urbanSTL

Spring, summer and fall are natural times for Downtown St. Louis to thrive on a consistent basis. There are more events going on and people are more willing to be out.

I think Downtown St. Louis could become extremely vibrant all year if the last of the vacant buildings were dealt with. Vacant buildings change perceptions about downtown and if they’re all fixed up and occupied, people will come and stick around. More residents, more businesses, more people. We all know that.

yes guests (out of town) at the new 21c Museum Hotel St. Louis have commented inquiring about the number of derelict/empty buildings in the area

My work is beginning a campaign to mandate return to office at least 3 day per week.  I am part of a small team, but most don't want to come to the downtown office, they prefer Maplewood or Olivette so they don't have to pay to park.  I have mentioned those locations also require you to get in a car and leave the office park to find lunch.  I am not sure where Corp is going to propose we go.

GSL will be rolling out an incentive program for retail and restaurants soon.  It will focus on 4 groups- national chains, regional, local and pop ups. 

I'd love to see a program like this to improve the pedestrian experience downtown and reduce speeding cars.  In order of impactful / least cost.

1. Add street parking on blocks that have none or single street parking.  Many streets downtown have 2 or even 3 lanes to zoom down one-way.  Reduce the lanes to 1 or 2 at most, effectively slowing traffic down.  It would also increase the perception of a busier downtown as there would be more car traffic.
2. Build a program for businesses to provide cheap street parking to their employees as an alternative to paid lots / parking garages.  That would help fill all of the new street parking, making walking feel more safe because there would be parked cars blocking traffic and traffic would be slowed.  Also adds pedestrians on the streets during business hours.
3. Where possible, add trees at the curb to improve shade and overall appearance.  I see lots of existing tree wells with no trees.  I also see plenty of blocks that could accommodate tree cutouts to improve the walking experience.
4. Where trees aren't possible, add planters that can accommodate small trees or large bushes.  Every block should have greenery on the sidewalk.
5. If the endless utility updates are ever complete in full, trench and repave streets so there is a decent curb cut.  Also setup a schedule to re-paint crosswalks every few years so the markings are bold and clear.
6. Rebuild sidewalks that have deteriorated, and widen sidewalks that are too narrow.

I think the biggest problem is that these all cost money, but hopefully the first few are relatively inexpensive and add value more quickly.

I'm in Omaha for the night and they have one of the best investments in a downtown and urban park system in the USA that I've seen.  It'd be great to see that level of integration in downtown STL, I like Kiener plaza but I'd add more features for a start. 

Omaha is ridiculous. Must have costed a fortune, but something to aspire towards for the Gateway Mall

Took a WSJ reporter on a 2 hour 5 mile downtown walk and talk today.  Its going to be a long form piece about post covid downtowns.  its going to be negative on the area around Pine/6th that that core around railway/att but he was pretty impressed with a lot of downtown like Union Station, Citypark area, Landing, BVP. 

TheWayoftheArch_V2.0 wrote:Just came here to post the story. Well done DB!

Way to go Denis.


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https://www.audacy.com/kmox/news/local/ ... eot0xj6l09

Listen to my 10 min chat with KMOX this morning about Clark, downtown and the narrative about the City.

Good Stuff, DB.  Love your passion for the city! 

^ yeah, gotta say, watching Denis smack stupid people around on Twitter is becoming a hobby.

Should we be building/re-habbing more office space?
Office Vacancy Rate Nears 20% to Set Fresh Record, Moody’s Says
https://archive.ph/kj2ta

addxb2 wrote: ↑

Apr 03, 2024

^ yeah, gotta say, watching Denis smack stupid people around on Twitter is becoming a hobby.

It’s the goal posting moving idiots that are the most fun.

The idiot: not safe to walk in downtown
Me: it’s perfectly fine I do it every day
The idiot: oh yeah do it at night
Me: yeah I do it at night, walking to and from Battlehawks game Saturday and do it for every other sporting event or just post dinner walk to the arch
The idiot: oh yeah why don’t you walk at 2 am and north city and see what happens
Me: why would I or anyone be out walking at 2am in north city?

"why would I or anyone be out walking at 2am in north city"
EVERY city if not every rural area has that section where you dont go out walking at 2am

courtland wrote: ↑

Apr 03, 2024

Good Stuff, DB.  Love your passion for the city! 

Yep, good stuff DB.  

The comment that stuck out to me is how you reference city employment numbers and relates to city earnings tax.  I think a lot of people in St Louis metro area would be surprised of the job growth.

Boss from kc “The office location downtown stl is looking pretty rough and scary. People will be happier in Clayton”. This is coming from someone with their office in kc is in a location in Merriam with no walkable access to any restaurant….

Well if you surveyed your employees you’d learn that all are adding 15 min or more to their commutes and people are not inclined to eat out more at the restaurants near our new office space (8000 Maryland) vs our old (600 Washington). I was in different about the whole move.

Overall, not a big impact as only about 7 employees are in at a time post-covid. Total office count is 25ish.

Kc people seem to always put stl down.


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dbehrens011 wrote: ↑

Apr 04, 2024

Boss from kc “The office location downtown stl is looking pretty rough and scary. People will be happier in Clayton”. This is coming from someone with their office in kc is in a location in Merriam with no walkable access to any restaurant….

Well if you surveyed your employees you’d learn that all are adding 15 min or more to their commutes and people are not inclined to eat out more at the restaurants near our new office space (8000 Maryland) vs our old (600 Washington). I was in different about the whole move.

Overall, not a big impact as only about 7 employees are in at a time post-covid. Total office count is 25ish.

Kc people seem to always put stl down.


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This is totally my thing too.  We are consolidating STL Metro offices (Downtown, Maplewood, Olivette  and Earth City) and I live in the city and prefer downtown.  The rest of the team is suburban and don't want to pay to park.  I don't want to work in an office park and have to drive for lunch (and add to my commute).  

NOTE:  To my knowledge we are not closing those other locations, but we will have a "hub" in one of them.

From the WSJ ☹

The Real Estate Nightmare Unfolding in Downtown St. Louis