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We Need to Talk About St. Louis Losing Its Black Residents, Ness Sandoval Says | St. Louis

Published

2 years ago

January 23, 2024

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click to enlarge COURTESY PHOTO Demographer Ness Sandoval says St. Louis needs to address its population loss — and change its messaging.

St. Louis’ population decline is often talked about in the context of the city’s population peaking shortly after World War II and then dropping steadily in the seven decades since. But Saint Louis University professor and demographer Ness Sándoval says that to only focus on the city is to miss the bigger issue bedeviling St. Louis, and that is people leaving the region altogether — specifically, Black families. Sandoval talked to the RFT about why this is happening, where they’re going and why it matters.

This conversation has been edited for length and clarity.

Last year, you spoke to the Board of Alderman about the city’s population loss, saying that while St. Louis is gaining single people and couples with no kids, Black families were leaving, causing a net population loss. Where are the Black families going?

They’re moving out to St. Charles, to some extent. Definitely St. Louis County. A little bit to Jefferson, but not much. But I always say this city-county boundary, for me as a demographer, is really a fake boundary, there’s constant movement [back and forth] everyday. So when you see population loss in the city, and they’re just moving half a mile to the county, that’s not a concern at all.

It’s when the families start leaving the region, then you have to start to realize you cannot be a major metropolitan region and say that you’re going to grow if you have a declining Black population. I can’t think of one region that claims to be a major metropolitan region, that’s a destination, that has negative growth in the Black population.

So the city versus county framing on this is perhaps not the most helpful, you’re saying?

The city gets a bad rap. Because it’s always, “Oh, the city! The city!” But the county is smaller in 2023 than it was in 1990. And nobody talks about it at all. I think you need to hold the leadership in the county accountable. Because they have failed.

I live in Chesterfield. There are issues in the county that are problematic as well. But people seem to give it a pass. “Well, it’s the city’s fault.” It’s very complicated. But I’ll tell you right now, the county is in big trouble. It leads the state in people dying compared to people being born.

Missouri is showing up as losing Black population precisely because St. Louis County is losing its Black population. So the state has every reason to be concerned or should be concerned at what’s happened to St. Louis County, because the losses are so great that it’s making the state number look bad.

You have spoken about people who leave the region going to places like Dallas, Charlotte, Atlanta. Why are folks headed south?

Access to opportunity. With the opening of the South — especially Atlanta, Orlando, Charlotte — when these opportunities emerged to move there, and you realize, “I don’t have to live in a segregated neighborhood. I can live in an integrated neighborhood.” I think most young people [living in a place like St. Louis] are going to say, “I’m out.”

Dallas, San Antonio, Austin — these cities evolved after 1970 after the Supreme Court ruled that segregation was illegal. So there was not a history of segregation in the city and the housing market with [restricted] covenants. They kind of started off with a very different infrastructure than St. Louis.

What are some things we can do to reverse all this?

We do not tell our story very well. I’m from Nebraska. I’ve lived in California and D.C. The St. Louis region itself has a lot to offer. But if you always lead with “the cost of living,” you’re going to lose the majority of people. What I try to tell people is that cost of living is the last thing this younger generation looks at. My students graduating SLU are going to San Francisco, and are willing to spend $8,000 a month to live there. Because it’s San Francisco. The cost of living is not even a factor. They want to live in the Bay Area. They want access to the mountains and are going to go to Denver and they’re willing to pay for it. And so when you lead with “you can live here cheaply,” that’s not the calling card for this generation.

I know your expertise is demographics, not PR. But what would be a better story than living cheap?

We don’t tell our story about what you can do recreationally here in the region. We don’t talk about the water access that we have to the rivers, the hiking activities that are around us. There should be some marketing saying that we’re the 25-minute city. I had a meeting in Downtown yesterday, and even in rush hour I was home in 25 minutes in Chesterfield. That was a traffic jam for me. We don’t tell that story.

You spoke to aldermen. I’ve heard you on the radio. You’re speaking with me. Do you feel like the people in power are taking what you say seriously? Will they act on it?

It’s not like people are not aware of these issues. You have the International Institute, the Mosaic Project, that are trying to create marketing programs to bring Latinos to the region. This was not an issue that was created today. These challenges were present in 1990. You made this comment, like, “Oh, people just shrug it off.” That’s what happened in 1990. If I was a demographer in 1990, I would have been ringing the alarm bells. Because it was there in 1990. That St. Louis, of all the metropolitan regions, was the anomaly. And nobody did anything.

And maybe the Bosnian population in the 1990s bought our demographics a little time?

Not really. I mean some time, but not much. But there was no concern. By 2000, the governor should have got involved and said, “Because St. Louis is so important to the state, we need to figure this out now.” You needed to intervene 20 years ago. Any benefits we see from what we’re doing today, it’s probably a decade away.

And it’s coming. The Latinos are coming. But what we’re doing today should havehappened in 1990.

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Fenton Man Charged in Sword Attack on Roommate

Published

1 year ago

May 22, 2024

Natural Bridge

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A warrant is out for a Fenton man’s arrest after he allegedly attacked his roommate with a sword.

Police say that on Sunday, Angelus Scott spoke openly about “slicing his roommate’s head” before he grabbed a sword, raised it up and then swung it down at the roommate.

