After spending a few hours during
the next several days mulling over his concerns, I’ve concluded that St. Louisans
cannot expect a developer to address society-wide problems that for more than
60 years defied government-sponsored solutions. Everyone who has visited the
North Side in the past decade has seen the devastation, abandonment, the
heart-breaking landscape of vanished dreams and aspirations. What few of us seem
to know is how to reverse the massive devastation brought by decades of disinvestment
and abandonment. Since President Reagan, the federal government has washed its
hands of anything remotely resembling urban renewal. The State, with its
rural-dominated legislature, has no interest in helping the City find a way out
of its difficulties.
If federal and state governments are
indifferent to the problems demonstrated so powerfully by the North Side, where
can citizens look for solutions? Forget the City. It has neither the resources
nor the ambition to tackle those persistent economic and social challenges.
Local developers have tried for decades to turn individual neighborhoods around
and have achieved some success with infill housing and store-front offices. But
they are working at a small-scale and have no hope of addressing the larger
issues of disinvestment and abandonment that characterize much of North St. Louis . So, what then?
Then you have to examine what people
like Paul McKee and McEagle Properties have proposed. It’s easy to find reasons
not to like their proposed development. You may object to their high-handed
treatment of people living in the North Side. Perhaps you dislike the
inevitable gentrification their project will bring. Perhaps it’s the vagueness
of the plan that upsets you. Perhaps, like my friend, you think McEagle’s
scheme will not result in “regeneration” but rather displacement.
In any case, the McEagle plan is the
only one that attempts large-scale revitalization of the North Side. My advice with
regard to that plan is to consider a number of options. You can turn your back,
walk away, and let the chips fall where they may. You can jump on the opposition
bandwagon and work to defeat it. Or you can form groups of like-minded citizens
and work to guide the plan in directions you think appropriate.
If the famous organizer Saul Alinsky
were alive he would tell residents of the North Side to organize and engage in
appropriate actions that would get them a place at the decision-making table.
But Alinsky is long gone and McKee is here, brandishing his plan like a
preacher thumps his Bible.
The option I advocate is to become
part of the process to ensure citizen concerns are not only heard but are
incorporated into the plan. That requires hard work and dedication, both of
which McKee has demonstrated. The challenge for average citizens is to follow
that example, whether you agree with his plan or not.
Please note that this essay was published on April 25 in the St. Louis Suburban Journal West County edition as an Opinion Shaper column.
Please note that this essay was published on April 25 in the St. Louis Suburban Journal West County edition as an Opinion Shaper column.
