On the east side of the freeway are the "have-nots." I've been to St. Louis and much of it is quite nice. The 'hoods around St. Louis that are really hoods. She writes on a variety of subjects for, TakePart is the digital news and lifestyle magazine from. Since at least the 1960s, it has been seen as a dangerous, struggling wasteland by its neighbor to the west. TakePart is the digital news and lifestyle magazine from Participant Media, the company behind such acclaimed documentaries as CITIZENFOUR, An Inconvenient Truth and Food, Inc. and feature films including  Lincoln and Spotlight. You never know how much longer East St. Louis will be around before they decommission the city and tear everything down, so might as well see the museum of ruins now before it's all empty and boring. With her feature-length documentary The Other Side of Grace, veteran journalist Goldie Taylor hopes to shine a spotlight on America’s forgotten communities and shock us into action. It lies along the Mississippi River opposite St. Louis, Missouri. Another, more nefarious reason that stories of such communities rarely make it to the evening news is the issue of race. Hi/Low, RealFeel®, precip, radar, & everything you need to be ready for the day, commute, and weekend! East St. Louis slipped into a downward spiral that has been tough to stop. I was born and raised in the St. Louis area and after leaving for four years to go to college, I realized a few things about St. Louis that aren’t very appealing. While some may wonder what a documentary like The Other Side of Grace can do to help impoverished communities, Taylor’s goal is to give the city’s residents a voice and inspire the rest of us to action. I was there last month and all we did was drive through the north part it was a terrible dump and it looked very rough. However I did see some downright dangerous ghettoes (East St. Louis) that rival south Chicago and south-central and east Los Angeles. “Is the responsibility ours and ours alone? The Truth About Crime in St. Louis. More than two-thirds of the city’s children live in poverty. In 1950, 82,000 people called it home. As the tax base shrunk, the local government struggled more. The chances of being murdered in East St. Louis are 19 times greater than the national average. As of April 2017, St. Louis has the highest murder rate in the nation.The violence in the city is escalating at alarming rates. Investors who supported a thriving business community prior to about 1968 pulled out, property values went into freefall, whites suddenly faced with the prospect of living next door to non-whites (due to civil rights laws) left in droves, further depressing the real estate market, and reducing the potential market for area businesses, and the city government, always somewhat of a den of corruption and a place where people went because they could do things that were illegal in Missouri, became even more so when that became virtually the only way to make a buck. Yet most people living outside these areas have no clue how bad the extreme poverty, alarming violence, and egregious environmental conditions are for residents of many American cities. EAST ST. LOUIS, Ill. – East St. Louis was named the most dangerous city in the country, according to a home safety trade group. East St. Louis is in the Metro-East region of Southern Illinois. They have done so in other years too. Another day, another list shoring up St. Louis' reputation as a crime-ridden hellhole. Only 8.9 percent of residents have a college degree, and 43.5 percent live under the poverty line. My father was taking a load of cattle to the old stockyards in E. St.L & his truck was attacked by a group of kids they threw bricks at his truck and smashed in the windows, my dad was lucky he did not get hurt. A lot of the people that live there now either unemployed or have low paying jobs. But that's just the way E. St. L is. No one hears their call for help. how can law suit be file in St. Louis County when you stay in St. Louis city? “W e Googled the worst place in America to live, and St Louis came up,” says Johnel Langerston, the president of Urban Born, a nonprofit youth organization. Politicians, pundits, and intellectuals blame the problems facing places like East St. Louis on the “culture of poverty” of urban communities. “That’s got to concern us as a nation. The national homicide rate is around 5 murders for 100,000 people; in East St. Louis, … Photo courtesy of Flickr/Paul Sableman O'Fallon, Missouri, is no St. Louis — it's one of the best places in the nation for young families. It is directly across the Mississippi River from Downtown St. Louis and the Gateway Arch National Park. Now I realize he did it for my own safety. “Is there some greater calling upon us to rebuild our communities? I am proud to be from East St. Louis because now I have the ability to face the world head on with all of me. However, local government agencies are working with the governor of Missouri to clean up our streets and restore peace to our beautiful city. Get your answers by asking now. OTH, East St Louis has great athletic teams. According to U.S. Census data, East St. Louis is 98 percent black. Hell no.”. East St. Louis has a population of 26,000. Britni Danielle is a regular contributor to TakePart. I’m asking this to dispel my obvious ignorance, and hopefully also that of my friend who’s St Louis born-and-bred. Whatever economic bridge to whatever version of the American dream that could have been had was bombed.”