Incoming Lawrence city manager faced tough situations in Clayton, other roles in the region

As incoming city manager Craig Owens gave a driving tour of Clayton, Mo., he was sure also to drive outside Clayton’s bounds to a place starkly different from the city he has managed since 2008.

Just outside the affluence of Clayton, an invisible line is crossed and the landscape changes: the homes are still brick but they are much smaller, closer together, some in need of repair. Here, the school district is only provisionally accredited. And it is here, in a conjunction of two dozen small municipalities that fall under the Normandy Schools Collaborative, that Owens spent several years on the board of the nonprofit Beyond Housing, which deals with affordable housing and other community development issues in the area.