Mapping Decline: St. Louis and the Fate of the American City

Politics and Culture in Modern America

by Colin Gordon

Once a thriving metropolis on the banks of the Mississippi, St. Louis, Missouri, is now a ghostly landscape of vacant houses, boarded-up storefronts, and abandoned factories. The Gateway City is, by any measure, one of the most depopulated, deindustrialized, and deeply segregated examples of American urban decay. "Not a typical city," as one observer noted in the late 1970s, "but, like a Eugene O'Neill play, it shows a general condition in a stark and dramatic form."Mapping Decline examines the causes and consequences of St. Louis's urban crisis. It traces the complicity of private real estate restrictions, local planning and zoning, and federal housing policies in the "white flight" of people and wealth from the central city. And it traces the inadequacy€”and often sheer folly€”of a generation of urban renewal, in which even programs and resources aimed at eradicating blight in the city ended up encouraging flight to the suburbs. The urban crisis, as this

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Urban, Economics, Social Justice, Urbanism, Urban Planning

304 pages, Hardcover

First published April 15, 2008

Reviews

[Andrea · Rating 4 out of 5]

So many maps! And they are so beautiful! And also damning, I loved them. I wanted more about the process of mapping itself, because so few academic geographers and planners really wield maps like this. So I was a little disappointed that this didn't involve some thinking through of what the process of mapping teaches us, especially given the title.

What it did do was masterfully describe the growth of St. Louis and its spectacular decline, and it balanced fairly beautifully a big picture view of the policies that caused it along with enough of the intricate detail to judge how it all happened. It describes the period from 1940-2000, bringing this story somewhat into the present which is also rare. He also does a far better job of combining policy and planning analysis with acknowledgment of race: 'The plot of this story, in St. Louis and elsewhere, is irretrievably racial in its logic and its consequences' (11). Also that

This is a story that can be retold, with local twists and variations, for virtually nay American metropolis in the modern era. Local, state, and national policies encouraged economic and demographic flight from increasingly poor, and black, central cities. Sprawl and political fragmentation made these cities--and the larger urban (35) areas they anchored--increasingly difficult to govern or finance. The modern urban crisis was a direct consequence of public policy, not an unfortunate social ill that persisted despite public policy.

He opens with 'Local Politics, Local Power', a look at the wildly fragmented political mosaic of counties, cities and jurisdictions that make up St. Louis (233 incorporated municipalities in a 12-county area? Jesus). It's so different than that of L.A. which I know best, but with the same effect -- the carving up of an urban area into smaller sections allowing wealthy white areas to insulate themselves and their wealth from the rest.

This pattern of governance in greater St. Luis was accomplished quite purposefully; it was, in Terrence Jone's apt phrase, 'fragmented by design'. This fragmentation in turn, facilitated and invited a prolonged pattern of local piracy as political units sought to maximize local wealth and tax bases while minimizing any claims that might be made on them (45-46)

Here too, he examines the politics of the growth machine, the movement to the suburbs of whites and wealth, cities left with no tax base for their poverty-stricken populations.

Next Collins looks at the "'The Steel Ring': Race an Realty in Greater St. Louis," an examination of both the local, state and federal polices that led to intensive segregation, and the real estate industry, which he sees as lying at the heart of it. St Louis was one of the cities that legislated racial zoning, when that was struck down it turned to race restrictive covenants (which, like L.A., heightened during the first great migration of African Americans from the South during WWI). One neighbourhood purchased their street and streetlights from the city so they could impose uniform deed restrictions, but most simply formed those ubiquitous neighbourhood and homeowner associations. Interestingly, Collins writes:

As with most such settings in St. Louis, the local improvement association was more a consequence of the covenant than it was a cause; the boundaries of the neighbourhood were determined by the willingness of homeowners to sign the covenant. (80)

After restrictions were outlawed, these restrictions continued on as art of policy.

The FHA, as Robert Weaver...noted in 1948, had 'turned the agency's operations over to the real estate, and home finance boys.' Four years later the NAACP scored what it viewed as an 'extension of racial discrimination and segregation abetted and furthered by a government agency backed by billions of dollars of insurance secured by taxpayers' money' and concluded bitterly: 'We are breaking down the ghetto in old housing only to see federal funds being used to establish impregnable ghettos in new, desirable suburban developments' (From memorandum re: FHA Underwriting Manual (n.D.), NAACP Papres pt 5, reel 4:0945).

