Mapping Decline

A few days ago I was listening to National Public Radio.  The program was St. Louis On the Air with host Don Marsh. It turns out that my hometown is the main subject in a new book titled Mapping Decline: St. Louis and the Fate of the American City by Colin Gordon. Mr. Gordon was the invited guest along with Terry Jones, Ph.D., professor of political science at the University of Missouri, St. Louis. The book details the decline of St. Louis, the Gateway City, from a thriving metropolis strategically located at two of the most important rivers for commerce in the nation, the Missouri and the Mississippi, during the early years of America’s westward expansion, to a depopulated, dilapidated, prime example of American urban decay.

The book traces a number of causes and consequences for the city’s urban crisis from private real estate restrictions to local and federal government sponsored planning and zoning policies. It traces the failure of generation after generation of urban renewal where plans to eradicate urban blight end up encouraging not only white flight from the city, but black flight as well for those who could afford to leave the city behind and move out into the county or other parts of the country. The city is literally landlocked. It does not reside in St. Louis county. The two are distinct and separate government entities with somewhat separate interest. People move into the county at the detriment to the city.

St. Louis is my home town and by far the most racially segregated city I have ever known. According to the research outlined in the book, the history of the racial separation between blacks and whites ran primarily along Delmar boulevard that precisely cuts the city in two between the north and south. The north side of the city is largely black and the south side is primarily white. Today, if you drive down Delmar, depending on whether or not you looked out the passenger side window or the driver side window you will see two distinctly different cities. It is truly sad. The house on the cover of the book is a one of the many houses found crumbling and abandoned on the north side of the city.

The racial disparity of St. Louis is immense. According to Mr. Gordon, the black community in St. Louis makes up fifty one percent of the population and the white community makes up about forty three percent, but the black community controls only ten percent of the city’s wealth compared to the white population’s portion that runs well into the upper eighties percentile. This economic disparity is reflected in the city’s schooling expenditures as well as other civil programs. And crime in the city is epidemic. A great deal of the city’s problems runs along racial parameters.

Eventually, the program opened up the discussion to calls from the public. One caller in particular was rather disgusted with the direction the conversation was going. The voice on the line complained that the expectation was that the program was going to be about the decline of the urban cities like St. Louis and not just some rehashing of racial problems in the country. After his comment, he offered to take his response over the air and hung up the phone.

But it was pretty obvious that this guy just doesn’t get it. He isn’t alone. It doesn’t take much imagination that many more people just don’t get it. St. Louis is a model of the problems that affect this country as a whole. The managers of the city of St. Louis allowed certain portions of its neighborhoods to decay while others were allowed to flourish. While the south side of the city with its predominantly white population was benefiting from city services, many portions of the north side with its black population were starved of attention. As business on the north side closed down and moved to whiter pastures, unemployment began to take hold. As neighborhoods lost revenue schools started to decay. The black population that could leave left the decaying north side. The city loses even more revenue. Rent and housing values decline. Vacancies increase. The blight begins to spread. The city cuts back on services even further in a spiral that grows larger and ever larger. The city becomes even weaker. Consequently, a city will grow only as strong as its weakest link.

The city is a community with varying groups of people and individuals with varying degrees of strengths and varying degrees of weaknesses. When separate issues are allowed to purchase to foster, it actually weakens the entire community as a whole. When the managers of the city allow a segment of its population to lag behind others, the result will indeed affect the whole and everyone will eventually suffer.

Now, one of St. Louis’ most profitable exports is its beautiful brick homes. Damaged far beyond what’s reasonable to repair, many of the houses that have been neglected are raised and the century old bricks that went into its construction are collected, placed on a pallet, and shipped to more deserving parts of the country such as New Orleans, Louisiana. Heavy iron railings are exported to Savannah, Georgia. Where old original woodwork carved by craftsmen a century ago will end up only heaven knows. Vacant lots appear where stately homes once stood.

The fate of St. Louis is directly tied to a system of favoritism and corruption that was, and is, allowed to dictate city policy and foster a community of the people who have and the people who have not. It is no coincidence that the people who have and don’t have run along racial lines. Regardless of how often one may hears the rhetoric of exercise some personal responsibility, personal responsibility is useless without the social responsibility of an inclusive community.

The future of St. Louis is rather murky. After nearly three decades of population decline the last year or two saw a small increase in population numbers. People are actually moving back into the city. Whether or not city managers learned from past mistakes has yet to be seen though. Anyone who drives down Delmar boulevard can attest to that fact.