Auckland, New Zealand has gone to the opposite extreme. When I first lived there in the late 1970s there were about 25 municipalities with the central one calle

Auckland, New Zealand has gone to the opposite extreme. When I first lived there in the late 1970s there were about 25 municipalities with the central one called Auckland, each with their own mayor and council. I guess it wasn't as bad as the US because schools, police, fire, ambulance are a central government thing in NZ but the local governments do everything else that a town normally does. Throughout the last few decades there have been several amalgamations. Finally we have one "super city" called Auckland. Its boundaries extend way beyond the metro area so it's kind of inside out compared to other cities. Now I live in Southern New Hampshire in the US. It feels a bit like Auckland long ago. Lots of little towns, each with their own local government and services. They share some things like the a 911 emergency call center and police and fire do "mutual aid" when something big happens in a neighboring town but it still seems like a lot of duplication. If there is no sign, you can usually tell when you've crossed a boundary because the road surface changes because they have different maintenance schedules.