urbanSTL

The problem with St. Louis is not its architecture. On that scale, we score well.

But on other scales, we're woefully lacking. That's where our coolness fades.

Great on parks, lousy on racial harmony.

Easy on car commuting, crappy on public transportation.

Awful on suburban sprawl.

Bad news on violent crime.

Horrible on governance, especially in St. Louis County.

Same for the way police and fire departments are organized in STL County.

Great on Balkanization!

This thread is pure STL. Nothing positive can be said if you don't also whine about the negative.

No feel good threads for this town!

Nashville Charlotte, and Austin also are sprawling car centric cities w/o much public transit. STL probably has a better system.

I think the main thing is that these 3 cities are viewed as growth cities. STL and many of it Midwest counterparts are seen as dying cities. Relics of the past.

As mentioned, jobs, jobs and more jobs. That is what brings people to a region. We have seen massive job loss. There have been gains, but they are offset by these losses. We are not adding immigrants at a pace equal to our peers. With regards to the 'cool factor', I don't believe we have enough of our big names nationally, speaking on behalf of our city, giving back. Jack Dorsey is the perfect example. While he has done some things, why not open a STL office? Even if being in CA is more logical, why not a Midwest presence? What about Danny Meyer? He hasn't even opened up a STL location for Shake Shack. These are the type of people that the region's boosters should be tapping to not only promote STL nationally, but bring the wealth back to STL, in various forms. There are so many other examples. Nashville gets free press from the Country Music industry. Austin gets free press from SXSW & it's awesome music scene. Those are also capital cities. UT is in Austin, Vandy in Nashville. We have Wash U. & SLU. Bad PR from Ferguson and crime stats don't help. The decay of North City, the welcome mat for passers-by on I-70, just feeds into the 'decaying city' mantra. Local leaders, at the very least, need to clean up abandoned buildings along interstates in the city. If not, put up a sound wall. I know that is not solving the issue, but investors are not rushing to fix the rotting buildings along 70 and 44. It is also great to see our institutions investing in the city & groups like Cortex, but that should have been happening long before recent years. Crime is a killer. So many perceive STL to be very dangerous. When you are on pace for 160+ murders in the city, it is hard to refute. I know the stats are VERY skewed, but in any event, they are there for anyone to see. You cannot have shooting & rolling gun-battles happening anytime, much less during the NLCS pre-game or a block away from the Robotics Convention, in broad daylight. How many out of towners went home and ripped our "crime-ridden, Hell - hole city". It is going to take a grassroots effort, as well bigger players, to step up and invest. It is very depressing going to a much smaller (and frankly, much less livable) place like Oklahoma City and see their downtown transforming. Cities like Milwaukee getting new towers, OK City built the Devon Tower and is transforming their downtown. CINN just built a tower in recent years. We are behind the times with a lot, but investment Downtown, since the recession has cooled significantly to the point where a new tower seems years away or more. Our big companies to not invest Downtown. Just Imagine what Downtown STL would look like if 1/3 of our big companies were Downtown. It would transform the skyline. While the late 90s and 2000s saw great investment, since the recession, things are not moving very fast here. I spoke with people in OK City and they are building up their Downtown with a 1 cent sales tax. Not sure that would fly here (Tulsa rejected it) but to see the way they've cleaned up and built up their downtown, is impressive. They built a river-walk sort of like San Antonio. People here need to get off the status quo mentality and think bigger. The negative attitudes here are contagious. We need to lose the complex. People who visit us are typically amazed at how great STL is. Call it a 'hidden gem". I think we hurt ourselves here, with the negative vibe. We need a leader to step up and instill pride in our residents , force change. Hopefully, when Dave Peacock is done with the stadium, he can redirect his efforts into fixing Downtown.

Sorry for the rant! Just frustrated!

DogtownBnR said it pretty well, covering all the bases (but he could try making more paragraph breaks! ).

We have a weird culture here. There are many status quo people who think the "good old days" were better, and so constantly pining for those old days. And use that lever to criticize any new ideas.

We have old school politicians and union people sort of doing the same thing.
We have the old north/south divide as well.

I think one thing that we should be leveraging forward is our new crop of elected officials.

