urbanSTL

throatybeard wrote:City residents. Whenever you can, we should all spend our money in the City. Don't go to the Target on Eager Road; go to the one on South Hampton. There are plenty of Schnucks in the City. Support local businesses. There are a few things you just can't get in the City right now (Trader Joe's), but spend your sales tax in the City whenever you can.

I do, and I don't even live in the city. One of the great things about increased downtown retail is that I can tackle more and more of my shopping without having to drive anywhere, while at the same time supporting the city.



BTW, Local Harvest on Morganford is a decent Trader Joe's alternative.

DeBaliviere wrote:

throatybeard wrote:City residents. Whenever you can, we should all spend our money in the City. Don't go to the Target on Eager Road; go to the one on South Hampton. There are plenty of Schnucks in the City. Support local businesses. There are a few things you just can't get in the City right now (Trader Joe's), but spend your sales tax in the City whenever you can.

I do, and I don't even live in the city. One of the great things about increased downtown retail is that I can tackle more and more of my shopping without having to drive anywhere, while at the same time supporting the city.



BTW, Local Harvest on Morganford is a decent Trader Joe's alternative.

Local Harvest is awesome! Maddie is a sweetie....



-Scott.



PS. The Local Harvest Cafe is pretty sweet as well !

Cuts need to happen across the board, and deep painful ones at that. But concerning Metrolink I think preservation of service along the Red/Lambert line should be a priority.



The County was the driving force behind Cross County. They pushed it through without Federal matching funds, and yes Metro did let costs get out of control, but the line that was working, successful, and valuable to citizens should not pay the price for the County's impatience and greed. They requested a line be built (assumedly so that Downtown wouldn't have a competitive advantage in attracting jobs) and now they have voted against paying the price for it. They want the best of both worlds: 1.) Access to cheap service labor without providing affordable transportation alternatives or local affordable housing or 2.) modern efficient transit without paying for it and without unwanted visitors.



It kills me that if county and city voted together this thing would have passed, and this city would be better for it. The Lambert Line should stay. I would rather see Cross County become an infrequent shuttle to Forest Park Station, or just have it shut down entirely, than see disinvestment and misuse of the once and still successful and integral Lambert line.

Maybe I am dumb, and there was some separate way to vote for Proposition M that I didn't know about, but my ballot had no such proposition on it. Otherwise I would have voted in favor

^ It was only on the STL County ballots

Tom Shrout posted this on Steve Patterson's blog:

Steve,



Thanks for starting the conversation. I am interested in everyone’s perspective. One thought is to create a transportation district, let’s say within the I-270 perimeter. Then have a vote which would include all district voters — city and county residents of the district. I think it would pass overwhelmingly. Those outside the district would have the option of annexing themselves.



Those in the district would get improved transit services, those outside would have a few express lines. Just an idea at this point.

Now this sounds like a great idea.

DeBaliviere wrote:Tom Shrout posted this on Steve Patterson's blog:

Steve,



Thanks for starting the conversation. I am interested in everyone’s perspective. One thought is to create a transportation district, let’s say within the I-270 perimeter. Then have a vote which would include all district voters — city and county residents of the district. I think it would pass overwhelmingly. Those outside the district would have the option of annexing themselves.



Those in the district would get improved transit services, those outside would have a few express lines. Just an idea at this point.

Now this sounds like a great idea.

I also liked the idea of a toll, goat314 actually proposed it.

Lets toll the major thoroughfares coming into the city and use that for streetcar lines and our infrastructure.

would something like that really deter people from entering the city during times other than having to go to work? would that offset what the city would take in for tolls?

Ha...if I was charged to get into the City, I'd telecommute, stop paying 1% earnings tax, and take my sales tax dollars to the County.



But why not charge a "flight fee" if anybody wanted to move out of the City? Make mandatory a home inspection before an owner could sell, and charge $2500 for it. That should eliminate any future population loss.



While you're at it, go ahead and charge to file a police report. I bet crime would go down, too.

bprop wrote:While you're at it, go ahead and charge to file a police report.

StLPD already does this.

