urbanSTL

And bringing 2 other companies related to their business with them

^Both of which were located outside of city limits (one in the county, one in Illinois), too. Small gains, but nice ones.

They better get moving

with all the mayhem that has gone on throughout St.Louis since last aug. & present i think most people have been overshadowed with all the doom/gloom negative crime etc. Theres many good that has been going on here! I know our growth or the lack there of isn't like the usual hotbeds however if this is a low point in St.Louis then i'll accept that things will begin to slowly get better. Theres many good projects still happening slowly but surely there be more on the horizon only time will tell. Sometimes i do feel like the city itself needs some fresh heads to give citizens a sense of hope & change or possibly I'm wrong but our leadership here is lackluster & clearly i feel like theres no sense of urgency it doesn't help with the lack of communication there seems to be. Everything has a start & finish point someday i don't know exactly when but the clouds will begin to break things will become sunnier here in St.Louis though we have many mountains & oceans to cross i do believe St.Louis will rise again in a very special way.

True_dope wrote:http://stlouis.cbslocal.com/2015/08/27/ ... -downtown/

Even though that article is trying to be positive, it paints downtown in a bad light by implying that crime is a menace here that is being endured and ignored by positive-thinking young people.

I've never had a problem with crime at all down here, not even once. Whereas in the CWE, I had my car broken into.

I don't think articles like this help very much.

In order of inconvenience, the problems with downtown are:
1) No drugstore
2) Too many panhandlers (NOT synonymous with crime, of course)
3) Too much surface parking
4) Really wish some department store would re-open

They're not major problems, and you'd think they'd all be pretty easy to fix. 1) Just build a goddamned drugstore already. There's plenty of places to put one. 2) Move Larry Rice's shelter somewhere that makes more sense. Create a TIF district to channel increased revenue from this addition-by-subtraction move to help fund homeless services wherever he goes. 3) will be solved when the lack of vacant buildings force more density. We've got to be on pace to hit this mark by 2020 or so. 4) If not Macy's, isn't there someone else who could take over that space? I'd even settle for a Burlington Coat Factory.

jsbru wrote:

True_dope wrote:http://stlouis.cbslocal.com/2015/08/27/ ... -downtown/

Even though that article is trying to be positive, it paints downtown in a bad light by implying that crime is a menace here that is being endured and ignored by positive-thinking young people.

I've never had a problem with crime at all down here, not even once. Whereas in the CWE, I had my car broken into.

I don't think articles like this help very much.

In order of inconvenience, the problems with downtown are:
1) No drugstore
2) Too many panhandlers (NOT synonymous with crime, of course)
3) Too much surface parking
4) Really wish some department store would re-open

They're not major problems, and you'd think they'd all be pretty easy to fix. 1) Just build a goddamned drugstore already. There's plenty of places to put one. 2) Move Larry Rice's shelter somewhere that makes more sense. Create a TIF district to channel increased revenue from this addition-by-subtraction move to help fund homeless services wherever he goes. 3) will be solved when the lack of vacant buildings force more density. We've got to be on pace to hit this mark by 2020 or so. 4) If not Macy's, isn't there someone else who could take over that space? I'd even settle for a Burlington Coat Factory.

You never had a problem with crime downtown? Have you ever lived there? I saw a murder and multiple shootings outside my window and I only lived downtown for a year. Not to mention the panhandling and fights and other things I saw. I'm a huge STL fan and would definitely live downtown again.
Lets not act like there aren't huge problems downtown. I've lived in 4 neighborhoods in STL. Never seen crime anywhere like I saw downtown. That's a big factor for pretty much all people. If I had a family there's no way I would consider downtown a viable place to live right now and raise kids. And I am far more "urban minded" that most people.

^ I lived Downtown for 2 years and the only issue I ever had was a homeless man screaming in the alley behind my apartment. That was solved by closing my window.

stladvocate wrote:^ I lived Downtown for 2 years and the only issue I ever had was a homeless man screaming in the alley behind my apartment. That was solved by closing my window.

Not saying my experience was normal and obviously mine is anecdotal vs. data driven. But I just want people to acknowledge that crime is a problem and my experiences are not super abnormal. I would definitely consider moving downtown again (I just left 2 months ago), but if a lot of people had the experiences I did I doubt they would. That's the problem, and I think too many people have had similar experiences to me.

Agree with everything Wyoming said. We need way more streetscaping downtown. Especially Tucker, 14h and Market. I'm glad there's finally a Neighborhood association down there- that will help a ton I think.
Once concern I always had was all 7th ward alderpersons I had the choice to vote for lived in Soulard. I think downtown needs its own alderperson.

it's too bad the the already-improved stretch of Wash. Ave. already needs to be improved again too.

mjbais1489 wrote:

jsbru wrote:

True_dope wrote:http://stlouis.cbslocal.com/2015/08/27/ ... -downtown/

Even though that article is trying to be positive, it paints downtown in a bad light by implying that crime is a menace here that is being endured and ignored by positive-thinking young people.

