Goodbye, city and county? Potential city/county merger

[FalstaffBlues]

Originally Posted by mjtinmemphis

I hate when people talk what they don't know.

Downtown is still the largest employment hub in St. Louis. No other municipality in the state of Missouri can say they have 6 F500 companies within their jurisdiction.

There is crime in St. Louis but it is still the economics and cultural engine in the metro. If the city wasn't there, St. Charles, Crestwood nor Chesterfield would be there.

The merger would not be a magic pill for the area. This would not automatically put us on the level of Atlanta or Philadelphia. It would make us more marketable to business throughout the country and possibly the world.

I think the metro would benefit from a city county merger. Higher property rates, more consistent tax base and everyone would benefit from a safer city and possibly a better core.

Hell, Chesterfield wouldn't even really exist if it weren't for the county taxes used to build the levy

[FalstaffBlues]

Originally Posted by MUTGR

It's both.

Plus, St. Louis County is the economic engine that drives Missouri:

https://www.stltoday.com/business/co...fcf26e11d.html

If we are going to do this for appearances, let's put our best foot forward as the government center: Clayton!

Our "best foot" is not our regions mid century nightmare otherwise known as Clayton.

Be safe next time you have to leave your cul de sac and head east of Skinker!

[MUTGR]

Originally Posted by FalstaffBlues

Our "best foot" is not our regions mid century nightmare otherwise known as Clayton.

Be safe next time you have to leave your cul de sac and head east of Skinker!

I'm downtown at least once a week. Be safe next time you leave your farm in Illinois!

And Clayton most certainly is. No wonder rents are double or more there than what they are downtown.

[MOforthewin]

Originally Posted by pdm_ad

I think this actually plays a bigger role than people assign to it. Perception is reality and the perception is that STL is a dangerous city based upon arbitrary lines when tabulating 'City Crime Rankings'. How many threads on this very forum do we see comments about STL being dangerous? Yet when we look at the metro as a whole we see that STL is actually less dangerous than cities that have the perception of being safe, like KC for instance.

If the city and county are combined we drop off all the Most Dangerous lists and that perception goes away. It might take a while for that to change but I am confident that it will. We have a lot of momentum happening in the city right now and this issue has, finally, been brought to the top of the list. We will never have a perfect reunion plan but if we do nothing we continue down this road of regionalism and fractured government. It's a good time for this to happen with both Stenger and Krewson on board.

The other problem is liberal judges and prosecutors too. Giving light sentences.

I'd rather just give stl city off to IL or something. If it became part of IL the state of MO would drastically improve with less crime and less spending on prisons and such and save money since the city drags everything down. Other than Blues and Cards games there isn't really anything to go into the city for. For jobs Clayton is a better choice.

Also, the residents of the city limits would love the liberal politics as well in IL and would fit in better with the rest of the state and Missouri would go deep red. People like Trump would win MO by over 20 points then and it will become a even deeper red in elections.

[Mosep]

Originally Posted by MOforthewin

The other problem is liberal judges and prosecutors too. Giving light sentences.

I'd rather just give stl city off to IL or something. If it became part of IL the state of MO would drastically improve with less crime and less spending on prisons and such and save money since the city drags everything down. Other than Blues and Cards games there isn't really anything to go into the city for. For jobs Clayton is a better choice.

Also, the residents of the city limits would love the liberal politics as well in IL and would fit in better with the rest of the state and Missouri would go deep red. People like Trump would win MO by over 20 points then and it will become a even deeper red in elections.

Junior, the adults are talking

[FalstaffBlues]

Originally Posted by MOforthewin

The other problem is liberal judges and prosecutors too. Giving light sentences.

I'd rather just give stl city off to IL or something. If it became part of IL the state of MO would drastically improve with less crime and less spending on prisons and such and save money since the city drags everything down. Other than Blues and Cards games there isn't really anything to go into the city for. For jobs Clayton is a better choice.

Also, the residents of the city limits would love the liberal politics as well in IL and would fit in better with the rest of the state and Missouri would go deep red. People like Trump would win MO by over 20 points then and it will become a even deeper red in elections.

Great! Then we'd have more hillbilly legislators trying to repeal laws their constituents passed by overwhelming margins

[STL1980]

No wonder rents are double or more there than what they are downtown.

Rents are higher in the CWE than Clayton, but yes, not Downtown. Younger people are flocking to the central core of the city, CWE, Grove, Downtown. I don't see that demand in Clayton. The office market in Clayton IS on fire however. I wish there was more demand for office space Downtown. Crime perceptions and some realities deter people along with the city's earnings tax.. That's why I'm for better together. I think the elimination of the ET will encourage more companies to consider our CBD/ Downtown. Clayton is not going to carry the region as it's "downtown". If anything the retail and nightlife scene has completely regressed over the last ten years.

[MUTGR]

Originally Posted by STL1980

No wonder rents are double or more there than what they are downtown.

Rents are higher in the CWE than Clayton, but yes, not Downtown. Younger people are flocking to the central core of the city, CWE, Grove, Downtown. I don't see that demand in Clayton. The office market in Clayton IS on fire however. I wish there was more demand for office space Downtown. Crime perceptions and some realities deter people along with the city's earnings tax.. That's why I'm for better together. I think the elimination of the ET will encourage more companies to consider our CBD/ Downtown. Clayton is not going to carry the region as it's "downtown". If anything the retail and nightlife scene has completely regressed over the last ten years.

I was talking about commercial space. And really I'm advocating a position because of this absurd BT proposal. There may be a way to merge but this isn't it. I'm actually a big fan of the city of St. Louis.