Decades: 1970-1980 | Living St. Louis

[@lindadorman2869]

My parents moved from University City to Creve Coeur in 1963 when I was 3 years old. Decades later, I rented my first apartment in Lafayette Square, a 3-room unit in a 4-flat, for $175/month with no A/C, an old Magic Chef stove and clawfoot tub. I loved the historic feel and fixed it up as much as I could. Friends bought run-down homes and renovated them. It was a time of hope and renewal. I left St. Louis in 1988 and haven't been back since but I still think of it as my home town.

[@langhamp8912]

Just in the past 12 or so years, nice houses in Tower Grove that were going for 80K are now going for 400K. And Lafayette Square...that's where all the rich urbanists live. All those houses are going for 800K and often way above. 12 years ago Tower Grove/Lafayette and Central West End were all a bit grungy but now it's extremely gentrified. Even the guys being all ghetto...you talk to them and, oh, they're all college educated making great money. It's all shockingly flush with the newly rich and educated. Every year that goes by it feels almost absurd how well St Louis is doing.

[@kdiva2780]

Thank you for shedding light on some important history of St Louis. This history still shapes it to this day.

[@NinePBS]

Our pleasure, thanks for watching!

[@QuaaludeCharlie]

I also remember the St . Louis of 1970-1980 as I was born Here in 1967 and Started School in 1975 . Growing up in St. Louis in those days was both a blessing and a Curse so there was a balance , I would not have wanted to grow up in any other place at that Time :) QC

[@mellitrom629]

might be cool to see up to 2000 now

[@jeffwebb2966]

It's amazing we were able to save as much as we have given the idea of urban renewal. Good thing we did.

[@jacquelinejackson4067]

Magnificent. Totally enjoyable, inspiring to see the beauty and magnificent of a city.

[@jeffwebb2966]

We have lost many many great buildings, but we should be happy that we have saved as much as we have..

[@Chompchompyerded]

I was greatly disappointed when they tore down the world's first sky scraper in spite of the fact that it was on the national register of historic places. The space was fully leased, but the owner wanted to put in a much taller building, so they paid the fine and pulled it down. Just a shame. Horribly disgusting.

[@AustriaGermany]

great video

[@paceflchick]

My parents bought in Florissant. Then moved to unincorporated Ballwin 1965, I was born. Great, grest childhood. 1970s, was awesome, Six Flags, concerts, parks, the Zoo, Powell Symphony Hall, Jewel box. Lots of snow

[@NealDurando]

Fiercely-defended enclaves explained with a patina of civic pride for an illusory city seems the future for most of America.

[@ramencurry6672]

Visited St. Louis for the first time last week. I liked it. Interesting city. I rank it in the top 10 U.S. cities.

[@robdiddat6119]

I’m from stl and I gotta be honest. If you not here for work, u not gone have fun

[@patrickschneider1289]

Just watch out for thugs * and you may enter at your own risk !!

[@Alex-wx8be]

St. Louis has a lot to offer however there are areas to really avoid, and high taxes are a big downside.

[@marybertel3915]

​@patrickschneider1289

[@CJColvin]

The city of St.Louis is a real hoodrat infested area.

[@midwestgrammar2941]

I remember the St Louis Center Mall when it first opened. That place was busy like the St Louis Mills. I also remember the arcade store down the street from my mom house before they came out with Nintendo. The place still there on the Northside

[@jeffking4176]

I was born and raised in U.City 1961-1980’s. I’ve watched all 8 of these episodes. Well done. But the thought that the 1980’s [ or even 1990’s] is not “History “, seems somewhat ridiculous. It is now 2024. 1984 was 40 years ago. And these videos are still around. What about someone watching these videos in 2034❓ I’d love to see this series expanded in both directions. Start with the 1880’s[ or even earlier, say just after the Civil War ] -right through into the 21st Century❗️ St. Louis is a very interesting city with quite a history. Both good and bad. 📻🙂

[@Chompchompyerded]

