Exodus Continues: St. Louis Loses 29K Residents

A bomb has hit St. Louis. Nearly a half century after the Mill Creek Valley neighborhood was flattened in the name of "urban renewal" and nicknamed "Hiroshima Flats" for its decades long barren landscape, the City of St. Louis continues to experience an exodus of grand proportions. The city population peaked with the 1950 Census at 856,796 residents. The 2000 Census recorded 348,189 residents. The 2010 Census officially counted 319,294 residents.

The quick conclusion must be that the City of St. Louis is failing in dramatic fashion. Neither the proposed $578M Arch grounds renovation or signing Albert Pujols is going to change that. The very structure of our city must change. There are success stories to be sure. Many neighborhoods are "coming back". There is reinvestment and new construction, but we cannot allow that to mask our larger issues.