and how much it has struggled to recover from COVID. I don’t know the area well, but do have some family there and visited in 2019. My sense is that the city has been declining for a long time, but it seems that it was harder hit than most during the pandemic. It’s sad to read this kind of stuff, I hope they can get it turned around.

“St. Louis downtown has become a ghost town - with buildings boarded up and skyscrapers plummeting in value…

“Take, St Louis's largest office building - its 44-story AT&T tower - for example. In 2006 this prime real estate sold for $205 million.

“But that same now vacant skyscraper recently sold for around $3.5 million - a shocking 98 percent drop in value in less than two decades, the outlet reported…

“Local media have dubbed the trend in the midwestern city a 'real estate apocalypse' after 18 of the 25 largest office buildings shed $150 million…

“St. Louis was hit hard by the pandemic, with its population sinking to below 300,000 for the first time since the 1800s…

“St. Louis has seen the worst recovery in foot traffic to its downtown area of all other major US cities since just before the pandemic broke out in 2019.”