We all know East St. Louis sucks. Really sucks. Like, “Why can’t you just call yourself ‘West Chicago’?” sucks. But do you know why? Not just the shootings and the hookers, but why there are shootings and hooker? …and why most eastern parts of other towns suck the same way, albeit, much less?
Take it away science!
The reason for this is that in much of the northern hemisphere, the prevailing winds are westerlies – blowing from west to east. The massive, unchecked pollution from these early industries would therefore drift eastward, making the air quality much lower in the east end of cities, lowering the desirability (and price) of the housing. Middle classes preferred the cleaner west ends.
The issue was probably even pre-Industrial Revolution, as smoke from personal chimneys would still have caused problems to the east.
Oh hey mind. You’ve got a crazy little sly smile going on there…you weren’t just blown by chance were you?!
We asked Science if it had any explanation as to what’s going on down in South County. It’s still working on that one…right now their best guess is syphilis. Sounds right to us.
via The Januarist
