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St. Louis (pron. in English, in French), sometimes written Saint Louis, encompasses an independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri (the "City of St. Louis") and its metropolitan area (Greater St. Louis). This area includes counties in the states of Missouri and Illinois. St. Louis is the largest metropolis in Missouri and the 18th largest Metropolis in the United States. The population of Metro St. Louis as of 2005 is approximately 2,786,728 according to the St. Louis Regional Chamber and Growth Association (RCGA). The city, named after Louis IX of France, is adjacent to but not part of St. Louis County, Missouri, thus giving it a unique situation in comparison to other metropolitan areas. This separation between the city of St. Louis and St. Louis County skews the statistics, especially when St. Louis news events are reported in the media. St. Louis is known for its long standing French and German heritage and Victorian past. While St. Louis has embraced its deep roots as the Gateway to the West, it also has modernized into a globally known contributor in the healthcare and scientific research fields. The St. Louis renaissance can be attributed to large scale construction and renovation efforts seen throughout the city in conjunction with corporate support and strong civic organizational efforts. St. Louis has seen its population increase as a direct result of the committed efforts of St. Louisans to return their city to the grand international status it was once known for dating back to the 1904 World's Fair and first Olympic Games ever held in the United States. The city has several common nicknames, including the "Gateway City", "Gateway to the West", and "Mound City". It is called "Gateway to the West" because of the many people who moved west starting near St Louis; first, because the lower Missouri River was the first leg of the Oregon Trail, and later, because of wagon trails. The Mound City name originated with the Native American burial mounds that once were common in the city. These were removed to fill sink holes filled with stagnent water that were thought to be a source of Cholera. The city is also sometimes called "St. Louie", or "River City". Alternatively, many young people who live in St. Louis have begun to call it "The Lou". Another popular synonym for St. Louis is "STL" in reference to the airport code for the city (STL) and a long-standing use of an interlocked S, T, and L by the St. Louis Cardinals baseball team.
History Prior to the arrival of French explorers in 1673 the area that would become St. Louis was a major center of the Mississippian mound builders. The presence of numerous mounds, now almost all destroyed, earned the later city the nickname of "Mound City." City founding and early history
19th century expansion and growth The Lewis and Clark Expedition left the St. Louis area in May 1804, reached the Pacific Ocean in the summer of 1805, and returned on 23 September 1806. Many other explorers, settlers, and trappers (such as Ashley's Hundred) would later take a similar route to the West. Missouri became a state in 1820. St. Louis was incorporated as a city on December 9 1822. A U.S. arsenal was constructed at St. Louis in 1827. The steamboat era began in St. Louis on July 27 1817, with the arrival of the Zebulon M. Pike. Rapids north of the city made St. Louis the northernmost navigable port for many large boats, and Pike and her sisters soon transformed St. Louis into a bustling boomtown, commercial center, and inland port. By the 1850s, St. Louis had become the largest U.S. city west of Pittsburgh, and the second-largest port in the country, with a commercial tonnage exceeded only by New York. Immigrants flooded into St. Louis after 1840, particularly from Germany, Bohemia, Italy and Ireland, the latter driven by an Old World potato famine. The population of St. Louis grew from fewer than 20,000 in 1840, to 77,860 in 1850, to just over 160,000 by 1860. Two disasters occurred in 1849: a cholera epidemic killed nearly one-tenth of the population, and a fire destroyed numerous steamboats and a large portion of the city. These disasters led to political action: old cemeteries were removed to the outskirts of the town; sinkholes were filled and swamps drained; water and sewer public utilities started; and a new building code required structures to be built of stone or brick. In the first half of the 19th century, a second channel developed in the Mississippi River at St. Louis. An island ("Bloody Island") formed between the two channels, and a smaller island ("Duncan's Island") developed below St. Louis. It was feared that the levee at St. Louis might be left high and dry, and federal assistance was sought and obtained. Under the supervision of Robert E. Lee, levees were constructed on the Illinois side to direct water toward the Missouri side and eliminate the second channel. Bloody Island was joined to the land on the Illinois side, and Duncan's Island was washed away. Militarily, the Civil War (1861-1865) barely touched St. Louis; the area saw only a few skirmishes in which Union forces prevailed. But the war shut down trade with the South, devastating the city's economy. Missouri was nominally a slave state, but its