KC is rising while St. Louis keeps falling
Yael T. AbouhalkahKansas Citians often lament the high crime rate, disappointing school systems and other problems facing the city.
But it could be worse.
We could live in St. Louis.
On Tuesday, St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay deservedly won the city’s Democratic primary and is virtually certain to win a record fourth term in April.
Slay’s reward: He will continue presiding over one of America’s fastest fading cities, a community wracked by a steady, alarming loss of residents.
Sure, St. Louis still has the iconic Gateway Arch, some strong neighborhoods, a new baseball park, light rail, and many other positive points.
But check out these facts.
In 1950, St. Louis was the eighth largest U.S. city, with 857,000 people. But by 2010, St. Louis had lost a stunning 538,000 people and plummeted to the 58th largest city, with only 319,000 residents.
In 1980, St. Louis was still Missouri’s largest city, barely ahead of Kansas City. But by 2010, Kansas City’s population of 460,000 was 44 percent larger than St. Louis’.
The city of St. Louis has slumped today to the point where it makes up only 11 percent of its metropolitan area’s population of 2.8 million. That’s one of the lowest percentages for any large U.S. city in its region, further evidence that the influence of St. Louis continues to slide.
Finally, the ills of St. Louis helped slash population growth in its metropolitan area to only 4 percent between 2000 and 2010. Only a few other deeply troubled regions — such as Detroit, Cleveland and Pittsburgh — were worse off in that period.
Slay and other city boosters are well aware of all these negative trends. They valiantly will continue working to find ways to attract people, companies and capital to St. Louis, hoping to finally halt the population drain.
Feel better, Kansas Citians?
Mayor Sly James made this comment in his 2013 budget message last month: “…We are setting the pace with innovative and dynamic solutions to challenges cities across the nation share.… Friends, we are on the move, and our peers are noticing. We are pulling our chair up to the table with the nation’s great cities.”
Get past the expected hyperbole from an elected official, and Kansas City boosters do, indeed, have more things to feel encouraged about than they did a few years ago.
The city’s emphasis on growing its entrepreneurial ranks could pay off big time with new jobs for young people.
The increased funding of the arts — coupled with fantastic new venues — are boosting our attraction as a Midwestern cultural hub.
Plus, City Hall is better off, partly thanks to money from a voter-approved tax increase to finance more road repairs and park maintenance.
Kansas City is superior to St. Louis in a number of important markers — even after taking into account the fact that Kansas City has far more square miles.
Between 1990 and 2010, Kansas City added almost 25,000 residents, while St. Louis shed 77,000. Projections by the Mid-America Regional Council indicate Kansas City’s positive trend will continue north of the Missouri River.
While Kansas City has lost at least 120,000 people from its urban core since 1950, that’s far better than St. Louis’ loss of 538,000.
The city of Kansas City makes up 23 percent of this metropolitan area’s population of 2 million people. That rate is middle of the pack — still lots of room for improvement — when compared with peers around the country.
Kansas City is in a healthier metropolitan area. The region’s population grew at a respectable 11 percent rate between 2000 and 2010, again in the middle range for larger metro areas. This region added 199,000 residents in that time; the St. Louis area gained only 114,000.
As aging Midwestern big cities, Kansas City and St. Louis face many of the same vexing troubles.
But right now, for a variety of reasons, Kansas City’s future looks a lot brighter than St. Louis’ does.
To reach Yael T. Abouhalkah, call 816-234-4887 or email abouhalkah@kcstar.com. He blogs at voices.kansascity.com. Twitter: @YaelTAbouhalkah.
George Hunsucker
Northland
3 months, 2 weeks agoanother shining example of how gooooooooooooooooood libs are at governing…
Matthew Mourning
3 months, 2 weeks agoA St. Louisan here checking in to remind you that St. Louis is 61 square miles and Kansas City clocks in at 315—larger than New York City in terms of land area.
If St. Louis were able to annex an extra 254 square miles of St. Louis County, we could grab the entire inner ring of our suburban expanse and our population would be closer to 1 million.
So your comparison seems unfair considering that St. Louis can’t annex territory due to its “independent city” status—and there are no undeveloped “greenfields” not in flood plains to grab outside of city limits anyhow.
Amy Lampe
3 months, 2 weeks agoIs this how you make yourself feel better when you’re feeling down, Mr. Abouhalkah? By insulting others? Tell me, does it work?
