A point of view from a Missouri resident

[meaneyedcatz]

I used to have a job where I traveled all over Missouri & Illinois inspecting wrecked cars.

I normally drove out of town and worked my way back into the city (STL). But if I had an inner city job I looked at that first and worked my way out, before the nastys got out of bed.

I did find this out and it is something I find kind of sad. There are still good people living in bad areas like north STL city. But they are trapped there. They bought their house 60 years ago when one could walk the streets and not worry about getting a fist in the mouth from a knock out game or a bullet in the back.

The sad part is they are trapped since these people are retired and would not get a red cent if they tried to sell their homes.

 

[jlrhiner]

Small side story.

My mom and dad bought the home I grew up in in 1962 for $9,000.00 on a simple interest loan. 3732 Nebraska Ave, St. Louis MO., 63118. ( I still remember the phone number, PRospect 2-4025)

After my mom passed, dad wanted out. This was in 1990ish. He put the house up for sale at $29,000.00. It stayed on the market for 16 months, and not a single person came in to look at it. He finally made the real estate agent hold an open house on a Sunday. He got into a rather heated discussion with the agent, and told him the next person that stopped was buying the house. A fellow wanders up, and dad starts talking to him. After a bit, dad asks what he thinks about the house. The fellow responds that $29,000.00 was too high for the area. Dad says "what do you think it's worth?" The man replies "not more than $6,000.00." Dad says "Sold!" and walks away. For the rest of his life, he never returned to it.

Solely because of the decline of the neighborhood.

 

[boatme99]

Don't let it get to you.
We all know there's a whole state out there.
I'm aged enough to remember Selma, Watts, Detroit, D.C., Chicago, and many others.
While some demonstrations have a true raison d'etre, the burning and looting associated with some of them negate their whole purpose.
I can't hold an entire state responsible for what happens in one city.
Heck, if did that, I'd never drive through Illinois!

 

[Hodgin]

That isvtrue but NO ONE stays downtown after dark unless they are leaving ASAP after a ballgame. Washington Ave? MLK Drive? No thanks!

I'm not a night guy so I'll take your word for it. There are also areas of Memphis, Nashville, Atlanta, and so on that you could say the same thing about. I haven't been in three years but we usually stayed at a hotel (can't think of name of it) within easy walking distance of the park. Lots of folks walking together so pretty safe. I was told the parking garage, which was across the street, wasn't safe after dark.

Now, I haven't gone to anything but the ball game and the hotel the last couple of visits. But years ago when the kids went with us, we had great times at Grant's Farm, the Arch, Zoo, brewery, and McCleads (?) Landing when it was around.

 

[rwsmith]

The aspect that you are describing.....

The aspect of the area that you are describing is never emblazoned across front page news. I think most of the people in the protests feel that it is their home, too, and just want to see it improve. Others just want what benefits them, legal or not.

 

[Evil Dog]

I've absolutely nothing against non-violent protest..... looters, however, should be shot on sight.

 

[HOUSTON RICK]

Peaceful protest and assembly is a right, drive by shootings are not. St. Louis cannot be all bad, it has Anheuser Busch.

 

[ibewbull]

Being in Wisconsin most of us don't fancy cities. Milwaukee and Masison come to mind.
Country and small town people just see things differently.
Just pray for some common sense and justice to be done.

 

[geddylee10002000]

Keep in mind most of those arrested are from other states. People with no goals, no jobs, no ethics, no gumption. And we pay for them. SHEESH!

There were NO work boots or work gloves looted. You could have placed a $100 bill under the soles of the work boots and they will be there today!

 

[opoefc]

I'm a 4th generation Missouri native. My ancestors founded Ferguson, Mo. They were Fergusons. I haven't lived in Missouri since 1936, however, but I remember as a child there that there was a clear understanding in Missouri between white and black citizens that not all Americans were created equal. Some were more equal than others. Both races seemed to make it work, however. No riots. Everybody understood the social barriers that spelled out how you treated each other. When I walked down the street with my mother an approaching black person would step off the sidewalk, bow and doff his hat in respect. In return he, or she, was created warmly, inquired about their health and wellbeing, etc. This was during the Great depression and jobs and food could be scarce. If there was a need for assistance, my mother saw to it that something was done to help. Everybody got along. I wasn't raised to think a person of another color was less equal, but accepted what seemed to work then. I recall playing with a young black friend on our front porch, at about the age of 4 or 5 one day, and my uncle told us to play in the back, as it was not acceptable for a white child to play with a black child where the neighbors could see us. That puzzled me then but as I grew older I understood the accepted social mores of the time required it. By today's rules, my ancestors were racist, I suppose, but it worked for the times. They also said Missour-ah, most of the time. My grandmother, born 1860 and my mother, born 1890, mostly said Missour-ah , however my mother , a graduate of the Univ. of Missouri , said "Missouri' most of her later life away from Missouri in Calif. Ed.

 

[Yorkie Man]

I have lived in MO most of my life and worked as a officer for 12 years not too far from Ferguson. What you are seeing is the end result of the Government giving handouts to the families of the same people that you have seen destroying a country. These same folks think that the white people owe them something. Now I not saying that their ancestors weren't treated poorly but the native Americans were treated worse and these idiots believe what people like Jackson and Sharptongue say. That being said when you don't have to work for what you acquire you have no respect for it. There are many businesses that will probably not reopen because of their losses. Most insurance policies have clauses in them the exclude losses caused by riots or acts of war.