I like this pithy statement: 'African Americans did not, in the logic of the HOLC, live in residential areas; they invaded them and compromised them' (92).
Some of the data Collins managed to get and map is truly awesome.

On to zoning! The most boring thing on the planet, but yet also one of the most devastating. Because this is what it does:

Exclusive and fragmented zoning in the suburbs erased any semblance of residential diversity, sorting the white middle class into income-specific single-family enclaves on the periphery and leaving African Americans, the elderly, and the poor to filter into older and higher-density housing stock (much of it unprotected by zoning)in the central city (112)

A 1926 court case challenged zoning, and the law in question on nuisances was actually struck down by an Ohio judge, stating 'in the last analysis the result to be accomplished is to classify the population and segregate them according to their income or situation in life'. The Supreme Court agreed, but allowed it as part of a bigger plan for land use. Through zoning for large lots, single family homes, minimum square footage and the like, lower-income people were kept out.

I think my favourite chapters were around Urban Renewal and the definitions of blight, and some of the data Collins was able to get hold of is amazing. Also profoundly profoundly depressing as he charts the passage of the multiple and often overlapping programs under which urban renewal was carried out. There are volumes to be written on the changing and highly political uses of the term 'blight', 'blight' as verb, as risk, as disease, as something that even if not yet present can loom and threaten and justify another huge tax break to yet another corporation. And of course, it always invoked the presence of Black people. It helped ensure that 'renewal' focused on the destruction of community, the tearing down of homes to build for commercial use and 'economic development'. Almost no onewas rehoused or given compensation as homes came down to make way for freeways and landmark projects like malls, hotels, and stadiums. Taxes were shifted entirely into financing the loans required to construct such projects through TIF (Tax-increment financing), essentially stolen from schools and other essential city services. And at the end of the day, only 1 of 12 projects financed through TIF was even breaking even in terms of what the site had been earning before development and what after.

To conclude, Collins writes: 'Wile its central thread is private property, this is not a story...of private markets and private choices. What gives this story its plot, and its sorry ending, are the many ways in which private and public policies shaped or frustrated those choices' (221). The solutions he believes is to 'displace local fragmentation with some form of regional governance'. This will help ease competition between local areas, help increase density and improve services, can approach the topic of tax sharing. Here is where my greatest critique comes in, because this book does so much but doesn't take the next step in trying to answer why public policy took the turns it did. It doesn't really get at the multiple ways that this preserves the unique privileges of wealthy whites in exclusive areas and how they have fought to increase those privileges, nor how it serves the interests of large corporations and real estate developers lobbying at all levels of governments. These are the interests that must be overcome to reverse any of it, and there is not much sense of how to go about that.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

Everyone should read this--especially St. Louisans. It amazes me how many people in Greater St. Louis--including my parents--look at the events surrounding the Mike Brown case & are shocked that St. Louis has any problems/issues regarding race, & furthermore, keep saying, over & over, that everything is "fine". Perhaps if people such as my parents read this book and learned that, in fact, things have never been "fine" regarding race, &, at least since after WWI (around the time the African-American population in St. Louis grew to sizable numbers), white St. Louisans have been trying to escape black St. Louisans, to the point at which white people are now escaping to exurban counties to further segregate themselves from black people. Unfortunately, people like my parents don't seem interested in educating themselves on these matters, but that doesn't mean I can't or won't, since I feel like there's a lot I don't know, & this book helps explain a lot of failed policies & old racially restrictive laws, among other stuff.

[Simone · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a pretty dense academic book on the political history of the causes and consequences of a depopulated, de-industrialized city - St. Louis. It is an interesting counter-point to something like The Broken Heart of America: St. Louis and the Violent History of the United States. And the maps! The maps here are so pretty, using historical archival data and GIS digital mapping. The white flight maps were amazing. I would recommend this to people interested in urban planning or the history of St. Louis, just remember, just because this is an academic book doesn't mean you'll be graded on your comprehension of the text. I read it, looked through the maps, and moved along. Did I understand every argument? No. But also, that wasn't my goal in reading this. You'd have to be deaf, dumb and blind not to realize that race had a lot to do with, and continues to have a lot to do with St. Louis' many issues - but it's another thing to see the history of those decisions discussed and mapped out. Enjoyed is the wrong word, but this was very edifying, and I'd recommend it if you're up for it.

