David Butow

St. Louis might have hit its peak when the World's Fair came to town in 1904. Grand parks were created, neighborhoods of large, gorgeous homes were added to the ones already there. Scott Joplin took up residence and wrote some of his most timeless pieces. A hundred years later most mansions of the day still stand on immaculately maintained streets. The city has gone through many ups and downs. Homes in parts of town no one wanted to live in 30 years ago now sell for well over a million dollars. Whole blocks have been rebuilt and polished and hip shops and restaurants have settled in. But as in many cities in America's aging and struggling industrial belt, in some neighborhoods St. Louis' past is crumbling and left to die a slow death.