You need to think bigger than the earnings tax (or any any particular difference between the City and the County). That's too narrow a lens through which to see

You need to think bigger than the earnings tax (or any any particular difference between the City and the County). That's too narrow a lens through which to see what's really going on. St. Louis as a region has a problem with the sort of divisions that allowed you to avoid the earnings tax by locating outside of city limits that were myopically drawn in 1876. --- (But, if I must comment on the earnings tax -- and I really can't help myself -- I'll simply say that a 1% tax is not enough to dissuade a professional earning a professional's income from living where they truly want to live or working where they truly want to work. To the extent that a 1% tax actually is a deal-breaker, it's a symptom of a much larger disease.)