The roommate grabbed Scott’s hand in time to prevent injury. When police arrived at the scene, they found the weapon used in the assault.

The sword in question was a katana, which is a Japanese sword recognizable for its curved blade.

This isn’t the first time a samurai-style sword has been used to violent effect in St. Louis. In 2018, a man hearing voices slaughtered his ex-boyfriend with a samurai sword. His mother said he suffered from schizoaffective disorder.

As for Scott, 35, the St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office was charged yesterday with two felonies, assault first degree and armed criminal action. The warrant for his arrest says he is to be held on $200,000 bond.

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Caught on Video, Sheriff Says He’s Ready to ‘Turn It All Over’ to Deputy

Published

1 year ago

May 22, 2024

Natural Bridge

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Video of St. Louis Sheriff Vernon Betts taken by a former deputy suggests that the sheriff has a successor in mind to hand the reins of the department over to, even as Betts is in an increasingly heated campaign for reelection.

“I ain’t here for all this rigmarole,” Betts says in the video while seated behind his desk at the Carnahan Courthouse. “The Lord sent me here to turn this department around and I’m doing the best I can and I think I’ve done a good job. I’ve got about eight months and I’m going to qualify for my fourth pension.”

He goes on, “Right now I can walk up out of here and live happily ever after and forget about all this…and live like a king.”

The sheriff then says his wife has been in Atlanta looking at houses and that the other deputy in the room, Donald Hawkins, is someone Betts has been training “to turn it all over to him.”

Asked about the video, Betts tells the RFT, “My future plans are to win reelection on August 6th by a wide margin and to continue my mission as the top elected law enforcement official to make St. Louis safer and stronger. Serving the people of St. Louis with integrity, honor and professional law enforcement qualifications is a sacred responsibility, and I intend to complete that mission.”

The video of Betts was taken by Barbara Chavers, who retired from the sheriff’s office in 2016 after 24 years of service. Chavers now works security at Schnucks at Grand and Gravois. Betts’ brother Howard works security there, too.

Chavers tells the RFT that she was summoned to Betts’ office last week after Betts’ brother made the sheriff aware that she was supporting Montgomery. It was no secret: Chavers had filmed a Facebook live video in which she said she was supporting Betts’ opponent Alfred Montgomery in the election this fall. “Make the judges safe,” she says in the video, standing in front of a large Montgomery sign on Gravois Avenue. “They need a sheriff who is going to make their courtrooms safe.”

In his office, even as Chavers made clear she was filming him, Betts told Chavers he was “flabbergasted” and “stunned” she was supporting Montgomery.

“I don’t know what I did that would make you go against the preacher man,” he says, referring to himself. He then refers to Montgomery as “ungodly.”

Betts goes on to say that not long ago, he was walking in his neighborhood on St. Louis Avenue near 20th Street when suddenly Montgomery pulled up in his car and, according to Betts, shouted, “You motherfucker, you this, you that. You’re taking my signs down.”

Montgomery tells the RFT that he’s never interacted with Betts outside of candidate forums and neighborhood meetings.

“I don’t think anyone with good sense would do something like that to a sitting sheriff,” Montgomery says.

Montgomery has had campaign signs missing and on at least two occasions has obtained video of people tearing them down. (Chavers notes that the sign that she filmed her original Facebook video in front of is itself now missing.)

One man who lives near Columbus Square says that he recently put out two Montgomery signs, which later went missing. “If they keep taking them, I’ll keep putting them up,” he said.

Betts says he has nothing to do with the missing signs. In the video Chavers filmed in Betts’ office, Betts says that his campaign isn’t in a spot where it needs to resort to tearing down opponents’ signs.

“If you sit here long enough, a man is getting ready to come across the street from City Hall bringing me $500, today,” Betts says. “I’m getting that kind of support. I don’t need to tear down signs.”

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St. Louis to Develop First Citywide Transportation Plan in Decades

Published

1 year ago

May 21, 2024

Natural Bridge

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The City of St. Louis is working to develop its first citywide mobility plan in decades, Mayor Tishaura Jones’ office announced Tuesday. This plan seeks to make it easier for everyone — drivers, pedestrians, bikers and public transit users — to safely commute within the city.

The plan will bring together other city projects like the Brickline Greenway, Future64, the MetroLink Green Line, and more, “while establishing new priorities for a safer, more efficient and better-maintained transportation network across the City,” according to the release.

The key elements in the plan will be public engagement, the development of a safety action plan, future infrastructure priorities and transportation network mapping, according to Jones’ office.

The overarching goals are to create a vision for citywide mobility, plan a mixture of short and long-term mobility projects and to develop improved communication tools with the public to receive transportation updates. In recent years, both people who use public transit and cyclists have been outspoken about the difficulties — and dangers — of navigating St. Louis streets, citing both cuts to public transit and traffic violence.

To garner public input and participation for the plan, Jones’ office said there will be community meetings, focus groups and a survey for residents to share their concerns. The city will also be establishing a Community Advisory Committee. Those interested in learning more should check out at tmp-stl.com/

“Everyone deserves to feel safe when getting around St. Louis, whether they’re driving, biking, walking or taking public transit,” Jones said in a news release. “Creating a comprehensive transportation and mobility plan allows us to make intentional and strategic investments so that moving around St. Louis for jobs, education, and entertainment becomes easier, safer and more enjoyable.”

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