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'''St. Louis''' is a city in the state of [[Missouri]] and the only [[independent city]] in that state. Its estimated population as of 2006 was about 347,000. [http://www.city-data.com/city/St.-Louis-Missouri.html] It sits on the western bank of the [[Mississippi River]], and is famous for its [[Gateway Arch]], which serves as a monument to American expansion westward. The city also hosted the 1904 World's Fair, where the ice cream cone was first introduced to the world.

'''St. Louis''' is a city in the state of [[Missouri]] and the only [[independent city]] in that state. Its estimated population as of 2006 was about 347,000. [http://www.city-data.com/city/St.-Louis-Missouri.html] It sits on the western bank of the [[Mississippi River]], and is famous for its [[Gateway Arch]], which serves as a monument to American expansion westward. The city also hosted the 1904 World's Fair, where the ice cream cone was first introduced to the world.

Once a thriving metropolis on the banks of the Mississippi, St. Louis has decayed into a ghostly landscape of vacant houses, boarded-up storefronts, and abandoned factories. The Gateway City has become one of the most depopulated, deindustrialized, and segregated examples of American urban decay. The city's decay stems from multiple causes, ranging from private real estate restrictions, poor local planning and zoning decisions, and federal housing policies that led to a "white flight" of middle classes from the central city. A generation of urban renewal, aimed at eradicating blight, made it worse. The city's notorous high rise public housing units were finally dynamited.  

Once a thriving metropolis on the banks of the Mississippi, St. Louis has decayed into a ghostly landscape of vacant houses, boarded-up storefronts, and abandoned factories. The Gateway City has become one of the most depopulated, deindustrialized, and [[segregated]] examples of American [[urban decay]]. The city's decay stems from multiple causes, ranging from private real estate [[zoning]] restrictions, poor local planning and zoning decisions, and [[Nanny state]] [[federal housing]] policies that led to a "white flight" of [[middle class]]es from the central city. A generation of [[liberal]] "[[urban renewal]]", aimed at eradicating blight, made it worse. The city's notorious high rise [[public housing]] units were finally dynamited.  

 

==Further reading==

==Further reading==

* Gordon, Colin. '' Mapping Decline: St. Louis and the Fate of the American City'' (2009), 304pp

* Gordon, Colin. '' Mapping Decline: St. Louis and the Fate of the American City'' (2009), 304pp

==See also==

==See also==

*[[Washington University in St. Louis]]

*[[Washington University in St. Louis]]

[[Category:Missouri Cities and Towns]]

[[Category:Missouri Cities and Towns]]

[[Category:Urban History]]

[[Category:Urban History]]