The debate over the future of transit is one of the greatest examples of this. Last week, the city’s parking commission committed $2 million to update the design of the long-planned Northside-Southside Metrolink route. If built out, at an approximate cost of more than $2 billion, the route would run through the spine of St. Louis, connecting South County to North County right through the heart of the city. It would connect the dense and diverse south side of Gravois and Benton parks to the promised new high-tech jobs of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency being built on the north side of the city. It would bring hope to the federally designated Promise Zone that straddles the city-county border on the North Side.