economy did not depend on slavery, and it never seceded from the Union. The arsenal at St. Louis was used during the war to construct ironclad ships for the Union. St. Louis during the Gilded Age On July 4, 1876 the City of St. Louis voted to secede from St. Louis County and become an independent city. At that time the County was primarily rural and sparsely populated, and the fast-growing City did not want to spend their tax dollars on infrastructure and services for the inefficient county. The move also allowed some in St. Louis government to increase their political power. As St. Louis grew and prospered during the late 19th and early 20th Century, the city produced a number of notable people in the fields of business and literature. The Ralston-Purina company (headed by the Danforth Family) was headquartered in the city, and Anheuser-Busch, the world's largest brewery, remains a fixture of the city's economy. The City was home to both International Shoe and the Brown Shoe Company. Notable residents in the field of literature included poets Sara Teasdale, and T. S. Eliot as well as playwright Tennessee Williams. St. Louis is one of several cities that claims to have the world's first skyscraper. The Wainwright Building, a 10-story structure designed by Louis Sullivan and built in 1892, still stands at Chestnut and Seventh Streets and is today used by the State of Missouri as a government office building. Nikola Tesla made the first public demonstration of radio communication here in 1893. Addressing the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and the National Electric Light Association, he described and demonstrated in detail the principles of radio communication. The apparatus that he used contained all the elements that were incorporated into radio systems before the development of the vacuum tube. In 1896, one of the deadliest and most destructive tornadoes in U.S. history struck St. Louis and East St. Louis. The confirmed death toll is 255, with some estimates above 400, and injuries over 1,000. It left a mile wide continuous swath of destroyed homes, factories, mills, saloons, hospitals, schools, parks, churches, and railroad yards. Damages adjusted for inflation (1997 USD) make it the costliest tornado in U.S. history at an estimated $2.9 billion. Several other tornadoes have hit the city making it the worst tornado afflicted large city in the U.S.; with the most deadly and destructive occurring in 1871 (9 killed), 1890 (4 killed), 1904 (3 killed, 100 injured), 1927 (79 killed, 550 injured), and 1959 (21 killed, 345 injured). By the time of the 1900 census, St. Louis was the fourth largest city in the country *. In 1904, the city hosted a World's Fair and the Olympic Games, making the United States the first English-speaking country to host the Olympics. Citizens of St. Louis still look back fondly on the events of 1904; there were several events held in 2004 to commemorate the centennial. 20th century St. Louis had developed a lively immigrant gang culture by the early 20th century, leading up to much bootlegging activity and gang violence. One gang leader, from an Irish part of the city referred to as "Kerry Patch" was named "Jelly Roll" Hogan. Hogan's gang is mentioned in Tennessee William's "Glass Menagerie" and Hogan later successfully ran for state senator. St. Louis experienced major expansion in the early 20th century due to the formation of many industrial companies. The city reached its peak population at the 1950 census, reflecting a national housing shortage after World War II. The continued trend of suburban development and highway construction shifted the population into the St. Louis County suburbs over the next several decades. While the overall population of the St. Louis MSA has always been growing, the St. Louis city population, as discussed below, is increasing once again. Recent developments
Geography Topography
Climate St. Louis has a continental temperate climate, and has neither large mountains nor large bodies of water to moderate its temperature. The area is affected by both cold Canadian arctic air, and also hot, humid tropical air from the Gulf of Mexico. The city has four distinct seasons. The average annual temperature for the years 1971-2000, recorded at nearby Lambert-Saint Louis International Airport, is 56.3 °F (13.5 °C), and average precipitation is 38.75 inches (980 mm). The normal high temperature in July is 90 °F (32 °C), and the normal low temperature in January is 21 °F (−6 °C), although these values are exceeded at times. Temperatures of 100 °F (38 °C) or more occur no more than five days per year, while temperatures of 0 °F (-17.8 °C) or below occur 2 or 3 days per year on average. The official all-time record low is -22 °F (-30.0 °C) and the record high is 115 °F (46.1 °C). Winter is the driest season, averaging about 6 inches of total precipitation. Springtime, March through May, is typically the wettest season, with just under 10.5 inches. Dry spells of one or two weeks duration are common during the growing seasons. St. Louis usually experiences Thunderstorms between 20 and 30 days per year. Especially in the spring, these storms can often be severe, with high winds, large hail and tornadoes. St. Louis is located within America's Tornado Alley, and has been