What the f**k is wrong with American cities? Why can't the States implement sane municipal boundaries?
They can in the northeast. But that's because those states established towns as the primary unit of government under the state. Counties were mostly for judicial functions. As villages formed in the towns they were constrained by the town lines. Cities came from towns with special recognition from the state.
Elsewhere counties were the primary government under the state. Cities and villages were separate entities from counties with different functions. In order to provide city services to growing areas in the state, the state allowed cities to annex more territory. In most states the county lines didn't matter for annexation, since it was impractical to deny residents immediately across a county line from a city services such as water or fire protection.
Conversely, states didn't want to force agricultural properties to pay city taxes. That meant city boundaries would sprawl in directions driven only by annexation growth.
I once had a hard time trying to explain this to a Yankee friend who asked me what city I lived in. I explained that I don't live in one; I live in Harris County. He asked again, "Yeah, but what
town in Harris County?" He refused to believe it was possible to not live in any city or town at all. (The fact that I have a Houston mailing address despite not living in the City of Houston just confused him even more.)