Charlie Vannice
3 months, 2 weeks agoThe worst part about St.Louis types is the way they say corn(carn)and horses(harses).
James Cosgrove
3 months, 2 weeks agoYou can make statistics say whatever you want them to say. Like Matt Mourning said, St. Louis is not able to annex land so we’re stuck with our original 1876 city limits. If you took the central 61 square miles of KC the statistics would probably look very similar to STL. This pointless and counter-productive article is just a pretty weak attempt to make people with inferiority complexes feel better about KC.
Randy Vines
3 months, 2 weeks agoI am embarrassed for the Kansas City Star. This is second-rate garbage that serves absolutely no productive purpose for anyone. It is merely a misinformed over-generalization that neglects basic investigative journalism principles (i.e. actually exploring the dynamics of urban decline in America). St. Louis is a great city and doesn’t feel the need to insult others in order to bolster its self-esteem. Putting down a city to make yours look better— a reliably lazy tactic. No wonder Yael Abouhalkah isn’t reporting for a paper in a bigger market (like St. Louis).
George Hunsucker
Northland
3 months, 2 weeks agoFor the St. Louis people, welcome to our world with yt….
Joseph Decepida
3 months, 2 weeks agohttp://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblrmbuww2f2z91qizm3wo1500.gif
Emily Beck
3 months, 2 weeks agoKC is great for KC reasons. STL is great for STL reasons. MO is great (though a bit too red for me). The USA is great (though a bit too American for me). The “journalist”s lazy, biased, uneducated, yellow banter is nothing but sensationalism (at best). And whether or not they’re in KC, the Cubs still suck.
Ken Earley
3 months, 2 weeks agoThe Midwest gets enough hate from the Coasts. People in STL will continue working to better this region while articles like this warrant embarrassment.
Best, STL
Sir Mallory Nezam III
3 months, 2 weeks agoThis article is so boring, formulaic and lacking scope. Did the Kansas City Star actually agree to publish this over-generalized, under-researched, detached piece of journalism? If you’re going to attack, at least do it well and say something we haven’t heard misrepresented time and time again. All that you’ve displayed is that a Kansas City reporter wrote a predictable and boring piece of journalism, and has given the impression that Kansas City’s ‘metamorphosis’ is fueled by a desire to make other neighboring cities seem inferior. The power trip just makes KC look angsty and appear to feel threatened.
The swarm of St. Louis supporters here shows that the city is NOT falling fast. Clearly. People make a city, people bring it back, and people make it exciting. Mr. Abouhalkah’s article has been a platform to display just how much support and positive energy is literally swelling in the city of St. Louis, and that the city is and will continue to be moving forward because its citizens are devoted.
Justin Ellis
3 months, 2 weeks agoQuite embarrassing, Mr. Abouhalkah. I would expect better “journalism” from this institution. STL is flattered by your comparison, though. Those that aspire to do better compare themselves to those they wish to be. Unless, you have changed the paradigm?
Angelo Olegna
3 months, 2 weeks agoWhat should impress people about Saint Louis is that the level of civic activism is so high that not only are we watching all of the press we get from other cities, but we actively critique and comment on them. More so than people from the cities in which the articles originate.
9/10 commenters are Saint Louisans? Why? We love our city to the point of obsession. We dedicate ourselves to our urban home as a joy, a passion, and sometimes sacrifice.
That’s what makes Saint Louis great; the dedication of the hundreds of thousands who still live here.
Scotty Scotty
3 months, 2 weeks agoI agree that comparing the goings on within the city limits of St. Louis and Kansas City isn’t a meaningful comparison. St. Louis is geographically tiny and has nowhere to go. But the fact that the St. Louis metro only grew by 4% is meaningful and troubling. Metros of its size like Denver and Minneapolis grew much faster despite being colder and more remote from the rest of the country. Other midwestern cities, such as Des Moines, Omaha, Indianapolis, Oklahoma City and Columbus all grew much faster during 2000-2010. Although KC did better than St. Louis, I think it’s growth rate is pretty disappointing (around 11%) when you look at other cities in the region, like Des Moines at 18%. Missouri is clearly doing something wrong. Much of the KC metro’s growth has been in Kansas. I don’t know enough to offer much speculation as to what Missouri is doing wrong, but it’s clearly something. Perhaps the earnings taxes? Missouri, Kansas City and St. Louis all have a lot of work to do.
