Historical St Louis population decline (O'Fallon, Benton: best neighborhood, home, dorm)

[3240Redo]

Originally Posted by Good Day Folks

Just a minute racists. White flight? How about black plight? There are plenty of areas in St Louis that have potential if the City would clean up! Where has all your communties gone that once were. Beautiful neighborhood parks. What are your demographics now in these areas? My mom went to Beaumont High I wouldn't send my kids there and I wouldn't let anyone force bus my kids there either. The desegregation experiment backfired in St. Louis. People are rude. How many of you ride the GETRO? I guess Ms. Parks got more than she bargined for, she got the entire mass transportation system. Who is paying for that? Do you think making the high crime polls in the top 5 year after year is a lie? Sorry, but you should read the ST. LOUIS AMERICAN our #1 Newspaper. The only way to clean up a mess it to take it away. City ordinances need to enforce the standards of housing and decay. There is plenty of vacant land for development. Entire city blocks of urban decay, but would you invest millions to rebuild neighborhoods that are surrounded by poverty, desperation, drugs, gang violence. What decent people would move back into that? YOU NEED HEROES! Get real clean up and say no more Ghettos America. That is the CHANGE I would like to see. Believe that!

If you want change, sometimes you have to BE the change. You can't just sit around and hope and wish that someone else takes care of the problem. That's part of the reason we moved to North City last year. It's easy to talk about change or renewal or to criticize a lack of progress when you're sitting in your home 20 miles from the problem and not doing anything to help. I can't invest millions to rebuild a neighborhood, but I can invest in one vacant house, get involved in neighborhood efforts and encourage others to do the same.

Nothing will erase years of abandonment and disinvestment, but individual efforts can make a difference for today. You rant about the current state of urban decay and then end with a call for heroes - we don't need heroes, we need people willing to do something meaningful. Since you seem very concerned, why don't you come and help? I'm answering your call for someone to clean up and provide change by inviting you to help clean up and be a part of the change. Will you?

[DemetriusHR]

Two words: White flight

[Eyeam]

"Oh, the white people left. Now we have to destroy our neighbor hoods, light vacant buildings on fire, shoot each other and sell drugs!"

Was white flight a problem? Yes. Wish it hadn't happened, but it did. This is still no reason for people that live in impoverished areas not take care of their surroundings or to try to make a better life for themselves. I couldn't afford to go to college. Did I sell drugs instead? No, I joined the military so that my college would be taken care of. There's almost always an option or another way. Some people have it easier than others, but that's just the way life is sometimes.

Certain people in this country think that the government or other Americans simply owe them everything. They need to learn to take care of themselves.

I've been to some not so nice areas where things weren't in the best condition (buildings mostly) due to the towns not having much money. But, they still kept the streets clean and the crime down.

[1greatcity]

To be fair, it wasn't just whites who left the city of St Louis between 1960-2000 in search of "greener pastures". To label the population loss "white flight" doesn't tell the whole truth. The African-American population of the city in 1960 was 214,377; that number had fallen to 178,666 by 2000. Although that decrease wasn't as dramatic it was for white residents, it still illustrates that people in general wanted to move out of the city during that period. The population drain that St Louis experienced -- as did many other older, industrial-based cities-- was the result of "people flight."

[imperialmog]

Actually what might start happening if it hasn't already and has occured in other cities is that the racial mix starts reversing. I wouldn't be surprised if the last decade the percentage of blacks in the city topped off and now is starting to decrease. For example Atlanta went from about 60-65% black to now 55% and likely will go under 50% in the next decade. What is real interesting is how the politics can be real nasty when this happens in terms of power struggles.

[jules1966]

Originally Posted by STLMetro

I wish this were true, but it is not. It seems to be hovering around the same 350K....

St. Louis Area Population Breakdowns

It is true, however, that the area has been trending up for a long time, give or take a few down years....

St. Louis, MO-IL MSA Population and Components of Change

While it is true that some people do not like it here and wish to move, Dinsdale, there are generally more people moving here and/or staying here than are leaving.

This is not true! The increase of population is due to the colleges getting bigger. People are still leaving St Louis at a fast rate. The best neighborhoods left now are the ones closest to the county. The rest of St Louis has steady declined over the years with the exception of Dowtown. which is actually getting a bit nicer. And i think thats also due to college students! IMHO

[stlcitygirl]

Originally Posted by jules1966

This is not true! The increase of population is due to the colleges getting bigger. People are still leaving St Louis at a fast rate. The best neighborhoods left now are the ones closest to the county. The rest of St Louis has steady declined over the years with the exception of Dowtown. which is actually getting a bit nicer. And i think thats also due to college students! IMHO

Sorry, I don't think you know what you are talking about. Much of the inner ring has improved drastically in the last 10 years. Soulard, Lafayette Square, Benton Park, Lasalle Park, Tower Grove South, Shaw, Southwest Gardens, Central West End are all great neighborhoods. My neighborhood, Fox Park looks light night and day different than even just 5 years ago. The city has increased in population. Just in my particular case, we moved in from the county 3 years ago, all our other friends followed suit, we only have one couple left in O'Fallon. I am on the board of my neighborhood so I see new people moving in all the time, professionals, young families and empty nesters are moving in from the county and other cities around the country. You sound like my mother in law, she has lived in St Charles most of her life, the only thing she knows about the city is what she hear from her other teachers and media, when she actually knows nothing. That is the one thing that I hate about this area, the older generation that fled for the suburbs, will always have a preconceived notion about the city. Young professionals want to have a strong urban core, they don't want to live and work in the burbs. The entire region needs to be behind the city growth and improvements.

[moorlander]

^ +1.

Jules, what universities have increased their enrollment ove the past decades and by how many students?

[STLCityMike]

Also, in MOST cases, college students are NOT counted in census populations. There have been exceptions, but most often in the smaller cities with a VERY large campus.

[1greatcity]

jules1966 said: "People are still leaving St Louis at a fast rate."

Not so! St Louis reached a turning point with the 2004 census, when the city's population increased for the first time in decades. And the city's population has continued to increase each year since then.
Here are the yearly population figures, taken from the US Census Bureau's website. For each year, the first figure represents the original estimate, and the second figure is the revised estimate after the city's successful challenge:

'03: 332,223 348,039
'04: 343,279 350,705
'05: 344,362 352,572
'06: 347,181 353,837
'07: 350,759 355,663
'08: 354,361 356,730
'09: (not yet available)

I also take exception to the comment "the best neighborhoods left are the ones closest to the county." A ridiculous generalization. There are fantastic neighborhoods throughout the city. And what one person considers "best" isn't necessarily the same as the next person.
The city has neighboroods to suit many tastes: The restored 19'th-century beauty of Lafayette, Soulard and Old North. Highrise living overlooking Forest Park. The gingerbread brick homes of Northhampton and Southampton. The private streets and mansions of Westmoreland and Portland Place. The "almost suburban" look of Botanical Heights. The New York feel of the Central West End. Homes overlooking the river in Marine Villa and along Riverview Blvd. Loft living downtown. The stately homes of Compton Heights and Tower Grove Heights. The shotgun bungalows of The Hill. The variety is endless.