February 16, 2024
My neighborhood is changing. In just the six years that we have lived in our suburb after fleeing St. Louis, Missouri for a more conservative area that supports our conservative values, towering apartment buildings are being built everywhere. There have been dozens of new car washes, chain restaurants, and big businesses put in or approved.
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During 2020, panhandlers started appearing in the area. This has grown so common that the local government had to recently pass a bill outlawing it for the safety of pedestrians and drivers because the panhandlers were obstructing traffic.
While conservative Americans have continuously expressed outrage at political movements that seek to urbanize suburban areas, uni-party elitists in Washington have pressed to globalize every aspect of our lives.
Now, I believe that these officials do deserve plenty of blame, but unfortunately, local officials are a driving force behind this modern crusade to turn every area into a city — complete with liquor stores on every corner.
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I report for my local paper. It is run by a former writer for the St. Louis Post Dispatch. She left that “prestigious” paper when they went corporate years ago.
Writing for a locally owned paper and reporting on my local beats was supposed to be a nice change of pace from my other political writing job, but after months of attending Board of Aldermen meetings, I’ve learned that, just like everything else, all of this starts closer to home.
I have three beats. One is my municipality, which I love. The mayor and board all get along and pass pretty much everything that is proposed with little to no opposition. It seems very kosher, but that is because virtually none of our 60,000 residents in my suburb attend the meetings.
Everyone is too busy to come and see what their city government is actually doing with their land and their money. Most of the time, the only people who show up to these public meetings are individuals who are invited for awards.
Recently our local library closed for renovations. It was moved to a failing mall as a temporary option, but our Mayor hinted at the last meeting that this may become a permanent location. He presented the situation as a positive endeavor, so my husband and I went to see the mall library room. It was so small it looked like it barely held a few dozen books.
My husband is furious. We’re both concerned with what is happening around us. We also want to know what the city is going to do with the old library location, should the temporary mall spot become permanent. Are they going to host illegal immigrants there? Will it be torn down to build yet another big gray apartment complex that looks like a prison? We don’t know. And neither do any of the other residents.
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Meanwhile, in a neighboring municipality (that I report on), angry residents have banded together to oppose large multi-use developments that bring in towering apartment buildings and warehouse-style businesses. I have sat in a packed room while they vociferously decried the mayor and a police presence had to be maintained to keep the peace, via Mid Rivers Newsmagazine.
The mayor of that city came to me just last week and attempted to convince me that I should pitch him my articles and send him my work before anyone else sees it. He wants to control the narrative because he knows that every time I write about what he is pushing to do, the people come to the city council meetings to oppose the urbanization of their suburb.
I am not a person who backs down easily, but I have been snarkily addressed as “the press” during board meetings by the mayor and his city administrator when they wish to talk down to me, knowing that I am the only reporter in attendance. Now, I have been singled out by the leader of that area and told that I should involve him in my writing process.
It challenged my confidence. This is my job. He is trying to manipulate me and his constituents, but there is no way I am going to let him dictate what I write.
Unfortunately, as displayed by the mainstream media and the Missouri v Biden lawsuit (which I am involved in), there are reporters and news outlets that allow political officials to shape their stories. For example, the mainstream media has continuously padded all of Joe Biden’s obvious blunders. According to The Hill, the mainstream has been playing party politics for the current administration since before it even took power.
At this point, most of us know that the mainstream is propaganda. But even at the local level politicians are trying to turn reporters into their lap dogs, and I don’t know how many of them refuse to back down.
I’ll admit that it takes a lot of strength for anyone to challenge people in power. Even so, as a journalist it is my job find the truth and write about it.
At the local level, I am the only one amplifying the voice of the people who are so desperately fighting to preserve their beautiful area and its culture. The more I report on the urbanization of the suburbs the more I see it happening everywhere. Unfortunately my city is experiencing little to no pushback, so our leaders take developers’ money and do whatever big businesses want.
Lately, when I hear people complaining about “what’s going on” or globalization and urbanization, I ask, “Are you going to your city council meetings?”
The answer is usually, “No.”
I understand. The economy is garbage. We’re all working more than ever and making less. We’re exhausted. Often too exhausted to sit through lengthy Board of Aldermen meetings going over sidewalk repair budgets. It’s mind-numbing.
I also struggle because I feel like it’s hard for me to express my opposition because I report on the city I live in. I’m there to tell the story, not be a part of it. But I am a resident too. It is up to me, and every other resident, to redirect city officials if they are destroying the beautiful suburbs that we live in.
We cannot leave it up to anyone else. We have to show up, full force, and band together to prevent the destruction of our neighborhoods.
Jessica is a homeschooling mother of 5 who reports for “Right Side Broadcasting Network,” and “Mid Rivers Newsmagazine.”
Image: Pixabay / Pixabay License
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