urbanSTL

If the state of Ohio helped out with incentives then that's the main reasoning they chose Cincy i couldn't see the city coughing up that much money all by itself.
I do think what hurts Saint.Louis in probably more ways than one is that the state of Missouri is relatively cheap & doesn't seem to want to compete for jobs like these.
Missouri is like a rose thorn stuck on your buttocks. Until the state does its part in helping Saint.Louis progress along to be competitive with the likes of Cincy Pittsburgh Portland Austin so forth then we'll be stuck in neutral worse case scenario declining even further in the books.
I know its frustrating @ times infuriating that the however so many year's Slays been in office he has yet to garner any significant job gains downtown or nil.
I'll keep my fingers crossed hope for better times but sometimes being patient eager antsy can become a bit stressing.
I feel that theres definitely no excitement going on downtown. With people getting run down on there bikes stray bullets flying on downtown streets a few places closing shop recently & streets seem like they are crumbling.
I'm beginning to think Saint.Louis is in need of some major change in direction leadership partnership etc.
The state of Missouri is in need of a major wake up call too!

Let's face it all these survey's & statistics don't go in Saint.Louis's favor.

I do think we've done some good however things could be so much better if?

Ebsy wrote: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.

This is one of those things where I act like I'm saying it in jest but deep down I really want to do it...

Some day, I will buy Panera and re-name ALL of the restaurants to St. Louis Bread Co. as they should have been all along.

TheNewSaintLouis wrote:If the state of Ohio helped out with incentives then that's the main reasoning they chose Cincy i couldn't see the city coughing up that much money all by itself.
I do think what hurts Saint.Louis in probably more ways than one is that the state of Missouri is relatively cheap & doesn't seem to want to compete for jobs like these...

Certainly major state and local tax incentives are needed to lure these types of marquee deals these days (basically that's how Texas has been so successful with relocations rather than any inherent greatness of the state) and the question does arise whether Missouri has the toolkit to attract big deals.... I believe the Nixon administration wants to overhaul tax incentive programs in a manner that would scale back many of the existing programs and free up more revenue to go after larger-type deals. Anyway, Missouri is occasionally mentioned as a contender for major manufacturing expansion (Bombadier & Boeing come to mind in recent years) but it is almost unheard of for major office moves so something isn't working. It would be nice to float a state and local super-package for ATT One Center and try to get in the game on deals like Charles Schwab moving back office out of San Francisco, etc.

^you may be joking about raising and using the city income tax as a negotiable incentive tool, but I think something along those lines would be a good idea for large relocations

So can we now cross off the 1% tax off the list of excuses business are not choosing downtown. Just like we can cross off the "Just need more residents" excuse. Whats left then. . .Maybe the perception of crime/safety. Maybe lack of modern class a space? Or just the dingy feel of downtown streets, buildings(Old architecture aside)

^ i don't think the problem is inherent to downtown. there seems to be a mindset in which downtown is dismissed out of hand.

DannyJ wrote:Like, if you bring 500-1000 new jobs and keep them here for 10 years, cut the earnings tax on employees in half. Something like that

We've done that on occasion, I recall that was used for the Polsinelli law firm move downtown a few years ago but not sure if for others like the Hudson Bay move.

edit: it does look like a reduction or recapture of city earnings taxes has been pretty standard in recent years for added jobs.

We should hope colleges continue to build DT as well. SLU Law brought 1,200 people there. Webster will bring a lot as well, though I don't know how many exactly. The new dental school is very close, too. Perhaps STLCC should start adding classes also. I would love to see UMSL or Wash-U put a campus down there, too, even if just small ones. DT needs to attract students if it can't attract offices.

I tell out of towner's Saint.Louis is a much better city than what the statistics show. Yes we have some deep to minor problems but what city doesn't. I also tell out of towner's Saint.Louis has 2 separate government's & if those entities were joint together then our population would be a estimated 1.3 million or so but since there's 2 separate governs the city's population is what statistics are show including all of the other rankings.
I really think our own residents tend to dwell on the negatives than positives which give the entire region a bad stigma.
further more what does Austin & other cities have that Saint.Louis doesn't. Yes they are current boom cities however Saint.Louis was a boom city before to & can very well replicate that boom if city leaders state leaders & Ceo's of our major companies all pull together as one.
Reading all this negative information hasn't gotten my head tilted down in embarrassment I'm completely proud to be a born bred Saint.Louisan.
Just because we're not a Chicago Denver San Francisco Etc doesn't me we're any less than what they are. They may have more going on there than what we have however things are happening here albeit slow pace but slow can lead into a accelerated pace.
It's great learning about what other cities are accomplishing & we're doing the very same. I applaud IKEA coming into the city & i believe this is the 1st of big retailers entering the city.
Ever changing neighborhoods through out the city will only get better. Those horrible days of a city left for dead are nearing the end.
I hope someday i can drink some champagne to that!
Whether i'm in the City or County or anywhere around the country/world my blood bleeds Saint.Louis.

^ Well said. There are a lot of exciting things going on in the city, including downtown. I think progress has been pretty impressive the past few years on downtown residential and attractions, and I am sure there will be more announcements on those fronts in the coming months. It also will be interesting to see how much these projects will spur attendant retail as more units and attractions actually come on line.

On the salaried jobs front, obviously we are facing some serious struggles but I do see some signs that we are starting to turn things around despite having to absorb some sharp blows yet to come (VA and however many are yet to wring out of the ATT fiasco)... certainly I think the main impediment here is with the overall sluggish regional economy.

If there were more affordable units, students would be clamoring for a place down there. And, of course, more campuses for there to be a reason for 18-20 somethings to want to live there. I wish the Art Institute had picked Downtown. Or, shoot, just near any MetroLink station in ST. LOUIS. Even if it were just the Sunnen station or something!

Is there an event going on downtown today?.
There was a large amount of foot traffic down olive with young people and young families.

Thousands packed BPV for the futbol match.

Yes enterprise is in Clayton but it wouldn't hurt if they made a real presence in downtown another is Edward Jones they are about to go through another expansion in Maryland Heights why don't they make a presence downtown & claim a spot in these prime locations. AT&t Tower BPV Lacledes landing are all good choices.. We do need a better corporate presence downtown. We have great companies i just think one is afraid of making the jump back into the city to avoid a possible conflict between county vs city . Brown Shoe should make a presence downtown as well ..

roger wyoming II wrote:^ isn't Enterprise Holdings Clayton-based? I'm trying to think who has a downtown HQ -- or at least large downtown presence -- that could consolidate hundreds of workers from the suburbs to downtown. We've had a few modest cases, like when Anders acquired a suburban firm and moved those 60 workers downtown, but nothing big time.

They're technically Clayton based, but their current campus is south of downtown Clayton and could definitely be described as "souless suburban."

I'd just like to point out that Cincinnati has a 2.1% earnings tax. I apologize if anyone has already mentioned that.