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OVERVIEW OF EAST ST. LOUIS, IL
EAST ST. LOUIS, IL
Though just across the Mississippi from St. Louis, the troubled city of East St. Louis seems a world away. Dubbed an All-America City in 1959, East St. Louis has since suffered a dramatic decline, and in 1990 the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development dubbed it "the most distressed small city in America."
There was a time when it was said that if you couldn't get a job in East St. Louis you couldn't get a job anywhere. From the early 20th century through World War II the city was a hub of industry, with a growing population augmented by scores of African Americans recruited from the south to work for the oil refineries and manufacturers in the area. But after World War II, industry and population growth began to slow as factories relocated and a new freeway system allowed residents to more easily bypass the area and commute to the suburbs. As middle-class residents, manufacturers and retailers fled the city, they left rampant unemployment and poverty in their wake.
Today East St. Louis is 98% black, and 2007 surveys indicated that in this city of 29,448 (according to the 2006 U.S. Census) almost 40% lived below the poverty level Ð that's in contrast to a 12.5% national percentage in the same year. Municipal services are paltry, foreclosure rates high, and with opportunities and resources scarce, crime rates in the city of East St. Louis are among the highest in the nation.
Despite its difficulties, the city has produced several notable figures, including tennis legend Jimmy Connors, musicians Ike and Tina Turner and Miles Davis (who was born elsewhere, but raised in East St. Louis), and Olympic gold medalist Jackie Joyner-Kersee. In the 1990s, the opening of the Riverboat Casino brought some employment and revenue to the city and other small development projects have taken place, but for this All-America City the road to recovery remains a long one.
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