The Metropolitan Project: Leadership, Policy, and Development in St. Louis, Missouri, 1945-1980 Mdire Agnes Murphy St. Louis, Missouri B.A., St. Louis University, 1996 M.A., University of Virginia, 1998 A Dissertation presented to the Graduate Faculty of the University of Virginia in Candidacy for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of History University of Virginia May, 2004 Tftw, Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 1 Abstract Through a case study of St. Louis between 1945 and 1980, this dissertation explores how a new group of urban leaders, working within the difficult context of metropolitan political fragmentation and Sunbelt competition, combined public and private policies in an effort to strengthen regional growth and, at the same time, to revitalize the urban core. By 1980, industrial-belt cities like St. Louis, Pittsburgh, and Detroit had failed to regain their once vibrant industrial base. But it is not enough merely to record the decline of these cities and the tectonic regional shift in the American economy as northern manufacturing shifted to the Sunbelt. We must also analyze the process of political-economic change in these urban centers if we want fully to comprehend the transformations that occurred after WWII. The record of local leadership is a critical, but heretofore understudied, factor in the transformation of these cities after the war. We need to understand more clearly and at greater depth what local leaders did, how and why they made the choices that they made, what limitations they encountered, and how they interpreted the problems they faced, if we wish to understand both the record of local leadership and the patterns of economic change in these cities. Despite St. Louisans’ impressive efforts at metropolitan restructuring, in the face of Sunbelt competition and hampered by metropolitan political fragmentation, their policies were unable to generate investment sufficient to reverse inner-city decline in St. Louis. By revealing how these urban leaders addressed local and national political-economic changes, this dissertation uncovers a crucial but missing link in explaining why the dynamics of urban development since 1945 proved successful at boosting suburban Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 2 growth and the central business district yet failed to create the infrastructure, jobs, and investment needed for a fundamentally sound urban economy. These findings also have implications for our interpretation of northern urban liberalism in general. I find that northern urban liberalism was a pragmatic and creative partnership with Washington, D.C., that ultimately did not fail due to internal contradictions but against the formidable challenges posed by Republican pro-growth coalitions of the Sunbelt. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 3 Acknowledgements I have been very fortunate to have a strong network of personal and academic support for the duration of this project. This dissertation could not have been written without the guidance and commitment of my advisor, Olivier Zunz. He taught me the craft of writing history, gave me an appreciation for the nuances of the past, and reminded me to ask the big questions. His passion for history and dedication to my project helped to keep me inspired through many years of research and writing. I am grateful to Olivier and Christine Zunz for opening their home to me and providing great company and stimulating conversations. Prof. Zunz not only helped me to become an historian; he and his family helped to make Charlottesville home. I owe a great deal of thanks also to Nelson Lichtenstein. As one of his graduate students and teaching associates, his enthusiasm for teaching and his devotion to social justice has motivated my scholarly and personal ambitions. As a member of my dissertation committee, Prof. Lichtenstein offered invaluable insights and never let me forget the importance of politics in all of its manifestations. I am grateful to Prof. Daphne Spain and Prof. Mark Thomas, both of whom provided consistent support and excellent commentary as members of my committee. Their expertise in planning history and economic history, respectively, and their warmth and enthusiasm has made working with them a true pleasure. The University of Virginia graduate community has provided comfort, late night conversations, and moral support when it was most needed. Special thanks to Lauren Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 4 Sklaroff who knows more than anyone how significant this graduate experience has been for me. She helped me to bring graduate school, quite literally, to its completion. Outside of the University of Virginia community, I have been fortunate to learn from excellent scholars in St. Louis. Most notably, Prof. Joseph Heathcott and Prof. Eric Sandweiss helped me to conceptualize the project, pointed me to critical archival resources, and kept me forever enthusiastic about St. Louis. The support from my family has taught me the true measure of love and commitment. My graduate experience has been as much a personal journey as an academic one for reasons they are well aware. Special thanks to “Mrs. J.” and Alex Johnson and to Rebecca and Sandi. My mom, Virginia Murphy, accompanied me on my induction to the University of Virginia but she is not here to participate in my closure with the university. I dedicate this dissertation to her. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 5 Table of Contents Chapter 1)................................................................................. ,6-39 The “Spirit of St. Louis”: Local Leadership and Redevelopment in the Industrial Belt Chapter 2)......................................................................... .40-113 The Mill Creek Valley Urban Renewal Project: Meeting the Challenge of Postwar Metropolitanization Chapter 3).............. 114-168 The Gateway Arch: Downtown Cultural Boosterism for Metropolitan Development Chapter 4)............................................................ 169-236 Industrializing St. Louis County: Suburban Growth for the “Metropolitan Whole' Chapter 5) 237-302 Regional Solutions to Industrial Decline: Metropolitan Alliances for Public Planning and High-Tech Development in St. Louis Conclusions 303-306 Note on Primary Sources and Bibliography Appendix A: Sectoral Composition and In-Migration Patterns for Firms and Institutions Located in Mill Creek Valley in 1973 Appendix B: Retention Rate of Firms and Institutions in Mill Creek Valley Between 1973 and1990 Appendix C: Total Employment for St. Louis City and St. Louis County, 1950-1982 Appendix D: Total Manufacturing Employment for St. Louis City and St. Louis County, 1950-1982 Appendix E: St. Louis Area Population: City, County, and Metropolitan Area, 1900-1980 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 6 Chapter One The “Spirit of St. Louis”: Local Leadership and Redevelopment in the Industrial Belt During the 1970s, St. Louis, Missouri, became a national symbol of the decline of America’s rustbelt cities, characterized by massive loss of jobs and population. Similar levels of catastrophic decline afflicted cities like Pittsburgh, Detroit, Camden, and Milwaukee. St. Louis suffered the “supreme indignity,” in the words of Kenneth Jackson, by becoming the nation’s second leading exporter of used bricks, as homes and commercial and industrial buildings were tom down wholesale due to disinvestment and abandonment; after losing hundreds of factories to the Sunbelt in the previous decade, St. Louis itself was now being carted away. Many scholars and commentators in the media use the phrase “urban crisis” to refer to the post-World War II experience of cities like St. Louis: massive job loss, racial tensions, white residential abandonment, industrial and commercial disinvestment, and municipal financial crises. The urban-crisis narrative commonly accepted in contemporary scholarship obscures not only the deeply-rooted causes of central city disinvestment and of racial tensions, but also a fuller understanding and proper appreciation of the performance of northern urban liberalism. This narrative compresses the rich and variegated histories of industrial-belt cities into a simplistic formula which tends to portray central city decline as inevitable and local leaders as impotent in the face of these problems. A fundamental tenet of post-war liberal thinking had been that local leadership combined with governmental activism could successfully promote economic and social development and expand civil rights. The results, however, while mixed, have been Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 7 largely unsuccessful. Despite mounting major social and economic policies, northern urban leaders failed to generate adequate jobs and housing for urban residents, and, consequently, the liberal faith in government activism collapsed in the 1970s. Extant literature suggests various causes for this irony of northern liberalism.1 For example, some scholars have indicated that the leaders of the new postwar urban politics were unwilling or unable to respond to the demands of neighborhood interests