affected on more than one occasion by particularly damaging tornadoes. Other occasional weather events include snowstorms and ice storms. A period of warm weather late in autumn known as Indian summer can occur – roses will still be in bloom as late as November or early December in some years. Flora and fauna Before the founding of the city, the area was prairie and open forest maintained by burning by Native Americans. Trees are mainly oak, maple, and hickory, similar to the forests of the nearby Ozarks; common understory trees include Eastern Redbud, Serviceberry, and Flowering Dogwood. Riparian areas are forested with mainly American sycamore. Most of the residential area of the city is planted with large native shade trees. The largest native forest area is found in Forest Park. In Autumn, the changing color of the trees is notable. Most species here are typical of the Eastern Woodland, although numerous decorative non-native species are found; the most notable invasive species is Japanese honeysuckle, which is actively removed from some parks. Large mammals found in the city include urbanized coyotes and occasionally a stray whitetail deer. Eastern Gray Squirrel, Cottontail rabbit, and other rodents are abundant, as well as the nocturnal and rarely seen Opossum. Large bird species are abundant in parks and include Canada goose, Mallard duck, as well as shorebirds, including the Great Egret and Great Blue Heron. Gulls are common along the Mississippi River; these species typically follow barge traffic. Winter populations of Bald Eagles are found by the Mississippi River around the Chain of Rocks Bridge. The city is on the Mississippi Flyway, used by migrating birds, and has a large variety of small bird species, common to the eastern U.S. The Eurasian Tree Sparrow, an introduced species, is limited in North America to the counties surrounding St. Louis. Tower Grove Park is a well-known birdwatching area in the city. Frogs are commonly found in the springtime, especially after extensive wet periods. Common species include the American toad and species of chorus frogs, commonly called "spring peepers" that are found in nearly every pond. Some years have outbreaks of cicadas or ladybugs. Mosquitos and houseflies are common insect nuisances; because of this, windows are nearly universally fitted with screens, and "screened-in" porches are common in homes of the area. Populations of honeybees have sharply declined in recent years, and numerous species of pollinator insects have filled their ecological niche. Metropolitan statistical area
Cityscape
Culture Cuisine Tourism
Performing arts St. Louis is the home of the world-renowned Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra which was founded in St. Louis in 1880--the second oldest orchestra in the nation--and which has over the years been honored with six Grammy Awards and fifty-six nominations. Historic Powell Symphony Hall on North Grand Boulevard has been the permanent home of the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra since 1968. Leonard Slatkin has served as one of the orchestra's previous conductors; presently he conducts the National Symphony Orchestra in Washington, DC. The Opera Theatre of Saint Louis is an annual summer festival of opera performed in English, originally co-founded by Richard Gaddes in 1968; he is now the director of the Santa Fe Opera. Union Avenue Opera Theatre, formed in the early 1990s, is a smaller but thriving company that performs opera in the original languages. The Blanche. M Touhill performing arts center, is located on the Uniersity of Missouri-Saint Louis campus and is used for many concerts and performances. The state-of-the art contemporary facility opened in 2003. St. Louis has long been associated with great ragtime, jazz and blues music. Early rock and roll singer/guitarist Chuck Berry is a native St. Louisan and continues to perform there several times a year at Blueberry Hill. Soul music artists Ike Turner and Tina Turner and jazz innovator Miles Davis began their careers in nearby East St. Louis, Illinois. St. Louis has also been a popular stop along the infamous Chitlin Circuit. Popular Music and entertainment in St. Louis peaked in the 1960s due to the popularity of Gaslight Square, a thriving local nightclub district that attracted nationally known musicians and performers. This area was all but extinct by the early 1970s and today is the site of a new housing development. In the 1990s, the metro area produced several prominent alt-country artists, including Uncle Tupelo — a Belleville, Illinois trio often considered the originators of the style, whose members went on to found Wilco and Son Volt in 1994 — and The Bottle Rockets. More recently, the rise of Nelly, The Saint Lunatics, Flame (of Cross Movement Records) Murphy Lee, Chingy, J-Kwon, Ebony Eyez, Jibbs, and other musicians have made it one of the centers of rap and hip-hop, often mentioned side-by-side with New York City, Atlanta, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Detroit. Parks and outdoor attractions
Sports
