[Kamikaze] One-Way Metro Street | Jackson Free Press | Jackson, MS

[Kamikaze] One-Way Metro Street

I often hear the term "metro Jackson" bandied about, more so in recent years. We have a "Metro"center Mall. We even had a "Metro" Jackson Chamber of Commerce (now called the "Greater" Jackson Chamber Partnership). But I often find myself asking, "What does the term 'metro Jackson' really mean?"

Ask any proponent of this phantom concept, and they will tell you that metro Jackson encompasses the Capital City and all its surrounding bedroom communities: Madison, Ridgeland, Byram, Clinton, Pearl and Brandon. The outer-lying cities exist as a support system to the larger city, all working together for the betterment of the whole. The Capital City assumes its responsibility as the "big brother" to the 'burbs while the 'burbs understand that their survival depends upon the success or failure of the Capital City. It's a supposed symbiotic relationship that most thriving cities have found to work. Except perhaps for those cities that neighbor Jackson. It's no secret that our "metro" concept exists on a one-way street heading out of the City With Soul.

A lot of Jacksonians, black and white, have caught the first thing smoking out of the city to take up residence in the surrounding areas. We lost their tax dollars; we lost their kids to other school districts; and apparently, we lost their confidence. All the while, some of them still drive back to Jackson every day to make their living. At 5 p.m., you see them returning from whence they came on Highways 51, 49 or 80, which look horrible—until, of course, you cross the city line "out" of Jackson. You see them leaving downtown, which is supposedly crawling with crime—until you get "out" of Jackson. Hell, everything gets better once you leave Jackson, right? Restaurants, recreation, law enforcement? No one's ever been robbed in Madison (smile).

Funny, I just can't seem to buy in to this "metro" thing, yet. I know you guys are sick of reading the Little Rock comparisons, and you should be. However, fact of the matter is, Little Rock rose from the depths of perception and apathy because the surrounding cities bought into a real "metro" concept—a concept that says if the Capital City wins, we win. Little Rock's suburbs signed a non-compete clause stating that they wouldn't campaign against the capital for new businesses or make efforts to woo existing ones away. Here, it appears that the bedroom communities are actively working to destroy Jackson, one business, and one resident at a time. They use newspaper clippings and TV as fodder to down us. But we continue to play the scorned-spouse role, championing this "metro" BS even when it's obvious the other kids are doing their own thing. Byram doesn't want to associate itself with us so badly that it taken us to court. Byram? Really?

And that's the truth … sho-nuff.

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