The River Between Us

By now I'm sure most of you have heard of the Better Together group which is attempting to unify St. Louis city and county. If not, you can read about it here. While, admittedly, I haven't studied the entire report recently issued by the task force, I applaud the effort to empower the metropolitan area by eliminating the fragmentation among the hundreds of small communities and their governance from the larger picture. Communities that are essentially neighborhoods with official boundaries have been holding the city and region back for way too long, in my humble opinion. Surely this great area we call home could use a brighter, and more unified, outlook in most of the facets of life that we all care about. Better Together appears committed to take on the challenge of improving St. Louis by consolidating and streamlining operations and thereby improving the benefits afforded all of us. The group has already addressed most of the hurdles standing in the way of such an accomplishment.

As a life-long resident of the Metro-East, I have already begun wondering..."Why not include the Illinois counties?" and "What's wrong with Madison, St. Clair and Monroe counties, or perhaps more, being involved?" One immediately comes up with several no-brainer answers to those questions.

• "Well...the Metro-East is in a different state"
• "Uh...there's a thing called the Mississippi River that separates St. Louis city/county from the Illinois counties." 
• "Metro-East residents may not want to be part of St. Louis."
• "St. Louis residents may not want to be part of the Metro-East." 
• "Would it actually benefit Better Together to have the Illinois counties involved?"  
• "There are all sorts of different laws that apply to Missouri vis-a-vis Illinois."

To all of those points, I simply say..."It would make an even more powerful St. Louis and is worth considering."

Surely, there would be enormous barriers with which to deal. Metro-East counties seceding from the state of Illinois? That might be the easier part. I'm guessing many east-siders would be fine with joining up with Missouri. It would have its advantages. And it can't be argued that there is a huge disconnect between the Metro-East and the power and political structure that governs the Land of Lincoln, dominated by Chicago representation. Metro-East, its financial needs and political clout, are mostly an afterthought in Springfield where Chicagoans pull most of the strings.

Yes, there is that river....and the state boundary it creates. But is St. Louis the only city that has a river running through the middle of it? What about the East River separating the boroughs of New York? The Cumberland cuts Nashville about in half. Chicago, Milwaukee, and many other Midwest cities deal fine with rivers running through them. Of course, with the Mississippi you're talking about a major, continent-dividing type river. But is it still the barrier to commerce and interaction of the population that it once was? I think not. When companies and their marketing/advertising efforts attempt to reach the St. Louis market, they always include the Illinois counties.

There are no doubt many other difficulties that this idea would bring about. And I understand that many who are in positions of influence, political or otherwise, would fight to the death against considering Metro-East inclusion in the city called St. Louis. Perhaps I'm very naive about the possibility. But those of us who do not have salaries or clout on the line would like to think that residents of both sides of the big river would benefit from adding our numbers to the Better Together effort. At least it might be something to consider. If not now, maybe after the Missouri issues are dealt with.

I know one thing...I have always considered myself a St. Louisan, even though I've lived on the Illinois side my entire life. We all benefit from the presence of the Cardinals, the Blues, the Zoo, and yes, the Shrine, Eckerts, the Grizzlies and many other Illinois-based businesses and venues. I'm sure I'm not the only east-side resident who, when traveling, answers the question..."Where are you from?" by saying...St. Louis.