urbanSTL

“Why don’t the cops do “x”” has got to be one of the most uttered phrases in this town.

JaneJacobsGhost wrote: ↑

May 17, 2022

“Why don’t the cops do “x”” has got to be one of the most uttered phrases in this town.

When x=police, it doesn't seem an insane request

Another shooting by Soldiers Memorial and the homeless park, which makes three in a week.

https://fox2now.com/news/missouri/three ... this-week/

Downtown needs to do what Chicago just did! Underage kids can’t hang after 6PM by themselves. An adult must be with them after 6PM.

I’ve noticed that Downtown’s problems for the past 3 years have been the same. Young kids shooting buildings or getting into fights and shooting other kids.

Regardless if they don’t have anything in their communities no kid should be Downtown roaming the streets after 6PM without an adult present. There’s no need!


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Haha and we thought all that Downtown needed was foot traffic at night. /s

This is great news for Downtown!

https://www.bizjournals.com/stlouis/new ... ntown.html

A new classified facility under construction in a historic building in downtown St. Louis will come with 500 jobs when it opens in September, with most of those jobs being new positions, a representative for the project said.

The 75,000-square-foot sensitive compartmented information facility, or SCIF, is being constructed inside the Globe Building at 710 N. Tucker Blvd.

Representatives for the developer that owns the building, Steve Stone, and for the company that is constructing the SCIF, Westway Services Group, made the jobs announcement Friday at a groundbreaking for the facility.

Between 400 and 420 seats in the SCIF on the seventh floor of the Globe are available for private companies to rent, comparable to a co-working setup for companies conducting classified business.

That fits with the mission of the NOW Innovation District in downtown St. Louis, a project led by developer StarWood Group, which owns the former Post-Dispatch building that now houses Square and Cash App offices. Backers of the innovation district seek to bring more jobs and economic growth to the area north of Washington Avenue, territory that would include the Globe Building, the former Post-Dispatch building and the T-REX incubator.

Even among those tech-oriented facilities, the classified facility at the Globe, which is the equivalent of 2 acres in size, stands out on a national scale as the first multitenant SCIF outside the Washington, D.C., area and the largest SCIF outside that region.


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sc4mayor wrote: ↑

May 20, 2022

Saw on FB that Brown and Crouppen is leaving downtown St. Louis for The Hill.

Makes sense, they’re now just sandwich shop influencers

dbInSouthCity wrote:

sc4mayor wrote:Saw on FB that Brown and Crouppen is leaving downtown St. Louis for The Hill.

Makes sense, they’re now just sandwich shop influencers

Yeah, I don't really understand what their model is right now. They seem really concerned about their YouTube Channel. 

Also, aren't they pretty much ambulance chasers? The other day I saw some wrestling ad for the Broadway Athletic Club, where the bearded guy proposes a "fight" to settle a real estate dispute or something similar, with the bill of sale hanging from the ceiling, above a ladder, in the middle of the ring.   

It just doesn't compute for me. 

RockChalkSTL wrote: ↑

May 21, 2022

dbInSouthCity wrote:

sc4mayor wrote:Saw on FB that Brown and Crouppen is leaving downtown St. Louis for The Hill.

Makes sense, they’re now just sandwich shop influencers

Yeah, I don't really understand what their model is right now. They seem really concerned about their YouTube Channel. 

Also, aren't they pretty much ambulance chasers? The other day I saw some wrestling ad for the Broadway Athletic Club, where the bearded guy proposes a "fight" to settle a real estate dispute or something similar, with the bill of sale hanging from the ceiling, above a ladder, in the middle of the ring.   

It just doesn't compute for me. 

You suggesting they've lost sight of what they should actually be doing?

I went over to the metro east this weekend. This was the first time I have crossed the river in a while. As I was crossing the Poplar Bridge back into STL, I tried to put myself in the mindset of a tourist or traveler entering St. Louis for the first time.  While the Arch and skyline are spectacular, I also noticed some major negatives. Unrelated to Downtown, the interstate/road on the east side coming into STL is a mess. Potholes, terrible road conditions in general and gang tags everywhere. Just a terrible look to go with the abandonment in ESTL. If only the State of IL took care of the Metro East like they take care of Chicagoland. 

As I got into Missouri, the gang tagging all over the place just looks awful. It is all over bridges, buildings and even the new parking garage at SOHO is all tagged up. This is nothing new, but it just gave me a bad impression, as it is everywhere. Then peering down on the south riverfront is very depressing and desolate. Then coming down 44, you still see that eyesore building on the north side of 44 just past Jefferson. The grass, weeds and brush are very high and add to the unkept look. I know it has rained a lot, but this has been an issue for some time regarding MODOTS upkeep of interstates and highways in the STL region. 

If I were in a leadership position in the City, I would take serious steps to clean up our welcome mat and along our major interstates. This has a major impact on perceptions of outsiders. It would seem to me that having regular crews out handling this stuff wouldn't be that expensive. It is the same as creating nice curb appeal at your home. There are cheap things you can do such as painting, pulling weeds and taking care of cosmetic things. STL has not been good at cosmetics lately.  Easy fix such as this will go a long way in improving perceptions. 

^ I think the view coming south on I-70 is the worst. It just gives off the last person in the city turn off the lights perception. Compared to a lot of other cities, St. Louis needs some work with overall presentation. You'd never know that St. Louis has beautiful historic neighborhoods and parks driving through downtown.

