . and Feiock, R .C . 2005 . Private suited to geographical analysis . Governments in Urban Areas: Politi- cal Contracting and Collective Action . CONCLUSIONS American Review of Public Administration, 35(1):42-56 . The formation of new governmental enti- Baer, S . E . and Marando, V .L . 2001 . The ties like NIMs has drastic consequences for Subdistricting of Cities: Applying the the urban landscape of the United States . Polycentric Model . Urban Affairs Review, New cities result in new boundaries that 36(5):721-733 . influence tax rates, land use patterns, school Barron, A . 1996 . “Town Tests Proposal to districts and the provision of other services Incorporate ”. Greensboro News & Record, such as police, fire, and garbage collection . June 24 . B1 . This paper has revealed that the South Census Barstow, T .A . 1993 . “New Annexation Plan Region generated a disproportionate number Gets Board’s Approval ”. Greensboro News of NIMs between 1990 and 2005 . Addition- & Record. January 1 . B2 .

118 Where are the Geographers? Newly Incorporated Municipalities (NIMs) in the South

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