What if Boston started annexing surrounding communities again?
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Great idea. Then everyone
Great idea. Then everyone can enjoy closed-door BRA meetings, an egregiously ugly City Hall, and the eloquent rumblings of Tom Menino!
Boston
This raises the question of a small parcel of land belonging to Boston that juts into Everett, parallel to route 99. If there were a fire or any kind of crime there, would people call the Boston F.D. or P.D., or their equivalent in Everett? Does anybody know?
the phone company will figure it out
I would imagine that you would dial 911 (from a landline) and be connected to the proper authorities automatically, no? If the land belongs to Boston, I can't imagine any Everett public servants would respond to a normal call.
Hmm
Hmm. There's only one way to find out. I have the gasoline if you have the match!
Jurisdiction
Massachusetts doesn't constrain law enforcement jurisdiction to the same degree as some states. In an emergency/first response situation, whoever is closest usually will get the call, and the agreements on who handles what are fairly well understood at the procedural level. I know Somerville FD regularly responds to Cambridge fires that are closer to the Lowell St. firehouse than to any Cambridge station.
I would therefore surmise that Everett FD would handle fires and probably things like assaults in progress, while Boston PD would handle longer term followup investigation.
Interesting Subject
I agree that the political bounderies make little sense. The central administration of the city is, more or less in the corner of town. Parts of Cambridge, Somerville, Chelsea, Everett, Winthrop, and Revere are closer to City Hall than many neighborhoods within the city limits.
I think that annexation would do a lot to ease some of the problems we have in the greater Boston area in terms of coordinating our efforts. Imagine what we could do for affordable housing and economic development if more of the area was all on the same page. I bet the MBTA would have a much easier time if it didn't have to deal with as many cities.
That being said, I don't know if annexation would ultimatly be a good thing. There's definitly something to be said about having smaller governments that are more responsive to the constituents they serve.
All of that being said, I don't think annexation is politically feasible. This area has a lot of hometown pride.