How the Gateway to the West Became the Gateway to West County

The story of St. Louis’s rise, fall, and the divide that continues to shape its future.

A few weeks ago, I came across an old photo of the St. Louis riverfront—steamboats docked, crowds buzzing, and the city alive with motion. That image stirred something in me. I was born and raised here. I’ve seen the best and the worst of this place. And like many of you, I’ve spent time wondering:

What happened to St. Louis? But more importantly—what’s next?

To answer that, you can’t just look at the usual data points. You have to understand a specific fracture in our foundation—one that has defined nearly every facet of our city since 1876:

The Great Divorce: When the City Left the County

In one of the most fateful civic decisions in American history, St. Louis City and County formally separated in 1876. Known locally as “The Great Divorce,” the move was born of overconfidence. The city was booming—a commercial hub and growing fast. It didn’t want to share resources or political power with the surrounding rural areas.

But that short-term thinking created a long-term wound.

As suburban areas grew and sprawled throughout the 20th century, the City of St. Louis was trapped inside its original boundaries. Unlike most major U.S. cities, it could not annex nearby communities to expand its tax base, modernize its infrastructure, or unify services. While wealth and population expanded outward, the core slowly withered.

Now, the tables have turned—but the same mindset persists. Today, the County holds most of the region’s resources, political influence, and tax base, and many of its wealthier municipalities resist efforts at regional collaboration or resource-sharing with the City.

History is repeating itself. What was once a story of a booming City refusing to share with the County has become the reverse—a County thriving on the isolation of a City in need. The result? A fractured region, stuck in a loop of protectionism and missed potential.

Two St. Louises: The City vs. the County

Fast forward to today and you see a tale of two realities:

St. Louis City:

• ~290,000 residents (down from 850,000 in 1950)
• High poverty rates (20%+)
• Shrinking tax base
• Aging infrastructure and underfunded public schools
• No ability to annex or grow beyond its 1876 limits

St. Louis County:

• ~990,000 residents
• 88 separate municipalities, each with their own police, fire, zoning, and governance
• Includes some of Missouri’s wealthiest ZIP codes (Clayton, Ladue, Town & Country)
• Lower crime, higher-performing schools, more business development

The split doesn’t just divide people. It divides power, money, services, and perception. It’s why the region is often viewed as dysfunctional, fragmented, and stuck—despite enormous potential.

And it’s why the nickname that once made us proud—Gateway to the West—now carries an unintended twist:

We became the Gateway to West County.

A History of Rise and Decline

To understand where we are, we also have to revisit what we once were.

We Were the West

St. Louis was never just a pass-through. We were the launchpad for westward expansion. We were home to Lewis and Clark. We were the steamboat capital. We were where goods, ideas, and people met at the confluence of America’s two great rivers.

By the 1904 World’s Fair, we were a top-10 U.S. city, the fourth largest in the country, and a global stage. We had immigrants pouring in from Germany, Ireland, Italy. We built breweries, factories, stockyards, and cultural institutions that rivaled any in the nation.

Then Came the Hollowing Out

Post-WWII, federal highway funding and suburban housing programs (like FHA loans) encouraged white flight and car-centric sprawl. As jobs moved westward and southward, so did wealth.

The city’s population halved. Schools lost funding. Services shrank. Redlining and racial covenants reinforced inequality. And through it all, the city remained boxed in—unable to grow, unable to follow the tax base, unable to adapt.

What emerged was a core left behind by a region that benefited from its decline.

What Other Cities Did Right—and What We Still Can

St. Louis isn’t the only American city that struggled through deindustrialization and suburban sprawl. But other cities made different choices:

Pittsburgh:

When steel collapsed, Pittsburgh doubled down on education and tech. Carnegie Mellon and the University of Pittsburgh became hubs for robotics and AI. Old mills became R&D parks. The city reinvented itself.

Detroit:

Long a poster child for decline, Detroit is now experiencing a real revival. Ford invested nearly $1 billion to rebuild Michigan Central Station. Small businesses, artists, and entrepreneurs are moving back in. Pride is surging.

Cleveland:

Cleveland built a Bus Rapid Transit line that sparked $4B in development. It reconnected its waterfront. It created innovation corridors and reimagined what a Rust Belt city could be.

They succeeded not by waiting to be rescued, but by reclaiming what was theirs.

Our Buildings Still Breathe

The irony is that St. Louis is filled with the kind of architecture, density, and character other cities would kill for.

• Brick warehouses in Midtown
• Victorian storefronts on Cherokee
• Tree-lined boulevards in The Grove and Shaw

We don’t need to build a new city. We need to adapt the one we already have.

• Turn abandoned factories into breweries and maker spaces
• Convert empty schools into artist lofts and co-working spaces
• Daylight our buried streams
• Cap our highways to reconnect neighborhoods
• Reclaim our riverfront as a place to gather, not just remember

Cities, like people, must evolve to survive. The ones that do it best don’t start from scratch. They start with what they have.

What Needs to Happen

This isn’t just about nostalgia. It’s about ownership. Here’s how we move forward:

1. A Regional Mindset

The divide between city and county is killing us. We need real, structural cooperation:

• Shared services (like policing, fire, zoning)
• Regional economic development
• Joint transportation and infrastructure planning

2. Local Investment in Local People

• Fund small businesses with micro-loans and grants
• Support community land trusts to keep housing affordable
• Hire locally for redevelopment projects

3. Reuse, Don’t Replace

• Historic tax credits
• Form-based zoning codes
• Fast-tracked adaptive reuse permits

4. Reclaim the Narrative

• Stop letting crime statistics define the city
• Tell better stories—about culture, creativity, community
• Use platforms like LinkedIn to show the real St. Louis

The Invitation

I’m not a developer. I’m not a politician. I’m a neighbor. A parent. Someone who believes that cities come back when people decide to stay, show up, and do the work.

So to my fellow St. Louisans:

• If you own a vacant lot—imagine what it could become.
• If you’re raising kids here—show up for the schools.
• If you run a business—invest in your block, not just your margins.
• If you’re in power—build something beautiful, not just profitable.

We built the West. We powered a nation. We anchored a region.

It’s time we turned that same energy inward.

It’s time to make St. Louis not just a gateway, but a destination.

Not the Gateway to Somewhere Else. But the Heart of Something New. Right here in St. Louis.