Editorial: Ellisville Walmart Fight Symbolic of Parochialism

As city business and political leaders ponder the future of economic development in Ellisville in the wake of Walmart's move to drop plans for a store on Manchester Road following a protracted debate over the project, The St. Louis Post Dispatch's editorial board is weighing in. Here's an excerpt:

"The news of Wal-Mart pulling out of the Ellisville project isn’t good news if the retail giant merely finds another West County municipality to fleece. It’s not good news if a marketable property on a high-traffic intersection stays vacant because one municipality wants to get out of the corporate welfare game.

But the Ellisville debacle can end up being a good-news story if it becomes a rallying cry for ending the feudalism that all too often defines St. Louis."