I did google it, and best I could figure was it is a fancy way to say "state".

I figured you Kentucky and Virginia folks could explain it better.

(11-09-2016 11:19 AM)KAjunRaider Wrote:  I did google it, and best I could figure was it is a fancy way to say "state".

I figured you Kentucky and Virginia folks could explain it better.

Yes, it's merely symbolic. Kind of goes back to English Common Law. There's no legal difference between our commonwealths and other states that don't use the term.

Now with US Territories (like Puerto Rico) that are called Commonwealth, it does have a distinction.

(11-09-2016 11:58 AM)WKUApollo Wrote:  

(11-09-2016 11:19 AM)KAjunRaider Wrote:  I did google it, and best I could figure was it is a fancy way to say "state".
I figured you Kentucky and Virginia folks could explain it better.

Yes, it's merely symbolic. Kind of goes back to English Common Law. There's no legal difference between our commonwealths and other states that don't use the term.
Now with US Territories (like Puerto Rico) that are called Commonwealth, it does have a distinction.

They were hedging their bets back in the day.

I just like the sound of TheCommonwealth of Virginia much better than The State of Virginia. But if you put "Commonwealth" after "Virginia", that's a whole different story!

I believe one of the things that makes a Commonwealth different is that withing a Commonwealth you can have independent cities. I could be wrong about that.

(11-09-2016 12:56 PM)FTW ODU Wrote:  I believe one of the things that makes a Commonwealth different is that withing a Commonwealth you can have independent cities. I could be wrong about that.

Correct. In a commonwealth, Cities are independent of Counties, while Towns are contained within Counties.

(11-09-2016 01:10 PM)MONARCHSWIN Wrote:  

(11-09-2016 12:56 PM)FTW ODU Wrote:  I believe one of the things that makes a Commonwealth different is that withing a Commonwealth you can have independent cities. I could be wrong about that.

Correct. In a commonwealth, Cities are independent of Counties, while Towns are contained within Counties.

That seems weird. Do independent cities have their own judicial system?

(11-09-2016 01:51 PM)Nugget49er Wrote:  

(11-09-2016 01:10 PM)MONARCHSWIN Wrote:  

(11-09-2016 12:56 PM)FTW ODU Wrote:  I believe one of the things that makes a Commonwealth different is that withing a Commonwealth you can have independent cities. I could be wrong about that.

Correct. In a commonwealth, Cities are independent of Counties, while Towns are contained within Counties.

That seems weird. Do independent cities have their own judicial system?

Yes, although they sometimes share the same courthouse, clerk's office and judges -- the City of Williamsburg and James City County, for example.

The cities also have their own governments that hate each other and refuse to work together on ANYTHING.

Kentucky's largest cities ended up merging with their county governments for efficiency purposes (Lexington and Louisville).

(11-09-2016 01:51 PM)Nugget49er Wrote:  

(11-09-2016 01:10 PM)MONARCHSWIN Wrote:  

(11-09-2016 12:56 PM)FTW ODU Wrote:  I believe one of the things that makes a Commonwealth different is that withing a Commonwealth you can have independent cities. I could be wrong about that.

Correct. In a commonwealth, Cities are independent of Counties, while Towns are contained within Counties.

That seems weird. Do independent cities have their own judicial system?

Yes. Interestingly enough, Charlottesville is a separate entity from Albemarle County, yet it is the county seat. Charlottesville and Albemarle both have courthouses near each other, and IIRC the city leases a building to the Albemarle County government.

As best I can tell from living here since 2012, towns here exist to provide locational context and not much else. Sure, I may live in Afton but there's not really such a town to speak of... it's really just an easier way to tell folks that I live in the northwestern part of Nelson County.

(11-09-2016 03:33 PM)49erlew Wrote:  

(11-09-2016 01:51 PM)Nugget49er Wrote:  

(11-09-2016 01:10 PM)MONARCHSWIN Wrote:  

(11-09-2016 12:56 PM)FTW ODU Wrote:  I believe one of the things that makes a Commonwealth different is that withing a Commonwealth you can have independent cities. I could be wrong about that.

