Outgrowth of the early colonial charter system that Virginia had and a few centuries of evolution from that point. In at least a few cases was a “great” way to maintain segregation, but many of the cities were independent well before that point and some actually ended up annexing the county they were initially independent from, leading to the weird situation in the southeastern tip where there are seven “cities”, almost all of which are county-sized
They are independent cities. They are separate legal entities from the counties that surround them. Not sure why cities in VA do that though.
Outgrowth of the early colonial charter system that Virginia had and a few centuries of evolution from that point. In at least a few cases was a “great” way to maintain segregation, but many of the cities were independent well before that point and some actually ended up annexing the county they were initially independent from, leading to the weird situation in the southeastern tip where there are seven “cities”, almost all of which are county-sized