I think it would be great to go back much further than that. The founding under the French when it was a part of the Louisiana Territory... And I agree. The 80's and 90's are history now. Cars are considered antiques after 20 years, and all of my childhood toys have been considered antiques for quite a few years now. Maybe we could stop it at 2000, but definitely '80's and '90's are prime candidates for expanding the series I would think. Maybe they're short on money and can't afford to extend it back into the 1700's and up to the 1990's. There have been so many cuts to PBS stations nation wide that money could very well be the problem. Somebody should call them and ask them. Then if that's the problem, maybe start a fund drive to raise the money specifically for that? How can they say that the floods back in the '80's weren't history? There is just so much that they're missing by limiting when it begins and when it ends. There was a huge Native American city here long before any Europeans came. The pre-history of St. Louis is as amazing as the history is. Think Cahokia State Park only many times bigger. The Cahokia mounds were but a tiny village compared to what was on the Missouri side of the River. They were knocking down mounds all the way to Clayton, and were taking the precious archaeological artefacts and dumping them in the river! The last mounds were knocked down to make way for the World's Fair. Total waste! Anyway, there is a lot of room for expanding the series, and that would be a good thing I think.

[@ajstrippgen5637]

very nice video. I remember as a child we would drive to relatives house in North St. Louis County going west on Highway 70 along the highway in our city look like a war zone from World War II!

[@lucken13]

See my childhood buddy, Andrew Theising in the video, love it!!! 🥰🥰

[@chicagonorthcoast]

I remember reading of that Rand study in 1974, and it angered me. Corporations based their decisions on that study, and it was clear that our city had entered the Loop of Doom.

[@Uarehere]

Sounds like being a strong union town also made the corporations run away.

[@chicagonorthcoast]

@@Uarehere, well, corporations stayed in Chicago, and while the unions could certainly be greedy, I really believe there was another cause. I believe that St. Louis' provincial and insular Old Money crowd did more to drive away business than anyone. The place was totally dominated by those people and they wanted NO competition or new money in the city. Do you know the real reason Southwestern Bell, which had been headquartered in St. Louis forever, decamped to San Antonio, TX? There were surely other reasons in play, as TX is especially business-friendly. But I believe what triggered the abrupt decision on the part of it's new San Antonio-born CEO was being rejected for membership by the uber-snotty old-money St. Louis Country Club. 'Tis said that hurt feelings cause more bad blood and lawsuits than any other cause, and you'd better believe that the guy was really stung by that rejection. You'd also better believe that no one from St. Louis, or not from TX, is ever going to make senior management at that outfit ever again, because San Antonio is even more snobbish than old St. Louis. Strange are the ways of the elite and entitled.

[@chicagonorthcoast]

@@Uarehere I would say St Louis' stodgy, insular Old Money elite was the major driver of decay, followed closely by the Mob's grip on politics. Our Old Money didn't want any new investment that would threaten the position and influence of certain old families there. Consider that the city lost one of its major corporations, Southwestern Bell, because the old guard St. Louis Club snubbed its CEO. There was such resistance to any real change in the way business was done or in who has the most influence.

[@user-zx8de8op9l]

Well done

[@andihutson8512]

Anything past the 70's doesn't seem like history??

[@yautja02]

I know this is an old comment, but I thought the same thing as you. I think the original documentary was made in 1999 and then updated in 2014. The end credits have those two dates.

[@brianchase9251]

Pruitt-Igoe was a disaster. Big, brand new, beautiful buildings that began being destroyed almost from the day the first residents began moving in. Remember PI in the 60s? Vietnam was safer and in better condition.

[@observer3232]

Not long after Pruitt-Igoe was imploded, HUD began subsidizing houses and apartments in North County, via Section 8. Within 10 years what were very safe neighborhoods now had crime problems, as did various shopping centers like River Roads and Northland. 25 years later much of North County was a suburban ghetto.

[@gfexc]

I got to St. Louis in 1979. That was a scary experience. I kept seeing people yelling obscenities and insults to black families who were just shopping on Cherokee street. To women. Hoosiers throwing their trucks to older people crossing the street and yelling at them insults for not moving fast enough. Hostility everywhere. It was like the normal behavior for everybody else seeing this. Unreal

[@robertrusso1688]

Life long resident and the city has always been behind on all economic trends. The system of that city government dates back to the civil war. Clumsy, ineffective, duplication and corrupt.

[@mdmarko]

Just a shame to see how far a once-great city has sunk.

[@CJColvin]

That's what happens when you secede from St.Louis County in 1877.