---- Enthusiastic and knowledgeable fans give the city a reputation as "a top-notch sports town" and "Baseball City USA." The Sporting News rated St. Louis the nation's "Best Sports City." The St. Louis Cardinals, one of the oldest franchises in Major League Baseball, have won 10 World Championships, second only to the New York Yankees. The city of St. Louis has earned 13 professional sports championships. As mentioned earlier, the St. Louis Cardinals have won 10 World Series Championships with one of the championships played against the old cross-city rival the St. Louis Browns in 1944. The St. Louis Rams have won one Super Bowl Championship (Super Bowl XXXIV in January 2000), and the St. Louis Hawks (who later moved to Atlanta) gave the city its lone NBA Championship (1958). On top of that, the St. Louis Blues hold the record for most consecutive playoff appearances in all of sports with 26 straight. The Blues have also made 3 trips to the Stanley Cup Finals but have never won the championship. St. Louis was also home to two prominent twentieth-century boxers, brothers Leon and Michael Spinks. The two are the only brothers in boxing history to have both captured the Heavyweight boxing title. Leon's son Cory Spinks has also held a world title. St. Louis is notable as arguably the biggest hotbed of Soccer in the United States. The Saint Louis University soccer team is amongst the elite of NCAA soccer, and several American soccer stars, such as Taylor Twellman, Mike Sorber, and Pat Noonan hail from St. Louis. Despite soccer's popularity in the area, St. Louis is yet to gain a Major League Soccer franchise, but plans are currently in the works. Currently, the highest ranking soccer club in St. Louis is the St. Louis Steamers. Professional Wrestling also has firm roots in St. Louis. Essentially, three men combined to make the Mound City not only the "Gateway to the West," but the unofficial capital of professional wrestling. The three men were Tom Packs, Sam Muchnick, and Lou Thesz. Wrestling at the Chase was a popular weekly event for hundreds of thousands of fans for several decades, both live and on television. St. Louis is also home to former World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) World Champion and currently one of the sport's top performers, Randy Orton. While high school sports are not as big in St. Louis as they are in such places as Texas, there are a large amount of well-known local rivalries: SLUH and CBC have played each other for over 75 years in many sports, the annual "Turkey Day Game" between Webster and Kirkwood draws 15,000 supporters, and high school soccer games are often well attended, drawing upwards of 5,000 people to the bigger games. Recently, a boom in high school hockey has occurred, mostly among students drawn to the sport's freewheeling atmosphere. In 2006, the College Cup will be played at Hermann Stadium on the campus of Saint Louis University. The Scottrade Center will host the 2007 Frozen Four college ice hockey tournament on April 5 and April 7, 2007. The Scottrade Center also hosts the annual "Braggin' Rights" game, a men's college basketball rivalry game between the universities of Illinois and Missouri. St. Louis is roughly equidistant from the two campuses. In March 2005, the Edward Jones Dome in St. Louis hosted the final two rounds of the NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship, also known as the Final Four. In April 2009, the Edward Jones Dome will host the NCAA Women's Division I Basketball Championship Final Four. Gateway International Raceway hosts NHRA Drag Racing and NASCAR racing events 5 miles east of the city in Madison, Illinois. There are also several minor league teams in the area. The Gateway Grizzlies (Minor League Baseball) of the Frontier League, which plays at GCS Ballpark across the river in Sauget, Illinois. The River City Rascals (Minor League Baseball) also of the Frontier League, play at T.R. Hughes Stadium in nearby O'Fallon, Missouri. The Missouri River Otters (United Hockey League) play at Family Arena in St. Charles, Missouri. The River City Rage are an Arena Football team that play in the National Indoor Football League at Family Arena. The St. Louis Flight are a basketball team that play in the newly reincarnated American Basketball Association, also at Family Arena. St. Louis is also one of the few cities in the country that plays host to local Corkball leagues. Corkball is a "mini-baseball" game featuring a 1.6 oz. ball and bat with a barrel that measures just 1.5". Corkball is St. Louis' classic baseball game. Originally played on the streets and alleys of St. Louis in the early 1900s, today the game has leagues formed around the country as a result of St. Louis servicemen introducing the game to their buddies during World War II and the Korean conflict. It has many of the features of baseball, yet can be played in a very small area because there is no base-running. Nearby Town and Country is home to the Bellerive Country Club, which has hosted several golf major championships. |
Media
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch is the region's major daily newspaper. Founded by Joseph Pulitzer in the 1800s, the paper was owned by Pulitzer Publishing until 2005, when the company was acquired by Lee Enterprises. The company also owns the Suburban Journals, a collection of local newspapers. The daily Belleville News Democrat, published in Belleville, Illinois, serves many Illinois communities in the St. Louis Metro Area.