The winning contractor is a small farm business located just north of Kankakee, IL.  There's going to be an initial run of the covered routes to pick up everything that's been piling up, and then just monthly pickups for the next year.  It'll definitely help, but weekly or bi-weekly pickups would be ideal.

sc4mayor wrote: ↑

May 23, 2022

^^ It's not the city's responsibility to clean state highways, that belongs to the state DOT.  MoDot just hired an outside firm from Illinois firm to clean up state highways in the STL area because their turnover is so bad they can't keep enough of their own people on those crews to do the job themselves.  Hence, the reason roadway debris has been piling up lately.  This isn't specific to St. Louis either, but a problem in DOTs across the country.

Missouri turns to Illinois firm to remove litter along St. Louis interstates
https://www.stltoday.com/news/local/gov ... 06e8c.html

Among the highways affected are Interstate 70 from the Missouri River to the Mississippi River, all of Interstate 170 and Interstate 55 from downtown to the Mehlville area in south St. Louis County.  The cost is expected to be about $335,000, with an initial run-through the route and then monthly pickups over the course of the next year.  The hiring is the latest example of MoDOT having to look to outside help in order to plug holes in its services.  Missouri typically spends about $6 million a year picking up trash tossed out by motorists or debris left behind after accidents. St. Louis district maintenance employees spent almost 37,000 hours on litter patrol in 2021, White said.

But in recent months, staffing woes have put litter collection on a backburner.  Like other state agencies, turnover has been a problem at MoDOT. Last year, nearly 17% of the workforce left the agency. The current salaried headcount is 4,738 full-time employees, with a total of 370 full-time vacancies.  In March the state hired temporary workers to address some of the trash build-up.

I get that it’s not the full responsibility of the city. But there are a lot of places where the city could clean up. MoDOT has done a horrible job of keeping our roadways clean. not sure who’s responsible for the train bridges but those look horrible, tons of graffiti, rust and decay.

I travel to a lot of peer cities and most of them do not look as rundown as our downtown area has become. it’s just a bad look in my opinion and it could be fixed with some paint, trash cleanup and maybe boarding up the buildings and painting the boards. I agree on interstate 70. It looks atrocious.

goat314 wrote: ↑

May 23, 2022

^ I think the view coming south on I-70 is the worst. It just gives off the last person in the city turn off the lights perception. Compared to a lot of other cities, St. Louis needs some work with overall presentation. You'd never know that St. Louis has beautiful historic neighborhoods and parks driving through downtown.

For out-of-towners flying to STL and staying in the central corridor, I never - EVER - tell them to take 70 to the central corridor. always 170 to 64.  It's such a better route, not nearly as depressing. 

soulardx wrote: ↑

May 23, 2022

goat314 wrote: ↑

May 23, 2022

^ I think the view coming south on I-70 is the worst. It just gives off the last person in the city turn off the lights perception. Compared to a lot of other cities, St. Louis needs some work with overall presentation. You'd never know that St. Louis has beautiful historic neighborhoods and parks driving through downtown.

For out-of-towners flying to STL and staying in the central corridor, I never - EVER - tell them to take 70 to the central corridor. always 170 to 64.  It's such a better route, not nearly as depressing. 

My ideal airport to DT route is 170 to FPP then down Market.  Jogging over from FPP to Lindell at Skinker and heading east from there is more picturesque, however.  If ya got the time, FFP to Hanley S then Wydown to Skinker and jog over to Lindell.    

^Unfortunately, most people coming through STL come through on Interstate 70 because it is the fastest way through the metro area. It is also the fastest way to the airport for people Downtown.  It also leads you right to the Arch. Most people cutting through the metro want a quick glimpse of the Arch if passing through. Unfortunately, 70 exposes our region's most impoverished areas for all to see. The only fix would be to focus some resources on these areas. The interstate itself looks run down and old. 

A few months away for 1122 Washington Avenue (Old Reign) to be available once again. Argentinean restaurant coming across the street, El Burro Loco is booming and the new BPV Katie’s coming EOY.

2 Cardinal Way been announced this summer early autumn? Who knows but DT has a small momentum…
🫢


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DogtownBnR wrote: ↑

May 24, 2022

^Unfortunately, most people coming through STL come through on Interstate 70 because it is the fastest way through the metro area. It is also the fastest way to the airport for people Downtown.  It also leads you right to the Arch. Most people cutting through the metro want a quick glimpse of the Arch if passing through. Unfortunately, 70 exposes our region's most impoverished areas for all to see. The only fix would be to focus some resources on these areas. The interstate itself looks run down and old. 

I think a better view from area highways for cars driving by is going to be a very hard thing to do. North City already has a problem with low demand and no one wants to live next to a highway even in healthy neighborhoods. One of the worst things about urban freeways is how they lower the property values around them unless you're trying to build a strip mall. 

JJ Taino wrote: ↑

May 24, 2022

A few months away for 1122 Washington Avenue (Old Reign) to be available once again. Argentinean restaurant coming across the street, El Burro Loco is booming and the new BPV Katie’s coming EOY.

2 Cardinal Way been announced this summer early autumn? Who knows but DT has a small momentum…
🫢


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I agree. I think Downtown has big upside. With the midtown area booming, you would expect at some point, for that momentum to bleed into Downtown. Covid kind of sidetracked that momentum. 

Imagine what a free KC style streetcar running on Wash Ave between Broadway and Spring could do for downtown and the central corridor at large

GoHarvOrGoHome wrote:Imagine what a free KC style streetcar running on Wash Ave between Broadway and Spring could do for downtown and the central corridor at large

I’ve said that many times. Wash Ave needs a streetcar that connects to the NGA and goes around midtown and market all way to 4th street.


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I like this idea but I would rather have it be just a central corridor line instead of having a spur up to NGA. They will be served by the N/S metrolink. Just have it run from Washington to Grand then down to Lindell all the way to Forest Park


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