{"id":1144,"date":"2026-09-25T15:18:36","date_gmt":"2026-09-25T15:18:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.stjosephconnect.com\/?sjc_news=a-city-at-a-crossroads-what-comes-next-for-st-joseph"},"modified":"2026-09-25T15:18:36","modified_gmt":"2026-09-25T15:18:36","slug":"a-city-at-a-crossroads-what-comes-next-for-st-joseph","status":"publish","type":"sjc_news","link":"https:\/\/www.stjosephconnect.com\/?sjc_news=a-city-at-a-crossroads-what-comes-next-for-st-joseph","title":{"rendered":"A City at a Crossroads: What comes next for St. Joseph?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (KQTV) — St. Joseph has long been a river town built on trading and manufacturing. It was the starting point of the Pony Express and later earned designation as an All-America City. But what does the future hold?<\/p>\n

The Joseph Company, a local organization, released a survey earlier this year asking community members for their thoughts on the state of St. Joseph.<\/p>\n

With 317 respondents, the results gave the group a blunt look at local confidence.<\/p>\n

\u201c78% of residents do not believe Saint Joseph is moving in a healthy direction for the future generations,\u201d the Rev. Mary E. McDonald of Holsey Chapel said during a Joseph Company breakfast meeting.<\/p>\n

Respondents reported low confidence in accountability, humility and relationships. The biggest red flag, organizers said, was hope for the future.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow that we have a sober self-assessment of where we are, we can grow, but it takes immediate attention and care now because ultimately, that\u2019s a question of hope,\u201d Joseph Company leader Wes Simmons said.<\/p>\n

Simmons, who founded the Joseph Company, said he knows the scores don\u2019t look great. He said the survey wasn\u2019t designed to blast St. Joseph, but to open eyes to what the city was, where it is now and what it can be.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople are rating their future worse than their present reality, which could be viewed as negative, but I see that really not as a negative,\u201d Simmons said. \u201cI see it as an opportunity. The good news is the future has not been created yet.\u201d<\/p>\n

The 317 respondents came from various walks of life. Simmons said 317 isn\u2019t a huge sample size, but it\u2019s large enough to gather useful data.<\/p>\n

On its website, the organization said the sample reflected an established, civically active core of St. Joseph \u2014 skewing older, long-rooted and leadership-heavy \u2014 and should not be treated as a statistically representative cross-section of every resident.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t claim to be some community expert,\u201d Simmons said. \u201cI\u2019m just kind of running down a dream, trying stuff, trying to take the coach approach at the community level.\u201d<\/p>\n

Respondents did express confidence in several areas, including compassion and kindness, supporting one another, and perseverance and resilience during adversity.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think that as a city we need to come together and clarify our identity and establish a purpose-based identity,\u201d Simmons said. \u201cWhat makes this place unique? Why would people want to come here? Why did people come here originally?\u201d<\/p>\n

Survey organizers said the findings do not mean St. Joseph is doomed. While the results can read as disappointing, they said it\u2019s better to treat them as a possible path for the future \u2014 not a fixed fact of the present.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the world of sport, if there\u2019s a player who loses hope, they hit the transfer portal, and when 78% of people are indicating a low measurement of hope in the future, if we don\u2019t move the needle, people are going to hit the transfer portal,\u201d Simmons said.<\/p>\n

Full Joseph Company results<\/a> are available on the organization\u2019s website.<\/p>\n

The post A City at a Crossroads: What comes next for St. Joseph?<\/a> appeared first on KQ2 | St. Joseph, Missouri News, Weather & Sports<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (KQTV) — St. Joseph has long been a river town built on trading and manufacturing. It was the starting point of the Pony Express and later earned designation as an All-America City. But…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":1145,"template":"","class_list":["post-1144","sjc_news","type-sjc_news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.stjosephconnect.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/sjc_news\/1144","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.stjosephconnect.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/sjc_news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.stjosephconnect.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/sjc_news"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.stjosephconnect.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1145"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.stjosephconnect.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1144"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}