The St. Louis Business Journal, published weekly on Fridays, covers the region's business news.
In 1900, St. Louis had at least five daily newspapers: the St. Louis Globe-Democrat and the St. Louis Republic in the morning, and the Post-Dispatch and Star-Chronicle in the afternoon, as well as the German-language Westlische Post. One by one, these papers folded or consolidated. The Post-Dispatch bought out its remaining afternoon competitor, the Star-Times, in 1951. Until the mid-1980s, the morning Globe-Democrat, which was editorially more conservative than the Post-Dispatch, served as the Post
The city's main weekly newpspaper is the Suburban Journal and the primary alternative weekly publication is the Riverfront Times. A variety of glossy monthly and quarterly publications cover topics such as local history, cuisine, and lifestyles. St. Louis is also home to the nation's last remaining metropolitan journalism review, the St. Louis Journalism Review, based at Webster University in the suburb of Webster Groves.
The St. Louis metro area is served by a wide variety of local television stations, and is the fourteenth largest designated market area (DMA) in the U. S., with 1,522,380 homes (1.51% of the total U.S.). The major network television affiliates are KTVI 2 (FOX), KMOV 4 (CBS), KSDK 5 (NBC), KETC 9 (PBS), KPLR 11 (CW), KDNL 30 (ABC), and WRBU 46 (MNTV).
The region's radio airwaves offer a variety of locally produced programming. KMOX (1120 AM), which pioneered the call-in talk radio format in the 1960s, retains significant regional influence due to its 50,000-watt clear-channel signal and an unusually active newsroom operation. Public radio station KWMU (90.7 FM), an NPR affiliate, also provides extensive, locally produced programming treating social issues, politics, and the arts. St. Louis is one of only a handful of U. S. cities to have its own independent community radio station, KDHX (88.1 FM), which features a wide range of music and talk from local residents. Washington University in St. Louis' college radio station, KWUR (90.3 FM), also provides community broadcasting and an eclectic mix of underground music, although with an effective radiated power of only ten watts, it is only heard on the campus and in the immediately adjacent neighborhoods.
Economy
St. Louis punches above its weight as a center for corporate headquarters. Beer commercials have made the city well known as the home of Anheuser-Busch Breweries. Three local brokerages, A.G. Edwards, Stifel Nicolaus, and Edward Jones, as well as online brokerage firm Scottrade, have grown into dominant players on the national financial landscape. It is also the site for the headquarters of Energizer, the battery company. Neighboring suburbs host Monsanto, formerly a chemical company and now a leader in genetically modified crops, and Solutia, the former Monsanto chemical division that was spun off as a separate company in 1997. Express Scripts, a pharmaceutical benefits management firm, has its corporate headquarters in the suburbs of St. Louis and recently announced plans to construct its new headquarters near the campus of the University of Missouri-St. Louis. Hardee's corporate headquarters lies in the metro area. Enterprise Rent-A-Car is headquartered in Clayton. Emerson Electric is headquartered in the north side of St. Louis. Charter Communications, the nation's fourth largest broadband communications company, is headquartered in the St. Louis suburb of Town and Country.
