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When Progress Meets Backlash

Housing Authority of St. Louis County records for Park Ridge Apartments in Ferguson show an uptick in inspections in the latter part of 2018.
Holly Edgell
/
St. Louis Public Radio
Housing Authority of St. Louis County records for Park Ridge Apartments in Ferguson show an uptick in inspections in the latter part of 2018.

MUSIC BY: Trifeckta, ClassicBeatz

IN THIS EPISODE… Just before Thanksgiving, a housing crisis popped up in the infamous St. Louis suburb of Ferguson, Mo. The county housing authority had stepped in to demand repairs from a property management company officials deemed substandard and even dangerous. In other words, the system was doing what it was supposed to do: ensuring residents have a safe place to live. But the property company responded by threatening to kick out residents, and pointed blame at the housing authority and previous ownership. It’s a mess. And in the middle are residents who are hustling to find safe housing during the coldest months of the year. The whole situation gets at the heart of what’s happening around issues of race, class and housing in the St. Louis area. Because while some institutions are making legitimate changes, countless pitfalls remain on the path to progress.

MORE CONTEXT: St. Louis Public Radio reporter Ashley Lisenby followed this story this fall. See her initial reporting on the mass eviction notices here and deeper digging into records here.

Alona served as We Live Here's associate producer in 2018.
Kameel Stanley co-hosted and co-produced the We Live Here podcast—covering race, class, power, and poverty in the St. Louis Region—from 2015 to 2018.
Tim Lloyd was a founding host of We Live Here from 2015 to 2018 and was the Senior Producer of On Demand and Content Partnerships until Spring of 2020.