I been thinking about doing that for a while now actually. Just been trying to figure out how to do so and when to start. I may need help with trying to figure out city government more too.jstriebel wrote:seanmcelligott644 wrote: Can't agree more downtown really needs new streetscapes I would start with Olive first and while new streetscapes are being built high speed fiber lines should be built underneath them. Why there is not a grass root effort yet to try to get this done?
I don't mean this to strictly target you. But I've seen similar questions asked a few times over that past couple of months here...
If you think a grassroots effort needs to be happening... start it. That's what a grass roots effort is. I haven't taken the next steps to organization yet, but I'm slowly but surely trying to get a transit grassroots effort started.
I encourage others to do the same. It doesn't have to be your expertise yet. If it's something you think we need, take action. We'll be better off for it. And I'm sure there's a lot of people here who would be eager to help the cause in some way.
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Awesome. I hope you do. I don't have any real guidance there as I'm still slowly figure that sort of thing out myself, but definitely let us know how we can help. Like I said, I'm sure many would want to get involved.
Yes, Simply Elegant Bridal does Tux rentals; they're at 1004 Olive. They're friendly and get you in and out; I rented a tuxedo from there one year for SLU LAW's annual ball. They require advance notice though, because they have the tuxes shipped in (they don't have them for you off the rack).Presbyterian wrote:Here's a question I received recently. A friend of mine was staying at a hotel downtown and got an invitation to the mayor's ball. He needed a black tie. Where to go?
Is there a tux rental place closer than the Loop? A men's clothing store closer than Brentwood?
Fiber is all over downtown. I have seen a number of people of the last few months be concerned about fiber being laid downtown. I can inform you that fiber runs in front of almost every building within the CID. Now the fiber has to be punched into many of the basements of buildings plus equipment to light the fiber for an additional $10k-$20k. As technology companies move within the region we will be able to provide them fiber to whichever Internet provider they want to reach. This includes fiber from AT&T, Verizon, Charter, and Arch Fiber. Not all of these companies are running down every street but one or two of them are. I believe St. Louis is prepared for the Technology company invasion from a bandwidth perspective.
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Good to know not I feel dumbtech840 wrote:Fiber is all over downtown. I have seen a number of people of the last few months be concerned about fiber being laid downtown. I can inform you that fiber runs in front of almost every building within the CID. Now the fiber has to be punched into many of the basements of buildings plus equipment to light the fiber for an additional $10k-$20k. As technology companies move within the region we will be able to provide them fiber to whichever Internet provider they want to reach. This includes fiber from AT&T, Verizon, Charter, and Arch Fiber. Not all of these companies are running down every street but one or two of them are. I believe St. Louis is prepared for the Technology company invasion from a bandwidth perspective.
The streetscape outside Washington really is awful with broken and chipped sidewalks, a lack of trees and just plain boring. I'm sure it would cost a pretty penny, but redesigning and upgrading the streetscape downtown should be a priority.
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Amen. It's nice to know the fiber is 'there', but I couldn't agree more about the need to lavish some attention on Olive Street. The Old Post Office is a beautiful building, but it is a fortress. Culinaria and adjacent businesses add some life, but I expect the area will feel much more alive once the Arcade and Chemical buildings are alive and kicking. And then there's the dead zone around the Railway Exchange. Anyway, public investment makes private investment all the more attractive; look at WashAve for proof. It doesn't happen overnight, but Olive Street needs the attention. With a more attractive appearance, and eventually, a streetcar, the opportunity is there to build meaningful connections to Midtown and the rest of the Central Corridor. And that brings downtown one step closer to attracting the retailers we want, even if it won't necessarily be on the same scale as what we will see in Midtown.seanmcelligott644 wrote:Can't agree more downtown really needs new streetscapes I would start with Olive first and while new streetscapes are being built high speed fiber lines should be built underneath them. Why there is not a grass root effort yet to try to get this done?
