I heard that channel 4 just did a promo on a piece they are doing tonight at 10:00 on the risks of downtown, possibly focusing on car thefts but not sure. We'll have to tune in to see.

risks of DT? I hope they don't try to dramatize things.

I also caught a promo and it is supposed to be about the safest and least safe places to go downtown. My first question is are they going to classify almost the entire city as downtown, and how badly are they going to sensationalize it? Will they qualify it in any way by comparing to say downtown Clayton or any other comparable are of the county? Sounds like it could be another sweeps piece that casts the city in a bad light without presenting a sound story that includes all the facts.

I am REALLY hoping our own stations don't cover us in a negative light.



I have consistently said there are some parts of town that are not safe. This is true for ANY big city. I hope this show highlights this fact.

bsharmastl wrote:I am REALLY hoping our own stations don't cover us in a negative light.



I have consistently said there are some parts of town that are not safe. This is true for ANY big city. I hope this show highlights this fact.

Who knows, maybe we'll be lucky enough for the national station to capitalize on the "most dangerous city" spiel and air it nationwide.

Whoops, I just noticed I left the car break in part out. My only hope is that because car break ins are so rampant everywhere that they don't just focus on downtown.

Stupid report, but I think Union Station is the largest shopping center downtown.



Kent was nice enough to say that our downtown is no different than any other downtown and Larry Connors said that it wasn't everywhere.

Oh great their "report" continues tomorrow.

Thanks for the welcome.



I've been a member for a while, but for this purpose, I'd like to use my real name.



For some background...



I work downtown, I live in Lafayette Square and will probably move over to Washington Avenue before too long. I've actually been looking at the Marquette building... I'd love a three-block walk to work in the morning.



I am a fan of downtown. The rebounding downtown is one of the reasons I chose to move to St. Louis.



But, as our report pointed out, a lot of people come downtown and leave victims of crime. That doesn't help the city's reputation.



We pointed out the places people need to be aware of -- and maybe, just maybe -- so the people responsible for these garages will do a better job keeping people safe.



Then there's tomorrow's story...



We will explain how a police decision to stop arresting people for certain types of crime could be contributing to a rash of bigger crimes at the heart of the Washington Ave. corridor.



That decision -- and the chief's reaction to it -- surprised me. I think you'll find it interesting, too.



Okay, I spoke my piece. Have at me.



-Steve

well, the negative publicity continues. I'm not sure how the amount of car thefts in downtown st. louis stacks up against cities of similar size, but i don't think that was the point of the story. is it really that bad? i don't know, but the same day that the rankings for most dangerous cities came out, i was driving home thinking about how unfair it was... i was about a block from my loft and it was around 4 in the afternoon when i witnessed some thief trying to drive off in a neon he stole. he lost control of the car and nailed another parked car and then hopped out and started running like the wind. we really need some vigilante justice.

^Thanks for the explanation. The problem people here have is that we see all these stories and there is usually no mention of any other crime happening anywhere else, and they seem to often make it out as anyone that ventures into the big bad city is going to become a victim. 11,000 crimes in 4 years is a lot, but how many people more people are coming down and not being victimized? And how many people that were victims left stuff laying out in plain view? I'm not trying to make excuses, but I've never had a problem and I've lived in the city for 20 years.



Now I was surprised to see how many were in structured parking. I think that really is an issue. Seems like something more could definitely be done there. I may hate these reports, but they do make me think a little sometimes.

OK, first, do we need for the first 10 minutes of the local news to highlight nothing other than homicides, assaults, car accidents and anything resembling death? That's 1/3 of the local broadcast.



OK, off that and on to the story. 11,000 car break-ins since 2002 in downtown? I can see where that could be newsworthy if the numbers are accurate. Maybe bringing it to the public attention will make the city and some garage owners try and do more to prevent these things from happening. BUT, do you have to use sound bites like the guy who said, "I will try and stay out of downtown as much as possible from now on?" I mean the city is obviously turining itself around and you would hope the news would do everything they can to help show the continued progress. Why not talk about the fact that our downtown like most other metropolitan downtowns has its share of petty crime? Here are the numbers and here is what the city is doing to help prevent further break-ins. But instead, KMOV has to play the slant of giving the naysayers even more ammo of why not to come down and spend some time in the city. It's all just so negative and it does not have to be reported that way. Maybe part two tomorrow will speak more to this, we'll see. Don't have a problem necessarily with the story, just the way the story was reported.

Has anyone been in that Gentry's Landing garage?



I work two blocks from it and was AMAZED at its size. It's six stories underground and three blocks long. Just gigantic.



I was afraid we would get thrown out on our visit to the garage.... but we drove around inside there for a good half-hour and saw only one security guard on a golf cart.



Our expert said the garage did not meet the minimum for foot-candles of light required in a parking garage (which we double-checked with a light meter) and as we saw, the security cameras are only good when someone is keeping an eye on them.



I think people want to know this kind of stuff when they're choosing a garage and paying $10 to park for a ballgame.

It's sweeps month (or is it sensationalism month) in TV land.



I just hate to see any "negative" press on downtown when it is in an upswing. I think there are far more DANGEROUS parts of the city and worse crimes taking place in other areas than our new downtown. We ae finally getting St. Louis' suburbanites to come downtown and see it.



But again, it is SWEEPS month and this crap sells. That is the only reason. period. It is just too bad that it is at downtown's expense and right after such a "bogus" report of "most dangerous".



I like KMOV, but this is some type of a report I would expect on KTVI or KSDK. Too bad.

One more thing and then I'll shut up...



If you're interested in our process -- how we worked the numbers -- here's a link.



http://www.beloblog.com/KMOV_Blogs/n4idailybriefing/



If you want to see what our map of downtown looked like after we did our analysis of the numbers... here ya go.

I was "at the least" happy to see them point it that it was "like any other downtown" (the problem of car break-ins I mean).



I understand news coverage of negative or "fear fest" as I call it roots some people to the TV. I think this is more of a cultural thing though. I was in Ireland recently, and the news was nothing but positive.



What I don't get is WHY can't the news focus on the positive side of downtown more than the negative? Why can't we have a feature on the Hill, South city. Loft district, etc..... the beauty of it all?



YES...... There are issues some people have in DT. They (mostly) are underprivileged and see opulence around them and want to "take" some of what they can't get. Why focus only on the negative?

What do ya know. One of the hotspots is where the bums hang out in Lucas Park. Go figure.