Gauen: Road to Ferguson facts requires careful navigation

St. Louis Post-Dispatch ^ | 12/04/2014 | Pat Gauen

[rwa265]

My daughter Heather, visiting from her home Madison, Wis., for Thanksgiving, took me by surprise with a peculiar request: She asked me to take her to Ferguson. All the more peculiar was the fact that this was a week ago yesterday, while the ruins of gutted businesses still smoldered from fires set barely 36 hours before.

Heather wasn’t asking just some random dad. She knew that mine had been one of the Post-Dispatch’s fingers on that community’s pulse since the shooting of Michael Brown on Aug. 9. I’m police and court editor here, which accounts for why I haven’t had much time to fill this space recently.

And Heather is not some random kid. A textbook editor by trade, she is a journalist at heart, with a substantial following for her observations — in words and pictures — on social media. She said she had been disgusted by the spin and half-truths from both sides that permeate the Internet and wanted to get some taste of the community for herself.

[rwa265]

The biggest misconception is to say that Ferguson was not a destination city. There are many good restaurants on S. Florissant, including an artisan pizza parlor, a micro brewery, a bar and grill, and a good Italian restaurant. There is also a neat sandwich and ice cream shop in the old Ferguson train depot, a farmers market, and an amphitheater where local bands play every Friday night during the summer.

My family has visited Ferguson several times over the past year and look forward to doing so in the future.

[ClearCase_guy]

Heck, Detroit used to be vibrant. Ferguson may have its good points, but I think all its better days are now behind it. It will not live this down.

[MUDDOG]

I wonder how property insurance companies price the coverage.

In a sane world, they'd redline the place.

In our world, they'll charge whites across the state for the privilege of subsidizing riots.

[MUDDOG]

Japanese and Chinese tourists might like bus tours to see the result of American ghetto violence.

[Pollster1]

Heck, Detroit used to be vibrant. Ferguson may have its good points, but I think all its better days are now behind it. It will not live this down.

You are almost certainly correct.

1990: 25.1% black

2000: 52.4%

2010: 67.4%

This will accelerate "white" flight, including the flight of law-abiding black and Hispanic citizens who have jobs. The accelerating loss of people who care will lead to an inevitable Detroit ending. Some productive working people will stay out of community loyalty, and they will slow the decline, but the load they carry will eventually exceed their capacity. They will fail.

[Responsibility2nd]

I’d like to visit Ferguson.

Just as New Orleans was a popular tourist destination post-Katrina and many go to Detroit to gawk at the direct effects liberalism has on a city; I can see why some might want to see the direct effects ObamaHolder has had on the ferals in a St. Louis suburb.

Watching train wrecks appeal to many.

[spawn44]

From both sides. BS.