Editorial: Unify St. Louis and stop the ‘slow drain’ of
economic power
By: The Editorial Board
For this weeks’ news
article blog I read an editorial in The Post-Dispatch about the discussion
surrounding a possible City of St. Louis and St. Louis County merge.
The idea of unifying
the city and the county is one that is very interesting to me, especially in
context of information presented and discussed in our class, Community Practice
and Social Change.
The idea of “city’
and ‘county” makes me think of division I experienced in high school. I did not
go to a high school the consisted of students that lived in one general part of
the St. Louis region. Rather, students came from all parts of St. Louis,
including Illinois, to attend school. I distinctly remember girls identifying
as a ‘”city girl” or a “county girl.” We simply were not “St. Louis girls,” or
even simpler, students of the same school, and this divided us into two groups
of students. Even more notably, this made us perceive ourselves as different
from each other. But, were we? Sadly, with division comes groups and with
groups comes the comparison of better and worse.
In terms of the two
groups, city and county, the county is usually perceived as better. It is perceived
as safer, as having better schools, so and so forth. Individuals and families
have fled the city of St. Louis in pursuit of “a greener pasture” to the county
for years. And with the pursuit went money, jobs and investment in community.
But doesn’t this
perception that the county is better and the city is worse affect all of us
that live in St. Louis, not just city residents? In terms of class, and the community
of JeffVanderLou that I am working in this semester, I like the quote from economist Richard Voith that “Central city decline is
likely to be a long-run, slow drain on the economic and social vitality of the
region” referring to the idea that the relationship between suburbs and urban
cores and that the blight in an inner city can have a direct economic effect on
its suburbs.
So, in my
opinion, the answer is yes. The division of the city and county, and the
perception of better or worse that comes along with that division, affects our
entire City and all the city’s residents.
This topic is really interesting to me also. I read a book over the holidays called Cities Without Suburbs. It looked at cities that were growing in population and fairing better in areas like economic growth, economic inequality, racial and SEC segregation, and other factors relating to the "health" of the city. What the author found through several editions of the book is the biggest indicator of a city's success is its elasticity in relation to population and infrastructure density and whether it's trapped by suburbs and other local governments. Basically those cities that chose to incorporate surrounding suburbs into city limits or had few surrounding governments to begin with are excelling and those trapped cities with great suburbian sprawl are progressively struggling more. One recent decision to make this merge was in Louisville, Kentucky, which has since been growing.
ReplyDeleteWhile the wealthy county would take a hit with a tax base including the city, a St. Louis that continues to rot from the inside out will not be successful in the long haul. One of UMSL's professors said she did not believe the city would unify in her lifetime. Do you all think it is possible for the metro area to make this decision together? Are there short-term benefits for the county that could create a great motivation to unify?
I thought this article was helpful also: https://www.stlbeacon.org/#!/content/32613/blist_merger_rentry_questions
The city of Memphis, TN keeps broadening its boarders. Unfortunately, people have just kept moving away due to the desire for a smaller, and in their opinions, less corrupt & representative government. I believe a study of previous success and failures to determine how to ensure the people within the communities continue to have a voice. Cheri
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