In recent years, however, several longtime corporate pillars have left St. Louis. St. Louis was the corporate headquarters of McDonnell-Douglas prior to its 1997 merger with Boeing. Upon the merger, the area became the headquarters for Boeing's $27 billion-per-year Integrated Defense Systems division and its company-wide Phantom Works R&D operation. Locally, Boeing manufactures the F/A-18 Super Hornet and JDAM smart bombs, and has developed — at times secretly — several unmanned combat air vehicles (UCAVs). However, when Boeing relocated its corporate headquarters from Seattle, Washington in 2001, it moved to Chicago — St. Louis was not one of the final candidates.Mallinckrodt headquatered in the St. Louis region for over 130 years was pruchased by Tyco International in 2000. Many of the former Mallinckrodt facilities are still in operation by Tyco in the St. Louis suburb of Hazelwood, Missouri.
Southwestern Bell Company (SBC), now AT&T, relocated to San Antonio in 1993, and military contractor General Dynamics (moved to Washington, D.C.). All major St. Louis banks have been purchased by out-of-town banks. The city retains a Federal Reserve Bank. In the Retail industry The May Department Stores Company, which owned Famous-Barr as well the legendary Marshall Field's, was purchased Federated Department Stores in 2005.
St. Louis was the corporate headquarters for animal feed and human-food maker Ralston Purina. After divesting all of its businesses except the pet food division, Nestle S.A., the world's largest food company acquired it in 2001. Several of the divested business still remain in St. Louis including Energizer, Ralcorp and Protein Technologies, Inc. n/k/a Solae. Trans World Airlines (acquired by American Airlines, which then dismantled TWA's St. Louis hub), telecommunications
St. Louis remains home to railway car plants; two DaimlerChrysler plants in the nearby suburb of Fenton, where minivans and pickup trucks are built; a General Motors plant in suburban Wentzville; and a Ford Motor Company plant in Hazelwood, where SUVs are built.
The region has built up a formidable health care industry. This is dominated by BJC HealthCare, which operates Barnes-Jewish Hospital and St. Louis Children's Hospital, plus eleven others. BJC benefits from a symbiotic relationship with Washington University in St. Louis' School of Medicine, which is a major center of medical research. Other major players include SSM Health Care, St. John's Mercy, and the Tenet Healthcare Corporation chain. In addition there is Saint Louis University School of Medicine which is a leader in several areas of medical research and works with hospitals including Cardinal Glennon Children's Hospital and Saint Louis University Hospital. St. Louis is also home to two companies that produce radiation therapy planning software, CMS, Inc. and Multidata Systems International.
Although local housing costs have risen in recent years, they are still significantly below the national average, and are a revelation to new arrivals from the coasts. From the mid-1990s onward, the City of St. Louis itself has seen a major surge in housing rehabilitation as well as new construction on cleared sites. As a rule, other costs of living also are at or below the national average. Wages tend to reflect these facts, likewise being at or slightly below the average.
Demography
Social changes in the twentieth century influenced radically the sorts of people who live in St. Louis now. From 1810, the date of the first Federal census, to 1880, the population totals include with the city of St. Louis the population of St. Louis County, which in 1880 was separately enumerated at 31,888 people.
In 1910, 687,029 people lived in the city. 125,706 foreign-born people were residents in 1910. 47,765 of those persons were natives of the German Empire. In 1910, 11.3 per cent of the foreign-born people were of Irish nativity, 4.1 percent of English, 12.3 of Russian, 6 of Italian, and 8.8 of Austrian. 43,960 African Americans composed 6.4% of the total population.
Like other large American cities, St. Louis experienced a large population shift to the suburbs in the twentieth century; first because of increased demand for new housing following the Second World War, and later in response to demographic changes ("white flight"), whether real or perceived, in existing neighborhoods.
Populations of city and county: 1810, 5,667; 1820, 10,049; 1830, 14,145; 1840, 35,979; 1850, 104,978; 1860, 190,524; 1870, 351,189.
As of the census of 2000, there were 348,189 people, 147,076 households, and 76,920 families residing in the city. The population density was 2,171.2/km² (5,622.9/mi²). There were 176,354 housing units at an average density of 1,099.7/km² (2,847.9/mi²). The racial makeup of the city of St. Louis (as separate and distinct from St. Louis County and the rest of the MSA) was 51.20% African American, 43.85% White, 1.98% Asian, 0.27% Native American, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 0.80% from other ethnic groups, and 1.88% of two or more ethnicities. Hispanic or Latino of any ethnic group were 2.02% of the population. Historically, North St. Louis City has been primarily African American while South St. Louis City has been primarily White. Since the mid-1990s, an estimated 30,000 - 40,000 Bosnian immigrants have settled in the St. Louis metropolitan area, primarily concentrated in the Bevo neighborhood of south St. Louis and adjacent parts of St. Louis County.
