Saint Louis Blues


  My family is from Belleville, Illinois. We moved all over the world because my father was in the military. We always considered "St Louis" home in spite of never actually living in St Louis. In 1976 my father had retired from the military and had returned to living in Bellville when he had a heart attack. I was working in Gunnison, Colorado at the time. My mom asked me to move back to live closer to them and in May of 1976, I moved to St Louis.

I wanted to be close but not too close to my parents and crazy sister. St Louis was 30 minutes away from Belleville and in another state. It was perfect. I lived in and renovated three different homes on Russell in the Shaw Neighborhood in South St Louis City. St Louis is really a city, a county, and a Regional MSA  [Metropolitan statistical area - Wikipedia]. People refer to it all as St Louis in spite of living in Hazelwood or Fenton. I lived in the City.

St Louis is unique in that it separated from St Louis County in 1877 to become an independent city. St Louis City is not in St Louis County. This decision was made when St Louis was a booming Gate Way to the West and did not want to share services with rural St Louis County. In 1094 St Louis hosted the World's Fair on the edge of town. This site became Forest Park and the St Louis Zoo. From the Civil War until the end of World War Two, St Louis was a growing industrial town. Then things changed

The 1950's brought Interstate Highways to St Louis. Neighborhoods of 100 year old brick three story homes were cut off by Interstate construction. People moved out and home values dropped. The population of St Louis City was 856,000 in 1950. By 1970 it was 622,000. Today it is 300,000. Manufacturing changed. Plants closed or moved south to build new plants. Race that had always been an issue for St Louis and Missouri, became a bigger issue. The City divided with Blacks living in the City north of Washington and the Whites living in the City south of Chouteau. In 1978 I bought my first all brick two story home on Russell for $16,000.

Many of us saw what was happening and worked to Restore the City Neighborhoods. By 1984 I gave up and moved to St Louis County. The hope of renovation, at least for me, was dead. Schools were bad, Services were worse. Crime was a problem. My home was burglarized. My dog was killed, hit by a speeding car. My daughter was the only white girl in her class. It just was not worth it anymore.

Over the last 35 years it has only become worse. Big downtown City projects like Rams Football failed. St Louis Center, a City Shopping Center, closed. Crime has continued to grow. Today, St Louis is near the end. Covid has nailed the coffin shut. There is no longer a reason for people to go "DownTown" to work or to go out. The last thing to close will be Bush Stadium when Baseball moves to St Charles or beyond.

St Louis like many 18th century US cities has lost its reason to exist. River boat traffic does not move the types of manufacturing goods in once did. Factories are in Mexico or China. Offices sit empty as people work from home in Belleville or Wildwood. St Louis is not home for me anymore. I live in LA.


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