On Canfield Drive, where Michael Brown's body laid unattended for hours, is the word “RIP” in black graffiti. Nearby is a bronze dove pressed into the sidewalk to commemorate his life.
There are few other signs on this quiet day in October marking a time more than two years ago when these suburbs were flooded with riots following the death of Brown, an unarmed black teenager, at the hands of police officer Darren Wilson.
But what is still clearly visible are the disparities. The main road close to the Canfield Green apartments is home to a strip mall that includes Family Dollar, McDonald's, convenience stores, a liquor store and beauty parlors. Shops that didn't survive the protests are boarded up, and others have been razed after burning.
Just 2 miles west is another part of Ferguson, unrecognizable from the first, where massive homes rest on rolling hills. The center of town hosts a farmer's market, library, coffee shop and antique stores.
The contrast reflects a stark reality in America: Where and how people live helps determine how healthy – and how long – their lives will be. Work on improving the poorer neighborhoods of Ferguson has begun, but experts say decades of sustained investment are needed before lives there are changed.
