urbanSTL

Personally, I like "NoDo" for North Downtown, covering an area from Broadway/I-70 to 14th and Cole to Cass. The Bottle District/Gateway Village, Columbus Square, Neighborhood Gardens, the former Cass Schnucks site and Cochran Gardens are all within "NoDo." Pronouced "no dough," it would be somewhat tongue-in-cheek if the area would someday contain some of the City's highest priced real estate.



If "NoDo" sounds too much like Denver's LoDo, NYC's SoHo, or other overly used variations, another possibility might be "Nor-Lou," for a up-and-coming section of North City.



No matter what the catchy name, I would like to get some reference or variation of "north" in the area's name to bridge the gap between Downtown and North City. But ultimately, I don't care much what the developers call the area, as people will pick and choose their own names with time.

^Funny, I was thinking along similar lines ---



I like "the North End" for the broader area.





You are right, eventually the area will find its own name. As long as the developer can build and sell their properties, all of this will work itself out.

Got their email?

STLgasm wrote:We ALL need to email this development team to let them know that the name Gateway Village is awful and ridiculous.

I'm not big on the variations of SoHo - LoDo, NoDo, etc. It seems that just about every city has an area like that these days.

Then DeB, what about "Nor-Lou" or "North End"?

I know it's rude to shoot down an idea without suggesting one myself, but I'm not feeling too creative this morning.



I like North End, but probably because it makes me think of Boston.

Sorry, I don't like Nor-Lou at all. Sounds too much like Cindy Lou and all the Whos in Whoville. And I am getting tired of the SoHo knock offs. It is getting past trendy. I do like using "North" in some way.



Innov8ion, thanks for sharing your response from the mayor's office. They gave us a good common sense response.



How about Near Northside

Great idea, Marmar. River Pointe seems to match the vision and image of the new development (At least to me....) I'd heartily approve.



Vista Pointe looks good on paper but makes me think of Microsoft's new OS, Windows Vista. Do we really want this new development crashing on a regular basis?



Informal naming of the neighborhood will probably develop over time. Keep the ideas flowing.

Marmar wrote:Yes, I agree with you guys (Expat, Xing and innov8ion). Gateway sounds outdated and unsophisticated, alsmost cheesey. Don't like Renaissance either for the same reasons Expat gave, and Millenium has been used to death, too (and hopefully it's too late for that). How about something like "River Point" or "River Vista", something with 'River' in it? Maybe even "Vista Point" (Don't anybody suggest "Arch View" or "Arch...something"....that sounds almost as bad as Gateway.)

A little off topic, but regarding Innov8ions post with a reponse from the mayors office: I love this about St. Louis. In St. Louis there is an opportunity to participate. You may not get what you want, but anybody that is interested can participate in city living. If you care, you can take part. It isn't like that everywhere. In some cities, you can live there & observe, but you don't really participate. For instance, everyone gets excited when a new person moves onto their block. Everyone is interested in what you are doing to your house and yard. There is a feeling that each person is part of the experience and valued. I am not expressing my self correctly. I can't explain it, but maybe some of you know what I mean.

Marmar wrote:How about something like "River Point" or "River Vista", something with 'River' in it? Maybe even "Vista Point" (Don't anybody suggest "Arch View" or "Arch...something"....that sounds almost as bad as Gateway.)

Those sound like suburban enclaves on Big Bend way out west, the type of neighborhood that uses some sort of nice sounding natural term without sense of irony.



Then again, Gateway Village sounds like geriatric care under state investigation.



They should do something wild and wacky and, I dunno, use the street address or some combo of street names and the ordinal direction instead of making this seem bucolic.



Oh, and I totally agree that the Arch should never be used in a name or logo or anything from now and forward.

How about Brocole (pronounced like Broccoli)? (BROadway and COLE?)



I hate cheesy acronyms too, they are way overused. But it sure beats Gateway Village.

innov8ion wrote: crazy diatribe

RE-LAX, all of you! Who gives a flying f--- about the name, as the mayor's office and others have mentioned, people will name this thing whatever they want eventually.



