Naming Missouri's New Districts

So now the 130th is the 160th, the 20th is now the 49th, and the 8th's split between the 5th, 6th, and 7th. A subdivision in Liberty that was once wholly in the 34th has part of a cul-de-sac in the 17th and the rest in the 38th. But at least the asynchronous 62nd is now in line with its neighboring districts as the 156th.

Anyone else think these numbers are way out there and confusing? Sure brandishing our area codes are even seeping their way beyond their 'hood origins (660 Represent, Y'all?), but who walks around bragging "I'm from the 39th, don't be messing with me?" (And apologies to the newly elected Judy Morgan from the 39th District, who now gets drawn into the same district as a fellow Democrat, Minority Leader Mike Talboy.)

It's simpler to just use numbers, as it's less time consuming to write down names, but what good is a number to describe your area if it's just going to change every ten years? And even if it's going to change every ten years, what difference does conveying "68" make whether it's along Skinker Boulevard or a stretch of the Butterfield Stagecoach Road?

So let's start naming these districts. Be they after counties, county seats, or neighborhoods, names can be tweaked as need be, and the evolution of the districts can be easier to trace than throwing numbers around and watching a number dart from Rock Port to Athens to the Bootheel over the span of 30 years. So here's what I suggest for names of house districts.

General guidelines:

• Limit of three proper nouns (similar to Canadian Ridings)
• Should be ordered by most population to least
• Emphasis on counties for rural districts, cities or neighborhoods if suburban or urban
• Cardinal direction should only be used if base location is used more than once
• Geographical feature or area if possible and patently unique

And now, the obnoxiously sized lists:

Missouri House (Click for maps)