I hear Slay is going for a 5th term. If so, he should recruit Cara Spencer, Shane Cohn, Scott Ogilivie, Tishaura Jones, Christine Ingassia, and Jack Coatar to be on his strategy committee.

And we sort of need a vision. What is the vision for St. Louis? And a leader articulating it.

I don't think anyone buys the Joe Buck narrative that a state of the art football stadium will "revitalize" downtown/the riverfront.

We need a credible vision.

^Sorry.... When I rant, I rant.

Then I would risk being labeled an 'stltoday commenter"....

St. Louis Swagger videos.

http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/metr ... d5992.html

In all as a city county region we all need to get over the great divides they are ripping us apart this should of happened decades ago & theres no reason that we can't achieve on coming together as one Saint.Louis after all if it weren't for Saint.Louis most of us wouldn't be here nor would these little small governments. I know most say it won't fly which i agree with but i absolutely believe if Saint.Louis & county merge the city needs to be the HQ for most jobs or at least 1st when it comes to expansions Downtown is our front door & right now it looks like the door of one of our forgotten beautiful brick homes. This has got to stop! This isn't about me this isn't about race this isn't about sexuality this isn't about coolness this isn't about entertainment this isn't about crime this isn't about schools! This is about all of us this is about all of Saint.Louis coming together being one being united getting over the petty stuff getting over the major stuff finally getting over the great divide we all need to come together to become one! Thats a better Saint.Louis!!!!

I kind of like border town branding. Border between northern and southern states and border between Eastern U.S. and the West. It makes folks think of us differently than if we say we are in the center of everything. Border town implies a mix of cultures and an associated energy. St Louis -- Border Town. Then explain the clashes and influences that meet in our region.

Here is an interesting article on growth in the Pittsburgh Metro in relation to a recently released report from US Conference of Mayors:

http://www.post-gazette.com/local/regio ... 1506190114

Basically the projection for the next six years is the continuation of a bit better than average economic growth but pretty static population. I think this would be a pretty good spot for Saint Louis to be in.... population growth per se isn't the end all, be all; having steady economic growth with decent wages and a diversifying economy that boosts a region's quality of life is most important and I'd rather have that than being a mecca for population growth through low-paying jobs and retirees. Anyway, I think it is for a better jobs recovery and economic performance that Pittsburgh is widely cited as having "recovered" despite lagging population growth while we have not.

If KC laps St. Louis, that is just pathetic and embarrassing As well as places like Nashville. This city is so much cooler and has so much more potential. Depressing. And of course we can't even get Uber, so maybe we are where we belong.

jcity wrote:If KC laps St. Louis, that is just pathetic and embarrassing As well as places like Nashville. This city is so much cooler and has so much more potential. Depressing. And of course we can't even get Uber, so maybe we are where we belong.

I think St. Louis has enough exploitative companies.

Over on another thread there was a good conversation about the degree of new construction in STL and downtown in particular (beginning here... http://urbanstl.com/forum/viewtopic.php ... 30#p254271)

jsbru said: Welcome to St. Louis, where things move at a glacial pace. Last city to get Uber, and proud.

It's hard to comprehend the lack of investment in this city since the 1960s. The entire real estate boom of the 2000s brought exactly 1 new building to downtown, and it didn't even get finished until about a year ago.

In any other city, people would be breaking ground with new buildings. Cortex is the only area where things are actually moving, but that's because this area's moneyed interests are all working together.


wabash responded: By my count there were at least five major new buildings downtown in the 2000's representing well over a billion in investment: OPOP Tower, Federal Reserve Building Expansion, Busch Stadium, Lumiere/Four Seasons, and Renaissance Grand. Also, the Eagleton was completed in 2000 and (on the smaller scale) the new Gateway Transit Center opened last decade. That's not to mention the billions invested in loft and hotel conversions.

I lean towards jsbru and feel downtown's record on new construction is deeply disappointing.... we've had one residential project since the 60's and zero major office since 1989. And while there are a few rumors of potential new construction, there are few if any that can be said to be truly in the pipeline. Anyway, I'll try to post some pics of downtown new construction in other cities.

I think its hard to compare other cities to St. Louis. Every city has its own dynamics. I think St. Louis has been rehabbing like crazy since 2000. Thousands of units have come online by simply rehabbing buildings. I think we are just not there for large new construction yet.