urbanSTL

Black02AltimaSE wrote: ↑

May 05, 2021

In Crestwood, the main problem is thieves going through unlocked cars (although that seems to have slowed down recently). The same goes for Webster Groves, Kirkwood and Sunset Hills, I believe. Gunfire is not an issue.

Property crime is not that big of a deal for me, happens pretty much anywhere from Europe to San Francisco. We've gotten our garage and car broken into and just accept it as a fact of life in an urban area. Gunfire, however, is definitely something that I was not used to (and neither was my wife, who grew up in a large city I the East Coast) and much more of a dealbreaker. When we lived in Soulard it wasn't that big of a deal as it always sounded it was coming from some other neighborhood (usually South/Southwest). Now it has been happening literally a block away from us.

I live in Tower Grove South and hear gunshots occasionally. They normally sound like they are south of Gravois.

I see the two Tower Grove neighborhoods strengthening right now, and I think the rehabs speak for themselves. I'm not considering a move from the neighborhood. 

^Couldn’t agree with you more. I’m in TGS. Moved here 6 years ago and back then there were times when I was a bit nervous about the crime situation. I know we definitely still have crime in the neighborhood but it’s been a long time since it’s been something I worry about too much. All you see these days in the neighborhood are people pushing strollers (seriously so many more kids in the last few years!), walking dogs, gardening, etc. We even have outdoor impromptu jazz concerts on Utah Place...in short, the neighborhood is fantastic and I’d recommend to almost anyone.

I say almost anyone because while I feel very safe here, you can’t have an expectation of say West County level crime. If your tolerance for crime is basically zero, move to St. Louis Hills. There you get basically County level low crime in a neighborhood that is still cooler than the burbs.

^"All you see these days in the neighborhood are people pushing strollers (seriously so many more kids in the last few years!), walking dogs, gardening, etc....the neighborhood is fantastic and I’d recommend to almost anyone." 

Thanks, and I agree--would say the same thing about Holly Hills, especially during the day. But at night its a different world, at least in the surrounding area. The problem is that the neighboring hoods seem to be declining steadily and I worry about spillover here. As someone said above, the challenge with urban living compared to the burbs is that the "nicer" neighborhoods are literally blocks away from the not-so-nice neighborhoods. I'm hopeful that the incoming federal money will be used in a way that helps stabilize just one of Bevo, Carondelet, or Patch, and maybe just slow the rot in Dutchtown. But assuming the current trajectory will continue then I'm pretty bearish on the future of Holly Hills and the rest of Southeast StL. 

As to where we might live next, I appreciate all the feedback. We're a single (middle) income, no-wealth family of five, so Creve Coeur, Ladue, Frontenac, and probably even Webster Groves and Kirkwood, are out of our reach for the foreseeable future, unless we want to otherwise reduce our lifestyle. I grew up in Oakville and have no interest in returning there or to similar suburbs. I want to live in a neighborhood, not a subdivision. Shrewsbury sounds appealing, didn't think of that one.  Perhaps Richmond Heights/Maplewood, too?

For now we're going to sit tight and stay vigilant, including acquiring and learning to use firearms and finding likeminded neighbors to start a watch/patrol of some kind.

Well - I live in the Gate District.  Lafayette and Nebraska.  New homes up and down the street and a totally different look than when I moved in 2009.  That said, for years I never seemed to hear gun shots and now I hear them on occasion - maybe a handful of times at most.  One of the perceived problem areas seems to be Pennsylvania as it wraps around the block backup up to I-44.   It has been patrolled from time to time and I think deals go down back there.  I sincerely hope we get gun violence under control.

Looks like someone was out Saturday night randomly shooting people in areas along the Inner Belt.

"UNIVERSITY CITY, Mo. (KMOV.com) - The fatal shooting of a doctor outside a Brentwood, Mo. hotel and a 70-year-old woman in University City may be connected, police say."

https://www.kmov.com/news/shooting-deaths-of-doctor-70-year-old-woman-may-be-linked-police-say/article_dde8e542-b780-11eb-ba22-f3fdff948816.html?block_id=990844

Stltoday - Early Cure Violence statistics promising, city health official says

https://www.stltoday.com/news/local/cri ... 384b1.html

^ that is pure nonsense, its comparing 5 months vs 12 months  

It almost serves to raise more skepticism of the program when they roll out a narrative of positive results when 1.) we're talking about 5 months, none of which are in the summer where crime is historically higher and 2.) even projected over 12 months the numbers are at absolute best a nominal improvement.

Stltoday - St. Louis technology detects lots of gunfire, but calls often lead to a dead end

https://www.stltoday.com/news/local/cri ... 97e21.html

It's almost as if they need something to pair with the ShotSpotter... like some overhead surveillance concept that could circle around the city for hours on end and track vehicles that are driving away at high speeds from pinpointed gunfire, which could at the very least create a virtual route map of suspected vehicles that could then be used to identify surveillance cameras such as ring doorbells to capture license plates, driver information, or details on each suspected vehicle.  But that's just a pie in the sky concept I guess.

^ you shut your mouth. piles of dead children is a small price to pay for the freedom of not having your insurance company know that you hit a parked car and drove off.

