How to Found a New Town (and Why You Might Want To)

We all have to live somewhere, and wherever you live probably comes with a slew of existing laws and government infrastructure, all of which was probably in place long before you came along. Most of us just exist within those frameworks without complaint—we vote in local elections, pay our property taxes, and obey the local laws—or work to change them.

But if you don’t love the way the towns and cities in your neck of the woods operate, you might be able to haul off and start your own. In fact, the United States is pretty much the only place on the planet where this is still generally possible to do, because we have a lot of what’s known as “unincorporated land,” or land that isn’t part of an established town or city (communities that spring up when people build homes on this land are called, unsurprisingly, unincorporated communities). It’s not necessarily an easy process, really, but if you want to establish your own brand-new town, you can probably pull it off.

Reasons to found a new town

OK, so you can create a new town out of thin air, but why would you want to? Well, there are a few basic reasons:

• Autonomy. The main reason people establish a new town is to be able to make their own rules, within limits. New towns are sometimes created when a large nearby municipality threatens to absorb an unincorporated area, imposing its own government (and taxes) on it. But when you create your own town, you have the rare opportunity to choose the form of government—and a very good chance of determining everything about the town, so you can shape it however you like.
• Control. Living in an unincorporated area means you probably fall under county jurisdiction, and that means there are likely very few laws governing land use—meaning anyone can buy a plot of land and build what they like there. Incorporating as a town allows you and your neighbors to establish zoning laws to support property values and quality-of-life concerns. This is why Elon Musk is planning to build his own town in Texas, for example, and why a small group of people voted to establish the city of Westlake in Florida a few years ago.
• Services. Living in an unincorporated community often means living without a lot of basic services. Some unincorporated communities establish Property Owners Associations (POAs), which are similar to homeowners associations in that they collect dues from property owners and use them to pay for amenities, upkeep, and repairs—but these arrangements often don’t work well over time because the flat fees mean some owners benefit much more than others, and determining how to spend the money is a laborious and contentious process, and owners typically resist any efforts to raise the dues to deal with inflation and special assessments.-

How to establish a new town

If you’re keen on starting your own town—whether to avoid the authority of a nearby town or simply so you can name the place Towny McTownFace and attain legendary madlad status—your first step will be to research the laws of your state. Every state does things its own way, and some states have very little unincorporated land, which would make your only chance of creating your own town secession from an existing municipality. Secession can be complicated and expensive, since the existing town or city will most likely fight your efforts in court (as will at least a portion of your neighbors, who might not want to secede).

A much easier process is to pick a state with a lot of unincorporated land, and follow a relatively easy process of establishing a new town. While every state is different, the process for establishing a new town out of an unincorporated area is pretty similar, and follows these basic steps:

1. Land survey. The first step is to pay to have the area surveyed. This establishes the proposed borders of your new town, the residents that would be included (if any—but keep in mind many states have minimum population requirements for new municipalities), and confirms that you’re not claiming any land that is already part of an existing municipality.
2. Signatures. If people already live there, you’ll need to get a majority to agree to be part of the new town. Again, the requirements vary by state, but generally speaking, you’ll need to get at least 51% of folks to sign on.
3. Approval. Once you have your signatures, you’ll need legal approval. In some states, this simply involves filing paperwork with a judge; in others, you might need the approval of the state legislature. In either case, you probably need a lawyer to dig through all the paperwork and ensure all the details are correct.

The approval process also requires a few specifics you’ll have to have worked out in advance, including what you’re going to call your new town and, most significantly, the type of government your new paradise will have.

The different types of government to choose from

Even if you’re forming your new town to escape the oppression of government, your town will need a form of government in order to be legally approved and recognized. Again, some states limit your choices, but essentially you have five ways to go:

1. Council-Manager. Voters elect a council, and the council then hires someone to manage the operations of the city. Sometimes one councilperson is designated mayor for a term, with the role rotating among the council members, but there’s no elected mayor.
2. Mayor-Council. Probably the most familiar to most of us, this involves a chief executive (the mayor) and a council that are elected separately from each other. Mayoral authority varies greatly from town to town, so you can structure yours to give the council more power, or to make the mayor where the buck stops.
3. Commission. In this sort of town government, residents elect folks to handle specific departments—like, say, garbage collection—and those commissioners then form a “governing board” to hash out mutual decisions, often electing a chairperson of some sort. But essentially, they each handle just one aspect of the town’s administration.
4. Town Meeting. If you’re super into heated arguments and paralyzing dysfunction, this is your jam: Every single decision about the town has to be made collectively by the residents.
5. Representative. This is the same basic idea as a town meeting government, except the voters elect representatives to actually set and enforce policies instead of every single resident attending a meeting.

One thing to keep in mind when selecting a form of government: This new town of yours won’t be yours forever. If it’s successful, it will attract new residents, and new residents may have their own ideas about how things should be done. You’ll need to be ready for that. For example, the town of Clark, Texas—established way back in the year 2000—voted to change its name to DISH, Texas in 2005 in order to get free TV from Dish Network. The founder of the town, L.E. Clark, wasn’t too happy about this, and blamed the decision on a rivalry with the new mayor.

Whatever your reasons, depending on where you live, you and a few like-minded neighbors could found a new town today (or at least start the process) if you have the time, energy, and resources.

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