eli5 what are unincorporated communities and cdp’s?
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First, every US state has its own slightly unique form of local government structure and words. Mostly, though, every state is divided into counties, parishes, or similar areas that cover all land in that state.
Hiatorically, when you got a cluster of homes and businesses growing up in an area, the people there decided they needed a little bit of extra structure to address local needs that were more specific than the general county-wide needs – paving streets or having a fire department or whatever. So they would “incorporate” a city or town or village government that had various powers and responsibilities (which vary a bunch depending on which state you’re in).
“Unincorporated” areas are generally anything that’s outside of those local governments. In some states, that unincorporated area is just the county; other states divide up the county into townships.
“Census designated places” are places where the US Census Bureau has said, “hey there’s a cluster of population here that’s big enough and dense enough to be worth measuring as it’s own thing, even if they never took the step of forming a local government.” So, that area generally has no legal status under state law, but they typically have a name, and the Census will track that area as a distinct thing. They’re typically smaller places, a few hundred people.
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