urbanSTL

The Beacon has voter maps for St Louis County

StL Beacon - Prop P vote analysis: St. Louis County support was greatest in central corridor

https://www.stlbeacon.org/#!/content/30 ... gfx_040513

quincunx wrote:The Beacon has voter maps for St Louis County

StL Beacon - Prop P vote analysis: St. Louis County support was greatest in central corridor

https://www.stlbeacon.org/#!/content/30 ... gfx_040513

Interesting -
My first impression is filled with assumptions and probably unfair stereotypes but here goes:
-- The central corridor and NorCo areas probably have the most to gain from improvements funded by the new tax whether it be directly or due to proximity (maybe?) to the city institutions.
-- The far west and south areas tend to be more anti-tax in general so why should this one be any different.
-- The very-negative vote of northwest areas was a bit surprising. If I had to wager a guess, I'd say those voters are SO p!ssed-off right now about the whole Bridgeton-Landfill debacle (that's truly a saga for another post right there) and the airport-expansion fiasco that they're jaded toward any gov't entity making promises.

Just my two cents.

So, now we know the next step.

Merge into the County and annex U. City, Hadley, Clayton and Jefferson. Oh and Creve Coeur, I guess...

Great Rivers picks 42 citizens to guide Arch grounds overhaul

http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/govt ... 1e413.html

^Agreed. The time for public input has long since passed and been ignored. These projects are all so far along in design and engineering that I don't think there is a lot the panel will do.

I was not one of them. Wonder how they determined the board.

Well if you live downtown, then you obviously won't be using the Arch grounds. Its only allowed for tourists.

^It was sarcasm...

Ha. Its hard to read between the lines through just text.

Anyways, I would like to know a little bit of the background of the people they picked. It would be interesting to see whether they are mostly from the city or county, old or young, etc.

rawest1 wrote:
That said, I think it would be pretty interesting to determine the number of visitors the arch grounds has each day who live in the area, and the ones that don't. I go running there at least once a week and I see some of the same people.

I always hoped from the beginning of this competition that they would push making the Arch Grounds into a smaller Forest Park for downtown residents. Something that gets it's closest residents to use it everyday. I don't think the current design does that enoguh.

pat wrote: I always hoped from the beginning of this competition that they would push making the Arch Grounds into a smaller Forest Park for downtown residents. Something that gets it's closest residents to use it everyday. I don't think the current design does that enoguh.

Being a national park and monument I don't really see this as being a goal nor should be for the region. However, I do think that is much more viable goal for the Gateway Mall.

I do agree that designs should incorporate good connections to downtown and its surrounding urban environment. Ideally, that would mean a blvd instead of a lid but the reality is the lid. What will happen going forward on their designs ideas now funding is in place will be interesting and hopefully they embrace good ideas/changes from the citizen committee. To me, the north end is very fluid and not sure if necessarily set in stone. Could be mistaken

One thing that I think is hopeful is that GRG will have a say and impact. I think this is a plus as the riverfront trails and Arch Grounds will be tied together in a much more comprehensive way. The other plus, even though I think the prop as voted on was not the best way to go about it but the locals now have skin in the game. Much more so then if everybody waited another century for the Feds to invest in St. Louis future.

One thing that I think is hopeful is that GRG will have a say and impact.

The GRG is funding a large portion of the Leonor K Sullivan upgrades as part of the overall Arch project. So they have substantial say and impact.

The National Mall in Washington is used for everything, including doubling as the biggest DC city park. You can apply for a permit to play softball next to the Washington Monument. Look at this map of the softball fields from the National Park Service web site.

http://www.nps.gov/mall/planyourvisit/u ... ll2013.pdf

With the city and county contributing to upkeep and improvement of the Arch grounds, they should have some say in making the grounds useful and attractive for residents as well as visitors.

Perhaps I am simply not talented with this interwebs thing, but I fail to find a list of committee members on the CityArchRiver website, nor the press release announcing same on in the "latest news," nor any of the media coverage thereof. Am I missing something?

Alex Ihnen wrote:In the P-D story, left column: http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/govt ... 1e413.html

Yes, I did find this quite easily. Apparently whoever keeps the CityArchRiver website current, including links to its media coverage, did not.

I had the strangest desire a few days ago. I thought to myself "go down to the riverside". But then I thought, well, where could I do that in a somewhat natural setting? I know you can get close to the river near the Arch, of course. So I began wondering where I could go get close to this powerful and ancient waterway in a pleasant natural setting with, like, a riverbank and trees and native plants and stuff like that. I rode my bike to Chain of Rocks once and I know there are some spots up that way. I looked at the map and I see Bellerive Park. Never been there but it looks like it's right on the river. I'm aware that the "riverside" isn't exactly pleasant in most places and it's been changed for safety reasons and industry.

Is there a place someone can recommmend?

See, I can't go to the mountians and I can't go to the ocean. I can, however, go to one of the world's biggest rivers if I'm feeling like I want to witness something powerful in it's natural state and maybe think for a minute. You'd never know I live less than a mile from this river.

Obviously, there is a disconnect and much of the natural beauty is gone. I think some riverside greening would be nice.