Laife Fulk wrote: ↑

May 29, 2021

It's almost as if they need something to pair with the ShotSpotter... like some overhead surveillance concept that could circle around the city for hours on end and track vehicles that are driving away at high speeds from pinpointed gunfire, which could at the very least create a virtual route map of suspected vehicles that could then be used to identify surveillance cameras such as ring doorbells to capture license plates, driver information, or details on each suspected vehicle.  But that's just a pie in the sky concept I guess.

They did that in Baltimore and it didn’t do anything. Hence why the money guy stopped funding it. Issue is that the tech guy of the spy plane was using amateur technology. Heck my firm has cameras that can tell your body temp from the sky.

^ one data point devoid of any context seems a bit slim to rule out all potential applications. there are other data points that demonstrate its efficacy. also not sure cutting edge (and more expensive) technology is necessary for this purpose. the important part is the coverage. if the resolution were any better people would just double down on the "spy plane" nonsense. if somebody else wants to step up and do it better then great, but i expect that people just want to oppose it on principle.

dbInSouthCity wrote: ↑

May 29, 2021

Laife Fulk wrote: ↑

May 29, 2021

It's almost as if they need something to pair with the ShotSpotter... like some overhead surveillance concept that could circle around the city for hours on end and track vehicles that are driving away at high speeds from pinpointed gunfire, which could at the very least create a virtual route map of suspected vehicles that could then be used to identify surveillance cameras such as ring doorbells to capture license plates, driver information, or details on each suspected vehicle.  But that's just a pie in the sky concept I guess.

They did that in Baltimore and it didn’t do anything. Hence why the money guy stopped funding it. Issue is that the tech guy of the spy plane was using amateur technology. Heck my firm has cameras that can tell your body temp from the sky.

Can your employer propose their tech as an improved solution? I get that maybe the previous proposal didn’t have the greatest tech, but if that’s the issue then it shouldn’t be hard to improve and implement correctly.

Trololzilla wrote: ↑

May 30, 2021

Just buy a couple of Zeppelin NT's from the Zeppelin company and outfit them with a sensor and camera suite. Each NT has an endurance of 24 hours, so you could have 24/7 aerial coverage. The gondola is pretty big too; you could even turn the passenger compartment into a ready room for a SWAT team and have them fast rope out the side or back doors if you need a QRF.

At least, that's what I'd do if I had my own city.

Strong Gotham City vibes there

Laife Fulk wrote: ↑

May 29, 2021

dbInSouthCity wrote: ↑

May 29, 2021

Laife Fulk wrote: ↑

May 29, 2021

It's almost as if they need something to pair with the ShotSpotter... like some overhead surveillance concept that could circle around the city for hours on end and track vehicles that are driving away at high speeds from pinpointed gunfire, which could at the very least create a virtual route map of suspected vehicles that could then be used to identify surveillance cameras such as ring doorbells to capture license plates, driver information, or details on each suspected vehicle.  But that's just a pie in the sky concept I guess.

They did that in Baltimore and it didn’t do anything.   Hence why the money guy stopped funding it.    Issue is that the tech guy of the spy plane was using amateur technology.  Heck my firm has cameras that can tell your body temp from the sky.

Can your employer propose their tech as an improved solution?  I get that maybe the previous proposal didn’t have the greatest tech, but if that’s the issue then it shouldn’t be hard to improve and implement correctly.

i'm not buying the tech excuse, and i don't recall that being the reason it wasn't funded. originally it was "privacy concerns" and "spy plane" and now it's "the tech isn't good enough"? South City aldermen and the opposition-on-principle were just rummaging for a reason to oppose it, despite North City aldermen supporting it. you don't need to be able to measure body temperatures or even resolved license plates to be able to track a car from the air. and if it could read license plates everybody would just b*tch about that (like they did despite the fact that it can't). they got lucky and the donor pulled out based on very limited data, so now the opposition can claim ideological superiority while the body count climbs.

There is no crime in St. Louis



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Really interesting story about Atlanta and crime.

Amid surge in violent crime, Atlanta’s wealthiest neighborhood ponders new city

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national ... story.html

Basically, the richest area in Atlanta wants to create its own city to keep more of its tax $$ to "prevent" crime. Sounds like the Great Divorce but centuries later. Also, for as bad as crime is in Atlanta, kinda pales in comparison to STL.

Fascinating research out of NYU on the value of policing, featured on NPR's Planet Money: npr.org/sections/money/2021/04/20/988769793/when-you-add-more-police-to-a-city-what-happens

Williams and his colleagues find adding a new police officer to a city prevents between 0.06 and 0.1 homicides, which means that the average city would need to hire between 10 and 17 new police officers to save one life a year. They estimate that costs taxpayers annually between $1.3 and $2.2 million. The federal government puts the value of a statistical life at around $10 million (Planet Money did a whole episode on how that number was chosen). So, Williams says, from that perspective, investing in more police officers to save lives provides a pretty good bang for the buck. Adding more police, they find, also reduces other serious crimes, like robbery, rape, and aggravated assault.

Even more, Williams and his coauthors find that, in the average city, larger police forces result in Black lives saved at about twice the rate of white lives saved (relative to their percentage of the population). When you consider African Americans are much more likely to live in dense, poverty-stricken areas with high homicide rates — leading to more opportunities for police officers to potentially prevent victimization — that may help explain this finding.