I've never had a problem with crime at all down here, not even once. Whereas in the CWE, I had my car broken into.

I don't think articles like this help very much.

In order of inconvenience, the problems with downtown are:
1) No drugstore
2) Too many panhandlers (NOT synonymous with crime, of course)
3) Too much surface parking
4) Really wish some department store would re-open

They're not major problems, and you'd think they'd all be pretty easy to fix. 1) Just build a goddamned drugstore already. There's plenty of places to put one. 2) Move Larry Rice's shelter somewhere that makes more sense. Create a TIF district to channel increased revenue from this addition-by-subtraction move to help fund homeless services wherever he goes. 3) will be solved when the lack of vacant buildings force more density. We've got to be on pace to hit this mark by 2020 or so. 4) If not Macy's, isn't there someone else who could take over that space? I'd even settle for a Burlington Coat Factory.

You never had a problem with crime downtown? Have you ever lived there? I saw a murder and multiple shootings outside my window and I only lived downtown for a year. Not to mention the panhandling and fights and other things I saw. I'm a huge STL fan and would definitely live downtown again.
Lets not act like there aren't huge problems downtown. I've lived in 4 neighborhoods in STL. Never seen crime anywhere like I saw downtown. That's a big factor for pretty much all people. If I had a family there's no way I would consider downtown a viable place to live right now and raise kids. And I am far more "urban minded" that most people.

I lived downtown 7 years with my wife. We didn't have a single issue with crime nor did we witness it. I realize there was crime though and I am well aware of some of the late night problems outside of the bars and clubs. I'm sorry you had a different experience, but its encouraging to hear you would live downtown again. It's interesting how different it can be for different people when we were essentially living in the same small area.

mjbais1489 wrote:

jsbru wrote:

True_dope wrote:http://stlouis.cbslocal.com/2015/08/27/ ... -downtown/

Even though that article is trying to be positive, it paints downtown in a bad light by implying that crime is a menace here that is being endured and ignored by positive-thinking young people.

I've never had a problem with crime at all down here, not even once. Whereas in the CWE, I had my car broken into.

I don't think articles like this help very much.

In order of inconvenience, the problems with downtown are:
1) No drugstore
2) Too many panhandlers (NOT synonymous with crime, of course)
3) Too much surface parking
4) Really wish some department store would re-open

They're not major problems, and you'd think they'd all be pretty easy to fix. 1) Just build a goddamned drugstore already. There's plenty of places to put one. 2) Move Larry Rice's shelter somewhere that makes more sense. Create a TIF district to channel increased revenue from this addition-by-subtraction move to help fund homeless services wherever he goes. 3) will be solved when the lack of vacant buildings force more density. We've got to be on pace to hit this mark by 2020 or so. 4) If not Macy's, isn't there someone else who could take over that space? I'd even settle for a Burlington Coat Factory.

You never had a problem with crime downtown? Have you ever lived there? I saw a murder and multiple shootings outside my window and I only lived downtown for a year. Not to mention the panhandling and fights and other things I saw. I'm a huge STL fan and would definitely live downtown again.
Lets not act like there aren't huge problems downtown. I've lived in 4 neighborhoods in STL. Never seen crime anywhere like I saw downtown. That's a big factor for pretty much all people. If I had a family there's no way I would consider downtown a viable place to live right now and raise kids. And I am far more "urban minded" that most people.

I live here now, and have since December. No problems at all, except sometimes running into 4 panhandlers on a 2 block walk wears on you.

A "retail plan"?
-remove shelters and food pantries in the heart of Downtown
-put more London-style cameras everywhere
-lower one of the highest sales taxes in the country!
-make it easier to open up businesses, will Lydas new bill do this?
-perhaps the partnership could advertise all of the restaurants and retail stores downtown, advertise a real, urban, big-city shopping experience.
-the city should offer 20 years tax abatement to any larger stores that consider buildings like Railway Exchange.

Presbyterian wrote:Make the downtown core from Washington to Market and from Fourth to Tucker into a sales tax-free zone.

I think that would do it. It's the kind of thing libertarian types in the state legislature might even go for.

Permanent tax holiday on 40 city blocks. Make downtown a regional shopping destination with retailers competing for storefronts, taking second floor and basement spaces, even. Everything is always 10% off what you'd pay elsewhere.

That might work if the state legislature liked St. Louis. But most of them hate it and could care less if it collapses.

This would work wonders for the area, but the response most likely to occur is "if St. Louis gets to do it, than everyone gets to do it. Chesterfield would certainly have to be included as well, and then you get a "race to the bottom" bankrupting the state.

^ You just described what happened to TIF.

Permanent outdoor construction elevator is now bolted to the side of the Alverne. Might be a sign of things ramping up to full force.

I've also noticed some unusual silver cylinders on the outside of the building embedded in the brick. Some are at regular intervals, some are not. They look a bit odd, I was wondering if anyone knew what they were.