urbanSTL

Crime will happen any and everywhere theres no such place thats immune to it.. The city has made strides to reduce crime & some of the statistics show. Now with a reduced population you would think homicides will be way down i think thats the biggest portion of crime that needs a little more focus and critique.

When i read about GE selecting Downtown Cincy for that lump sum of good paying jobs i was very happy for them. I happen to really enjoy going to Cincinnati. For one i think the people are very friendly and i for some reason love Skyline Chili. Wish they expand here in the Lou. 2nd Cincy resembles a bit of STL with the riverfront which is very lively now.. The Hilly Terrain gives the city a lot of Character such as Over the Rhine is a neat historic neighborhood almost a little taste of SF just midwest style.

So many people whine about Saint.Louis! the region and city itself has come so far from back in its lowest points and i see things only getting increasingly better within time.
With new river front only mistake is not having more say so about removing the highway but theres no city on this planet thats perfect and if so name them all.. BPV will add new construction also theres lots of buzz in Lacledes Landing.
CWE is humming along accept for the bad choice of not giving Covington a tax abatement which should be a lesson learned.
Cortex will be the leader of the STL region and probably all of the midwest when it comes to innovation
Hopefully Northside will begin to come together & McKee will have a better idea what hes 's likely to do with it.
The Loop Trolly will begin construction shortly also The bigger street car line should be in construction within a few years.
Ikea is building a rare store in the urban setting which many cities don't have
Many neighborhoods are seeing some real good investment and that will only increase in volume as the years go on.
Cherokee St has come a long ways and so has the Tower Grove area are both buzzing and will likely grow to be even more popular.
I love to see a LGTB oriented type hotel within the Grove area would draw more people to the area.
Downtown will only get better it's seen a few lows but with the Arcade coming to life The Old Post Tower leasing MX and many more happenings throughout downtown will be a destination for all people.
Keep in mind Jobs come and go just like residents so for the loss of jobs recently we'll begin to see a increase of jobs downtown whether thats from our burgeoning start up scene or from companies in the region or outside the region.
We'll begin to see a influx of more immigrants as well.
Saint.Louis has got a lot going on coming out of this recession & i only see things brightening even further.
Saint.Louis isn't perfect nor do i want it to be. Too be frank i like Saint.Louis as a slow growth region than some place that continues to expand taking land from the wild & people whining about deer eating their begonias.
Some places are destine to be rapid growth regions some places destine to be moderate growth region & there are some places that are happen to be slow growth regions & there are unfortunate instances of places that have stopped seeing growth all together.
Saint.Louis will see more growth while i can't see it growing like Houston i could certainly see it growing like Portland & Denver.
I don't envy many cities at all it's all about working with what you have & to promote your assets not only to out of towner's but to new comers & people who have lived here most of their live's
I take Saint.Louis then some ...

TheNewSaintLouis wrote:so for the loss of jobs recently

Recently. . .i think you mean the last 40 years. Whens the last time downtown saw a net gain of jobs. I really hope people are right about the startups. I pesonally dont see the startup fairy filling up downtown with jobs anytime soon. A few hundred or so sure. But Not the 10s of thousands we need to make up for losses. But im kind of an idiot and wrong a lot. I think yurbubs is a good one to watch. If the startups do grow and get bought, will they get shipped out of downtown and maybe even St louis completely. Yurbuds was recent bought by Harman,

TheNewSaintLouis wrote: When i read about GE selecting Downtown Cincy for that lump sum of good paying jobs i was very happy for them. I happen to really enjoy going to Cincinnati. For one i think the people are very friendly and i for some reason love Skyline Chili. Wish they expand here in the Lou. 2nd Cincy resembles a bit of STL with the riverfront which is very lively now.. The Hilly Terrain gives the city a lot of Character such as Over the Rhine is a neat historic neighborhood almost a little taste of SF just midwest style.

Cincy is a great river town as is Pittsburgh and Saint Louis. But I do wonder a bit how much geography has helped those other two cities' downtown growth in recent years. Having a nice visual backdrop with hills on the other side is a nice scene-setter which we just don't have. You really can't see the blight of East Saint Louis from our riverfront, so that's not really a problem; its more of a problem of having nothing there except a casino, rail tracks and huge grain silo, It sounds like some exciting residential and mixed-use developments may finally be coming to Laclede's Landing, but I can't help but think things would be much further along if we had a nicer riverfront setting.

