Municipalities
Cities
Cities, especially of the first and second class, tend to have a strong mayor and, thus, a more centralized government.
As governmental units, cities generally have broad powers, and all first class and second class cities – i.e. Pittsburgh, Philadelphia
and Scranton – have home rule charters,
which further expands their autonomy. Third class cities follow the Third Class City Code.
Aspinwall | Avalon | Baldwin | Bell Acres | Bellevue | Ben Avon |
Ben Avon Heights | Bethel Park | Blawnox | Brackenridge | Braddock | Braddock Hills |
Bradford Woods | Brentwood | Bridgeville | Carnegie | Castle Shannnon | Chalfant |
Cheswick | Churchill | Coraopolis | Crafton | Dormont | Dravosburg |
East McKeesport | East Pittsburgh | Edgewood | Edgeworth | Elizabeth | Emsworth |
Etna | Forest Hills | Fox Chapel | Franklin Park | Glassport | Glenfield |
Glen Osborne | Green Tree | Haysville | Heidelberg | Homestead | Ingram |
Jefferson Hills | Leetsdale | Liberty | Lincoln | McDonald | McKees Rocks |
Millvale | Monroeville | Mount Oliver | Muhall | North Braddock | Oakdale |
Oakmont | Pennsbury Village | Pitcairn | Pleasant Hills | Plum | Port Vue |
Rankin | Rosslyn Farms | Sewickley | Sewickley Heights | Sewickley Hills | Sharpsburg |
Springdale | Swissvale | Tarentum | Thornburg | Trafford | Turtle Creek |
Verona | Versailles | Wall | West Elizabeth | West Homestead | West Mifflin |
West View | Whitaker | White Oak | Whitehall | Wilkensburg | Wilmerding |
Townships
Townships were established based on convenient local geographical boundaries within the borders of the 67 encompassing Pennsylvania counties,
and typically vary in size from 6 to 40 square miles (16–104 km2).
There are two classifications
of townships, first class and second class. To become a first class township and operate under the powers of the "First Class Township Code"
in
Pennsylvania statute law, townships of the second class must have a population density of 300 inhabitants per square mile (120/km2)
and voters must approve the change of
classification in a referendum.
The principal difference between the two types is the form and the title, and period of office for the township administrators.
In the majority and second-class case, townships have three supervisors (can be increased to five by referendum)
elected at large (by all voters) for overlapping six-year terms.
In first-class townships,
the governing body is 5–15 township commissioners—with two
variations: either five commissioners are elected at large,
or where population densities permit
geopolitical wards be set up, an odd number of commissioners (up to 15) may be periodically
elected for four year overlapping terms.
However, many townships have chosen
to remain second-class townships even though they meet the population density requirements to become first-class townships.
Aleppo | Baldwin | Collier | Crescent | East Deer | Elizabeth |
Fawn | Findlay | Forward | Frazer | Hampton | Harmer |
Harrison | Indiana | Kennedy | Kilbuck | Leet | Marshall |
McCandless | Moon | Mt. Lebanon | Neville | North Fayette | North Versailles |
O'Hara | Ohio | Penn Hills | Pine | Reserve | Richland |
Robinson | Ross | Scott | Shaler | South Fayette | South Park |
South Versailles | Springdale | Stowe | Upper St. Clair | West Deer | Wilkens |
Defunct Boroughs & Townships
© 2024 Allegheny County PAGenWeb Project
This page was last updated 9 Apr 2024