Shoreline, WA is a place. You can drive to it, walk through it, and be born, live, and die in it. The City of Shoreline, on the other hand is a municipal corporation, created by the State of Washington, by petition of the voters within the city limits. It has a mayor, a deputy mayor, councilmembers, and staff. It has ordinances, and resolutions and propositions. It sues and is sued. It taxes, and provides services. It protects and defends, arrests and jails. Shoreline the place does none of these things. It just is. The City is a local government of, by, and for the people of the place. But you cannot go there. You can't photograph it. It isn't a place. It's not a where; it's a who. You may also hear the term 'city' used for the people of the place, governed by the municipal corporation, as in "The city mourned the victims." Don't confuse the 3 terms. The propaganda of the municipal corporation that is the City of Shoreline will often use the word 'city', or 'City', or even 'Shoreline' and 'City of Shoreline' interchangeably, as fits their needs. So when you read a phrase such as "the City's vision," or the economic development of the city, or the city's response to the City's survey," note carefully which entity they mean...if you can keep it straight.
