January 21, 2025 How do you answer the question, “Where do you live?” Why do so many of us say we live in one place—but write “Rochester” when speaking to a broader audience? How is it possible to live in a town that surrounds a village? And what, exactly, is a hamlet? (Out, out, damn spot.) Day one of new-elected training opened with that deceptively simple question: What is a town? It turns out the answer explains far more than geography. As communities grew, services didn’