Some California cities outsource their public services entirely to the county

Consolidated city-county governments merge two layers of local government into one

A city-county consolidation removes a layer of local government by merging a municipality with its surrounding county. Examples include Jacksonville-Duval County, Louisville-Jefferson County, and San Francisco, all of which operate as both cities and counties.

In 1974, Los Angeles’s Community Analysis Bureau built a smart city

Los Angeles utilized aerial imaging and cluster analysis to gather and interpret civic data, leveraging surveillance technologies developed by the Department of Defense during the height of the Cold War. Instead of being used for military purposes, data insights helped direct social services to high-poverty neighborhoods.

Police spending is one of the largest budget items for local governments

Local governments finance most of the costs for police in the US. Total state and local criminal justice spending—covering police, courts, and corrections—reaches hundreds of billions of dollars annually.

Sanctuary cities limit local cooperation with federal immigration enforcement

Sanctuary cities limit how local agencies help ICE—such as restricting detainers, jail transfers, or data sharing—while still enforcing criminal law, leaving immigration enforcement mostly to federal authorities.

Fire districts and fire departments are governed differently

A fire department is usually a municipal agency under the control of city or county authorities. In contrast, a fire district functions as an independent special district with its own elected board, separate budget, and taxing authority.

Public school districts are subsidizing housing for their teachers

In the face of stagnant wages and a widespread teacher shortage, some public school districts are offering subsidized housing for teachers, hoping the benefit will attract and retain highly qualified educators. California has been at the forefront since 2016, with housing complexes constructed in expensive areas like San Francisco and Daly City.

New York City's five boroughs each function as a separate county under state law

Each of New York City's five boroughs—Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx, and Staten Island—corresponds to a separate county under New York State law, forming a layered government structure that is unique among major American cities.

Smart cities support interdepartmental goals by facilitating shared infrastructure

Instead of working in isolation, municipal departments can share data, such as lighting and telecom needs, seamlessly and collaborate to solve larger-scale problems together. Integrating public feedback systems can further improve city services and sustainability.

Some argue that America is too dependent on consulting

Many major companies in America—not to mention the federal government—spend thousands of dollars a month paying to contract major consulting firms.

Show business is increasingly leaving Hollywood

Using tax incentives, states like Georgia, New Jersey, and New Mexico are luring studios to produce their films and television shows outside of California. Changing business models after COVID-19 largely influenced this change.

Hawaii is the only US state with no incorporated municipalities

Unlike every other state, Hawaii has no cities or towns. Its four county governments manage all local services—the functions that municipalities provide elsewhere in the US—across the entire state.

Some police departments in California have officers specialized in hive crime

The cost of a beehive climbed from about $35 in the early 2010s to $200 as of 2020, which has incentivized some to steal hives at night. These kidnappings led to the creation of dedicated task forces in the state, whose almond farms have created an extraordinary demand for pollinators.

15 out of 25 major US cities have a lower cost of living than their nearby suburbs

These cities are Los Angeles, Chicago, Dallas, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Boston, San Francisco, Detroit, Minneapolis, Denver, Baltimore, St. Louis, Orlando, Charlotte, and San Antonio. This article details the cost of living in major US cities versus their nearby suburbs, according to data from 2023.

Journalists are increasingly unionizing

The LA Times was a famously anti-union paper—until its owner sought to cut costs by consolidating positions across its portfolio. This paper isn’t alone. Over the past few years, as the news business struggled, many publications kicked their unionizing efforts up a notch.

Why some US cities pay thousands of dollars for a single public trash can

The rationale supposes high-end, heavy-duty trash cans reduce litter and maintenance costs, justifying per-unit costs of close to $3,000 in some municipalities. But results are mixed, and some experiments using cheap 55-gallon drums were similarly effective.

Portland, Oregon, ran under a commission government for more than 100 years

From 1913 to 2024, Portland operated under a commission form of government, in which five elected commissioners each directly managed their own city bureaus—a structure that was largely abandoned elsewhere in the US by the mid-20th century.

Charter schools are publicly funded, autonomous schools

Charter schools are tuition-free, publicly funded institutions operating under a contract ("charter") that grants autonomy in curriculum, staffing, and budgeting in exchange for accountability to performance metrics. They serve millions of students nationwide.

Comic-Con generates over $165M for the San Diego economy each year

San Diego’s community gets a significant boost from Comic‑Con, which draws around 135,000 attendees annually. It generates over $165M in regional spending—with more than $90M coming directly from visitors—and adds approximately $3.2M in city tax revenue.

Side-by-side shots of once-dry California lakes now filled

In late 2022, much of California was in drought; by early 2023, after a series of downpours from atmospheric rivers, much of the state's reservoirs had been re-filled. See the dramatic difference in this series of photos.

