East St. Louis Part II

The second part in the series on East St. Louis gives views of downtown today, shows how its history can be seen in the city, and explains why the city could still be a good place for new development. Part 3 will explore some ideas put forward for (re)development of the city, including cultural tourism based on the city's African American heritage and use of vacant land for farming to create a local food source for St. Louis.

Category:

People & Blogs

Tags:

• Urbanism
• Midwest
• Decline
• Development

[Tankboy26]

simple: blacks move into white neighborhoods, crime rates rise, whites leave. blacks are then left to their own devices, and usually destroy their own shit. White also take our businesses with us when we leave the cities, and the ones that are left; undereducated, undermotiviated blacks are not able/interested in taking remaining jobs...

my statements are NOT because I'm racist. (I'm NOT)

simple history teaches us these lessons.

[goldensassenach]

@Mr54321qwe Plz be a bit clearer with your comments.

There was NEVER slaves in ESL and the majority of St.Clair Co. have no relation to southern slavers.They were so strongly against slavery they blocked home sales to southern whites.The 1st black owned business was a Blacksmith in Belleville about 1858.Belleville also had a black school teacher prior to the Civil War.ESL was a true melting pot of colors and nationalities until black crime drove ppl away.

[jordistl]

im still being raised in east stl :) born here and ima die here its my home

[Xing500]

@Tankboy26 Don't stupify what happened. please.

[MrsJbone66]

I WAS BORN AND RAISED IN EAST ST LOUIS TOOK AWAY CHRISTAIN WELFARE THE HOSPITAL I WAS BORN AT THEN ST. MARYS AKA KENNETH HALL NO HOSPITALS THERE ANYMORE MY EAST ST LOUISAN BE STRONG

THERE'S ALWAYS TOMMOROW ALL THE GOOD PEOPLE GONE AWAY NO JOBS LOTS OF CRIME

[zugo47hybi50kebu12]

I was born and raised in E.St.Louis. My family lived next to the Saunders who were white and affluent,though me and my family were far from it.We treated each other with respect because we were NEIGHBORS. So many systemic issues lead to the decline of a city,tax bases that are connected to earnings of the residents drive wether your community lives or dies. I remember looking at the dates of books in our public schools and seeing that they were published in the 1950's..this was in the 80's!!

[mawmaw7]

Look at how great E.St.Louis was and how it is now. Why? Why do people destroy where they live? Poor people lived there for years and kept it clean and safe. What happened? I think we all know.  I had a great childhood there and now can't even drive to where I lived, too dangerous and destroyed. Cahokia is almost as bad, Belleville is next. Being poor and uneducated is no reason.

[flipadiddle]

@Tankboy26 racists always try and portray their views as not racist. you are in fact a racist, because you have interpreted and construed history in an attempt to rationalize your own inherent racism. You're presenting this narrative as if you've figured out the whole picture, the whole story, all the facts, when in reality, it sounds like you don't know a goddamned fucking thing.

[Mr54321qwe]

@Tankboy26 bitch shut yo racist ass uhp i knoe black people do cause dis shit but idgaf yall da ones who brought us here wtf bitch if it wasnt for yall ass holes we would still b in africa livin good u talkin bout estl  white peopl juss as bad as us we all alike damn juss a skin color we might destroy i sht but idgaf idgaf waht they do all i care bout is waht i do i got my damn education nd a motherfuckin job

[1967mustanggta]

Sorry but this is a dirty ugly place. No respectible company is going to move there. They would not only consider the quality of life for it's work force but the quality of the work force pool as it currently exists in this region.

Most companies aim to make a lot of money and aren't in to historic recreation because it would be a wonderful thing to do.

Cairo, IL would be the best option for such and this place should be forgotten.

[Xing500]

@Tankboy26 No, it's not that simple. Your comment is stupid. Im not white. I'm not black.