Mike Brockman
3 months, 2 weeks agoKC and STL must work together in the Sate of Missouri. Tired and skewed stats about either city do nothing to move a progressive urban agenda forward. Shame KC Star.
concerned st. louisan
Jeff Vines
3 months, 2 weeks agoWhat is Kansas City’s preoccupation with St. Louis? This hopelessly skewed article only reinforces the glaring inferiority complex that KC has towards St. Louis.
Simon Nogin
3 months, 2 weeks agoInaccurate use of data just for some dumb sensationalism and page hits. Congrats.
How about we talk about an article that should be written, why KC & STL aren’t working together more often and forcing Jeff City to pass more Pro-City legislation to help both our cities grow drastically. Better to research what has been holding back both our cities in terms of population and economic development, compared to other non-coastal cities like Scotty Scotty commented.
Thanks to all the other commenters, glad to see so much civic pride bursting out in another cities web posts!
Colin DeVaughan
3 months, 2 weeks agoI’m all for civic pride, and emboldened by fellow STL residents coming to our city’s defense. But using schadenfreude as a tentpole of KC pride seems ill-advised, particularly when the statistics cited show Kansas City as a middling performer. Who wants to celebrate something average? Someone give this writer a ‘participant’ typewriter ribbon. Kansas City has much to be envious of (Google Fiber and fountains spring to mind), but I’m not sensing any of it in this article.
Sam Abadir
Kansas City
3 months, 2 weeks agoSt. Louis was great and is now in decline. St. Louis County on the other hand is growing and doing well. Probably better than the MO side of Metro KC.
What is missing from this is who is the winner. The winner is Kansas. Here is why. Part of St Louis’ winning plan is that people don’t want to live in IL where taxes are too high and corruption is too high so they live in MO. That used to be StL, now its StL County because the city of StL is much like IL where govt performance is too low - high taxes and not enough bang for the buck. KC has the same problem. Low govt performance. Poor schools, high taxes, eTax, etc. The winner here is KS where things are comparatively better.
Matthew Nugent
3 months, 2 weeks agoI can’t honestly remember the last time I heard anyone in KC discuss St. Louis like this. It’s just not something most Kansas Citians think about very much. I’m sure the reverse is true on the other side of the state.
Chris Bellon
3 months, 2 weeks agoThis is just… This might be one of the most ill-informed things I have ever read, and I have read things on the Huffington Post and Drudge Report. Sheesh, It would be like St. Louis people saying “Don’t go out to eat in Kansas City, I hear all of their restaurants are blowing up!”
Well at least St. Louis doesn’t have this journalist. But seriously, I’m from STL but went to UMKC, they both suffer from a bad case of Missouritus. I love seeing other talk about our need to cooperate to retake the capitol… Jeff City, now there’s a mess worth reporting on!
Kyle Smith
3 months, 2 weeks agoBefore I start, I just have to say I’m sure working with this guy in the Kansas City Star is an absolute mess; my condolences to all his employees. This article is bad, and I’ve read some bad stuff on Yahoo and Huffington. I’m ashamed this came from a Midwesterner (are you even from the Midwest Yael?) This seems like some trash that should be on a coastal cities website.
I grew up in St. Louis and I now work in Kansas City. It’s obvious Yael has never really spent ample time in St. Louis because he will realize that there is no growth in the City because everyone lives in the county; it’s not comparable to KC, you can have a nice house in the KC city limits with decent schooling, and a yard and such, this is NOT true in STL City. So yes you are correct that people are moving out of the city, but they are simply moving to St. Louis county. You should drive on Highway 40 and take a look at all the construction, then tell me if you still have the same views. The O’Fallon/ St. Charles areas and Chesterfield are blowing up right now with new business’.
There are lot’s of entrepreneurial pushes in STL right now for companies to relocate to the MO side, just Google “Arch Grants”, “StartupSTL” and “T-Rex”. I love both the cities, but I don’t feel like KC is on more of a ‘rise’ than STL at all, if anything they’re pretty comparable. It’s not a competition Yael, the two cities need to try and find ways to bring growth to the Midwest in general. Having ‘editors’ in the KC Star that write stuff like this doesn’t just give KC a bad rep, but it is 100% counter productive for the growth of our region.
