Quote:
Originally Posted by iheartthed
Probably the other way around. If downtown St. Louis were a stronger core then that would make East St. Louis more valuable.
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No, I don't think that's true. Downtown St. Louis is technically not the eastern edge of the region, but given the dead zone of East St. Louis, you don't actually get to real neighborhoods and commerce for several miles east of the river. And once you've reached the activity on the IL side, it's just regular crappy sprawl-- no real destination or regional draw (someone please correct me if wrong). St. Louis famously sprawls west. As this discussion has indicated, the movement of money and people to the west is a well documented phenomenon in StL. This is how the city developed the impressive central corridor, the secondary downtown in Clayton, etc.
If East St. Louis was healthy and populous, or if the airport or something of regional importance was located in IL, it would have helped Downtown St. Louis remain centered regionally. I know that having the airport in Northern Kentucky has helped retain downtown Cincinnati's significance in the region. Same with having healthy, attractive neighborhoods and business districts. If Northern Kentucky was a wasteland ala East St. Louis, there's no doubt that Downtown Cincinnati would have suffered more than it did, and the locus of control would be fully in the northern suburbs.