Just picked up a copy of The Gateway Arch by Tracey Campbell. He's doing an author talk at the downtown Left Bank Books June 26. This may just be the book that gets the nextSTL book club started...anyone else up for it? Anyone reading it?
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Although I'm sure it is okay to be a bit excited, just remember when you go to Tracy Campbell's talk, don't act like a pre-teen at a J.K. Rowling signing! And after seeing your tweets, I am not totally convinced that Tracy Campbell even exists... perhaps that is your pen name?
Roger Wyoming, Mr. Campbell is a history professor in Kentucky. Strange... 
Anyway, I have also purchased the book. It would be interesting to hear Mr. Campbell speak.
Anyway, I have also purchased the book. It would be interesting to hear Mr. Campbell speak.
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Via St. Louis Business Journal, Wall Street Journal reviewed it:
http://www.bizjournals.com/stlouis/morn ... 1370008037
http://www.bizjournals.com/stlouis/morn ... 1370008037
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That WSJ review is insane, even for WSJ standards. The mocking dismissal of the project's impact of black residents of St. Louis is classic WSJ BS.
http://www.ksdk.com/news/article/386400 ... al-mistake
Gateway Arch sped up decline of downtown St. Louis, book claims
Gateway Arch sped up decline of downtown St. Louis, book claims
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^ It states that 5,000 jobs and hundreds of businesses were relocated in large part as a real estate scheme to raise values elsewhere and that the vacant rate on riverfront that became the Arch ground was 2% at the time.
My write-up here: http://nextstl.com/downtown/what-the-ga ... t-st-louis.
My write-up here: http://nextstl.com/downtown/what-the-ga ... t-st-louis.
Read the book and met the guy at his talk. He took a lot of time to drive home the point that there were many voices in the 1930s that spoke up against clearing the riverfront but they were ignored. A very heavy-handed process thanks to the mayor at the time. Would recommend the book if u haven't already read it.
I wouldn't exactly blame Slay for any of it, but it does appear that policy decision-making in the STL hasn't changed very much in at least 80 years.imran wrote:...there were many voices in the 1930s that spoke up against clearing the riverfront but they were ignored. A very heavy-handed process thanks to the mayor at the time.
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Right, he's just the mayor. He's not to blame. Of course then no one in city government is really to blame. It's always someone else.