The Canary in the Suburban Coal Mine: St. Louis County Parks

St. Louis County Executive Charlie Dooley is calling for the closure of three County parks and reduced services at many others, as well as many other reductions in a desperate attempt to close a growing budget hole. The services offered by St. Louis County are unsustainable. Whether it's national economic conditions, or the fact that growth has leapfrogged St. Louis County to St. Charles County and elsewhere over the past decade, this represents another glimpse into a looming crisis.

Increasing suburban poverty, declining population, declining sales tax and property tax revenue... Dooley is correct that no one should be surprised at his proposed cuts, or the desperate situation county government finds itself in. For decades the growing County could look at the City of St. Louis and believe that the worst municipal challenges lay east of Skinker. This has always been false, but the truth must now be obvious to even the most obstinate anti-City, anti-regional voices.