Residents look for ways to draw people to Jefferson City

Wednesday, May 2, 2012

The third installment of the city’s town hall meetings attracted roughly 50 people Tuesday, with many discussing possible ways to bring more people to the area.

Read additional details in our newspaper or e-Edition. Newspaper subscribers: Click on an e-Edition article and log in using your current account information at no extra charge. For e-edition help, e-mail circ@newstribune.com. Click here to purchase the full version of archived articles.

The town hall, held at Lewis and Clark Middle School, was originally scheduled as the finale of the three town hall meetings meant to discuss four main projects within the city: the conference center, the multipurpose building, MSP and downtown parking. But, the city has scheduled a fourth meeting from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. May 10 at City Hall, to meet the needs of those who get around using the city transit system, which runs only during weekdays.

More like this story

him 1 year ago

I don't see how any of those will draw people to Jeff City.... downtown parking??? Jeff City needs something like a Gambling boat

tonto_goldberg 1 year ago

The business people, and therefore the Chamber of Commerce, want downtown parking.

JCLifer 1 year ago

Higher wage jobs are the only thing that will bring this area out of poverty.

PatsyDecline 1 year ago

Jefferson City decided they didn't care to draw people here a long time ago....TWICE in fact! Who needs living wage jobs and entertainment when you have Church and holier than thou puritans!! Just give the unwashed masses more dive bars and liquor stores!!

Jefferson City will never be more than a Tier 3 state capitol run by the local elites for their own enrichment. That is why young folks are leaving in droves now, and will continue to leave in the future.

One would be hard pressed to find a state capitol city that is run as poorly as Jefferson City. That is what happens when a handful of families control nearly everything. Eventually the inbreeding leads to decline.

melbrooks 1 year ago

Missouri voters capped the number of riverboats in the state in 2008, and there are no available licenses.

JCLifer 1 year ago

Too late. We gave our boat with all the the jobs and tax revenue to Boonville.

Silverado_Phil 1 year ago

So are they trying to attract tourists? Or workers/full-time residents? Big differences on what they are trying to accomplish. Need to get out of the "cowtown" mentality and start offering what the people with disposable incomes want.

JCLifer 1 year ago

Why do we want to grow? The bigger this town gets, the more crime and undesirable people we get. The smart ones leave. Let's take this town back to the good old days of 20-30years ago

Sequoia 1 year ago

We can't go backwards in time, dude. Anxious as it makes us, times change. Conservatives need to have a vision for the future, not just nostalgia for an imagined past. Move forward or die.

JCLifer 1 year ago

The city want young professionals. One can assume they do not want old blue-collar workers.
If they desire a certain demographic, that means there is also a certain deographic that is undesired. I have no problem with older blue collar workers, but I do have a problem with thugs, druggies, gangsters, and other folks who are negatives toward good society.

You got to stand for something.

JCLifer 1 year ago

Move forward with improvement, not decay. Why allow quality to decline to grow? If ee cant grow in a good eay, then why grow?

JCLifer 1 year ago

This town would be much better if we could encourage several folks to leave. All these druggies, thugs, burglars, robbers, freaks, and hoodlums need to be deported. We dont need their kind of growth around here.

Sequoia 1 year ago

It's called gentrification. You don't deport them. You price them out.

Localroofer 1 year ago

Kinda hard to price them out when the government takes our tax dollars and uses it for these people to live on.

JCLifer 1 year ago

No kidding, and they drive nicer cars, wear better clothes, and go out to eat all the time. It just isnt right.

Sequoia 1 year ago

Welfare only goes to disabled or single mothers with kids. The type of people you're referring to aren't eligible for welfare.

sickandtired 1 year ago

I'm not sure where you got that info Sequoia but I see plenty of people other than the ones you have listed on welfare. and LIfer is correct- a lot of them drive very nice cars and eat out almost every night. But when you ask them where they work they say " I'm not, I get welfare from the government." The best is the guy out playing football and tells you he is on disability, Really seems disabled to me.

Sequoia 1 year ago

Here's a list of federal welfare programs. You'll see it is basically TANF (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families), plus some specific programs for utility costs and food stamps. Then there is SSI for the disabled.

welfareinfo.org/

I'm not sure why you go around asking people where they work, but your anecdotes about "seeing plenty of people" aren't really persuasive. I know a few of them pretty well, and I can tell you they don't dress well, and I'm not jealous of them. I don't know why you seem to pay so much attention to them, and feel the need to investigate whether someone gets welfare. That's not normal, dude.

I'm not saying welfare fraud isn't a problem, but it seems like you guys put waaaay more emphasis on it than it deserves. And your comments never involve data (like, say, the percentage of your tax bill that goes to welfare... it's not that much), just stereotypes about people who recieve welfare, and what sounds like resentment, or jealousy or something. It's ugly, not persuasive.

Again, not saying there is no problem. Like I said, I know some of the folks and I know a couple of them tried to game the disability system. It just doesn't bother me that much. Frankly, there are some people I would rather pay NOT to work, because I've seen some disability applicants with really poor decision-making skills. You seriously want them changing your car tires?

