not included as part of the area) (U.S. Bureau of the Census, 1995:961-962). Between 1960 and 1990, the total land area in metropolitan areas more than doubled, from 308,000 to 673,000 square miles. In 1990, metropolitan areas comprised more than 16 percent of the total land area in the United States (U.S. Bureau of the Census, 1995:962).

In comparison to similar areas in most other countries, U.S. metropolitan areas are characterized by large numbers of local governments (Weiher, 1991:176). In 1997, the average metropolitan area consisted of 114 local governments: 2 counties, 42 municipalities or towns, and 70 special districts, of which 21 were school districts. There were 18 local governments for every 100,000 people in metropolitan areas.

The variation in the number of governments per metropolitan area is substantial, even after standardizing for population size. Of the 15 largest metropolitan areas, St. Louis and Houston had the largest number of governments per 100,000 people, and New York and Los Angeles had the fewest (see Table 2-1). Chicago had the largest total number of local governments, followed by Boston and Philadelphia; Anaheim, San Diego, and New York had the fewest. The number of