Urban Violence in St. Louis, Missouri by Roya Nassirpour

UP504 Urban History and Theory - Final Podcast Assignment 

Urban Violence in St Louis - A Divided City

Recently and repeatedly, St. Louis has been ranked one of the most dangerous cities in the United States. In 2020, St. Louis ranked third in violent crime rates in the nation. In addition, St. Louis ranked number 1 for the highest murder rate in the United States with roughly 260 homicides. This is a homicide rate of 87 per 100,000 people. In the South and Central corridor combined as of 2019, there was a total of 6 murders. In comparison, in the North and East riverfront parts of St. Louis combined there was a total of 188 murders.

Due to historical contexts including legal segregation and redlining, St. Louis, MO is a city divided. In addition, the unfair treatment of black Americans continues today, and is extremely prevalent in St. Louis. It can be seen by the many protests against law enforcement due to the wrongful killings of black Americans. In addition, St Louis is a very classist city, where there are too many examples of white and wealthy Americans discriminating people of different backgrounds and income status’.

The division of race is clearly seen today, where in the North corridor the population is 95% black alone and, in the South, over 75% of the population identifies as white alone. The divide in St Louis is known as the Delmar divide, characterized by one street that splits the city in half by race, income, quality of life and crime rate. The Central West End neighborhood is South of Delmar Blvd and in 2019 there were zero homicides reported there. However, one mile north across the street of Delmar Blvd is Lewis place. Lewis Place had the highest number of homicides out of all 75 neighborhoods in St Louis with one person murdered for every 250 residents. It has 87% of the population identifying as black alone

St Louis is a prime example of how history of racism and segregation can impact so many things in the city today. To solve this issue, it's important to understand the intersections of crime and health and well-being in St Louis. By seeing violence as a public health crisis, more organizations and emphasis on helping those who are suffering with health no matter 

where they live or the race they identify as. Another way to address the violence in Saint Louis is to understand the intersection between that and the environment. The more abandoned and deteriorating buildings that we have, and the less open green space present, the more likely violence is to occur. St Louis should focus on revitalizing old buildings, especially in the north, and creating more parks to help reduce violence.

Overall, understanding the inequities that Black Americans face in our cities is crucial when discussing urban violence.  Though solving racism cannot happen overnight, we can start with reversing legal segregation, which is the goal of planners today. Hopefully, as new diverse leaders in planning take over in once predominantly white male positions, we can begin to solve the issue of urban violence and inequities associated.

Sources

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American Public Health Association (APHA). (2018, Nov 13). Violence is a Public Health Issue: Public Health is Essential to Understanding and Treating Violence in the U.S. American Public Health Association. Retrieved on Dec 1 from https://apha.org/policies-and-advocacy/public-health-policy-statements/policy-database/2019/01/28/violence-is-a-public-health-issue

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Cooperman, Jeannette. (2014, October 17). The Color Line Race in St Louis. St Louis Magazine. https://www.stlmag.com/news/the-color-line-race-in-st.-louis/

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Lyon, Max. (2019, July 30). Tackling Health Disparities in St. Louis. Union of Concerned Scientists. Retrieved on Dec 1 from https://blog.ucsusa.org/science-blogger/tackling-health-disparities-st-louis/

Merkel, Jim. (2020, Feb 12). In homicides, there are two cities of St. Louis. Metro St. Louis. Retrieved on Dec 1 from https://metrostl.com/2020/02/12/in-homicides-there-are-two-cities-of-st-louis/

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Willeke, Betty, (2021, Sep 30). Three Missouri cities in top ten for most violent crime rate in U.S. Fox2Now St. Louis. Retrieved on Dec 1 from https://fox2now.com/news/missouri/three-missouri-cities-in-top-ten-for-most-violent-crime-rate-in-u-s/

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