No state can match Vermont's local government system. Instead of towns and cities surrounded by lands governed by county or state governments, Vermont's towns and cities usually abut one another. This gives residents complete control over their communities. In other states county governments surround cities and tend to function as competitors, rather than partners.

Unlike cities, counties answer to BIG businesses who are extracting natural resources from the land and hunting for cheap labour inside city limits. These BIG interests are in direct conflict with people who live within city limits.