There are 147,076 households, out of which 25.4% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 26.2% were married couples living together, 21.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 47.7% were non-families. 40.3% of all households were made up of individuals and 12.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.30 and the average family size was 3.19.
In the city the population was spread out with 25.7% under the age of 18, 10.6% from 18 to 24, 30.9% from 25 to 44, 19.1% from 45 to 64, and 13.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females there were 88.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 84.2 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $29,156, and the median income for a family was $32,585. Males had a median income of $31,106 versus $26,987 for females. The per capita income for the city was $18,108.
Law and government
The City of St. Louis has a mayor-council type government, with the legislative authority vested in a Board of Aldermen and the mayor having primary executive authority. The Board of Aldermen is made up of 28 members (one elected from each of the city's wards) plus a board president who is elected city-wide. Unlike many other cities, the mayor shares some executive authority with 9 other independent citywide elected officials, including a treasurer, comptroller, and collector of revenue. These officials have significant influence. By custom and tradition the individual aldermen have a great deal of influence over decisions impacting the ward they represent on matters ranging from zoning changes, to street resurfacing.
Municipal elections in St. Louis city are held in odd numbered years, with the primary elections in March and the general election in April. The mayor is elected in odd numbered years following the United States Presidential Election, as are the aldermen representing odd-numbered wards. The President of the Board of Aldermen and the aldermen from even-numbered wards are elected in the off-years. The Democratic Party has dominated St. Louis city politics for decades. The city has not had a Republican mayor since the 1940s and the last time a Republican was elected to another city-wide office was in the 1970s. As of 2006, 27 of the city's 28 Aldermen are Democrats.
Although St. Louis City and County separated in 1876, some mechanisms have been put in place for joint funding management and funding of regional assets. The St. Louis Zoo-Museum district collects property taxes from residents of both St. Louis City and County and the funds are used to support cultural instituions including the St. Louis Zoo, St. Louis Art Museum and the Missouri Botanical Gardens. Similarly, the Metropolitan Sewer District provides sanitary and storm sewer service to the city and much of St. Louis County. The Bi-State Development Agency (now known as Metro) runs the region's Metrolink light rail system and bus system.
The City of St. Louis is split roughly in half north to south by Missouri's first and third U.S. Congressional districts. Each district also includes a significant portion of St. Louis County. The City of St. Louis includes all of 9 Missouri House of Representatives districts and a portion of two others. Two Missouri State Senate districts are entirely within the city's boundaries and a third district is split between St. Louis City and County.
Crime and social issues
Statistical data for the city of St. Louis are often skewed because the city is an independent city, separate and autonomous from its suburbs in St. Louis County and beyond. Thus, rankings which compare metropolitan statistical areas are a more accurate indicator of the region's health and stability, and they better indicate the relative safety of the St. Louis MSA. In fact, indicative of St. Louis' stability and safety was the fact that there was not a single incident of looting reported during a July, 2006 power outage which left nearly a million residents without power for a week due to what was considered a "once in a century" severe thunderstorm, causing fallen trees and limbs throughout the MSA to down power lines.
For the past 25 years, St. Louis has a number of successful integrated neighborhoods in the "central corridor" stretching from Soulard, home of the nation's second largest annual Mardi Gras Festival and Parade, The National Historic District, Lafayette Square near the Mississippi River and the Central West End near Forest Park. Overall, however, the city's African-American population is concentrated in north St. Louis city. While some north St. Louis neighborhoods such as Baden and Penrose are stable and have a large number of middle-class residents, many isolated, northside neighborhoods suffer from poverty, unemployment, crime and dilapidated housing. More recently, a number of near southside neighborhoods, especially around Tower Grove Park, have also successfully integrated. These areas have seen an influx of residents of various ethnicities, including Vietnamese and other immigrant groups. Since the upheavals in the Balkans, many Bosnian refugees have been settled in south St. Louis City, particularly in the Bevo neighborhood. They have been responsible for an upturn in the economic situation there as they have opened stores and restaurants and other businesses. Many of the suburbs in north St. Louis County became more integrated during the 1990's; however, the suburbs of South St. Louis County and the wealthier suburbs of West St. Louis county are primarily European-American. Of the African-American residents in the City, about half live north of Delmar Boulevard, the traditional boundary for "North St. Louis."
