The State of Downtown

StlAlex · Post2:49 PM - Today#82012026-07-14T14:49+00:00

SB in BH wrote:
StlAlex wrote: ↑
3:43 AM - Today
courtland wrote:Why wasn't the innovation district being worked on concurrently?
There was like a 45% chance Kehoe would veto it lmao

Also as usual, slopulist lefties on Reddit pretending this bill is comparable at all to a football stadium handout.

Sent from my SM-S936U using Tapatalk
Apologies, I'm old and detached from online political debate (this site excluded). What is a "slopulist leftie" and how are they comparing this to sportsball subsidies?

Slopulist lefties are people on the left who take populist positions for the sake of taking them, not understanding the nuance behind the position.

In this case, I have seen some try to make out this bill as a "handout" to developers like last year's stadium bill was a handout to billionaire owners. They are partially correct, however, in this case, this "handout" directly helps one of the state's biggest problems in an excess of unused office space, it will directly help create more housing through conversion of that office space, it will help more development of new housing, entertainment, lodging, and office generally, it directly helps urban centers, and there will be more of a direct tax revenue impact for both municipalities and the state than with the stadium subsidies. So opposing it because it's a "handout" is dumb and slopulist.

Sent from my SM-S936U using Tapatalk

DogtownBnR · Post2:50 PM - Today#82022026-07-14T14:50+00:00

kg2024 wrote: ↑
2:16 PM - Today
addxb2 wrote: ↑
11:50 PM - 1 day ago
Rams bills allocating $55M and HB 3231 signed on the same day. Could be the biggest day in government action to lift up downtown this decade. Let’s hope the innovation district is created quickly.

Explore St. Louis takes control of Dome and receives powers and duties of the Sports Complex Authority (RSA) beginning Aug. 28, 2026.

Big summer!
Additional details about the $55M appropriated for Downtown (full bill language here):

The amended bill focuses this money on the implementation of the Design Downtown STL neighborhood plan that was adopted in 2020 and is the formal roadmap for revitalizing Downtown & Downtown West, which had significant public input. This is an important amendment because it keeps the use of the funds in line with the community's desires and existing goals and hopefully minimizes another period of vision-planning and indecision.

Within the $55M Downtown Neighborhood Plan Implementation Fund there are subdivisions as follows:

Strategic Major Capital Projects Fund - $30M

- Supporting long-term vacant building stabilization and redevelopment
- Supporting Downtown streetscape, pedestrian, green space, and mobility capital projects ($10M minimum on projects like these)

Riverfront Fund - $15M

- For increasing commercial activity and pedestrian access; signage, wayfinding, beautification, accessibility, and urban activation support infrastructure; and incentivizing Riverfront ground-level development and improving river-oriented attractions (like a boat dock for river tours and cruises).

Downtown Retail and Events Program Fund - $10M

- To support "active" recommendations in the neighborhood plan such as: strategic retail and restaurant activation along major corridors including sidewalk cafes, parklets, Open Streets, facade improvements, white-boxing retail locations, etc.
- Creation of a public-private partnership fund to support the recruitment of sporting events ($2.5M minimum)

It will be interesting to see in the coming months what city departments will come up with on implementation plans and what features of the Design Downtown STL Plan will be focused on. Hopefully some of these things can be done with in-house staff to avoid giving funds away to consultants and lengthy planning timelines and things can just get done, its time!

I'd like to see there be some funds to paint dilapidated train bridges downtown. The bridges coming across the Poplar & the bridges south of Busch by Purina look awful & send a terrible signal to visitors. Paint them with the St. Louis flag, the Arch, Cardinals - Blues. As much as I despise taggers, they usually leave art alone. I hope the crumbling sidewalks are part of the plan. I still think some kind of McBarge floating restaurant would be a great attraction on the river. Doesn't have to be a McDonalds, but that would be cool to bring back. Better signage by the Arch, into the Landing would be nice.
I'm still for beautifying & stabilizing dilapidated buildings north & south of downtown, so visitors passing through on 70 & 44 are not seeing a bunch of decayed, burned out buildings. That drive down 70 into downtown is a bad look.

Also, it would be cool to get some big time concerts under the Arch for the 2028 Olympic games here. There should be an Olympic symbol placed near CityPark after the 2028 games to commemorate the fact that actual Olympic games were played here.

I am very excited that Kehoe signed 3231 & the City is finally spending the Rams money. It is a shame that the tornado happened, but it had to be addressed.

StlAlex · Post2:51 PM - Today#82032026-07-14T14:51+00:00

GoHarvOrGoHome wrote:Here is that plan

Reading through this really brings me back. It's crazy how much can change in six years. Still a lot of good stuff. RIP the garment district, I thought that was a good idea but I guess it just ran out of steam.

One of my biggest gripes with this plan is that they don't seem to want to push mixed use residential north of Lucas Ave or south of the train tracks (IE page 118)

Downtown operates as an island (although now at least has some nice bike infrastructure connections) and IMO we need to be focusing on rebuilding these outer areas just as much as the core. Stitching downtown back into the cities greater urban fabric should be a macro level priority for STL

I think if the core of downtown could get closer to that of Indianapolis, for example, it would become much easier to get the edges of downtown developed, as opposed to doing it the other way around or simultaneously.

Sent from my SM-S936U using Tapatalk

addxb2 · Post3:29 PM - Today#82042026-07-14T15:29+00:00

The Design Downtown plan would also be a sufficient document for the Master Plan requirement for the Missouri Innovation District. Assisting further is the Executive Branch (Mayor) has individual authority to request the district. Limited risk that creating the district gets caught in alders drawing lines.

I expect the district will match that of the planning area for Design Downtown.

kg2024 · Post4:10 PM - Today#82052026-07-14T16:10+00:00

The boundaries of the Design Downtown STL plan are the same as the official city neighborhood boundaries of Downtown + Downtown West (bounded by the river, Chouteau, Jefferson, and Cole). The plan largely includes all of the other prerequisites for the "Master Plan" that the innovation zone bill outlines:

The State of Downtown

Choose Display Mode