. You can sign in to vote the answer. My father was taking a load of cattle to the old stockyards in E. St.L & his truck was attacked by a group of kids they threw bricks at his truck and smashed in the windows, my dad was lucky he did not get hurt. “We can’t wait until we have the necessary reforms in health care. East St. Louis is the murder capital of the USA, greatly impoverished, and about 97% African American. Join Yahoo Answers and get 100 points today. In addition, the city of St. Louis consistently has been ranked among the most dangerous cities in the United States. In St Louis, there are large sections of poverty, but in East St Louis, the whole city is like that. (Has to be in the city, not Clayton, Webster Groves, etc...). We’ve got a city fighting to survive, cope, and make it every day, and no one hears their cries. Anyone with the means or the money to get out does, no matter if they're white, black, or polka dotted. Get the forecast for today, tonight & tomorrow's weather for St. Louis, MO. Why can’t the Blues and Rams get more lovin’? “We invest ourselves in full-on segregation, locking people into communities, stripping away jobs, letting the tax base fall away, and creating generational poverty,” she says, explaining the factors that led to East St. Louis’ downfall. As of … With Crime Down, New Collaborative Video Debunks Misleading Rankings. East St. Louis used to be a thriving place; now however it is where all the violence is at. At the end of 2017, St. Louis metropolitan had 205 murders,159 of which were within the city limits. But between outsourcing of solidly middle-class jobs, the decline in manufacturing, policies that encouraged segregation, and the availability of cheap guns, the city is now one of America’s dirty little secrets. All of this leads to a high crime rate. Brady revels in Bucs' pounding of Mahomes, Trump's team: Latest trial is just 'political theater', COVID crossroads: Millions stuck waiting for vaccine, We haven't seen Patrick Mahomes play this bad ever, Bucs were greatest all-in gamble in NFL history, New York's high court ends case against Manafort, Mahomes's mom dogs refs in playful tweet to Gisele, COVID in a 'separate and unequal' L.A. hospital, Dems unveil bill for child payments up to $3,600, Prince’s original pet dove Divinity dies at 28, Pair of assistants on Bucs staff make NFL history. East St. Louis may be a city that has a bad reputation, but it helps the students here manage life better and help us dream for change more than those may expect. The history of east St. Louis is really interesting. “All the things we would consider wrong about America—gun violence, poverty, lack of access to meaningful health care, environmental justice—all of them are wrong in East St. Louis,” she says. Will I be causing a disturbance? It is ranked #1 for crime. About 1797 a ferry station was established on the site by Captain James Piggott, a pioneer and Illinois territorial judge, and in 1818 a village was laid out. The short answer is the community doesn't have the resources to be anything else. “On one hand, I want people to be absolutely selfish about this and say, ‘It does impact me.’ And on the other, I want them to be absolutely altruistic and say, ‘These people don’t deserve to live like this.’ ”. But that's just the way E. St. L is. I'm … High unemloyment, poor community services, lack of good housing, low family incomes. Yes,” she says. We see the headlines about the rampant violence in Chicago and the catastrophic bankruptcy of Detroit. click to enlarge. East St. Louis ranks right up there with Flint, Newark, Oakland, Patterson, Gary. Passing by schools that have been abandoned for 10 or 15 years and no one has the money or the resources to scrape them away. ST. LOUIS • On Jan. 16, 1919, the Prohibition amendment was passed, making St. Louis and all cities officially dry despite widespread flouting of the law. As for long-term fixes for America’s troubled communities, Taylor advocates a holistic approach that includes self-determination by those affected coupled with targeted government policies on health care, education, and jobs. If we do know, it’s easy to turn a blind eye to the problems. Anyway, a lot of the problems in St. Louis are related to poverty, which in turn breeds crime and leads to under-education. As of April 2017, St. Louis has the highest murder rate in America. Many people flocked from E St. Louis and downtown St. Louis to the suburbs. The city eventually had to eliminate all but basic city services, and even those were cut. “We can’t wait until we have clear equanimity in the justice system, until we have equal public education,” she says. And even if you don't know East Palo Alto, you might know the story of eastside disparity, whether it's the separation of the railroad tracks in East Pittsburgh or the Grosse Pointe Gate in East Detroit or East St. Louis, East Oakland, East Philly. The median household annual income is less than $20,000. “Poverty does not stay contained. It's pretty bad, it might be ok to go during the day but I deff wouldn't recommend going at night and don't go making a documentary about it or the people that live there. Yet, Taylor points out, “government policies have cut off the bridge in and out of East St. Louis. East St. Louis is a city in St. Clair County, Illinois, United States. 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