Here's a local view of the madness in Ferguson

I couldn't resist penning this letter to the BBC this morning when their coverage asked "are you in St. Louis?" Yes, I am. And here's what I see.

I'm on holiday here in my home town, St. Louis, though I've lived in the UK for 14 years and am now a British citizen. It's breaking my heart that this is the image of St. Louis that's going out to the world. It's so unrepresentative and misses all the subtleties and nuances … like people judging London solely on the violence in Clapham in 2011.

Images of burning police cars are flashing around the world, but nowhere have I seen coverage of what I'm experiencing. Puzzled locals watching this madness from their living rooms, feeling unable to go out because the whole city is filled with anxiety. People who agree reform is needed, but also think the police were just doing their jobs. A whole community and local economy shut down by what's happening in a small part of it. Locals feeling a local issue is being politicised and blown out of all proportion by extremists on both sides who are coming here from out of town to leverage this situation for their own purposes.

Clayton, the administrative centre for St. Louis County, is shut down, tens of thousands of people working from home. Schools and shops closed. We were out last night for what was supposed to be a reunion of school mates to see me while I was in town … everyone was rushing to get home before the announcement. We closed the place at 8pm; they, plus every other restaurant in this suburb, closed early because there was nobody out. I shudder to calculate the financial implications of a whole city grinding to a halt.

Add captionA handful of locals still out at this usually-crowded Kirkwood restaurant watch the indictment announcement with rapt attention

And all of this for something that's incredibly localised. Ferguson is a tiny part of the St. Louis metropolitan area. Ironically, though Clayton was shuttered in anticipation of trouble, there was almost no action there. Instead, mindless thugs are looting and burning their own neighbourhood. Those are mostly locally-owned businesses, and friends tell me most of those people won't be covered by insurance because there are civil unrest clauses that get the insurers off the hook. I'd understand … though not agree with it … if the rioters went to an upscale neighbourhood and wrecked havoc with the people they perceive as oppressing them. But destroying their own neighbourhood is an act of madness. And, sadly, reinforces an opinion in this much-segregted city that people should just let the bad neighbourhoods sink beneath the problems they cause for themselves.

Few people would deny that St. Louis county needs reform. It's a bizarre and unique (to my experience) administrative set-up dating back to the 19th century when city fathers threw the borders out to the furthest reaches they could imagine, and then disassociated themselves from the poor farmers who then settled beyond the limit. Today, St. Louis County is the richer and more populous sister to the city, surrounding it like a crescent. But it's made up of scores of "towns" and "villages", each running into each other, some with 200,000 residents and independent viability others little more than speed traps with mayors. Some very rich, some very poor.

The local authorities bent over backwards last night to show how they followed the rule of law, setting out evidence and leaving no detail unspoken in an indictment announcement that took over half an hour to deliver. Those of us left in the restaurant stood in rapt attention. Then we headed home through abandoned streets to watch exactly what we expected unfold on TV. It didn't matter what the verdict was, most people believe. Troublemakers were going to kick off and cause trouble, no matter what.

Meanwhile, the world will remain ignorant of the wider picture of St. Louis. A gracious, cultured place of rich history and welcoming people. Home of the oldest cathedral and oldest continuously operating farmers' market West of the Mississippi; one of the world's greatest botanical gardens, founded by an English immigrant who modelled it on Kew; art, science and history museums that are not only of spectacular quality but … like the UK … free to all in the belief that culture should uplift all in society, not just the rich. Long home to immigrants … "The Hill" is still a vibrant Italian community celebrating those who came 100 years ago ... but continuing hospitality means the city now hosts the largest community of Bosnians outside of their home country. And rather than focusing on black people burning and looting, we can celebrate black citizens whose greatness was forged in the richness of this city: Scott Joplin, Josephine Baker, Maya Angelou, Bobby McFerrin, Arthur Ashe.

There is so much more here than the "easy" story of a segregated town, burning police cars and protest. I hope some of that gets told.

Phew. I feel better now.