Massachusetts towns and counties
Massachusetts shares with the six New England states and New York a governmental structure known as the "New England town."
In most states, a town is a compact incorporated area. Between the towns are unincorporated areas, usually quite large, which do not belong to any town. In contrast, the state is completely apportioned into counties: every square inch of land belongs to some county. County governments have significant importance, particularly to those living outside towns, and often perform major functions such as operating airports.
In contrast, the cities and towns of Massachusetts divide up all of the land between them; every square inch of Massachusetts belongs to some "town" (or city) and there are no "unincorporated" areas or population centers. This complicates comparisons with other states, as most residents identify strongly with the town or city in which they reside, and not with the "populated places" as defined and used in the U.S. Census Bureau, which in most data products considers towns to be equivalent to (much weaker) townships in other states. (The principal exceptions to this rule are the cities of Boston, Newton, and Barnstable, where residents closely identify with a particular "neighborhood" or "village", which has no legal existence in state law but is usually recognized by the Census.)
By the 1990s, most functions of county governments (including operation of courts and road maintenance) had been taken over by the state, and most county governments were seen as inefficient and outmoded. (The exception was, and remains, Barnstable County on Cape Cod, which is the focus of regional planning and environmental management on the Cape.) The government of Suffolk County was substantially integrated with the city government of Boston, to the extent that the members of the Boston city council were, ex officio, the Suffolk County Commissioners. (Thus, residents of some Suffolk County communities did not have a voice on the county commission.)
Mismanagement of Middlesex County's public hospital in the mid 1990s left that county on the brink of insolvency, and in 1997 the legislature stepped in by assuming all assets and obligations of the county. The government of Middlesex County was officially abolished on July 11, 1997. Later that year, the Franklin County Commission voted itself out of existence. The law abolishing Middlesex County also provided for the elimination of Hampden County and Worcester County on July 1, 1998. This law was later amended to abolish Hampshire County on January 1, 1999; Essex County on July 1 of that same year; and Berkshire County on July 1, 2000. Chapter 34B of the Massachusetts General Laws provides that other counties may also vote to abolish themselves, or to reorganize as a "regional council of governments", as Hampshire County has done.
Higher Education
Massachusetts is a hotbed of higher education, with many of the most prestigious colleges and universities in the United States (see list of colleges and universities in Massachusetts for a full listing). They feed the medical and high-tech industries which drive the local economy. Metropolitan Boston has a remarkable concentration of colleges and universities (see list of colleges and universities in metropolitan Boston), which causes the city's population to surge during the school year.
The Ivy League university Harvard University is arguably the most famous university in the world; Massachusetts Institute of Technology is one of the top engineering and science universities; Amherst College and Williams College in western Massachusetts are top liberal arts colleges; Wellesley College, Mount Holyoke College, and Smith College are top women's colleges; Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and Berklee College of Music are but two of the specialist institutions that are at the top of their fields.