Article content In 1904, the city of St. Louis, Mo., hosted the Louisiana Purchase Exposition, better known as the St. Louis World’s Fair. This moment became a launching pad for St. Louis in its desire to become one of the major business centres in the United States. By 1950, St. Louis boasted a population of 856,796 and was one of the more modern cities in the country. Today, the population of St. Louis is 302,000, down 65 per cent and is considered to be one of the most dangerous cities in the U.S. Loss of major businesses from acquisition or moves to better cities, failures to re-invest, racial division and internal government bickering have all contributed to the decline of this once progressive city. The story is one of discord and poor leadership and reports say that the failure to invest in the core began the deterioration of the entire community, much like an apple rotting from the centre out.