I just think y'all's hang ups about it rings odd to me.

sickandtired 1 year ago

the problem is nobody wants to rite up data about welfare fraud and welfare abuse because people like you would be screaming at them. Welfare abuse is larger than people want to accept. As for asking people where they work- Most people in normal conversation bring up jobs at one time or another when they meet somebody. IF you don't talk to people about their lives then you really don't care as much as you argue you do in these forums. And trust me there is no jealousy when I am talking about them- just think they need to buck up- stop milking the system- and stop taking the money of people who actually work for a living.Well fare fraud is costing the government tons of money that could be used in better ways.

Sequoia 1 year ago

REALLY? Given all the screaming you and others do about welfare, you REALLY think that nobody wants to write up a story on welfare data because they're AFRAID someone will get mad at them? When has the conservative media EVER been afraid someone will get mad? Isn't making people mad the whole POINT of conservative media? Please. Try harder.

The reason is because the data is not nearly as inflamatory as resentment and stereotype. The data actually shows that the biggest percentage of our federal tax bill goes to defense and health care. Welfare just isn't that big of a cost driver. It's more of an emotional thing, which is clear in your post. People don't work, you think they can and should, and that makes you mad. You like to watch media that confirms your anger. The conservative media business model is pretty simple. That's why you've only got personal stereotypes in your argument. That's the only language you know.

Sequoia 1 year ago

And let me be clear: I DON'T care about poor people. I never claimed to in any post. You assume that anyone who defends the idea of welfare does so because their heart bleeds. I support the idea of welfare for entirely selfish reasons... I don't want desperate people with poor decision skills to be so desperate they do something that hurts me or mine. I'd rather pay them a bit of my tax money for them to sit at home and not cause any trouble. I have never argued anywhere on these forums that I feel bad for poor people, want to help them out, or feel guilty. Nope. I just don't want them to bother me.

JCLifer 1 year ago

I don't want them to reproduce. Seven million is too m any to pay for as itis.

asb 1 year ago

I know a girl who's legally blind, but you don't want to bet against her on a basketball court. Should she be disqualified from her SSI check and be forced to compete with the fully sighted on some moral ground? And really? drive better cars, wear better clothes, eat out every night? That's just FOX balogna. I agree with Sequoia, the conservative's rant against the poor is all about you being robbed of something, or violated, or being overrun. It's not real, it's not healthy. The poor REALLY ARE POOR, and the little we give them is a sign of our humanity and civilization. You guys are being sociaopathic about this, but hey why not? FOX, Rush, and the whole Right Wing PR crew has rubbed your nose in it for years now. Let's get back to Jesus vs. Islam or some such, the welfare rant is bogus and ancient, at least the islamophobia is fairly new.

Sequoia 1 year ago

Ooooh, can we do the "War on Christmas" next? I love that one.

sickandtired 1 year ago

Actually the comments are made based on my eye site and what I see these " poor people" driving away in. Since you are in the mood to bash news agencies( since I'm sure you watch fox all the time to know what they say is lies), I 'm sure you would agree that all MSNBC,CNN and NBC are out to do is discredit and bash anybody that disagrees with them. But then again I'm sure you don't watch any of the news agencies because you are so busy out helping the "poor" whenever you can.

Brokerbyson 1 year ago

Those people make up half of JC. Without those people who would work all the the low income jobs that are there. Not the people who want the higher paying jobs. My opinion get out why you can its only gonna get worse in that town. Former JC resident.

ferd 1 year ago

Maybe we could build a big homeless shelter and have reverand Larry send down some people from St.Louis. They could help preach how bad the casions are that bring money to Boonville, St Louis and other towns that have river boats.

wyriontair 1 year ago

Yes, there are many things that can be improved in JC and yes it's not like it was 30 years ago when you could walk down the street any time day or night without being harrassed by anyone. I am curious though for those complaining about JC and how bad it is, why do you live there if you hate it so much? There is nothing wrong with helping those who need a helping hand, that is how our society works, which by the way was instituted by those bad ole' Christians. Are there those who exploit the assistance? Yes! Addressing that should be done through legislation and not part of the discussion on how to improve JC.

JCLifer 1 year ago

It is pertinent to the discussion because when folks talk about improving JC, the talk is about improving it for themselves. The Chamber wants to use everyone elses tax money to benefit its members. The city wants to use everyones tax money to build more facilities, buy city cars, hire consultants and cronies. Realtors want tax dollars to help unqualified people to buy homes. Old history people want to use tax dollars to save dumpy old buildings. Parents want to use tax dollars to build new high schools. Jocks want tax dollars to build new stadiums. Lazy people want tax dollara to pay for them to not have to work. On and on.

We have no common vision in this town, and any sttempts to develop one are just a sales job to get other pwoples tax money.

JCsleeper 1 year ago

Run children, run !

Please review our Policies and Procedures before registering or commenting

Or login with:

OpenID

News Tribune