Editing Kansas City, Missouri (section)

====Troost redlining and white flight====
[[Troost Avenue]] was once the eastern edge of Kansas City, Missouri and a residential corridor nicknamed Millionaire Row. It is now widely seen as one of the city's most prominent racial and economic dividing lines due to urban decay, which was caused by [[white flight]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://info.umkc.edu/unews/troost-wall-the-product-of-kansas-citys-long-running-racial-plight/|title='Troost Wall' the product of Kansas City's long-running racial plight: Racist real estate practices leave urban decay – University News|website=info.umkc.edu|date=March 5, 2013 |access-date=November 18, 2019|archive-date=May 5, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210505031259/https://info.umkc.edu/unews/troost-wall-the-product-of-kansas-citys-long-running-racial-plight/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.kcur.org/community/2014-03-27/how-troost-became-a-major-divide-in-kansas-city|title=How Troost Became a Major Divide in Kansas City|date=March 27, 2014 |publisher=KCUR 89.3 – NPR in Kansas City|access-date=April 19, 2020|archive-date=May 5, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210505063331/https://www.kcur.org/community/2014-03-27/how-troost-became-a-major-divide-in-kansas-city|url-status=live}}</ref> During the civil rights era the city blocked people of color from moving to homes west of Troost Avenue, causing the areas east of Troost to have one of the worst murder rates in the country. This led to the dominating economic success of neighboring [[Johnson County, Kansas|Johnson County]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.kansan.com/opinion/shondell-redlining-in-kansas-city-contributes-to-systemic-racism/article_2987f836-1779-11e8-afce-7fa966f3796e.html|title=Shondell: Redlining in Kansas City contributes to systemic racism|first=Joseph|last=Shondell|website=The University Daily Kansan|date=February 25, 2018 |access-date=November 18, 2019|archive-date=June 23, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210623055156/https://www.kansan.com/opinion/shondell-redlining-in-kansas-city-contributes-to-systemic-racism/article_2987f836-1779-11e8-afce-7fa966f3796e.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 1950, African Americans represented 12.2% of Kansas City's population.<ref name="U.S. Census Bureau"/> The city's most populous ethnic group, non-Hispanic whites,<ref name="census1">{{cite web|url=http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/29/2938000.html |title=Kansas City (city), Missouri |work=State & County QuickFacts |publisher=U.S. Census Bureau |access-date=April 20, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120423160756/http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/29/2938000.html |archive-date=April 23, 2012 }}</ref> declined from 89.5% in 1930 to 54.9% in 2010.<ref name="U.S. Census Bureau"/>

In 1940, the city had about 400,000 residents; by 2000, it had about 440,000. From 1940 to 1960, the city more than doubled its physical size, while increasing its population by only about 75,000. By 1970, the city covered approximately {{convert|316|sqmi|km2}}, more than five times its size in 1940.{{Citation needed|date=February 2023}} Aggressively annexing the surrounding suburbs and undeveloped land spared Kansas City from the severe population loss suffered by cities like St. Louis and Detroit, similar cities which both lost over 50% of their population in the postwar era. In the most neglected neighborhoods, however, the same pattern of abandonment occurred and left behind massive numbers of vacant lots and abandoned homes, especially in the areas east of Troost.