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DEF is a non-partisan, independent political blog based in the
City of St. Louis, Missouri. Our goal is to cast a critical eye
on lawmakers, their policies, and those that have influence upon
them, and to educate our readers about legislation and the political
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This video from Current TV shows how Detroit continues to face many of the problems of drastic population loss that we in St. Louis have hopefully turned the corner on.
It what the Mayor's office fairly describes as something of an annual ritual now, the City of St. Louis challenged the US Census Bureau’s estimate of its residential population. For the fourth year in a row, the Census Bureau agreed.
The official estimate of the City’s population (as of July 1, 2006) is 353,837, a gain of 5,648 people, or 1.62%, since the 2000 Census.
Earlier this week, the New York Times published an article about St. Louis City's struggle with population loss over the past 50 years. Click here to read it (log-in required).
VIDEO: Challenges Ahead as New Board President, Aldermen Are Sworn In
By Antonio D. French
Filed
Tuesday, April 17, 2007 at 11:00 PM
The day the new and re-elected members of the Board of Aldermen where sworn in, an article in the New York Times highlights the challenges which lay ahead of the city's leaders.
"The city has retained attractions like Forest Park, excellent universities and a vibrant arts scene. But vast sections of North St. Louis show what happens when people leave town in big numbers: What is left is a shell of a city, boarded up, rotting, populated by the most impoverished. Residents, mostly black, are still fleeing these parts of town," writes the Times reporter.
This very issue was the subject of new Aldermanic President Lewis Reed's speech today.
"We will rise and fall as one city," said Reed. If a business closes in north St. Louis, it impacts the people who live in south St. Louis. If there is a vacant, abandoned building in south St. Louis, it affects taxpayers in north St. Louis.
"If we work together and tackle these issues as one St. Louis, St. Louis will be a stronger and safer city," said Reed.
Here is video of today's swearing-in ceremony. Click here to read the full article in today's New York Times.