I remember going on calls to the subsidized housing apartments in my area during the winter and being scorched by the heat when I walked in the door. The thermostats were set at the highest settings and one time I asked a resident how much her gas bill was and she replied that she didn't have to pay for it so who cares. This is the mindset with everything that they do, someone else will pay for it they owe me.

I have noticed a sharp drop off in the amount of shooting in the City over the last week which is most probably because those idiots have gone to Ferguson.

The politicians have done nothing more than incite this issue by making comments that are not helping, that include Hug-A-Thug Johnson. If the news media left these idiots would be gone. I'll bet Putin is laughing his butt off, Odumbo can't even control his own people.

I guarantee you that most of MO is not like Ferguson. North St.Louis County is where most of the black population lives and as the decent black folks get tired of dealing with the crime they move and the Hoodrats take over.

 

[george minze]

As a kid I grew up for a couple of years in south 'St. Louis. about a block fro Tower Grove Park...Great area...Almost all the house were called St. Louis duplex's..first floor exactly the same as second floor. all brick, small yards, garage in the rear on an alley...Folks would actually sweep the side walks. Streets were immaculate. The garages became pretty small as cars got bigger but my Grandmother could get her Buick in with some frustration....a lot of small stores and some neighborhood bars on some corners.....Never any trouble..The walking cop would take care of the kids....One way or another....No A/C in the 50's so every body left the front door open at night with just a screen door....Later as a cop there in the 60's I saw that start to decline but still livable.....South St. Louis including Dego Hill were great well kept places to live.....Dego Hill was affectingly called that by ,I might add the many Italians that lived there..Great place to be a kid....So Sad what has happened.....Great Sports town...my dad got transferred to Youngstown..That was sort of sad for a kid.....

 

[Brian41]

Ferguson sounds to me like many cities that once were nice but with the "white flight" in the 60s the neighborhoods started going down.
I lived in Flint, Michigan until 1964 and it too was a nice city. My old neighborhood is now a place I wouldn't visit daytime armed let alone at night. I did service work in those areas in the past and too saw good people trapped in their homes as they couldn't afford to leave. They lived in fear of their lives and barred up their windows and were held captive in their own homes.
My father-in-law still lives in Flint in a shaky area. He still has some of the old good neighbors but a bad element has moved in also. We'd love to see him move but he'd get little for his house and it's home to him.
I'm hoping and praying these riots don't extend to other cities but wouldn't be surprised if they did.

 

[george minze]

Small side story.

My mom and dad bought the home I grew up in in 1962 for $9,000.00 on a simple interest loan. 3732 Nebraska Ave, St. Louis MO., 63118. ( I still remember the phone number, PRospect 2-4025)

After my mom passed, dad wanted out. This was in 1990ish. He put the house up for sale at $29,000.00. It stayed on the market for 16 months, and not a single person came in to look at it. He finally made the real estate agent hold an open house on a Sunday. He got into a rather heated discussion with the agent, and told him the next person that stopped was buying the house. A fellow wanders up, and dad starts talking to him. After a bit, dad asks what he thinks about the house. The fellow responds that $29,000.00 was too high for the area. Dad says "what do you think it's worth?" The man replies "not more than $6,000.00." Dad says "Sold!" and walks away. For the rest of his life, he never returned to it.

Solely because of the decline of the neighborhood.

Well that made him sort of a neighbor...We lived at 4039 Russell...Good old South St. Louis....(In the old days)

 

[Arik]

This is like any other big city. There are lots of great areas but only the few bad ones make it on the news and that's all you think it is. NY, Philadelphia. .etc. .etc.

 

[Horn]

This may be a little off subject. But since you can't turn on the tube without hearing about Missouri and the talking heads can't seem to agree maybe a Missouri resident can set things straight. Is it pronounced Missour-ie or Missour-ah?

Depends. Harry S. Truman said Missour-ah. Many old time residents use the "ah" on the end. I grew up and retired LE in
KCK so spent a lot of time in Missour-ah.
Good question, you asked.

 

[Horn]

Iowa is a nice place. So is Missour-ah.

Although I live in Iowa, I travel into MO several days a week. 99.9% of all the people I deal with are great people. Mo is a great state to visit and see.
I really like the Flint Hills area west of Topeka. That is some kind of scenery. JA

I used to hunt pheasants in the S.E. corner of Iowa when living
in KCK. After hunting there I quit western Kansas! In Iowa it was
almost like hunting quail. All the little churches served lunch to the hunting crowd. Fantastic people and fantastic cooks!
Live in southern Arizona now.

 

[litenlarry]

Always pronounced my home state as Mizzoura..A few years back on a KC MO news station, the same question was asked as to the correct pronunciation.. Mizzoure was found to be correct..But who trusts the news anyway ?

BTW, thanks for all the likes on my original post..

 

[Harrison]

This may be a little off subject. But since you can't turn on the tube without hearing about Missouri and the talking heads can't seem to agree maybe a Missouri resident can set things straight. Is it pronounced Missour-ie or Missour-ah?

I grew up in SE Kansas just over the border. My father's family has lived in or around Richland since the 1840s. I always heard it pronounced with an -ah or -ugh. The only time I heard the -ie pronuncation was up around KC. I went through basic training at Ft. Leonard Wood, Mo. and it was pronounced with an -ah or ugh there.

 

[Mydogmax]

Me thinks that a portion of the population will be vacating that city. At any rate I certainly don't hold anything against the state of Missouri. There's lots of places in St Paul (or Minneapolis) that I won't drive through. Thankfully I've been lucky enough to live in a nice suburban neighborhood. Can't shoot a gun out my back door, but I won't get shot either.