>I grew up in the St Louis area. There were 2 primary reasons I believe St. Louis as a city and a metro failed to emerge as a large area with great prosperity.

>I grew up in the St Louis area. There were 2 primary reasons I believe St. Louis as a city and a metro failed to emerge as a large area with great prosperity. 1. The scheme and charter. In 1875 the city forced a divorce from the county. The county at the time was a large rural area and the city wanted to expand. Everything wrong with the area sprung from this decision. The latest effort failed spectacularly. It'll be a generation before they come back together. https://www.stlmag.com/news/politics/st-louis-great-divorce-history-city-county-split-attempt-to-get-back-together/ https://www.stlmag.com/news/politics/st-louis-great-divorce-... 2. St. Louis chose river transportation over rail. https://books.google.com/books?id=cHvo-Nr4bFkC&pg=PA37&lpg=PA37&dq=st.+louis+chose+river+over+rail&source=bl&ots=gB27TPK6cX&sig=ACfU3U2S7l0hZqCgFYbSmXKySGoMghIm8A&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjJo8-d3v_oAhUQCawKHRAvDm8Q6AEwBHoECA8QAQ#v=onepage&q=st.%20louis%20chose%20river%20over%20rail&f=false https://books.google.com/books?id=cHvo-Nr4bFkC&pg=PA37&lpg=P...