Remote work offers a way for companies to save money on office space

Before the pandemic, real estate costs were between 3% to 9% of the typical S&P 500 company's budget (with the exception of companies in the energy industry). Eliminating some or all of a company's expensive office leases is one way that companies can save money by adopting work-from-home models. (Some users may experience a paywall.)

Independent redistricting commissions aim to take politics out of the map-drawing process

In several states, citizen or bipartisan panels draw congressional and legislative districts based on neutral criteria like population and geography. Learn more about how these commissions increase competitiveness in elections.

Self-driving cars may upend transit before cities can build it

Austin approved a $7.1B light-rail in 2020, but components of the plan have already been cut. Simultaneously, Waymo launched a 200-car autonomous fleet across the city. Cities now face a choice: invest in decadeslong fixed infrastructure projects or embrace flexible, on-demand autonomous vehicles that can navigate anywhere.

The United States is one of only around two dozen countries with a fully federal system of government, in which power is divided between national and state governments.

Santa Barbara County features seven designated wine regions

Grapes are notoriously fickle about where they grow and cannot be cultivated just anywhere. That’s what makes the county’s seven American Viticultural Areas so unique and cool—from the Santa Ynez valley to the Los Olivos District.

Ranchos were large land grants in California to Spanish, Mexican leading families

They were typically given to leading families or retired soldiers as means of settling the land with loyal people. The hundreds of ranchos have since shaped land-use policy in the area, determining plots of major cities and ranches today.

Should you get earthquake insurance?

Standard home insurance doesn’t typically cover earthquakes. Even if you don't live in a state that's known for its earthquakes like California, it might be worth considering—although it's worth noting that only 13% of California residents have earthquake insurance. Learn more about earthquake insurance in this article.

The use of fungi to detoxify land and water—a process known as mycoremediation—has been used to clean up natural resources affected by the 2025 California wildfires.

The USPS spent $3.97B in 2024, accounting for .058% of the federal budget.

Louisiana's 'Cancer Alley' is infamous for having some of the highest industrial pollution, toxic air emissions, and cancer risks in the US.

While El Niño moves warm Pacific Ocean waters east along the equator, La Niña moves them west, shifting where rainfall will become more common for months.

Gerrymandering works through two techniques: cracking opposing voters across districts to dilute their power, and packing them into a few to waste their votes in lopsided majorities.

Hotels in Cannes, the glamorous city on the French Riviera, hire hawks to ward off seagulls during the city's famous film festival.

70 years ago today, city officials in Santa Cruz, California, banned rock 'n' roll to protect its youth from corruption after witnessing a 'provocative' concert the night before.

Stanford built a Google Maps for the Roman Empire, revealing how much it cost to travel in the ancient world

Massive 3D printers have been used to build homes by stacking layers of 'concrete toothpaste,' a fire-resistant material that effectively insulates against outside noise.

The price of gas is a composite made up of several different factors, with the federal gas tax making up less than 20% of what drivers pay at the pump.

In 2025, four executives from large tech companies were given positions in the US Army Reserves—including Palantir Chief Technology Officer Shyam Sankar, which reinforced Palantir's ties with the US military and its role as a leading defense partner.

Up to a million Girl Scouts sell about 200 million cookie boxes every spring, generating $800 million, largely because refusing a child is frowned upon

Use this tool to calculate the dollar value of your parental mental load, from meal planning to coordinating after-school care, then see resources that help generate solutions.

An initial public offering or 'IPO' is the process of a private company becoming public by putting shares of the company on the stock market for purchase.

Volcanoes 'die' when their supply of magma runs out, if they are shifted away from their underlying magma reservoir, or if they get clogged by collapsing or their magma cooling back into rock.

A vending machine run with Anthropic's AI went out of business after it was convinced to give away items for free and sell a video game console.

About 2,000 US babies are born annually without some portion of their limbs, potentially leading to a lifetime of pricey prosthetics.

The Great Salt Lake's distinct dual coloration results from high-salinity organisms that only live in the northern portion and produce a purple protein.

Corals are themselves not coral reefs—the term refers to the tiny marine invertebrates that build the rigid reef.

Power lines are dotted with large, brightly colored balls to improve the visibility of these thin wires to helicopters and small planes and help prevent potential crashes.

Watch how viruses like Ebola can spill over from animals to humans—and vice-versa.

Browse a detailed visual analysis of over 200,000 similes—comparisons that often use 'like' or 'as'—from popular fiction to see how frequently writers the same idiomatic expressions.

Most of the observable universe's volume consists of voids and supervoids—enormous regions of space with little to no galaxies, stars, or light.

Studies suggest when you sleep is as important as how much you get, and syncing with your circadian rhythms may lead to less fatigue and improved long-term health outcomes