Cousin from Little c*ck, AK was in town this week. She said that our DT is worse than theirs, but then again, she complains about everything and isn't very smart. She perceived higher crime in ours. Then again, she doesn't like mixed-use buildings, MetroLink, walking, or big cities in general. But to a suburban dipsh-t, DT is dangerous.

So is any person on here suggesting a change in city leadership? Who would pose a threat to the Slay administration? Slay has done some good things however i do agree he hasn't netted any big gains for downtown if any. Is there a sense of desperation? I do remember many aldermen complaining about all the development happening downtown & not focusing on other developments across the city. Maybe that had something to do with it not sure.
Both Pittsburgh & Cincy are beautiful cities but so is Saint.Louis Our hills are to the west of us we are also located on one of the most famous rivers & the regions boost lots of beautiful terrain as well so its not all flat here. I do sometimes visualize what it would have been like if the city was actually built at the confluence of the Missouri & Mississippi Rivers.

It's apparent East.Saint.Louis has had a definite bad affect on most of St. Clair county that county in general is struggling big time.
The blight alone is like out of a horror movie or worse than a 3rd world country right in our own back yards.

I love what we have to offer here whether any of the start ups will grow bigger remains to be seen i couldn't see any start ups filling up downtown anytime soon however anything is possible. Its better than what we had many years ago & that was nothing we are behind but are catching up with lots of cities & i would go on to say Saint.Louis is probably ahead of both Cincy/Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh just had to withdraw from competing for the Dem convention because its financially struggle so not all is grapes & cherries in the Pitt.
We'll eventually keeping fingers crossed nail down a big company i hope.
Not to ditch KC but we could be like them potentially losing another company to merger potentially a HQ as well. I enjoy everything that KC is doing it's a good fun happening city however we have 9 fortunate 500s the prospects of that number growing could be likely in the future who knows.
Not having a department store does leave a sour taste in my mouth it's all a matter of time patience before when things will begin to become interestingly good & happening

blzhrpmd2 wrote:I perceive several problems as a passionate observer regarding urban issues in STL and job retention/attraction.

One is we don't have an identity that is attractive. We have a lot of assets, but I don't think we really know how to sell them. I am convinced that cities like Portland benefit just as much from marketing and image projection as much as actual assets. The true power players in STL obviously are either horrible salespeople, are satisfied with mediocrity, or don't really believe their are assets to pitch. It's been discussed here before, but we need a major marketing overhaul. If we don't like what KMOV and others keep saying, then the city should start giving them something else to talk about. Just like the crime gets blown way out of proportion, a positive message could equally get blown out of proportion if pushed hard enough down the region's throat. Blaming the media is lame.

I correlate a lot of things to sports (probably to a detriment). People love to talk about how guys like Brett Hull and Bruce Affleck should be commended for their roles with the Blues in keeping strong relationships with local corporations. I have no idea what those guys do, but it's likely they are regularly preaching the merits of investing in a something special for the region. Does downtown have a similar team of promoters? If not, why? Are there people with any clout that are as passionate as the people on this forum that are employed by the city to change people's and companies opinion of downtown?

I'm thinking this is an overall regional issue about the powers that be in the region tend not to market the assets. One thought is also how the region markets itself (or lack thereof) to other parts of the country and world. I'm not sure what the reasons are, it could be divisions in the region, the powers that be are more concerned with preserving their power regardless of the greater good, or just old fashioned parochialism that ignores the world outside the metro area. Just seems in my mind that the powers that be tend to be stuck in a 1950s mindset in terms of development and economy. But I will say that it seems there Is a younger generation that is completely different in mindset that can take this next step

Someone was shot sitting at the BOB patio last night. Regardless if this is isolated or overblown. Its def not helping downtowns image.

Crime has always been Saint.Louis's biggest nightmare/nemesis
Goes to show the people who commit these crimes could care less of what you or i think it's all about business for them.
Not knowing they give every law abiding citizen who live here a bad name for the place they call home.
I'm not sure what the downtown partnership has done but they seem to have been rather quiet for a very long time.

