O?Fallon residents focus on kids, homes, roads

By Nancy Cambria

ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH

04/09/2006



O'FALLON, MO.



At a sprawling playground near the Renaud Spirit Center, preschoolers splashed through puddles, scrambled up ladders and slid down twisting slides.



Their moms were not interested in this year's aldermanic dispute about attempting to expunge the former mayor's name from the indoor recreation center. Many at the playground - relative newcomers to O'Fallon from places such as south St. Louis and Florissant - did not know who former Mayor Paul Renaud was. Some vaguely knew the current mayor, Donna Morrow.



Most knew little about the past year of controversy on their Board of Aldermen that included the firing of the city's police chief; a grand jury investigation into the city's handling of World Trade Center debris for monuments, which resulted in no indictments; accusations of improper business dealings; aldermanic feuds and name-calling; and resignations and other disputes.



But they raved about the parks complex, and the nearby soccer fields, and the Target on Highway K.



Read more...



(Uh, most of you know O'Fallon is NOT my cup of tea, so I'll let others do the talking for now...)

Hwy K is the mecca of the exurbanite lifestyle, and I believe that the STLPD has moved their location out to the exurbs.

The Post-Dispatch hasn't moved anywhere. They've had a printing plant in Maryland Heights for at least 20 years now, but their main offices and main presses are still located downtown. (I don't know how the printing is divided between the two locations, or if the Maryland Heights plant is used for the Suburban Journals.) If you've seen a Post-Dispatch logo on a strip mall in St. Charles County or something like that, it's just one of their bureaus.

jonkleinow wrote:The Post-Dispatch hasn't moved anywhere. They've had a printing plant in Maryland Heights for at least 20 years now, but their main offices and main presses are still located downtown. (I don't know how the printing is divided between the two locations, or if the Maryland Heights plant is used for the Suburban Journals.) If you've seen a Post-Dispatch logo on a strip mall in St. Charles County or something like that, it's just one of their bureaus.

I'm sure Doug was speaking figuratively. In recent times the Post-Dispatch has published a fair share of articles that paint exurban growth in a positive light, ignoring the true costs to its residents and the region at large. Conversely, (at least IMHO) much of the positive news in the City of St. Louis is met with excessive skepticism, or worse, overlooked completely.

^Not being able to respond for himself because he couldn't keep himself under control in this forum (he's fine in real life), that was his intention. Read the countless threads in the Urban Living subforum or really any subforum for more background if needed.

ThreeOneFour wrote:In recent times the Post-Dispatch has published a fair share of articles that paint exurban growth in a positive light, ignoring the true costs to its residents and the region at large. Conversely, (at least IMHO) much of the positive news in the City of St. Louis is met with excessive skepticism, or worse, overlooked completely.

It's become so predictable with the P-D that it's almost like I'm reading some P-R puff magazine.



Last weekend's edition had the fluffy article about the upscale realtors on Hwy K, this weekend's had a piece on how grandma's moving to O'Fallon to be near the grandkids. Interesting human interest, I suppose. News? Hmmm.

JustMe123 wrote:It's become so predictable with the P-D that it's almost like I'm reading some P-R puff magazine.

No kidding! This disturbing trend, coupled with the relative dearth of coverage about development in the city despite the record amount of construction, is the reason I refuse to subscribe to the P-D.

Last weekend's edition had the fluffy article about the upscale realtors on Hwy K, this weekend's had a piece on how grandma's moving to O'Fallon to be near the grandkids. Interesting human interest, I suppose. News? Hmmm.

There must be a strong core of subscribers west of the Missouri, because the Post-Disgrace has done its share of mindless pandering lately.



With that in mind, I'm rather surprised to see a series of articles that's rather critical of urban sprawl. I'm sure the advertisers in the Folio section won't be happy about this. What say you, T.R. Hughes?



I never offered my $.02 about the article that was the inspiration for this thread. I was particularly struck by the lack of knowledge among new residents- none of them knew about the ongoings in their city's government. Oh, but they expect more parking at the soccer fields and traffic relief on Highway K. One resident said he'd be happy if the city keeps building roads to relieve congestion- never mind that more roads will most likely invite more congestion.



I get tired of the constantly-perpetuated myth about more house for your money in St. Charles County. Perhaps that was true 20 or 30 years ago when the average new home price was closer to $100K, and most new homes were ranches and split-levels. I suppose a 4000SF McMansion is cheaper in O'Fallon than Chesterfield, but the idea that the good life in O'Fallon (is there such a thing?) comes at a bargain price is really off-base. And where are the savings when more time (and money) is spent behind the wheel?



Public schools are much better than what one would find in the city, obviously, but they are not without their issues, and growing pains result in an entirely different set of serious problems IMHO.



I'm rather pleased to see the trend toward denser development (New Town, the Noah's Ark redevelopment, etc.) in the City of Saint Charles, but I'm definitely unimpressed with the ongoing westward migration in communities like O'Fallon, Lake Saint Louis, and Wentzville.



It would behoove the citizens interviewed in this article to become better acquiainted with those representing them in city government, so their pressing concerns like faster travel times on Highway K and more parking spaces at the soccer complex can be addressed.