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We Live Here

A Super-Secret Spy Agency Is Moving To North St. Louis. Officials Say It's A Big Win, But At What Cost?

By Kameel Stanley,

Tim Lloyd

Published September 19, 2016 at 12:00 AM CDT

Ida Mobley, center, who has lived at her house on Mullanphy Street for 47 years, leads neighbors and supporters in a prayer during a gathering on Friday afternoon.

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Ida Mobley, center, who has lived at her house on Mullanphy Street for nearly 50 years, leads neighbors and supporters in a prayer on April 1, 2016 after the NGA announced St. Louis Place as the preferred location for its new facility.

Carolina Hidalgo / St. Louis Public Radio

This past spring, North-side residents Larry Chapman, pictured, joined Gustavo Rendon held a fast and prayer vigil for more than 30 days outside Rendon’s home in protest of the NGA’s interest in their neighborhood.

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This past spring, North-side residents Larry Chapman, pictured, joined Gustavo Rendon held a fast and prayer vigil for more than 30 days outside Rendon’s home in protest of the NGA’s interest in their neighborhood.

Carolina Hidalgo / St. Louis Public Radio

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Ida Mobley and Gustavo Rendon, who live across the street from each other on Mullanphy Street, talk to neighbors and friends

Carolina Hidalgo / St. Louis Public Radio

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Brenda Nelson plays a card game with friends on Mullanphy Street during the street's last annual block party in July.

Carolina Hidalgo / St. Louis Public Radio

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Phil Betts lifts his son, Leo, toward a swing set while playing with his children at the last-ever annual Mullanphy Street block party in July.

Carolina Hidalgo / St. Louis Public Radio

ON THIS EPISODE...

An image taken above the NGA's current facility showing the building and a large parking lot, bordering the river — An aerial view of the NGA, which plans to move from its current facility in south St. Louis to a new one in north St. Louis.

The relocation of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency to north St. Louis has been heralded as a big win for the region.

But it also meant relocating some 200 residents.

St. Louis Public Radio’s Maria Altman has been covering the NGA relocation for months.

As we resume the second season of We Live Here, Maria joins co-hosts Kameel Stanley and Tim Lloyd to take a closer look at what is being lost in the name of progress.

North St. Louis residents hold signs protesting the development. The sign in the foreground of the image reads, "SAVE NORTHSIDE STL . COM" — Protesters Gustavo Rendon (background) and Derek Lainey (foreground) asked Congressmen Lacy Clay and Adam Schiff to answer questions following a bus tour of the proposed NGA site in north St. Louis.

WHAT YOU'LL HEAR

The history of redevelopment efforts for St. Louis Place, the neighborhood identified to become the home for the new NGA
Stories of residents who live in the footprint, and who must leave to make way for the nearly $2-billion project
City and state officials' reasons for backing the project, which they say is key to reversing years of disinvestment
The context around large-scale community projects like this, which often require a sacrifice from the same group of people over and over

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We Live Here We Live Here | Season 2

Kameel Stanley

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.

See stories by Kameel Stanley

Tim Lloyd

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.

See stories by Tim Lloyd