urbanSTL

backthecity wrote:bicycle taxis

skating rink by winter that doubles as a roller rink by summer

palm trees brought in each summer along the river or along Washington Ave as in what Mayor Daley does along North Ave Beach

A downtown dog park

A trolley that loops around downtown

One street that is strictly pedestrian friendly

Ferris wheel (Navy Pier-size) downtown or at Union Station

roof-top bar downtown (in the style of Ghostbar at the Palms)

Dog Park downtown

How does that work? Is that like a rickshaw only with bike instead of human?



Or is that a jest?

Is that like a rickshaw only with bike instead of human?

Yup.

I would like to see a cleaning crew scrub the major sidewalk thoroughfares at the beginning of each morning. It would be great to have some kind of organization whose sole purpose was to keep the major D.T. sidewalks sparkling. All this development downtown is great, but the sidewalks are often so cruddy looking it makes you wince. The worst stretch is on the no. side of Washington, from Ventana eastward to 14th, and the south side in front of Copia.

My creative ways to spur people to come back downtown.



1st Bring back the air show at Fair STL.

2nd Open a Walmart just north of DT on Tucker. I hate Walmart , however the store would bring massaive crowds.

3rd Bring back the night clubs.



That is all for now,

Prophett wrote:2nd Open a Walmart just north of DT on Tucker. I hate Walmart , however the store would bring massaive crowds.

What would this do for downtown at all? I fail to see how adding a giant, sprawling, auto-centric superblock would add any vibrancy to downtown. We don't need any Walmarts anywhere near DT. That land could be much better used.

Your wrong , Walmarts attract people far and wide. A Walmart located DT would attract people 24 hrs a day 365 days a year adding much added vibrancy to DT streets. In addition a Walmart would create jobs , sales tax revenue , and lastly provide a place to purchase consumer goods for residents living on the North side.

markinlondon wrote:Lighting:

I like the idea suggested above concerning more lighting downtown. In addition to the illuminating of buildings, I think that hanging string lights across streets can add to the ambiance of a city. For example, imagine Washington Avenue with Oriental style lanterns hanging across the street from north to south. Maybe not year round, but for street festivals or the Mardi Grass parade at night. I saw something like this in Barcelona, and it looked beautiful at night. Maybe even develop some sort of ?light festival? on a summer weekend to draw more people downtown. Perhaps an evolved ?Bastille Day? tying in St. Louis? French fur trading roots, showing off the fleur-de-lys (as suggested) and making St. Louie the American ?City of Lights?

Exactly!!!!! Have you ever seen Atlanta at night? It's awesome. All the buildings are lit up, not just with roof lighting, but lights up the sides of the buildings. Definitely lights on the pillars of the Eads, showcasing the bridge itself.

^A Walmart would attract crowds of autos and that is all. I don't even know if Walmart I capable of building a competent urban store. Their entire business model is based on acquiring the cheapest land possible, with the lowest property taxes possible, sprawling out over a large area, and filling that area with cheap crap. I don't think this would do a thing for DT at all.

There is a Walmart at Cityplace in downtown Long Beach. It looks like they tried to integrate it into an urban area. Too bad the area feels like a suburban shopping mall. However, I think that store is an example of the best Walmart will do for an urban setting.

When you walk around downtown, the one thing that won't escape your attention is the sidewalks. There's a huge variation in their quality and design everywhere you go, and it ranges from pretty good to ugly and unsafe.



I think it would be great if some effort be made to have all d.t. sidewalks be of the same quality and design, and that a uniform effort be made to have them all cleaned each morning. Viisitors might miss a rebuilt cornice or restored terracotta, but they won't miss how the sidewalks look.



But even the new sidewalks along Washington are now filthy in places, and covered with tar spots (can anybody explain how all those tar spots are so uniformly spread out?). Pigeon goo and trash builds up daily, but many building ownders don't seem too concerned. While other owners have crews out there every morning cleaning up.



I love this city, especially everything going on d.t.. And I like showing it off to visiting friends. But I feel ashamed every time we come across filthy, broken or ugly sidewalks.