[David Shelton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mapping Decline
Mapping Decline by Colin Gordon is an incredibly thorough examination of the decline of the City of St. Louis throughout the 19th century from the 4th biggest city in America all the way to the 48th by the year 2000. Gordon’s primary thesis is that the decline was not due to private choices based on market conditions, but to public policy on a number of fronts including local politics, realtors, zoning, and urban renewal policies. This book had special interest to me as someone who grew up in the suburbs of St. Louis. Over and over again I was shocked and dismayed by what I read. I had never thought about just how many municipalities there are in the St. Louis area, and how they weakened each other and the City by competing against one another. I had never heard of the Restrictive Deed Covenants created by local realtors to make it impossible for African Americans to buy certain properties. I had not considered the local zoning codes which prohibited multifamily housing in much of the suburbs that forced the poorest residents to remain in the city. Finally, I had never considered how foolish and wasteful the renewal policies could be, incentivizing developers to do projects that did no good and often caused harm. One project of particular interest was the West County Mall which was built while I was in high school. Gordon explains how this project received a $30 million TIF (184) because it was supposedly a blighted area, under the extremely elastic definition allowed in the city. Knowing the affluence of the area, this brought home to me just how ludicrous renewal policies are even now.
For anyone interested in cities and planning, this is an awesome book. It gets slightly technical at times, but it’s very well explained and I learned a lot from reading it. If you happen to be from St. Louis and know the area it’s incredibly impactful. While I felt depressed and even sickened at times, I’m glad I read the book. I hope that it will be used by myself and others to do things better in the future.

[Julie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book should be handed to everyone in the St. Louis region. Moving from the rural parts of Missouri that eventually became suburban when the sprawl reached us, then moving into St. Louis’s city limits meant learning a lot about the city and its disinvestment. In the time it took me to read this book, my own personal and professional understanding evolved even beyond what I thought I had known. Reading this book again with fresh eyes, I’m overcome by how the city’s current state is no accident. While the book uses studies and maps to show data, it’s the haunting warnings of the past that I hear echoed in parts of city government that gave me a real understanding of the cycle we’re in. The book is plain in making its thesis known and while it could be all doom and gloom, it is hopeful that someone is listening and will maybe make better choices.

[Lowell Ricketts · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent dive into the history of place in the St. Louis region. The history of racial segregation efforts and urban renewal programs were particularly interesting and will resonate with anyone familiar with the landscape of St. Louis. The chapters on zoning and blight were also important and interesting but felt repetitive at times. Hats off to Gordon for such an important guide on what went wrong for American cities in the 20th century.

[David Blumberg · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was so interesting. A perfect compliment to The Broken Heart of America and Citizen Brown. The book is copyright 2008 and most data is through 2000. Now I want to read a follow up to learn if St. Louis has done anything innovative in the last two decades to improve, or is more of the same?

[Miriam Foltz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Published in 2008, pre-recession, pre-Ferguson, this book nevertheless lays a groundwork of understanding St Louis at the start of the 21st century - how the (misguided) policies and (failed) planning and (seriously embedded) racism of the 20th century has shaped a river city for today.

[Jason Carter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gordon traces the depressing history of "urban renewal" efforts centered on the city of St. Louis. With nearly a map every other page, he uses geospatial data to back up his claims.

This book is well-researched and well-written, but offers little in the way of hope for the future.

[Deryk Rumbold · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wish it were a little more streamlined in its chronology, it jumps around a lot. Because if it was that and more compact as well this would be an essential read for every St. Louis inhabitant. Maps and graphs that tell a compelling story by themselves even without any context.

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

St. Louis. You are effed. I still love you.

[Madeleine Swanstrom · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mapping Decline is a meticulously researched, indispensable work on St. Louis urban decline and systematic racism.

[Angela · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's a fairly dense academic tome, but the subject matter is interesting, challenging, and important.

[Anne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dry but informative. And, if you live in St. Louis, important context.

[Rachel Hartman · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an intense and at times heart wrenching must-read for anyone that calls Saint Louis home. Dense with facts, the graphs and maps are a perfect complement to the text. I only wish this book covered Saint Louis' lack of solid public transportation.

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots of maps and text describing the decline of St. Louis as a viable city over the course of the 20th century. The maps hold a lot of information but are sometimes hard to read. Same with the text - there's a lot of historical detail presented and it can be hard to assimilate it all in a casual read. The argument is worth studying though.