The St. Louis area has made tremendous strides in remedying pollution compared to other MSAs. The state of Missouri requires gasoline stations in the metro area to sell special, reformulated gasoline. Most cars owned by residents of St. Louis and the counties of St. Louis, St. Charles, Jefferson, and Franklin must pass an automobile pollution test every other year.
As of July 1, 2005, the city of St. Louis extended healthcare benefits to the domestic partners of all city employees, including same-sex partners and others living in committed but unmarried relationships, as well as children of such families.
Education
Public education
Within the city proper, the 168-year-old St. Louis Public School District * controls the 92 schools in the public school system. With over 38,000 students, the district is the largest in the state of Missouri and the 108th largest in the nation. The district has recently come under fire for the firing of superintendent Dr. Creg E. Williams (July 2006). Dr. Diana Bourisaw was hired in July 2006 as his replacement. The district is currently aggressively pushing ahead with its 2011 initiative, which calls for improved graduation rates, higher test scores, and stronger student attendance. Many smaller public districts are defined throughout the wider St. Louis area. The MAP, or Missouri Assessment Program, is a system of standardized tests which students take yearly; not so much a measure of students' individual aptitude as an overall assessment of their schools and districts, scores are used as indicators of the institutions' efficiency, and many factors, especially distribution of public funds, are determined based on student performance.
Private education
St. Louis is known for its abundance of private Catholic high schools, the majority of which are in the County (see St. Louis County High Schools). However, there are a few in the bounds of the city proper, including St. Elizabeth Academy, Rosati Kain High School, Christian Brothers College High School, Saint Louis University High School, and St. Mary's High School. The city also has a number of archdiocesan high schools as well.
Colleges and universities
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Medicine
Because of its colleges, hospitals, and companies like Monsanto, St. Louis is respected as a center of medicine and biotechnology. Barnes-Jewish Hospital, in conjunction with Washington University School of Medicine, is the fifth largest in the world, while the School of Medicine consistently ranks in the top 5 nationally. Washington University Medical School and Barnes-Jewish Health Care operate the new and well-respected Siteman Cancer Center. Saint Louis University Medical School awarded the first medical degree west of the Mississippi River; it operates the Saint Louis University Hospital and SSM Cardinal Glennon Children's Hospital, as well as a cancer center and a bioethics institute.
Transportation
Like most American cities, the main method of transportation is the automobile. Use of the automobile is supported by the existence of many limited-access interstate highways (I-70, I-55, I-44, I-64, I-255, I-170, and I-270), as well as numerous state and county highways.
Lambert-St. Louis International Airport is located in northwest St. Louis County, but is owned and operated by the city of St. Louis. American Airlines and Southwest Airlines have the greatest number of flights serving the airport. MidAmerica St. Louis Airport is located well east of the city in Illinois adjacent to Scott Air Force Base. Contructed as a reliever airport to Lambert, it has failed to attract any major airlines, primarily due to its distance from downtown and low population in its immediate vicinity. Spirit of Saint Louis Airport, located in nearby Chesterfield, Missouri is the area's general aviation airport.
Mass transit is provided in two forms, both of which are controlled by Metro St. Louis (formerly known as the Bi-State Development Agency): the city bus system and Metrolink, a light-rail train system that connects the airport to downtown and the Metro East (extending as far east as Scott Air Force Base near Shiloh, Illinois) and in Mid-County into Clayton, the county seat for St. Louis County, and terminating in Shrewsbury.
Passenger train service is also available through a new Amtrak station that opened in December, 2004 (* and *). This station is a precursor of the upcoming Multi-Modal (transportation) Station, the ground-breaking for which is scheduled for March 30, 2006 (see * and *). Other permanent train stations exist in the suburb of Kirkwood and nearby Alton, Illinois.
St. Louis once had a moderately extensive streetcar system which ended in 1966. The Metrolink expansion mirrors the original pathways. A movement is afoot to reinstate limited trolley service. *
Sister cities
St. Louis has twelve sister cities, as designated by Sister Cities International:
See also
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