Is the term "village" used in North America?

The post Difference between "town", "city" and "metropolis"? describes the usage of terms describing various sizes of cities. In the US, I have never encountered any place called a "village". Places with just a few houses were still called "town", however, I often hear Americans use this term to describe towns in other parts of the world.

• Are there any regions in North America where the term "village" is used?
• Do people in North America want to avoid this term when describing where they live?
• Do Americans use the term differently when describing places within North America and without?
• Does the word carry a derogitory connotation in North America?

As others have explained, the term 'village' is used in the US as a technical designation, a governmental-legalistic denomination.

But hardly anywhere in the US would someone use the term 'village' as a generic term for a very small settlement. That is, there is the official usage 'the village of East Davenport, Iowa', but never, ever, would someone say 'I live in a village outside of the main town'. In that sense, no one would describe or refer to where they live as 'a village'. Americans would use the term for a place in another country, but not for anywhere in the US.

'You live in a village' is not particularly derogatory, it just sounds weird if talking about some place in the US.

There are many places called villages in the U.S., whether as a type of municipal entity, as a generic term for an independent human settlement somewhat smaller than a town, or to refer to small districts of larger settlements that retain an independent character (or were formerly independent villages), such as the neighborhood of Greenwich Village in New York City.

Beyond this there are countless housing developments, shopping centers, university residences, and the like which incorporate "village" or "villages" into their name.

You have to remember that, in casual conversation, American English speakers often blur the distinction between things that aren't considered important to the meaning of the sentence.

For example:

A settlement may be legally a hamlet, but will be referred to by some as a "town" though usually not as a "city". The distinction here comes from the rural inhabitants that think of the term "city" to mean a larger, more urban environment, though not necessarily as complex as, say, New York City or London.

Still, the term "village" is often used with a romantic connotation, especially in marketing and advertising communications. So, a small city in the mountains will become a "quaint mountain village" because the term "village" will, to many Americans, convey thoughts of a "simpler" time, or even mental images of a pastural habitat.

Anecdotally, I can say that I don't hear it in comman parlance, but do see it in official naming and signage. (see e.g. http://villagesofvanburen.com/ in SE Iowa.)

As the various answers and comments indicate, the noun village is commonly used in many, if not all parts of the US to describe municipalities and residential subdivisions etc. The word is also found in the title of a 1996 book.

With regard to the question as to whether village is used in a derogatory sense in the US, some uses of village as an adjective might be considered as derogatory, as in likening someone to the village idiot or, in some circles, saying that someone is a member of the Village People.