Quote:
Originally Posted by Centropolis
the black middle class leaving rustbelt cities is an order of magnitude worse, it seems, at least in st. louis. is this something that can be tracked? just the physical effect of black middle class residents leaving almost literally inflicts a physical damage on some cities that historians won't be able to get their heads around for a few more generations. black middle class retention should be a top priority in midwestern cities, but that ship is and has sailed.
i cannot emphasize enough how catastrophic this is, and it seems to be rarely discussed in midwestern cities.
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This is NOT true, trust me I'm a member of the St. Louis black middle class and I can tell you for certain that this is NOT the trend in St. Louis. In fact, St. Louis' regional black population is still growing, according to this article 6.4% growth between 00'-13', the non-white population growth is what is keeping St. Louis afloat, native born whites have been fleeing region by the tens of thousands since 2000. One thing we also have to consider is that black families in St. Louis bring in about $31,000, which is about $5,000 more than Milwaukee, Cleveland, Buffalo, and $3,000 more than Cincinnati, Louisville, and Pittsburgh. Black St. Louis also only makes $3,000 less than Black Chicago, which is a big deal, because I would rather make $31,000 in St. Louis than $34,000 in Chicago.
One thing we also have to consider is that St. Louis has much closer ties to the traditional south than other rust belt cities. St. Louis is the only one with a HBCU with Harris-Stowe University. In many way St. Louis is more similar to a city like Baltimore, many blacks came for manufacturing jobs, but there was already an established black elite of former freeman that established a black middle class and cultural institutions. There is a long tradition of black nurses and teachers in St. Louis, Mill Creek Valley and the Ville (the historically black neighborhoods) had mansions and middle class homes for blacks during the Jim Crow era!