Because it became notorious, East St Louis in the end demanded the state's attention.

ECONOMIST: Urban affairs

Mr Edgar would never have taken over a predominantly white city, local worthies claimed, as he did East St Louis.

ECONOMIST: Urban affairs

Thus is created the next generation of cities like East St Louis.

ECONOMIST: Urban affairs

Although its problems may have been extreme, Ken Reardon of the University of Illinois's East St Louis Action Research Project estimates that about two dozen Illinois cities are in similar straits.

ECONOMIST: Urban affairs

East St Louis is not unique.

ECONOMIST: Urban affairs

St Louis is a city of the east, like Philadelphia, with its denser grid of streets and its German immigrants (the world's biggest brewery is here).

ECONOMIST: America��s focus group