urbanSTL

The N-S line should be the region's #1 transit priority. Not Boone, not South County Connector, not BRT...

A *****-n' N-S MetroLink line that will create a spine around which to attract new development in north and south City forever. It's not rocket surgery.

Gateway City wrote:The N-S line should be the region's #1 transit priority. Not Boone, not South County Connector, not BRT...

A *****' N-S MetroLink line that will create a spine around which to attract new development in north and south City forever. It's not rocket surgery.

St. Louis leadership at Metro and local government has no vision, motivation, or frankly balls to anything progressive. It's not rocket science but its definitely political. All you need to know is that the former mayor of Chesterfield is the head of Metro. Of course he doesn't see the need to expand to the urban core. He thinks that shuttling the urban poor to TIF funded shopping centers on a highway BRT is economic development.

Perhaps, if anyone is actually interested in some kind of grassroots efforts as previously mentioned, then talking with him would be a good place to start.

Gateway City wrote:Perhaps, if anyone is actually interested in some kind of grassroots efforts as previously mentioned, then talking with him would be a good place to start.

I've made an effort.

If anybody knows a better way to get in contact with him or has contacts with him, please let me know.

jstriebel wrote:

Gateway City wrote:Perhaps, if anyone is actually interested in some kind of grassroots efforts as previously mentioned, then talking with him would be a good place to start.

I've made an effort.

If anybody knows a better way to get in contact with him or has contacts with him, please let me know.

Nations?

^Yes. But the best I could do was get an email to the Metro social media manager (a former Biz Journal guy) who said he'd pass it onto the right people.

I suppose that I didn't specifically ask for Nations. I'd settle for any leadership. I'm not optimistic of hearing back, but we'll see.

jstriebel wrote:^Yes. But the best I could do was get an email to the Metro social media manager (a former Biz Journal guy) who said he'd pass it onto the right people.

I suppose that I didn't specifically ask for Nations. I'd settle for any leadership. I'm not optimistic of hearing back, but we'll see.

I would go straight to the metro board, they make all the big decisions

^ I agree Gasm, survey after survey has shown Metro that the N-S Metrolink should be our regional transit priority. Some how Metro has pulled a watered down BRT out their ass and we are supposed to just shut up and accept it, when their operation is financed by the public dollar. There hasn't even been any attempts to move N-S or Westport forward. Even if it takes 10 years (I doubt it) to get federal funding, they could move the ball with environmental studies and engineering to make the projects shovel ready. Really what is leadership doing, they gotta get their head out of the sand and realize Denver, Dallas, Salt Lake City and now Baltimore, Charlotte, and Minneapolis are washing us up.

Knowitall wrote:

jstriebel wrote:^Yes. But the best I could do was get an email to the Metro social media manager (a former Biz Journal guy) who said he'd pass it onto the right people.

I suppose that I didn't specifically ask for Nations. I'd settle for any leadership. I'm not optimistic of hearing back, but we'll see.

I would go straight to the metro board, they make all the big decisions

Yeah, but how? They don't make their contacts readily available?

Certainly I haven't dug into every individual just yet, but is there something I'm missing?

jstriebel wrote:

Knowitall wrote:

jstriebel wrote:^Yes. But the best I could do was get an email to the Metro social media manager (a former Biz Journal guy) who said he'd pass it onto the right people.

I suppose that I didn't specifically ask for Nations. I'd settle for any leadership. I'm not optimistic of hearing back, but we'll see.

I would go straight to the metro board, they make all the big decisions

Yeah, but how? They don't make their contacts readily available?

Certainly I haven't dug into every individual just yet, but is there something I'm missing?

I think you can find their contact info within 10 min of googling

Knowitall wrote:I think you can find their contact info within 10 min of googling

I can't... and I'm usually good at this stuff.

We need to pressure the mayor the our board of aldermen members to get the city serious about streetcars in the city I feel the city can get this done with out having to deal with the county and suburbs. Maybe the North south Metro-Link should be a streetcar?

If I were a fat cat developer, I wouldn't bother building near it unless Metro signed a 25+ year contract on the route. I'd just stick with the MetroLink stations and streetcar stops. They're too legit to sh-t.

roger wyoming II wrote:

STLEnginerd wrote:^The n-s line as conceived in the planning sessions in 2008, the locally preferred option was an at grade LRT with dedicated ROW. Fixed stops at roughly half mile intervals. What are you proposing that would differ from this other than you seem to propose the city forgo elusive ew gateway funds in favor of self funding the project...?

This is part of the big flaw in the crappy "BRT" proposal from Metro. Not only would there be no dedicated ROW, the stops would be no closer together than 1 mile apart.... this is going to ensure very limited economic development. Having said that, I believe actual BRT could be a compromise to overcome financial hurdles.

This is where I stand. I think we have to get as much as we can out of limited funds and BRT the sh*t out of this town. It would serve more areas faster and I think the improved experience would drive demand for additional transit expansion.

roger wyoming II wrote:

STLEnginerd wrote:^The n-s line as conceived in the planning sessions in 2008, the locally preferred option was an at grade LRT with dedicated ROW. Fixed stops at roughly half mile intervals. What are you proposing that would differ from this other than you seem to propose the city forgo elusive ew gateway funds in favor of self funding the project...?

This is part of the big flaw in the crappy "BRT" proposal from Metro. Not only would there be no dedicated ROW, the stops would be no closer together than 1 mile apart.... this is going to ensure very limited economic development. Having said that, I believe actual BRT could be a compromise to overcome financial hurdles.

Wouldn't a dedicated bus ROW be illegal in MO?

Any luck with an email address? Or an actual address? Or maybe a name to contact on LinkedIn? Really think it's time we let our voices be heard

What I find sad about the situation in St. Louis is that the state legislature is not necessarily crippling our system as much as local leadership decisions are. The public has voted to support Metro in a big way, more so than many other regions have. Yet we cant get a real vision for our future. Metro should be expanding like Minneapolis, Denver, Salt Lake City etc. The fact that streetcars are not even considered a viable option shows how out of touch this organization is. The fact that John Nations is the CEO of Metro, when he is neither and urban planner or economic development expert, further proves that Metro is seen more a political entity than a public transit agency or even an economic development agency. Seeing some of the transit plans for places like Dallas and even Virginia Beach is enough to make me sick. Especially when St. Louis has consistently support Metro in hopes of rail transit expansion. Meanwhile, cities like Cincinnati and Kansas City that cant even pass a county referendum are aggressively pursuing urban streetcar initiatives.