[@brittneywilliams2730]

What has changed????? 🧐🤔🤨

[@G_Hop]

I thought this was a Dan Sinclair commercial based off the “DS” font 🤣

[@lovewins4471]

I don't know why they chose not to cover the 90s a lot has changed since then there's history happening every day

[@jeffwebb2966]

Good thing all of the stadiums are here. Otherwise nobody would come downtown from the suburbs

[@qbanz00]

Racism caused a lot of beautiful parts of STL to fall into disrepair .. abandoning places and passing them down after they’re dilapidated and running further out because of skin color

[@CJColvin]

The 1970s is also the high peak of the Muscle Car era and the era of the oil embargo.

[@Joles0]

What ancient Black metropolis existed across the Mississippi from St. Louis area

[@mellitrom629]

idk about black but cahokia mounds is ancient

[@edljnehan2811]

East st. Louis

[@rhysxk]

The people who built the Cahokia mounds were native Americans, not black. Learn real history instead of lying gibberish.

[@Joles0]

@@rhysxk You read " They Came Before Columbus" by Ivan Van Sertima. Relax...

[@toneyisaiah3556]

St Louis is a different city than years past.

[@timwarcloud]

St. Louis is on par with Baltimore, Detroit, and Chicago as dystopian wastelands. Across the state, KC is a much nicer and cleaner place overall.

[@chicagonorthcoast]

Chicago is many times better than any of the others. It's still vital, beautiful, and has a large population of upper class and middle class people living in the city. Moreover, it's improving and developing. The others are not.

[@toneyisaiah3556]

You have to take the good with the bad.

[@patrickschneider1289]

The city has no future , corrupt politicians , poor services, greed , poor school boards, have all ruined neighborhoods , churches have closed , people & families have moved away ,

[@cknorris3644]

Uh no...diversity ruined St. Louis.

[@hatzlmike1]

hate democrat pigs rapists always. Lincoln was right.

[@jeffwebb2966]

I think the city has a great future. More cities in the county are in bigger trouble

[@jeffwebb2966]

Go live somewhere else then please.

[@zonilo1]

​​@@cknorris3644 Bigots like you ruined this entire country.

[@leeatterberry1239]

It would be promising if when the people who are there aren't promising leave

[@bobmiller5059]

EEO did a number on St. louis things fell apart when they got fur coats and cigars.

[@paulaharrisbaca4851]

You know, in San Francisco a member of the Boatd of Supervisors was so disgusted by the way a bunch of white liberal middle aged women were running the city decided to start a tour you could book to see the decline of the downtown areas ever since the Democrats (beginning with Mayor Newsom, the man who told the entire state that "it's gonna happen whether you like it or not" re gay marriage when the entire state overwhelmingly voted against it, the Obama voters)... anyway he escorted tour groups through the nastiest and grossest areas of the City and they kicked him off the Board because they felt he gave a negative image of San Francisco.

[@lorih9182]

More propaganda from PBS. I quit donating money to them 10 or more years ago. I used to donate regularly. Not anymore.

[@stevehall7555]

🥲

[@CJColvin]

Folks, this what happens when you vote Democrat.

[@zonilo1]

Compare this to now, let's just say we're already way pass Capitalism's peak era circa 1970s-early 2000s and now everything is getting increasingly dilapidated. Of course Union Station is now just a mediocre aquarium that doesn't meet the high quality standards like Shedd in Chicago.

[@hatzlmike1]

VOTE REPUBLICAN

[@jeffwebb2966]

Vote people who are good regardless of party

[@rhysxk]

If you vote Republican, you’re probably a racist and should remove yourself from the gene pool.

[@CJColvin]

Amen brother, Trump 2024!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@frankiesayrelax100]

B O R I M G. At least add some disco musak and footage of screaming black people.

[@paisley1134]

Hmmm, you know the name of these documentaries are very decieving ! I thought it was going to be all about StLouis, not 95% segregation. Segregation is a important part of history but there was so much more going on. What about the building and expansion of Jefferson Barracks? What about Soulard Market? What about the building and expansion of that magnificent Zoo? You breeze across 6 flags at most. Should be called the segregation of SL.

[@dianahohimer1107]

Agree. I'm just here for the memories. :)

[@jeffsummstl]

You could easily do a series for each decade.

[@helmetboy431]

it’s just kinda da about the downfall of st. louis which that was a huge part of it however i do think the title sort of misleading ig but that is still a part of st. louis history during that period of time

[@davidhurt1579]

Discrimination or "racism" is all anybody wants to talk about. I am sick of it.