In the fall of 2025, St. Louis welcomed the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) to North City, settling at Jefferson and Cass avenues, sprawling across a 97-acre footprint. Officials promised this facility would bring opportunity for academic partnerships, industrial growth and meaningful integration with surrounding neighborhoods. They said it would be an investment in North City.
But a harder and more uncomfortable question demands to be asked: Who will actually benefit once the doors fully open?
I live in downtown St. Louis, and like many working people, I drive through North City regularly. I pass the NGA site while traveling down Jefferson through the Carr Square area, heading toward the highway for work…