An old article, but still very relevant. Oh, and the guy they interview from Cherokee St. , has my last name lol. We must be related.
New Arrivals Are Transforming A Neighborhood In St. Louis, And Are Causing
Friction In Fairmont City
Norm Parish And Robert Goodrich
St. Louis Post-Dispatch, May 7, 2000
Hector Moran's dream of being his own boss finally happened about two weeks
ago: He transformed a boarded up building on Cherokee Street into a
restaurant called Las Carnitas.
The small eatery, painted in the colors of the Mexican flag -- red, white
and green -- is the latest Hispanic business on a resurgent Cherokee
Street, which just five years ago was a haven of crime.
Now, the south St. Louis street that some have nicknamed "Little Mexico" is
bustling with about a dozen Hispanic businesses between Jefferson Avenue
and Nebraska Street and has become the commercial heart of St. Louis'
growing Hispanic population.
Across the Mississippi River, Fairmont City has its own growing Hispanic
community. Mexican-Americans in Fairmont City are hardly new. It had a
thriving Mexican-American community prior to World War I. But lately it has
begun to grow. A recent spurt in the Mexican-American population, for
example, forced the city last year to hire a special teacher to help
Spanish-speaking students.
The community, south of Granite City, is home to the largest single
community of Hispanics in the metropolitan area. About 70 percent of the
town's 2,200 residents are Hispanic.
The two communities - Cherokee Street and Fairmont City - represent the
increasing Hispanic presence in the St. Louis area.
There are about 35,000 Hispanics in the St. Louis area. Their population
has tripled in the area during the last decade, said Consul General Arturo
Puente, head of the Mexican Consulate in St. Louis.
The presence of Hispanics, mostly Mexican-Americans, can be seen from St.
Peters to Illinois.
Today, Cherokee Street will be the focal point for Mexican-Americans and
the rest of the Hispanic community as thousands crowd the street in
celebration of Cinco de Mayo. The festival marks the victory on May 5,
1862, by an ill-equipped Mexican army of 5,000 Mestizo and Zapotec Indians,
some armed only with their farm tools, over Napoleon III's invading French
forces just 70 miles east of Mexico City, the nation's capital.
This is the third year the festival has been held there. Organizers of
event said they have seen attendance grow from 3,000 in 1998 to 9,000 last
year. They expect about 15,000 people to attend the event this year.
Just a few years ago, Cherokee Street was known for drugs and prostitutes.
Locals nicknamed it the "South Side Stroll." Now, very few - if any
prostitutes - prowl the area, businessmen said. And drugs also aren't as
noticeable, they added.
"We ran (the prostitutes) off five or six years ago," said Pat Brannon,
president of the Cherokee Business Association.
But one businessman complained that police had to break up a gang fight
just a couple of blocks away and added that drugs are still occasionally
peddled on the street.
Brannon boasts that in some cases, real estate values there have tripled in
recent years. And new Hispanic businesses continue to pop up in the area,
he added.
There are several Mexican restaurants, including a Mexican seafood
restaurant, a Mexican butcher shop, a grocery and a Western wear shop.
Moran's Las Carnitas is the latest.
It looks like more of a take-out restaurant. There are just a couple of
tables inside and a few more outside.
On a rainy day last week, Moran smiled as Antonio Guzman feasted on a
spicy, juicy pork chop. Guzman, 30, of Mexico, is in St. Louis visiting
relatives for a month.
Moran, a former refrigerator repairman, said he is making dreams come true.
Formerly of Guatemala, Moran, 62, has lived in America for more than a
decade, including a stint in Los Angeles. He always wanted to be his own boss.
"I have worked for others for a long time," said Moran, who runs the
restaurant with his wife, Noema. "Now I can work for myself."
Alfonso Ocho, 72, and his El Rio Grande restaurant have been a fixture on
Cherokee street since 1977. The establishment seats about 50 people. It
contains several colorful paintings about Mexican history by his son
-in-law, Tim Powell.
Ocho has seen Cherokee Street, with its antique shops, go from good to bad.
Now, he said, he sees improvements. He believes the street is becoming a
focal point for area Hispanics.
The Rev. David Nations, associate pastor of St. Francis DeSales, agreed.
His church, which sits just a few blocks away at 2653 Ohio Avenue, now has
two Sunday services in Spanish, and after Mass many people end up going to
Cherokee Street.
"(Cherokee Street) probably draws more people to church," acknowledged
Nations, whose weekly 1,500 church attendees are mostly Hispanic. His
church probably draws a lot of people to Cherokee, too, he said.
Puente said many Hispanics feel at home there.
"There is sense of togetherness," Puente said.
Fairmont City, however, is a different story.
It has been known for its Mexican community for nearly a century. The first
Mexican immigrants arrived before World War I. Most worked in a local zinc
plant.
During the last five years, Fairmont has had an influx of new Mexicans. The
new arrivals made some of the older residents, including the
Mexican-Americans, uneasy. There were complaints of loud music in the
evenings, or the slaughter of an animal for a fiesta.
For a time, it looked as if Fairmont City would be divided into two
opposing camps, both with Mexican roots.
Mayor Alex Bregen noted with amusement that more than once, someone with a
Spanish surname had asked him, "What are we going to do about all these
Mexicans?"
But most of that concern seems to have passed, the mayor said recently. It
may have been due to a bit of culture shock on both sides, he said. "Things
seem to have pretty well shaken out."
Some people might feel uneasy hearing their neighbors speaking Spanish,
even if that was the native language of their own grandparents, said
Charles Suarez, the Mexican-American St. Clair County Treasurer and former
mayor.
Most of Fairmont City is a compact, working-class bedroom community, with
most homes built in the 1950s or earlier.
Rectangular in shape, it is split by Interstate 55-70. On the north side of
the interstate is the Milam Landfill. It takes in much of the region's
trash and provides the bulk of Fairmont City's operating revenue.
On the south, Fairmont City is bordered by two sets of railroad tracks and
a switching yard that separates it from East St. Louis. The population's
most noteworthy characteristic may be a penchant for hard work, Bregen said.
In the early morning, the town is a beehive of activity as residents hea d
off to work, many in car pools or in crowded vans. In the middle of the
day, with nearly everyone at work or school, the town falls almost silent.
Things pick up in the evening, as people return home.
In Fairmont City, Cinco de Mayo is not so much an ethnic event as an excuse
for a spring party for local politicians and their friends.
"We always have an annual fund-raiser on that date," Bregen said. "But it
turns into a Cinco de Mayo fiesta."
