urbanSTL

that there is no healthy city in the US that offers free parking downtown pretty much proves that parking is not the issue.

I think the big perception isn't crime although media was has tried doing its best to hype it up. I really think people just don't think theres nothing to do downtown accept a sporting event or a few festivals/parades. Why venture downtown while you are minutes away from getting what you need and want within your neighborhood or elsewhere.

TheNewSaintLouis wrote:I think the big perception isn't crime although media was has tried doing its best to hype it up. I really think people just don't think theres nothing to do downtown accept a sporting event or a few festivals/parades. Why venture downtown while you are minutes away from getting what you need and want within your neighborhood or elsewhere.

Agree 100%

True_dope wrote:

TheNewSaintLouis wrote:I think the big perception isn't crime although media was has tried doing its best to hype it up. I really think people just don't think theres nothing to do downtown accept a sporting event or a few festivals/parades. Why venture downtown while you are minutes away from getting what you need and want within your neighborhood or elsewhere.

Agree 100%

Then how do we educate the public crime is not out of control and that there is plenty to do?

Maybe the downtown partnership could advertise on local and state wide media. I feel the city needs a modern PR campaign to advertise downtown to young people. Like NYC did in the early 90s

I really have no reason to go downtown unless its for a sporting event and even then i don't stick around...i park in soulard and take a shuttle and a shuttle back then hang out at Soulard bars.

dbInSouthCity wrote:I really have no reason to go downtown unless its for a sporting event and even then i don't stick around...i park in soulard and take a shuttle and a shuttle back then hang out at Soulard bars.

Ok that's fine but, why? There are plenty of interesting places to go to for all tastes. What would it take to get you to stick around?

dbInSouthCity wrote:I really have no reason to go downtown unless its for a sporting event and even then i don't stick around...i park in soulard and take a shuttle and a shuttle back then hang out at Soulard bars.

You sound fascinating.

With all the development going on in Clayton i really feel downtown has lost a lot of its edge. I mean you have a few projects going on downtown but nothing like the extent of Clayton however as I'm typing this theres nothing historical about Clayton. They don't have the big old red brick buildings like Downtown does so if we didn't have as much as the older building stock i could see plenty of new high-rises being built downtown. I do think its only a matter of time before things start to turnaround. I would love to see better street scape and more of our natural native trees planted downtown.. I personally believe anything North of Market will naturally come back Washington is a beautiful street under utilized the same with other downtown streets. The one thing i think that does hurt downtown maybe I'm wrong is that all the restaurants are spread all over in sporadic area's that are quite uninviting to the pedestrians eye. I think once more buildings begin to get refurbished then that adds a bit more vibrancy to the area. Downtown has a long ways to go many cities may be ahead of us but i do think things will begin to pick up more

What Clayton has: Tons of jobs and upper middle class white people.

dbInSouthCity wrote:I really have no reason to go downtown unless its for a sporting event and even then i don't stick around...i park in soulard and take a shuttle and a shuttle back then hang out at Soulard bars.

Recreating 1965 in Downtown just so you'll visit occasionally isn't a feasible strategy in my view.

ill be there next saturday for a birthday! i even suggested to my friends to go this saturday to watch the Mizzou game somewhere, they opted out for Southtown Pub or SOHA

The sad reality is that downtown has had many spots like the Wheelhouse for quite some time.

I don't despise it, i prefer to stay close to home and support business' in the neighborhood....Blue Moon beer at southtown or the Mack is the same blue moon at the wheelhouse or any other place downtown

dbInSouthCity wrote:I don't despise it, i prefer to stay close to home and support business' in the neighborhood....Blue Moon beer at southtown or the Mack is the same blue moon at the wheelhouse or any other place downtown

Yeah I like supporting my business downtown near my loft but sometimes you have to branch out and see what the entire city has to offer. The great thing about out city it that it has many unique neighborhoods, downtown included. We can do both.

dbInSouthCity wrote:Blue Moon beer at southtown or the Mack is the same blue moon at the wheelhouse or any other place downtown

Yep, it's a Coors product wherever you drink it.

I am now a downtown resident. It's a beautiful place to live, but it suffers from a lack of basic amenities, which make things inconvenient. There needs to be a drug store down here open 24 hours...or at least until midnight or something. Cullinaria now closes at 9pm due to "problems with homeless people" after that...or so their clerk told me.

Lots of the restaurants close early, too. Many are only open for breakfast/lunch, and the ones open later usually close by 9 or before. Even though I have a 9-5 job, I'm as much of a night owl as you can get, and get hungry at like 10 or 11.

Can't say I blame many of these restaurants, though. They're all pretty vacant during the weekdays. It seems like there should be a lot more people walking around down here with all the Wash. Ave lofts and some of the residential closer to the river. But it's pretty much a ghost town. Even when I walk to work during "rush hour," the streets are fairly vacant of pedestrians. Of course, I say this coming back from working in downtown Chicago over the last year where there's so many people walking around at 5pm that you literally get pushed by the crowd out into the street.

There's still a lot of people that work down here, but they apparently flee in their car right after work. Downtown needs to keep adding residential to keep establishments going year-round and round-the-clock. Places that primarily benefit from sporting events, the downtown lunch crowd, and the Wash Ave. weekend bar crowd can't create a livable neighborhood. Hopefully, when the Arcade-Wright gets filled with residents, it will help out. But I think downtown needs something more dynamic. The Chemical Building is beautiful. Hard to believe with that historic facade and bay windows that it hasn't been turned into upscale historic apartments. Makes you really wonder who's running the show in this city and why things take so long to develop. In Chicago, Rahm supposedly passes out posters that read "Getting sh*t Done in Every ***** Ward." St. Louis needs more of that attitude and less hemming and hawing over "this plan isn't perfect." And it needs developers and investors that are not afraid to take risks. The housing crash was unfortunate, but that's over now. It's time to start building again. Including BPV.

jsbru wrote: It seems like there should be a lot more people walking around down here with all the Wash. Ave lofts and some of the residential closer to the river. But it's pretty much a ghost town.

How long have you lived downtown? It wasn't this bad 2 or 3 years ago. Im glad to see more people pointing out how dead downtown is during the day and during the weeknights. Ok glad isn't a good word. Now i don't feel so crazy b!tching about the same.

In a way i hope we see some big names close down on Washington/Landing/Etc this winter(We have The Collective and Show-Me's so far). I think that's the only thing that will get the attention of leaders who seem to be ok with the current state of downtown.

BTW. . .does anyone know what happened with Chemical. Is it dead, delayed, anything?

^