urbanSTL

The Village of Mackenzie voted to dissolve, 18-15!

Ebsy wrote: ↑

Apr 04, 2018

The Village of Mackenzie voted to dissolve, 18-15!

Another one bites the dust, for the better. Good to see.

EDIT: I didn't realize there were such a small towns in South STL. I thought most of the small ones were north. Interesting.

jshank83 wrote: ↑

Apr 04, 2018

Ebsy wrote: ↑

Apr 04, 2018

The Village of Mackenzie voted to dissolve, 18-15!

Another one bites the dust, for the better. Good to see.

EDIT: I didn't realize there were such a small towns in South STL. I thought most of the small ones were north. Interesting.

Meet these South County municipalities with 5,000 or fewer people:

Bella Villa, population 687
Grantwood Village, population 883
Green Park, population 772
Lakeshire, population 4,387
Oakland, population 1,540 (it's south-ish)
Wilbur Park, population 475

-RBB

^Oakland is an interesting place. Founded on Libertarian principles, it has fostered a legacy of modernist architecture (it was the home of Harris Armstrong). Here's a recent article about it:

http://www.stltoday.com/lifestyles/colu ... c1deb.html

There were so many unopposed and low votes cast races.
Most of the tax increases passed, including three sales tax increases in Cool Valley

http://electionresults.stlouisco.com/el180403/EL45.HTM

...And Stenger, and opponent of unification, won.

^ Montovani also was opposed to unification if you mean a unigov kind of arrangement.... I think that's pretty much unrealistic and political suicide in the county.

It'd be interesting to see what percentage of county voters are interested in some form of unification. My guess is it would be very low.

I've been wondering how support for a unification proposal would be affected by the County Council being entirely unaligned with Stenger. IOW If Stenger supports will all the council members oppose because he supports or vice versa?

I'm convinced it will never happen in my lifetime. Maybe best to just carry on and move.

Too many people in the county have a me first mentality. Only way this happens is through a state vote, to be honest.

Even if this did happen, I'm sure you'd see a mass flight from the suburbs to St. Charles, even if the city was admitted as just another municipality with its own debts and issues.

I doubt council members are going to put their necks on the line in support of any type of consolidation (even just admitting city to county as a muni) just to spite Stenger.

^ In all likelihood any consolidation will come from a statewide vote, which I say....GOOD RIDDANCE! I do not trust St. Louis to handle it's own matters in terms of functional regional government. This is one issue that I do not mind the state stepping in and laying down the hammer. I also would like to see full blown unigov if we are going to go all the way. A St. Louis of 1.3 million residents with consolidated services is the way to go in the 21st century. While I get the local government argument. St. Louis is governed in a way that balkanization is actually preventing meaningful economic development and economies of scales. I'm also skeptical that you will see a mass exodus if there is consolidation. Most people are not going to leave their suburban McMansion when they realize that the sky will not fall under any sort of consolidation. In fact, their property values will probably increase.

After barely squeaking out wins these past two elections I can't imagine in what context Stenger would want city voters in the county. With the right candidate and a clear choice he wouldn't be County Exec today and much less going forward.

Other than appearing at photo ops with Krewson and BT I haven't heard him advocate for unification.

Unless the decree comes from outside St Louis, I'm not too hopeful on unification or re-entry. IIRC, I could be thinking of N/S ML, but wasn't this also put on hold for another 'study'? It looks like we're dragging our feet, I don't know if we'll even have a vote within the next 4 years. It'll have to come from outstate.

I suppose when the BT Task Force recommendation comes out we'll know pretty quick whether there will be an effort to go for it or not.

An effort from who?

It's been said before, but unless the county witnesses major population shifts in the region, it seems comfortable moving at its current pace.

A 2020 census where city sees positive growth and county shrinks would be a wake up call. But that's not really the goal.

Sidenote: It'd be interesting to see the demographics flopped. (city contains 1 mil--county contains 320k). Would progressive attitudes of consolidation and better together be the same?

dylank wrote: ↑

Aug 09, 2018

Sidenote: It'd be interesting to see the demographics flopped. (city contains 1 mil--county contains 320k). Would progressive attitudes of consolidation and better together be the same?

Interesting thought. I guess that's roughly what they faced back in 1876.

Being on the hook for more low-productivity, auto-oriented places is a concern, but that and fragmentation are feeding each other to bankrupt us, so doing something about either would be a help I think. Doing something about fragmentation is probably easier, given the magnitude of the incentive structures set up to encourage low productivity development patterns and all levels of gov't.

A forum hosted by Better Together called "Reimagining St. Louis" is scheduled for October 30th. Scott Ogilvie, among others, is scheduled to speak. Here's the link to RSVP: http://bettertogetherstl.nationbuilder. ... ogetherstl

Clayton Times - Opinion: A reimagined St. Louis

http://claytontimes.com/opinion-a-reimagined-st-louis/

Lawmaker wants to abolish small town police departments in St. Louis County

https://www.stltoday.com/news/local/cri ... d02a6.html

^ good.