1. Nodaway & Holt
2. Upper Grand River
3. Kirksville & the Green Hills
4. Canton-Memphis-Edina
5. Hannibal North & Shelby
6. Macon & Randolph North
7. Lower Grand River
8. Caldwell & Clinton
9. Savannah & Buchanan East
10. St. Joseph Center
11. St. Joseph South-Buchanan West-Platte North
12. Platte City-Smithville-Kearney
13. Platte South
14. Platte Southeast
15. Gladstone
16. Shoal Creek Valley
17. Liberty South & Claycomo
18. North Kansas City & Vivion Road
19. Kansas City Northeast
20. Independence North & Fort Osage
21. Independence East
22. [Kansas City] Blue Ridge
23. Kansas City East
24. Kansas City Downtown
25. [Kansas City] Brookside
26. Kansas City Troost
27. [Kansas City] Swope Park
28. Raytown
29. Independence South & Kansas City Southeast
30. Independence Southeast & Woods Chapel
31. Blue Springs South & Tapawingo
32. Blue Springs North & Jackson East
33. Harrisonville-Pleasant Hill-Lone Jack
34. Lee's Summit East & Greenwood
35. Lee's Summit West & Longview
36. Kansas City Red Bridge
37. Grandview & Jackson Southwest
38. Liberty North & Excelsior Springs
39. Ray-Carroll-Chariton North
40. Hannibal South-Paris-Bowling Green
41. Lincoln & Troy
42. Warren-Montgomery-St. Charles Southwest
43. Audrain & Callaway East
44. Columbia East & Centralia
45. Columbia Columns
46. Columbia Southwest
47. Boone West-Randolph South-Howard East
48. Boonville-Fayette-Chariton South
49. Callaway South
50. Boone South & Moniteau North
51. Warrensburg East-Marshall-Pettis North
52. Sedalia & Whiteman
53. Lafayette
54. Warrensburg West & Pettis South
55. Raymore-Peculiar-Cass Central
56. Belton & Cass West
57. Cass South-Henry-Benton North
58. Moniteau South & Morgan
59. Cole South & Miller North
60. Jefferson City
61. Lower Gasconade & Osage
62. Upper Gasconade & Osage
63. Wentzville & Wright City
64. St. Paul & Lincoln Southeast
65. St. Charles East
66. Bellefontaine Neighbors & St. Louis Chain Of Rocks
67. Old Halls Ferry
68. Florissant Central
69. Florissant West
70. Maryland Heights West & Chesterfield North
71. Maryland Heights-Overland South
72. Maryland Heights-Overland North
73. Hazelwood-Lambert-Ferguson West
74. Ferguson East & Jennings
75. Dellwood & Castle Point
76. St. Louis Kingsway
77. St. Louis University & Fairgrounds
78. St. Louis Gateway
79. St. Louis Hyde Park & Lafayette Square
80. St. Louis Tower Grove
81. St. Louis Holly Hills
82. St. Louis Southampton & Lindenwood
83. Maplewood-Brentwood-Rock Hill
84. St. Louis Forest Park
85. Overland East, Bel-Ridge & Northwoods
86. University City
87. Clayton & Ladue South
88. Creve Coeur & Ladue North
89. Town & Country
90. Kirkwood
91. Webster Groves-Shrewsbury-Crestwood
92. Affton & Concord
93. Lemay
94. Mehlville
95. Oakville
96. Fenton & Sunset Hills
97. Arnold West & Murphy
98. Ballwin Meramec
99. Manchester & Valley Park
100. Ballwin North & Chesterfield South
101. Chesterfield West & Wildwood North
102. Dardenne Prairie
103. Cottleville
104. St. Peters West
105. St. Peters East
106. St. Charles West
107. O'Fallon
108. Lake St. Louis
109. Franklin North
110. Pacific-Eureka-Wildwood South
111. Jefferson West
112. Jefferson North
113. Arnold East & Barnhart West
114. Festus & Barnhart East
115. Jefferson South & St. François North
116. Ste. Genevieve-Farmington East-Perry North
117. Farmington West & Park Hills
118. Jefferson Southwest & Washington North
119. Franklin South & Washington Northwest
120. Steelville & St. James
121. Rolla-Dixon-Richland
122. Waynesville
123. Laclede East & Camden South
124. Miller South & Camden North
125. St. Clair-Hickory-Benton South
126. Bates & Vernon
127. Barton-Dade-Jasper Outer
128. Bolivar & Stockton
129. Laclede West & Dallas
130. Greene West
131. Springfield North
132. Springfield Center
133. Springfield Southwest
134. Springfield South
135. Springfield East
136. Springfield Southeast
137. Greene East & Webster West
138. Stone & Christian Northwest
139. Christian West
140. Christian East
141. Webster East & Wright
142. Houston-Big Piney-Edgar Springs
143. Dent-Shannon-Oregon
144. Washington South & the Arcadia Valley
145. Madison-Bollinger-Perry South
146. Cape Girardeau Outer
147. Cape Girardeau Inner
148. Scott East & Mississippi North
149. New Madrid-Pemiscot North-Mississippi South
150. Dunklin & Pemiscot South
151. Stoddard & Scott West
152. Butler South
153. Butler North-Ripley-Carter
154. West Plains & Caulfield
155. Douglas-Ozark-Taney East
156. Taney West
157. Lawrence
158. Barry
159. McDonald & Newton South
160. Newton North
161. Joplin Hope
162. Joplin North & Jasper Southwest
163. Carthage & Oronogo

Missouri Senate (Click for maps)

1. St. Louis South
2. St. Charles West
3. Cape Girardeau-St. Genevieve-St. François
4. St. Louis Forest Hills
5. St. Louis Riverfront
6. Lower Osage
7. Lower North East
8. Lee's Summit & Blue Springs
9. Kansas City East
10. Kansas City West
11. Independence & Raytown
12. The North West
13. St. Louis North
14. Ferguson-University City-Clayton
15. St. Louis Southwest
16. Upper Gasconade
17. Kansas City North
18. Upper North East
19. Boone & Howard
20. Western Ozarks
21. The Central West
22. Lead Belt
23. St. Charles North
24. St. Louis West
25. The South East
26. Lower Gasconade
27. St. Louis Southwest
28. Lower South West
29. Upper South West
30. Springfield
31. Upper Osage
32. Jasper & Newton
33. Eastern Ozarks
34. Platte & Buchanan