http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/metro/st-louis-considers-eminent-domain-power-in-effort-to-keep/article_ddb18d48-de2a-5417-99f1-fcf4c9e157c3.html
Jeff-Vanderlou is a poverty stricken neighborhood that has a population of 5,557 people. It is bordered by Vandeventer on the West and North Jefferson on the East. Delmar on the South and Palm Street on the North. This is an African American community that was settled by blacks in the early 1900s. In this area there are two community recreation centers, one VA Hospital, six elementary schools, three high schools, one community college, one Catholic Church and three senior citizens housing complexes. In addition to about twenty churches of different denominations and many small independent owned businesses. According to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch newspaper on February 12, 2015, the Vashon High School in the Jeff-Vanderlou neighborhood is failing to provide a quality education to its students. Only time will tell whether or not if the school will remain opened when the neighborhood goes the way of eminent domain. However, the Special Administrative School Board for the city of St. Louis has approved $2.2 million to renovate the old Pruitt Elementary School building at 1212 N. 22nd Street that was designed by architect Ray L. Leiunkuehler in 1954.
The Pruitt-Igoe Housing Project land is east of Jeff-Vanderlou at North Jefferson Avenue and Cass Avenue. What is important about the Pruitt-Igoe land is that it has 57 acres of land in its boundaries. And the city of St. Louis in interested in acquiring another 50 acres of land to offer to the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency to stay in the city of St. Louis. The spy agency has indicated they will move from their present location on south Broadway near the Anheuser Busch Brewery. But in order to stay in the city the spy agency needs 100 acres of land. This agency employees 3000 workers and brings in $2.4 million in annual earning tax with the average salary for this agency being $75,000 a year. A big deal for the city of St. Louis economic base. Now the city is positioning itself to take control of the Jeff-Vanderlou land needed to make up this 100 acres of land that will be turned over to the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency to be developed into their new headquarters and facilities. The tool the city is contemplating using is the power of eminent domain. This is the right given to the government to take private property for public use. The public use in this instance will be for the economic benefit of the city of St. Louis in expanding its tax revenue base. In that the city does not want to lose that $2.4 million a year income stream. And the United States Supreme Court in Kelo v. City of New London, Connecticut in 2005 has said that it was legal as long as the Fifth Amendment of the United States Constitution was followed in giving the property owner just compensation for his property. After all the property owner has no right to stand in the way of progress and the greater good of the public.
The question that has to be answered is where will those displaced families go? The majority of the families in the Jeff-Vanderlou area are renters and they are low-income individuals. As with the Pruitt-Igoe land clearance project in the 1950s, the people were allowed to remain in the community with a better stock of housing than they had before. But with this urban renewal it will be a black neighborhood removal and no coming back. After the dust clears the Jeff Vanderlou neighborhood will no longer exist. What we as social workers are witnessing is a disappearing of a neighborhood before our eyes. We have an opportunity to be living in a historical time. So let’s seize the moment. And document all the historical places in this neighborhood because it will not be here fifty years from now.
Thank you for thoughts Daniel. This is beautifully written.
ReplyDeleteIt's difficult to wrap a thought around this. There are some who would be adversely affected (by being displaced), and some who would be affected in a positive way (by keeping jobs and tax revenue in the area). What choice would result in sustainability? The late Leonard Nimoy, in the character of Mr. Spock once said, "The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few". Would we agree with that sentiment?
ReplyDeleteThanks, Daniel, for your thoughts. Just to clarify, according to the article and other sources, the land proposed for the relocation of the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency from South Broadway to north city is land just east of the Jeff VanderLou neighborhood.
ReplyDeleteThe site of the proposed NGA center is in the boundaries of Paul McKee's north side project, meaning if they move the site to that location, half of the income tax from NGA would go to McKee through the TIF (Tax Increment Financing) he has already been granted by the city. In addition, even if those 3,000 jobs were in another part of the region, inevitably some of those workers would live within the city limits and would still be subject to that earnings tax.
Although the city would still receive a portion of the income tax from NGA remaining in city limits, it is not a sustainable development pattern. Long term, it would likely be more beneficial to develop the area back into a residential and commercial district because not only would you have the earnings tax of residents, but you would have the property tax (which you would never see with a Federal Government site) and any sales tax from businesses even if that is slower to develop. A development plan that included residential and commercial districts would also allow long-term residents to remain in their homes.
In some ways this reminds me of what has happened (and what is happening) in McRee Town or Forest Park Southeast. Generations of families had lived in that neighborhood only to be displaced because developers decided to make it the next trendy neighborhood in the city. While the revitalization has been pretty dramatic, I know that families have literally been torn apart by being spread all over the St. Louis area. Kids have been forced to change schools and the neighborhood has seemingly lost some of it's sense of community.
ReplyDeleteWhile revitalization is important, I think that we, as social workers, have the duty to figure out where the line should be drawn. How do we protect the interests of the residents of these low-income areas while also making the City a safer place to live?
This is a thought provoking idea. I can see how it can be portrayed as an opportunity for both jobs and economic growth. However, as Daniel mentioned, what will happen to the residents there now? How will they gain support and how will they survive this successfully? It seems risky and not considerate of the residents currently occupying this area. I would like to hear more from those who will be affected by this. Ebony shined a great light on the risks in a past class discussion as well. This article reminds me of that conversation!
ReplyDeleteDaniel - great article, thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, eminent domain is happening far too often. It is disheartening to think that families that have been living in this neighborhood for years will be displaced.
ReplyDeleteGreat article thanks for sharing
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