Honestly now that I've thought about it a little more I think that CostCo offers the better big-box business model. They pay much better than W-M and offer excellent benefits. Turnover is less than a fifth of W-Ms, and they make a tidy profit. Lastly Costco is more of a destinational store versus W-M.

No thanks to either Costco or Wal-Mart.



I agree with Jeff on the sidewalks. There should be some sort of sidewalk scrubbers to keep them clean, and fix the sidewalks that are poor and unkept.

trent wrote:No thanks to either Costco or Wal-Mart.



I agree with Jeff on the sidewalks. There should be some sort of sidewalk scrubbers to keep them clean, and fix the sidewalks that are poor and unkept.

I agree but when you say fix... do you mean to NYC standards (plain and simple yet functional) or to tourist standards (red brick inlays, pretty patterns, trees lining the street etc etc) or a combination of both? And once they are up to a set standard, we should keep them there -- if they "break" we should fix it correctly the first time, in a prompt manner. Also retail/shops/cafes should be responsibile for the sidewalk right outside their door, at least to keep it free from litter and stuff like that.

I'm not exactly sure where all this dirty talk is coming from on the downtown sidewalks. In terms of actual debris and litter, dt stl is one of the cleanest urban hoods I've seen. I will concede, however, that the sidewalks are just plain ugly, and there is an annoying lack of uniformity in their design and width. That is where our focus should be. The streets are also uneven (figuratively) in their quality.



In my opinion, the downtown St Louis partnership does a rather good job of keeping the sidewalks trash-free with their purple legions of street cleaners--even if the machines emit a rather obnoxious and inscrutable message.

^I agree, the "Purple Brigade" does a great job keeping the sidewalks clean. I see them out there every day. And I gotta say, that illegible foreign voice coming from the mini-sweepers makes me chuckle every time I hear it. Someone told me that they bought the machines in France, and nobody can figure out how to change the language. I don't know if that's true, but it's a fun story anyway.

^good idea

^I agree.



I wish Ted Drewes would open up a place downtown. There looks like there used to be a walk-up ice cream place on Chestnut, next to Caleco's. I always thought that would be a great location. Eating Ted Drewes custard on Kiener Plaza just before or after a Card's game--how much more St. Louis can you get?



Hopefully, he'll open up a spot in the BPV. Please, Ted, just one more store![/list]

steve wrote:^I agree.



I wish Ted Drewes would open up a place downtown. There looks like there used to be a walk-up ice cream place on Chestnut, next to Caleco's. I always thought that would be a great location. Eating Ted Drewes custard on Kiener Plaza just before or after a Card's game--how much more St. Louis can you get?



Hopefully, he'll open up a spot in the BPV. Please, Ted, just one more store![/list]

The end of the Metro Link line at Shrewsbury (Landowne at River Des Peres) is surprisingly close to Ted Drews on Chippewa. Only 0.6 miles to be exact according to this web site:



http://www.glennmccartney.com/Projects/ ... alculator/



Someone needs to start a Drewes shuttle, or a carriage ride, or Segway rental between the station and the custard place.

Gary Kreie wrote:

steve wrote:^I agree.



I wish Ted Drewes would open up a place downtown. There looks like there used to be a walk-up ice cream place on Chestnut, next to Caleco's. I always thought that would be a great location. Eating Ted Drewes custard on Kiener Plaza just before or after a Card's game--how much more St. Louis can you get?



Hopefully, he'll open up a spot in the BPV. Please, Ted, just one more store![/list]

The end of the Metro Link line at Shrewsbury (Landowne at River Des Peres) is surprisingly close to Ted Drews on Chippewa. Only 0.6 miles to be exact according to this web site:



http://www.glennmccartney.com/Projects/ ... alculator/



Someone needs to start a Drewes shuttle, or a carriage ride, or Segway rental between the station and the custard place.

Or they could take 5 minutes and walk.

Scrutinizer is right, it really wouldn't be that bad of a walk.



But I'd still like a Ted Drewes downtown.