The city does need a good marketer someone who's beyond passionate about Saint.Louis & all the good it has to offer people.
News is news what you see is what you are going to get & people seem to get off on bad news just like the criminal that garnered over 30,000 likes on face book cause people thought he was hot.

"St. Louis still awaits it's first major corporation in the suburbs to have the same realization. Firms like Clayco get the concept, but move off to Chicago rather than taking action in St. Louis to create the same dynamic. Until the corporate base understands that their locational decisions have a major impact on their ability to cultivate young talent, St. Louis will struggle. Until those same firms understand that municipal, county and state infrastructure priorities also impact their ability to cultivate young talent, St. Louis will struggle. Until the St. Louis corporate base understands that the region's economic viability depends on their commitment to a strong urban core and that can only take place if they are willing to help in the only way that matters (not dollars to put a lid on I-70, but by putting their offices in downtown or Clayton rather than Maryville or Winghaven), St. Louis will struggle.

To me, regional leadership in St. Louis is all about consistently putting this message front and center in every venue and in every way until the folks who lead firms like Ed Jones, Scott-trade, Energizer, etc. get it."

Totally agree with all of jmedwick's post above. All of us, but especially the movers and shakers (public and private) of the region need to recognize that we are one region and start to act like it....We all need to "Get It". The fates of St. Louis, Chesterfield, Saint Charles, Lake Saint Louis, etc. are all intertwined. This region as whole needs to grow. And, in order for that to happen choices made about; where to locate primary jobs, where and what public investments are made with limited resources, and how the region is marketed to the rest of the world need to be more strategic. Without real growth in the region we will continue to just move things around within this region and engage in needless parochial fights and animosity about the moves.

The way I would sum up downtown today and for the next 12-18 months is ....construction site.

The city itself needs better civic pride. I agree whole heartedly in what you wrote JMedwick.

Until companies like Ed Jones, Enterprise, Express Scripts ,Energizer & beyond realize that downtown is the heart & soul of all Saint.Louis it will not grow to the potential it could become.
Although I'm very pleased in where we're at now because 14 years ago it looked like a apocalypse happened.
Yes there's a higher need for improvement.
Including the Metro East as well.
Im thinking of traveling to Cleveland for the 1st time ever in a few weeks.

So which, if any, companies would be willing or able to make a massive reinvestment downtown in the next five years?

realclear wrote:So which, if any, companies would be willing or able to make a massive reinvestment downtown in the next five years?

What would you consider massive? A move of X number of jobs or is it an investment number?

It's hard to imagine any of the companies with major campus or purpose built headquarters moving downtown anytime soon: Express Scripts, Monsanto, Edward Jones, Brown Shoe, Enterprise, RGA, Centene, Emerson, Mallinckrodt.

But some of the companies with headquarters in generic, leased office space seem like more of a possibility: Energizer, Post, Isle of Capri, Belden, Panera, Rawlings.

Panera quitting Sunset Hills and moving downtown would be interesting. Panera is a wildly successful export from St. Louis, but most people I speak to have no idea it started here. Everyone knows that Starbucks is from Seattle, but when Au Bon Pain bought St. Louis Bread Company, it seems to have done everything is possibly could to distance itself from St. Louis short of changing the name of the bakery-cafes here. I suppose I can understand the negative connotation that St. Louis has to the outer world, but perhaps the perception is changing, and one of our native companies could perhaps start boosting the city.

^Yeah, Bunge does seem like one of the better possibilities.

Also, Energizer is planning on splitting into two separate companies (Batteries/Electronics and Personal Care) at least one of them will be looking for a new home. Ideally the personal care business (the growth side of the company) will take a page out of P&G's book (in Cincy) and move into a tower downtown.

Cincinnati today likely will approve the incentive package to bring the new 1,400 GE Global Operations Center to the downtown riverfront... the average salary will be $79,000 and over 1,000 of those will be completely new to Cincinnati. A week or so ago Cincinnati Bell also announced 600 workers in the burbs will consolidate downtown, So that's 2,000 lucky ducky workers in the past two weeks... I bet Mayor Slay probably can't claim much more from big ticket deals during the course of his entire rule over his jobless kingdom. (Makes me jealous of a city that can only claim chili 5 ways as its greatest culinary achievement! Okay, it does have some pretty awesome Graeter's ice cream.)