I dont know why this is such a toothpull for the city. New streetscaping would do wonders. Outside Wash Ave, downtown is an embarrassment. The streetscaping was woefully outdated in the late 70s. It makes downtown feel so stale. Some investment on along Olive, Broadway and 10th would do wonders. And Downtown Partnership and one of the Obata firms did a master plan years ago. Getting funding should be the number one priority for downtown.
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I agree the Central Business District and Olive are the priority.
1) Old Post Office Plaza is all new, as are the sidewalks and lighting immediate surrounding the OPO.
2) Washington Avenue has improved streetscape from 7th to 18th, I think.
3) Stifel Nicolaus is funding the extension of that streetscape between 4th and 7th.
4) City Arch River will improve everything east of there, as well as Kiener Plaza.
5) Laclede's Landing is also about to see street improvements.
6) Tucker north of downtown is new.
Have I heard plans for Olive Street recently? It's ringing a bell somewhere.
1) Old Post Office Plaza is all new, as are the sidewalks and lighting immediate surrounding the OPO.
2) Washington Avenue has improved streetscape from 7th to 18th, I think.
3) Stifel Nicolaus is funding the extension of that streetscape between 4th and 7th.
4) City Arch River will improve everything east of there, as well as Kiener Plaza.
5) Laclede's Landing is also about to see street improvements.
6) Tucker north of downtown is new.
Have I heard plans for Olive Street recently? It's ringing a bell somewhere.
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I believe the Olive streetcar will include new streetscaping.
True, forgot about that.
Yes, the streetscaping around of MX is new, but pretty darn sterile. And all these improvements are kind of ad-hoc, not done to the master plan, there's no visual consistency. Another element of this is traffic lights—wow, arcane and bottom-shelf at best.
Shall I rail against the crushed-aggregate, cobra heads?
I've said this before, but the stretch of Tucker from Washington to Clark needs the same kind of treatment that Kingshighway has from Lindell to I-64 ($$$$$)
Yes, the streetscaping around of MX is new, but pretty darn sterile. And all these improvements are kind of ad-hoc, not done to the master plan, there's no visual consistency. Another element of this is traffic lights—wow, arcane and bottom-shelf at best.
Shall I rail against the crushed-aggregate, cobra heads?
I've said this before, but the stretch of Tucker from Washington to Clark needs the same kind of treatment that Kingshighway has from Lindell to I-64 ($$$$$)
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Most of downtown streets and thorough fares can use some beautification... What ever happened to those lights in the middle of Washington Ave between 14th and Tucker i thought it gave downtown a unique look and feel.. Some streets are absolutely scary at night specially with some of the boarded up storefronts and blown out street lights. How about they plant better more beautiful shade tree's instead of those gawd awful bradford pears or cleveland pears and mesquites are kind of ugly . I would suggest like red maples or some kind of smaller oak or tree thats native to St.Louis line some streets with beautiful dogwoods but those arent much of a shade tree
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The streetcar sound very promising. But people throw it around like its funded and going to happen next year. What is the likely hood of this happening this decade? Arent we still a long way away from this becoming reality? I hope we dont have to wait that long for some improvements to oliveGateway City wrote:I believe the Olive streetcar will include new streetscaping.
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Last I read from the people in charge of it is that they believe it will be running by about 2018.
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Really? Thats frigin sweet. Is there going to be an official announcement soon?Gateway City wrote:Last I read from the people in charge of it is that they believe it will be running by about 2018.
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Sometime after the Loop trolley... 
I wouldn't take their projections too seriously.
I wouldn't take their projections too seriously.
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https://www.facebook.com/stlstreetcar
Follow their spacebook.
Hey, at least the Loop Trolley will actually be running next year. I just hope phase II of the streetcar includes connecting them. I really want phase II to be on Kingshighway.
Follow their spacebook.
Hey, at least the Loop Trolley will actually be running next year. I just hope phase II of the streetcar includes connecting them. I really want phase II to be on Kingshighway.
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Gotcha so not this decadeSTLEnginerd wrote:
I wouldn't take their projections too seriously.
