St. Louis is a strange place, comparatively. Our solutions to public problems have often been to form a commission, nonprofit or committee. But privatization has become a favorite go-to solution of the modern era. I’ll go over the history eventually, but can you name another city that offers a world-class zoo without a charge for admittance?
It’s not uncommon for cities to create these exo-governmental organizations. Our region just keeps creating them to provide services for both the city and the county- two separate geographic areas with entirely different government institutions. Their structures don’t mirror each other, their populations and even their geographic sizes vary immensely. Yet, partnerships abound to take advantage of economies of scale. Trust me you’ll find this to be maddening, amazing and awesome all at once.
The Structure of Society 