Hopes for a Renaissance After Exodus in St. Louis

Cities, like most living things, have sensitive spots. Here in the old "Gateway to the West," the subject of population loss is one of the touchiest.

From a peak of nearly 860,000 residents in 1950, St. Louis had lost more than half a million people by 2000, a depopulation not unlike the devastating postwar exodus from Detroit. Since the 2000 census, St. Louis has kept shrinking, the Census Bureau estimates, while most old cities have added people.

Population is a critical indicator of any city's health, but the sinking numbers here are particularly unwelcome as the city has spiraled from one woe to the next.

In the past few months, the public schools were stripped of accreditation and taken over by the state; the city was designated the most dangerous in the country in a national crime survey; and 15 police officers and supervisors were disciplined for giving World Series tickets seized from scalpers to friends and family.

"These things are absolutely not helpful," said John Hoal, an assistant professor of architecture at Washington University who has been involved in numerous municipal planning projects. "We have to redevelop the city regardless; this just makes it harder."

City officials question the accuracy of the census calculations and suggest the city has turned the corner. Their optimism is based on a flurry of downtown development since 2000, including hundreds of loft condominiums, boutiques and restaurants. ...

•	Hopes for a Renaissance After Exodus in St. Louis The New York Times, Tuesday, April 17, 2007 Byline: Susan Saulny

	Story also ran in 3 others:  Tuscaloosa News (AL), Sarasota Herald-Tribune (FL) and The Ledger (FL)