Correct. In a commonwealth, Cities are independent of Counties, while Towns are contained within Counties.

That seems weird. Do independent cities have their own judicial system?

Yes. Interestingly enough, Charlottesville is a separate entity from Albemarle County, yet it is the county seat. Charlottesville and Albemarle both have courthouses near each other, and IIRC the city leases a building to the Albemarle County government.

As best I can tell from living here since 2012, towns here exist to provide locational context and not much else. Sure, I may live in Afton but there's not really such a town to speak of... it's really just an easier way to tell folks that I live in the northwestern part of Nelson County.

Some towns are more towns than others. Some offer additional services or collect additional taxes on top of what hte county does but some like you say are just a region.

The real question is what's going to happen with Petersburg.

(11-09-2016 04:13 PM)TribeNiner Wrote:  The real question is what's going to happen with Petersburg.

There's no provision in the state constitution that allows them to declare bankruptcy or otherwise mitigate their debts and craptacular financial situation (S&P dropped their credit rating to junk status, and nobody's lending them money).

I lived there for a couple of years in the early 2000s, and things were dire then. Can't even imagine how pear-shaped it is now.

Can a city be absorbed by a county? Dinwiddie seems like the most obvious solution, but they also share a land border with Prince George's. Colonial Heights essentially exists because of Brown v. Board of Education, and most of Petersburg's white people jumping the Appomattox River to CH in response, so that's probably not an option.

What a mess.

'Tif a union eftablifhed in order to better Perfecte the bond amongft the legal denizenf of the erftwhile territory of Kentucky.

(11-09-2016 05:00 PM)Cyniclone Wrote:  

(11-09-2016 04:13 PM)TribeNiner Wrote:  The real question is what's going to happen with Petersburg.

There's no provision in the state constitution that allows them to declare bankruptcy or otherwise mitigate their debts and craptacular financial situation (S&P dropped their credit rating to junk status, and nobody's lending them money).

I lived there for a couple of years in the early 2000s, and things were dire then. Can't even imagine how pear-shaped it is now.

Can a city be absorbed by a county? Dinwiddie seems like the most obvious solution, but they also share a land border with Prince George's. Colonial Heights essentially exists because of Brown v. Board of Education, and most of Petersburg's white people jumping the Appomattox River to CH in response, so that's probably not an option.

What a mess.

I'll buy junk bonds from the Commonwealth. Sounds like a no-brainer.

(11-09-2016 04:13 PM)TribeNiner Wrote:  The real question is what's going to happen with Petersburg.

Hopefully the incompetent leadership is voted out and the fire department's equipment isn't repossessed, for starters.

(11-09-2016 02:26 PM)MonarchCAM Wrote:  The cities also have their own governments that hate each other and refuse to work together on ANYTHING.

Yep. It makes smart growth and urban planning nearly impossible.

(11-09-2016 01:10 PM)MONARCHSWIN Wrote:  

(11-09-2016 12:56 PM)FTW ODU Wrote:  I believe one of the things that makes a Commonwealth different is that withing a Commonwealth you can have independent cities. I could be wrong about that.

Correct. In a commonwealth, Cities are independent of Counties, while Towns are contained within Counties.

I don't believe that's the case in Kentucky. I think that's just a Virginia thing, not necessarily a Commonwealth thing.

There really is no "legal" difference between state and commonwealth, as it relates to the four states of the US that choose to call themselves a commonwealth. It's just a history/nostalgia thing.

(11-10-2016 11:01 AM)monarx Wrote:  

(11-09-2016 02:26 PM)MonarchCAM Wrote:  The cities also have their own governments that hate each other and refuse to work together on ANYTHING.

Yep. It makes smart growth and urban planning nearly impossible.

In that regard, I know the 7 cities of Hampton Roads will never agree to merge but if just Norfolk, Va Beach and Chesapeake would the region would be a lot better. Smarter growth and better urban planning. The light rail might actually become successful.