The U.S. birth rate has dropped to a historic low. Demographer Ness Sándoval warns St. Louis will be one of the first major cities to feel the economic and social fallout.
“[Missouri] will have to redistrict again because it’ll have fewer populations in 2030 [and] 2040,” the St. Louis University professor said. “District 1 is going to change. If you look at the population loss in the city and in north [St. Louis] County, it’s the largest in the state.”
The main driver of population loss in the city, Sándoval said, is a lack of investment and housing opportunities for families with children. Households with no children are coming into the city at a pretty good rate, but the reason the city loses population every year, he added, is that parents don’t want to raise their children in the city…