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What happens when a border becomes more than a line on a map? In this episode of “Meet Me,” residents living near the St. Louis city-county line describe what it means to live along a divide that shapes daily life.
We also dive into one of the most ambitious attempts to reunite the city and county, the Better Together plan from 2019. Through interviews with civic leaders, elected officials and longtime political voices, host Luis Antonio Perez explores how the plan gained momentum, why it failed and what its collapse reveals about power, trust, race and regional identity in St. Louis.
(0:00) - St. Louis Public Radio invites residents living along the city-county border for a listening session where they discuss life on the border.
(3:29) - Next door neighbors, Miss Dee (city) and Mr. Larry (county), on Garesche Ave. share their stories and their views on the manmade barrier outside of their homes.
(16:11) - Deep dive into the Better Together plan of 2019. The most well-funded and well-researched attempt to reunify St. Louis city and county in decades. How it was developed, why it failed, and what it reveals about power, trust, race, and regional identity.
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Credits: This episode was written, hosted and produced by Luis Antonio Perez, with story editing by Alex Heuer and Brian Heffernan. Meet Me’s executive producer is Brian Heffernan. Audio mixing by Greg Munteanu. Paola Rodriguez is our engagement producer. Art by Cristina Fletes-Mach. Our theme music is by Kudda & Friends. Special thanks to Jason Rosenbaum, Rachel Lippmann, Chad Davis, Fred Ehrlich, Lara Hamdan, Leslie Davis, Hiba Ahmed, Miya Norfleet and Miah Williams. Archival news clips from St. Louis Public Radio, KMOV, and KSDK.
Grant support comes from the James S. McDonnell foundation.
Support this work at stlpr.org/donate
