During the early 1950’s following the conclusion of World War I, the population of many major cities throughout the United States began to plummet as middle class Americans sprawled into neighboring suburbs. Despite overall population growth, as evidenced by the generation born at this time coming to be called “Baby Boomers”, city populations declined continuously as seemingly all residents who were economically able to fled cities in large numbers.
By the 1970’s the situation had become so severe that even major cities such as Detroit, Chicago, Philadelphia, Cleveland, and St. Louis had lost in some cases up to approximately sixty-five percent of their peak populations. This caused cities to suffer consequences accompanying the increasing amounts of blight. Due to declining revenues, planners and government officials were unable to conquer surmounting issues as unemployment, abandoned lands, foreclosures/vacant buildings, and increased crime. With the continuously diminishing standard of living that cities had to offer potential residents, many viewed the collapse and subsequent irrelevance of American cities to be inevitable.
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For nearly a fifty-year period, the stereotype of American cities being filthy and dangerous places was both mainstream and prevalent. What caused this drastic population decline in cities? A variety of factors including so-called “White Flight”, urban sprawl, the inevitable post-war economic decline of the Manufacturing Belt, and the shifting demographics of city residents all compiled together, resulting in and perpetuating the decline of