I searched too, and it turns out almost all the towers on the new plan are in Charlotte -- *GASP!* Could this be for....wait for it.....



MARKETING PURPOSES?



If I'm joe-blow developer and I'm trying to market my vision for some property to, say, other developers, what better way to illustrate it than referencing buildings that already exist in some fashion?



I say we all chill out about the name. It's not even under construction yet, and you guys are freaking out like you're going to get whatever it's named tattooed on your ass. Let these people market the hell out of it however they want so the damn thing GETS BUILT, instead of mass e-mailing them about something so trivial at this stage.

Well, I guess we have been told!



But, your point is taken.

Expat wrote:Well, I guess we have been told!

Sorry, I just got pissed because of having to wade through pages of mindless crap about names and sodas to find out if anything worthwhile had been posted about this project.

The only thing i've heard worthwhile lately is that demand is even HIGHER than they expected, how else would a couple 20 stories and a 32 story turn into two towers of AT LEAST 35 stories and some other towers. Doesn't anyone else see this as a good sign? Or is it too early and they're saying stuff like this for marketing purposes?

Ya imo "Gateway Villiage" makes it sound like a nursing or retirement home.



And in reply to you SoulardD, If you look on Emporis you will see that the towers' hieghts haven't changed since like August. Not that i trust Emporis but they are saying a 52 story and a couple 30+ and thats just fine w/me.

Will resist the temptation to respond in kind to flame from kweer. Whether you like it or not, the formal name provides a link to the landmark and is part of the initial impression. If you were a developer and trying to gain traction in an area, wouldn't you want to set an impression that's favorable to potential lessees, residents and other stakeholders? In time, the importance of the formal name lessens. But in the beginning, it's common sense that it's more than trivial and worthwhile to perform a little due diligence in selecting a name that will set a good impression.



I don't buy the branding argument - Ghazi isn't McDonald's. Stakeholders don't care about the name unless it's unfavorable. Simply copying the names of developments and buildings in your home city and rebadging them in another is lazy. Personally, I don't mind the name, Vue, but pretty much everyone on here is against the Gateway Village name.



If you really care about the revitilization of the city, you'd know that every little bit counts. Especially if it only involves doing a decent bit of marketing in picking a name that sets a good first impression.



End of rant.

keer5771 wrote:

innov8ion wrote: crazy diatribe

St. Louis Texan wrote:Ya imo "Gateway Villiage" makes it sound like a nursing or retirement home.



And in reply to you SoulardD, If you look on Emporis you will see that the towers' hieghts haven't changed since like August. Not that i trust Emporis but they are saying a 52 story and a couple 30+ and thats just fine w/me.

52 story and a couple 30+ huh? Even better.

Will resist the temptation to respond in kind to flame from kweer.

That is appreciated.

I think they should keep all the towers glass, and then you could name them 'Gold'(golden glass), 'Silver'(silver glass) and 'Bronze'(bronze glass). Or perhaps 'Emerald' (green glass), 'Sapphire' (blue glass) or something similar. After all, the towers are still apart of the Bottle district, which was named because of the shards of glass found on site. This is why I like the idea of Libeskinds design more than Ghazi's rendering. The Libeskind design reminded me of shards of glass.



I did like Ghazis setup more than the fortress that Libeskind designed, but the towers looked better originally.



And Xing...does your rendering of the skyline include the Pinnacle tower? it's hard for me to tell.

The rendering includes all. ....

and if you look at it crosseyede for twenty minutes, you see a turtle

I think your on a roll with the theme, trent...I really like the way it ties in with glass soda bottles shards...it's fresh...and fits like a glove, and really just plain makes sense. Maybe "Gold Pointe", "Silver Pointe", "Emerald Pointe" (but I think there's already an Emerald Pointe, Miami? Honolulu?) etc...?...too glitzy?...c'mon folks, help us! I love this idea.