For those who live in Illinois...or in states with the same structure as Illinois...the word "town" is confusing. Here "town" means a small city or a large village. In NY "town" means what we mean by "township"...and that's why one of the answers to this question mentioned being a place to look for rural folks. So you can be in the State of New York, in the County of Genesee, in the Town of Batavia (i.e., in the Township of Batavia) and in the City of Batavia. Perhaps this will help the person who inquired. I know I was confused the first time I visited the area. We'd be driving along a rural highway when all of a sudden there would be an official sign saying "Town of Batavia". I looked around expecting to see a village any moment. Nope! Only more fields and ruralness...Until we finally got to the sign that said "City of Batavia" and all the congested city stuff. Kristy Lincoln and Palmer research