In addition to towns, every New England state has incorporated cities. However, cities are treated in the same manner as towns under state law, differing from towns only in their form of government. Most cities are former towns that changed to a city form of government because they grew too large to have a town meeting as its legislative body; instead, a city's legislative body is an elected representative body, typically called the city council or town council or board of aldermen. City governments are typically administered by a mayor (and/or city manager). In common speech, people often generically refer to communities of either type as "towns", drawing no distinction between the two.