I wouldn't get too optimistic or pessimistic about the downtown street car. They fell behind their original hopes, but not drastically and they are moving forward. That said, there are still some big checkpoints they'll need to meet, and it will take funding to do so, so there could be delays.
I think 4-6 years is a fair estimate, and hopefully it's on the shorter side.
I think 4-6 years is a fair estimate, and hopefully it's on the shorter side.
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I am not quite sure what you mean here, but it does seem pretty clear that downtown Saint Louis is having major troubles in the office market and it appears that things will get worse than better in the next 12-24 months.... a scan of peer cities appears to show them generally doing better. Places like Pittsburgh and Minneapolis have strong performance. Cleveland just built a new Ernst and Young Tower with multiple tenants and is bringing in more employers from the burbs. And even Detroit is moving in the right direction, although it has a higher vacancy rate than we do at the moment. Indy is one of the few that appears to be really struggling along with us even as the national economy slowly improves.downtown2007 wrote:Agree. Much of the criticism has been knee jerk reactions or stemmed from frustrations a prior experience didn't work out as planned.
I think people need to do some research of the evolution of the urban landscape in other cities over the past 20 years. Everyone seems very knowledgable but would benefit regarding this subject.
A month or so ago I said my hope was that we hit bottom with office and that things would only improve from here.... well, that was too optimistic!
edit: as for residential and entertainment/tourism sectors, I think we'll continue to make some decent progress that will help make the core more vibrant and diverse.
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As i stated Downtown is a great place to live and visit but with the lack of some key retail it will sting for awhile.. Downtown clearly needs a big company locally to step up and lead charge. I just don't understand why Edward Jones with all of its expansions continues to ignore the city do they even have one single office downtown? Express scripts Energizer Rawlings Scottrade Monsanto Boeing Schnucks etc.. I know that the AT&T tower will soon be vacant but how long will that sit empty. Should the city atleast try and build a state of the art spec building of about 15-25 floors. I know every company doesn't want to be in a 18th era building nor a 19th era.
As nice as it was last night downtown still seem pretty quiet like people are scared to come out . I do hope things will get better in the job market for downtown but right now its been all down hill
As nice as it was last night downtown still seem pretty quiet like people are scared to come out . I do hope things will get better in the job market for downtown but right now its been all down hill
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+1 agree. Ive lived here for 10+ years. Still like it but ever since last year the evenings just dont seem the same. And they daytimes are clearly not the same. Im staying down here. But until i actually see construction on the Arcade and Chemical, and a little more increase in new jobs im a little worried right now. Hopefully those will get going soonBrickCity4470 wrote:As i stated Downtown is a great place to live and visit but with the lack of some key retail it will sting for awhile.. Downtown clearly needs a big company locally to step up and lead charge. I just don't understand why Edward Jones with all of its expansions continues to ignore the city do they even have one single office downtown? Express scripts Energizer Rawlings Scottrade Monsanto Boeing Schnucks etc.. I know that the AT&T tower will soon be vacant but how long will that sit empty. Should the city atleast try and build a state of the art spec building of about 15-25 floors. I know every company doesn't want to be in a 18th era building nor a 19th era.
As nice as it was last night downtown still seem pretty quiet like people are scared to come out . I do hope things will get better in the job market for downtown but right now its been all down hill
...actually my biggest complaint lately, living by Larry Rice. His place seems more annoying than usuall
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I think a problem with downtown is all the biggest office employers in the city are not really downtown. For example Anheuser busch , Ameren ,Purina , Wells fargo advisors and Sigma-Aldrich. I think there are about 15,000 workers here but none of them are downtown. We want companies from the county to move or expand downtown but maybe the city should work with these 5 here to also expand downtown. I think the city should try get Sigma-Aldrich to move downtown. Having them were they are at now dose nothing to help the city become more urban. Yes having move downtown may just shuffle the deck but it would be better for the city to have them in downtown. Also were they are at now can be rezoned for light industry. Not to rant too long but I think Anheuser busch should move some workers to BPV it would help get the project in to high gear and AB can get a lot of free adverting at that location