Simon Nogin
3 months, 2 weeks agoJust saw this very detailed response from a fb page I follow: https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=494376080623357&id=170895909599551
The group aims to reunite the 61sq miles of the city as the 90th district of St Louis County. Worth a read if you have the time and would like to be educated on the issue.
Nicholas Frisella
3 months, 2 weeks agoSt. Louis is a World Class City’s response!
Frankly, I don’t not know where to begin with your inane and statistically unsophisticated analysis comparing Saint Louis and Kansas City.
First, my friend, you should take a look at the following web link:
http://www.stlworldclasscity.com/?page=stlouisrankings
You would see that the real “Saint Louis” has absolutely nothing to do with the Saint Louis you describe in your blog. Where STL ranks on a huge variety of “quality of life indicators” is most impressive and bears NO resemblance to the Saint Louis you portrayed.
Let me explain.
If Saint Louis City (only one of two cities in the USA not in a county — the other is Baltimore) were combined with Saint Louis County it would be the 8th largest city in the United States (which it already is for all intents and purposes), and would be positioned between San Diego and San Antonio. Our population of 1.3+ million would be FAR larger than KC and our Metro Area is nearly ONE MILLION larger that KC Metro.
Don’t get me wrong, I love KC. Have a sister there and have visited it often. But honestly, what is the purpose of pitting KC versus STL when the well-being of Missouri so much depends on both for the economic viability of both? Doesn’t seem very prudent to me!
The truth is, Saint Louis Metro (Missouri side) far out-produces Kansas City Metro (Missouri Side) when it comes to its positive economic impact on MIssouri. I have attached an economic productivity summary for you to view and have also pasted it in below. Note, the story that produced these data is from the Kansas City Star!
Economic Impact of St. Louis and Kansas City In Missouri
(In Missouri, 81% of the state’s economy is generated by its metro areas)
St. Louis, MO Metro vs. Kansas City, MO Metro
36% of Missouri’s Population (2009) vs. 20.5%
40.4% ($96.6B) of Missouri’s economic output vs. 21.4% (($51.2B)
42.2% of Missouri’s exports ($10.5B) vs. 17.2% ($4.3B)
50% of state’s scientists and engineers vs. 25.8%
44.5% of people with post-sec. degrees vs. 22.1% vs.
Source: Kevin Collison, Kansas City Star, February 25, 2011
You will note that in every case, the advantage goes to STL by nearly 2 to 1. So much for the decline of STL and the rise of KC.
So, Yael, if you learn no other lesson from all this — know Missouri history! Saint Louis separated from Saint Louis County nearly 137 years ago. That was a quirk of history which leads to all of these “apples versus oranges” comparisons. The simple truth is this — should we compare STL City with its 68 square miles with the 318 square miles of KC? Again, apples versus oranges comes to mind.
And the truth is, our respective histories are quite different, yet we are both highly important American cities
Nicholas Frisella
3 months, 2 weeks agohttp://www.facebook.com/pages/St-Louis-is-a-World-Class-City/170895909599551
I had to trim the response to fit the allowed number of characters. You can read the entire response on the Facebook page. If you agree ‘like’ the Facebook page and get involved. Merging the city and the county could be a reality sooner than you think!
http://stlworldclasscity.com/
Joe Marcucci
3 months, 2 weeks agoI read with disappointment your article about Saint Louis. I’ll admit, we have our problems in Saint Louis, but there are so many positive things happening in and around our city.
We have great museums, great sports teams, amazing neighborhoods and restaurants that rival New York and LA. We have neighborhoods and retail areas that create an ambiance of big city feel and small town atmosphere.
I am not from Saint Louis, I am originally from New York State and have lived in LA, Raleigh, NC, Phoenix, London, Paris and Milan. I say this because I don’t want you to think I am an armchair supporter of Saint Louis. In fact, I and many of my fellow residents of Saint Louis, acknowledge our problems and are working to address them as well as the negative image we have across the state and the country.
Many people who come here and visit, go away with a better feeling for our city and the people here who make it great.
I have lived here for now over 10 years and never once have I heard a resident of Saint Louis speak ill of Kansas City, in fact many of us go to your city to visit friends as well as experience the great things your city has. I recently drove through Kansas City and listened to a talk show host berate and belittle Saint Louis and extoll the benefits of Kansas City.