^They do? I didn't get charged for the report I filed 2 weeks ago. I don't know anyone else that has been either.

stlmizzoutiger wrote:

u2acro wrote:It means I'd have to hurry to get home from work before the 8 p.m. cut-off and do my shopping via Metro on the weekends. My decision has to come within a day or two, and I'm really, really torn on weather I should go downtown because I love it, or if it would be easier on me to go to Shaw or something for less money. Sigh.

Or you could take a taxi or do the unthinkable and buy a car! I supported Proposition M even though I live nowhere near a Metro station or rarely use it because I think a better transportation system = better city.

Sadly. a lot of people who work at minimum wage jobs use public transit. When I worked such jobs, I made car payments, but I was lucky my parents paid my car insurance and licensing. Will malls close at 8 if nobody can work the late shift and/or afford to pay a taxi fare with the money they earned during their shift?

migueltejada wrote:If they charged a toll to come into the city the city would die a death so fast it'd make a gun shot to the head look like torture.

++



And you thought the earnings tax was a deterrant...

MattnSTL wrote:^They do? I didn't get charged for the report I filed 2 weeks ago. I don't know anyone else that has been either.

No, they don't. I've filed 2 since I've lived in the city.

Metro votes to make drastic cuts in bus and MetroLink service

By Ken Leiser

ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH

12/19/2008



ST. LOUIS -- Metro transit agency's governing board voted this morning to drastically cut bus and MetroLink service on March 30 to prevent future budget shortfalls.



The move is expected to cut $36 million a year in operating costs. Metro officials said it will result in the loss of 600 jobs after Jan. 1.



Board members heard from numerous groups protesting the cuts, including those who rely on the Call-A-Ride vans and employers in the Chesterfield Valey. OUR EARLIER COVERAGE

Metro and Call-A-Ride planning cutbacks across St. Louis region



It will eliminate express buses and much of the service reaching beyond Interstate 270. However, Metro planners said the cuts also will signficantly reduce service in its core areas within St. Louis city and St. Louis County.



link





- there are acutally a few level headed commments... maybe there is hope afterall.

St. Louis is reducing light rail service and Seattle is investing over $1 billion to expand.

Moorlander wrote:


- there are acutally a few level headed commments... maybe there is hope afterall.

true. Partially because you commented on there. Sometimes even one well thought out comment on STL Today makes it somewhat easier to look at. Mostly it falls into the following columns



a. I don't go anywhere within 50 miles of the city

b. You are an idiot for not packing heat at all times

c. North/South/West County and beyond are being invaded by (insert racial euphemism you think is clever)

d. sarcastic "Obama will fix it" comment

e. some random combination of the above

Moorlander wrote:


- there are acutally a few level headed commments... maybe there is hope afterall.

You mean like this one?



"So the racist crime delivery system is being cut, eh? Boo-hoo."

That comment was only good for comments made by that time... Not surprisingly they went down hill from there.

then there's this one



"There are people who voted no on Prop M because they did not want Westport Plaza and west of that to end up like NW Plaza"



apparently this genius doesn't know that neither place is currently served by Metrolink and both are served by Metro Bus.

JuiceInDogtown wrote:

MattnSTL wrote:^They do? I didn't get charged for the report I filed 2 weeks ago. I don't know anyone else that has been either.

No, they don't. I've filed 2 since I've lived in the city.

I could be off the mark on this. At the last Hill 2000 meeting, our beat sergeant told us that StL PD would begin charging money for any police report requested as a part of a car collision incident. I probably should have explained myself better. Sorry.

back to Prop M.



I'm glad Prop M was voted down. The city has to stop going to the county for money. Because the city has voted down the expansion to WestPort, and because we have a tremendously large amount of able bodied work force relative to the size of our city, St. Louis should levy the earnings tax and start to create (city) organic business to generate the revenues needed to create the north/south line.



We can't go to the county hat in hand and expect them to cough up the funding necessary to create more Metrolink when the only thing we have to offer is a)gross mis-management of Metro and b) "invisible, uniformed" workforce to businesses in the county.