Matt Drops The H wrote:Both southslider and Xing can attest to the fact that public transit is easier to fund and construct in Illinois. For one, Illinois allocates a certain portion of the fuel tax toward mass transit. Correct me if I'm wrong. Second, it's an urban-controlled state with more urban-minded politicians who'd be more likely to support and fund Metro extensions throughout Illinois.
Xing, no Missourian that has become "accustomed" to sprawl wants to see the same thing on the other side of the river. I'm not going to harass construction crews on the new bridge. I'm not going to drive through the new Illinois subdivisions that will be built with a megaphone telling them that doomsday is near. I didn't do any of this on the other side of the Missouri River; the other side of the Mississippi will be no different.
I will, however, offer my opinion that a new bridge is not needed, especially in a state that is more capable of automobile alternatives. I also offer that no one should want counterbalanced sprawl in the Metro East, even if it's better for the City at first. Looking farther into the future, futher decentralization is actually worse for everyone and, as it has already done, it creates self-sufficient suburban nodes far from the central city.
Now, if your argument is that the new bridge will not facilitate the transformation of Illinois, over a period of several years, into St. Charles County II--I would find that more tenable. I don't buy the "return the city to the center" argument because it's contradictory to what I stand for. I want what's better for the region and what's better for the unique character of the diverse corners of our region.
I think that there's a certain arbitrary "tipping point" in each metro area to where suburbanization has extended too far and becomes too disconnected from the central city. Certainly St. Louis has reached that point. Who wants to see this process worsen and extend farther? Not me. If our Metro Area were gaining new residents, this would not be a problem. However, the Metro East's growth comes at the expense not only of other areas within our Metro, but at its own unique position as a rural/urban blend just minutes from downtown.
St. Louis needs to attract outsiders, and it needs to attract them to the central city. Shifting suburbanites, who tend to be self-sufficient or dependent upon a suburban employment hub rather than the city, in reality helps St. Louis's situation very little.
We don't need this bridge. But so be it. It's not the worst decision we'll make. It won't be the last bad one either.
Honestly, this all appears hypocritical, IMO. I have not seen protests, to this severity, over the I-64 project in St. Louis. Will that contribute to more sprawl? According to your logic, yes. I haven't seen protests, to this severity, over many transit projects in Missouri, at all.
Also, you claim Illinois will become "St. Charles II," yet, isn't it the law and minds of Missouri that have contributed to St Charles? sprawl? Do you think those in Illinois, won't rebuild the dozens of downtowns that exist there, or rehab the older cities? Nearly all the suburbs of the metro east, have old, gridded street, downtowns. Even the worst, our O?Fallon, has a decent sized downtown, with old buildings, and a grid. This is because: when St Louis was actually a decent city, most people who lived outside St Louis, lived in Illinois, in urban settings. Yet interestingly enough, as the city declined, the population shifted to towns west of the city, in Missouri, more and more. Illinois saw a decline with this. Is this a coincidence? Success and failure appear to come hand in hand for St Louis and Illinois. Is it a coincidence that just as St Louis is seeing improvement, Illinois is also? Is it all suburban? Perhaps it seems that way to you, but you won?t know that from your side of the river, and you certainly wont hear of the urban improvements on the news. Crime in East St Louis is down 75%, the population stopped dropping, and homes are going up. Belleville is finally growing again, Alton, and Granite City are both expecting major changes.