It led me to call in, get on the show and offer my perspective about the positive attributes of both cities.
We are the two leading cities of our state, constantly belittled by the coasts as being “fly over” states with nothing to offer.
We should be working together to promote our cities and helping to overcome stereotypes and misinformation. This is what I do when I hear people say that Kansas City is a cow town with narrow minded people, sprawling, boring suburban sprawl and a non-descript downtown. I like your city as do many people from Saint Louis.
Your arcticle may have found an audience amongst Kansas City supporters, but it does nothing to actually promote your city as it focuses on degrading Saint Louis, elevating Kansas City only by attempting to show how “bad” it is in another city that I suspect you regard as a rival.
Dan Huerter
3 months, 2 weeks agoI’m having a hard time deciding who Yael has embarrassed more this time. Himself, the Star or KC,MO. STL isn’t perfect but it has a lot over KC.
Brooks Goedeker
3 months, 2 weeks agoMr. Abouhalkah,
I would like to invite you to St. Louis and give you a tour of the city that you so magically illustrated. I think only then will you be able to put imagery with your numbers and statistics. In fact, I’m guessing you need to unwind and have a drink or three so I am buying you a ticket to IndiHop, a beer festival that celebrates St. Louis’ 25+ micro breweries and 2 of its most up and coming neighborhoods. So, mark your calendar for Saturday, June 1 and don’t forget your calculator!
Scott Latta
3 months, 2 weeks agoSorry, I have lived in both metro areas and while KC has some great qualities it is by no means better than STL in anything except BBQ….and it has much less beaker trash to contend with so there is that also.
Meg Mertz
3 months, 2 weeks agoDoes it make you feel better to trash STL? Bet it did, but my question is why does it matter which is best. Both have good qualities that make the people whom live in them stay. I was always taught by my dad that it’s difficult to compare KC and STL, (I’m a denizen of STL, btw), KC is farthest western like city, and STL is the southernmost/northernmost city, so they are two different animals in respect to the flavor of each other. So, whom cares, yet you have to post an “article” to trash STL. Stay classy Mr. Abouhalkah, Stay Classy!
Rocky Stixx Stone
3 months, 2 weeks agoMr. Abouhalkah,
You are one of the most misinformed journalists I’ve had the displeasure of reading, in a very long time. I lived in KC and now live in STL. I am from St. Joe. I can’t believe (then again, I can) the KC Star let you publish this article. It is based on few facts and a ton of generalizations, coming from a clearly biased individual, that has a complex. You clearly no nothing about STL City or the metro area. You probably didn’t even know that STL is an independent city, not part of the much larger STL County. I liked KC and spent the better part of my life there, but I can honestly tell you, STL is so different and so much more ‘metropolitan’ in every way. The cities do not even have remotely, the same feel. Just because they are in the Midwest, does not make them comparable. St. Louis just has more going on. Both metros have their problems, but KC gets Google Fiber and IKEA and now you are ‘rising’?? You are one clueless individual who has likely never spent a night in STL. This is coming from a non-native of STL. Your method of boosterism is pathetic! You are an embarrassment to us western Mo. natives, as well as anyone in Missouri. If you wrote fact, I could respect you. You spew ignorance.
David Goldstick
3 months, 2 weeks agoWanna hear a joke? Yael T. Abouhalkah. ;)
Suzanne Schwab Hill
3 months, 2 weeks agoWhy do people in KC feel compelled to compare themselves to St. Louis? It feels like an obsession.
I don’t recall the Post-Dispatch doing anything like this! And this is not the first time I’ve seen something similar in the Star.
As one of the people above noted, people in St. Louis by and large DO NOT belittle KC. Also, people from St. Louis enjoy coming to KC and spending money.
I had no idea this was going on until I moved to the west side of the state.
Both cities have good and bad points. St. Louisans are well aware of their warts, but they love their hometown.
Michelle Doering
3 months, 1 week agoI agree that Kansas City has many things to brag about. I don’t understand, though, why there is always a need to compare it to St. Louis. Each city is unique with thier own assets and problems. Is Kansas City worried they are going to lose jobs to St. Louis and are bashing the city so they don’t go there? I don’t understand. Both cities need economic growth and more support for schools. We should help each other figure out ways to improve the Midwest instead of list the faults of our neighbors.