The Mayor is the Chief Administrative Officer of the City and is responsible for appointing the City`s department heads, including; the Director of Public Security, the Director of Roads and Transport, the Director of Health, the Director of Social Services, the Director of the Airport, the Director of Parks and Recreation, the Director of Human Resources Development, the Director of the Community Development Agency, the Director of Economic Development, the Director of Public Services, the Director of the Civil Rights Enforcement Agency, the registry and the assessor, among other positions at the departmental level or in higher administration. The president of the college of aldermen is the second highest official in the city. The president is the president of the college of aldermen, the legislature of the city. St. Louis is divided into 11 districts of the Missouri House of Representatives: all 76th, 77th, 78th, 79th, 80th, 81st, 82nd, and 84th. and parts of the 66th, 83rd and 93rd, which are shared with St. Louis County. [120] The 5th Missouri Senate is entirely in the city, while the 4th is shared with St. Louis County. [120] Slaves worked many jobs on water and on river boats. Due to the city`s location near the Free State of Illinois and others, some slaves escaped to freedom. Others, especially women with children, sued in freedom trials, and several prominent local lawyers supported slaves in these trials.
About half of the slaves were freed in hundreds of lawsuits before the American Civil War. The printing press of abolitionist Elijah Parish Lovejoy was destroyed for the third time by the townspeople. He was assassinated the following year in nearby Alton, Illinois. The city`s intercity passenger trains are offered by Amtrak at the Gateway Multimodal Transportation Center downtown. Amtrak trains ending in the city include the Lincoln Service in Chicago and the Missouri River Runner in Kansas City, Missouri. St. Louis is a stop on the Texas Eagle Route, which offers long-distance service between Chicago, San Antonio, and three days a week to Los Angeles. [135] Frogs are found in spring, especially after long periods of rain. Common species include the American toad and species of rope frogs called spring pipits, which are found in almost all ponds. Some years have epidemics of cicadas or ladybugs.
Mosquitoes, no-see-ums and houseflies are common nuisances for insects, especially in July and August; For this reason, windows are almost always equipped with screens. Invasive honey bee populations have declined in recent years. Many native species of pollinating insects have recovered to fill their ecological niche, and armadillos can be seen throughout the St. Louis area. [46] The city is divided into 79 government-designated districts. [38] Neighbourhood services have no legal status, although some neighbourhood associations administer grants or have veto power over the development of historic neighbourhoods. In the first half of the 20th century, St. Louis was a destination in the great migration of African Americans from the rural South in search of better opportunities.
During World War II, the NAACP campaigned for the integration of war factories. In 1964, civil rights activists protested the construction of the Gateway Arch to publicize their efforts to give African Americans access to qualified unions where they were underrepresented. The Justice Department filed the first lawsuit against unions under the Civil Rights Act of 1964. St. Louis has lost 64.0% of its population since the 1950 census, the highest percentage of any city that had a population of 100,000 or more at the time of the 1950 census. Detroit, Michigan, and Youngstown, Ohio are the only other cities that have experienced a population decline of at least 60% over the same period. The population of the city of St. Louis has been declining since the 1950 census; Meanwhile, the population of the St. Louis metropolitan area, which includes more than one county, has grown every year and continues to do so. One of the main factors behind this decline has been the rapid increase in suburbanization. Since 2014, the city of St.
Louis has had the highest per capita homicide rate in the United States since April 2017,[63] with 188 homicides in 2015 (59.3 homicides per 100,000)[64][65] and ranks 13th among the most dangerous cities in the world in terms of homicide rates. Detroit, Flint, Memphis, Birmingham and Baltimore have higher violent crime rates than St. Louis when comparing other crimes such as rape, robbery and aggravated assault. [64] [66] Despite these high crime rates compared to other U.S. cities, St. Louis Index crime rates have declined almost every year since peaking in 1993 (16,648) to 7,931 (the sum of violent and property crimes) per 100,000. In 2015, the crime rate index reversed the decline from 2005/2014 to a level of 8,204. Between 2005 and 2014, violent crime decreased by 20%, even though violent crime rates are 6 times higher than the U.S. national average and property crime in the city is 2-1⁄2 times the national average. [67] St. Louis has a higher murder rate than the rest of the United States for whites and blacks and a higher proportion of males.
As of October 2016, 7 of the murder suspects were white, 95 black, 0 Hispanic, 0 Asian, and 1 woman out of 102 suspects. In 2016, St. Louis was the most dangerous city in the United States with a population of 100,000 or more, ranking 1st in violent crime and 2nd in property crime. It was also ranked No. 6 among the most dangerous facilities in the United States, and East St. Louis, a suburb of the city itself, was ranked No. 1. [68] [69] La St. The Louis Police Department reported a total of 188 murders for the year at the end of 2016, the same number of homicides that had occurred in the city in 2015. [70] According to the STLP at the end of 2017, St. Louis had 205 murders, but the city recorded only 159 within the city limits of St.
Louis. [71] [72] The new police chief, John Hayden, said that two-thirds (67%) of all murders and half of all attacks are concentrated in a triangular area north of the city. [71] Mississippi-era limestone and dolomite underlie the area, and parts of the city are karst. This is especially true for the area south of the city center, which has many sinkholes and caves. Most of the caves in the city are sealed, but many springs are visible along the shore. Coal, brick clay and millerite ore were once mined in the city. The predominant surface rock, known as St. Louis limestone, is used as ashlar and debris for construction. St. Louis Community College is located in the St. Louis metropolitan area. It is also home to several other 4-year colleges and universities, including Harris-Stowe State University, a historically black public university, Fontbonne University, Webster University, Missouri Baptist University, University of Health Sciences and Pharmacy (formerly Saint Louis College of Pharmacy), Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville (SIUE), and Lindenwood University.
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch is the largest newspaper in the region. Others in the area include the Suburban Journals, which serve parts of St. Louis County, while the main alternative newspaper is the Riverfront Times. Three weekly newspapers serve the African-American community: the St. Louis Argus, the St. Louis American and the St. Louis Sentinel. St. Louis Magazine, a monthly magazine, covers topics such as local history, cuisine and lifestyle, while the St. Louis Business Journal reports on regional economic news. St.
Louis was operated by an online newspaper, the St. Louis Beacon, but this publication merged with KWMU in 2013. [129] Taxi services in the city are provided by private companies regulated by the Metropolitan Taxicab Commission. Prices vary depending on vehicle type, size, passengers and distance, and according to regulations, all taxi fares must be calculated with a taximeter and paid in cash or credit card. [140] Advertising by a driver is prohibited, although a taxi may be called on the street or at a stop. Large mammals found in the city include urbanized coyotes and white-tailed deer. The eastern gray squirrel, white-tailed rabbit and other rodents are abundant, as is the nocturnal opossum of Virginia. Large bird species are abundant in parks and include Canada geese, mallards and shorebirds, including the great egret and blue heron.