Chapter-by-chapter summary:

Chapter 1 Local Politics, Local Power: Governing Greater St. Louis, 1940-2000
The city of St. Louis was administratively 'divorced' from St. Louis County in 1876, thus its geographic boundaries were permanently set with no possibility of growth. This set up a competition between city and suburbs for resources (primarily residents who pay property tax and don't use many services).

Chapter 2 "The Steel Ring": Race and Realty in Greater St. Louis
The real estate industry played a key role in the maintenance of racial segregation: racial deed covenants, redlining, blockbusting, biased gatekeeping of federal assistance.

Chapter 3 Patchwork Metropolis: Municipal Zoning in Greater St. Louis
'Local governments interested in maintaining property values and in funding local services by taxing those properties have every incentive to exclude the poor and compete for the rich - to sort the population by race and class in such a way as to maximize tax returns and minimize other demands on the public purse.' Newer suburbs had the advantage over the central city in use of zoning as a tool of exclusion.

Chapter 4 Fighting Blight: Urban Renewal Policies and Programs, 1945-2000
Urban renewal has effectively been a means of bestowing favors on private development interests, with little benefit accruing to the public.

Chapter 5 City of Blight: The Limits of Urban Renewal in Greater St. Louis
More about how loose definitions of 'blight' have aided the redistribution of benefits to private interests (old shopping malls blighted so new ones can be built with taxpayer help). In the city, redevelopment of poor residential areas was not accompanied by any effort to help displaced residents find affordable housing. Public housing was understood as a means of cheaply warehousing the displaced urban poor.

[Matt Williams · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is required reading for anybody who cares about the Saint Louis metropolitan region. Gordon details the history of the metropolitan area from just past its peak in the early 1900s to today, illustrating how the decline is inextricably tied to St. Louis' persistent racism and fragmentation. We find that the city has been fighting many of the same battles for one hundred years now, with very little to show for the efforts.

This was a surprisingly easy read, so long as you don't mind being constantly reminded that everything is always more racist than you thought.

[Jason · Rating 5 out of 5]

Colin Gordon has put together an excellent reference for those interested in the economic history of St. Louis over the last 80 years, but with lessons that could easily apply to any other central city in the United States. We've all seen anecdotal evidence of these problems in run-down inner city neighborhoods, empty buildings in inner suburbs, and gleaming new parking lots in the outer suburbs, but Gordon uses data to back up these assumptions.

The book is roughly 1/2 maps and 1/2 text - and strikes the right balance at that. The maps serve to illustrate visually the scope and scale of "white flight," poor planning decisions, and the lunacy of a fractured metro government. While the city atrophies, suburbs further and further away compete for the same employers, the same stores, and the same residents.

While Gordon shies from making many overall conclusions based on the data and focuses more on presenting the history of what happened - this book provides a model blueprint for civic, business, and academic leaders to understand what to avoid in promoting "growth."

[Johnny · Rating 4 out of 5]

Maps maps maps maps maps! So many maps!

Gordon is a pretty sweet guy, who is able to approach St. Louis' mid- to late-20th century issues with an even hand, distancing himself from a brutal so-it-goes realism without engaging in a romancing-the-urban sentimental nostalgia trip that's all too common with "urbanists." He's got some nice GIS maps and the hard numbers backing them up.

This book also glosses the difficulties of a fractured metropolitan area better than anything else I've run into but, yet again, without a heavyhanded appeal to emotions (all too common).

[Colleen]

I plan on reading this after I finish applying to UMSL's public policy graduate program. Sure to get me in gear to figure out what is wrong w/ STL and more importantly, what can be done to change the course.

***update: Yeah. Almost a year after GRADUATING I'm finally starting it. Ha. I guess I didn't realize how there is no time for reading for fun when you are in grad school. Hope to make it through in something less than three years.

[Frank · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a great book about developments in the St. Louis metro area in the twentieth century. Though it was somewhat dense and academic, it synthesized and explained so much of what you can feel every time you drive around the St. Louis area. In that way, it was illuminating and electrifying.

[Jw · Rating 5 out of 5]

excellent description of America's century long approach to cities: racial covenants, sprawl, suburbanization, dysfunctional taxation, uneven devlopment and urban renewal that left cities across the country completely devastated and filled with blocks where one or two buildings remain standing

[Wendy Plotkin]

This book deals with both racial deed restrictions (Chapter 2) and historical GIS, both of which are interests of mine. Gordon is a wonderful writer, and I am enjoying it.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very thorough and informative. Can be a bit academic and dry but still worth reading.

[Arindam Kar · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent research and read.