Tax incentives, and abolishing Clayton

Covington, Kentucky

^Very true. Most of Cincy's big corporations staying committed to downtown Cincy has also spilled across the river to Covington, Kentucky, which has a skyline that will eventually rival Clayton's. The downtowns of Cincy and Covington are growing in vibrancy - not that downtown St. Louis isn't (it is), but St. Louis has greater potential if only the corporate leadership in the region thought outside of the suburban box.

Although Stifel, Nestle-Purina, Peabody, LaClede, as well as other corporate entities, have dedicated their presence to downtown - it's simply not enough. Imagine if RGA would have built its new $150-million headquarters at Ballpark Village or if Express Scripts would have built a facility in downtown St. Louis.

It's too bad that much of the corporate leadership in St. Louis doesn't realize that a healthier downtown St. Louis could translate into a healthier region. Keep in mind that a quarter of the region's hotel inventory is downtown. That means that there's a 1-out-of-4 chance that a visitor to St. Louis will stay downtown.

Although downtown has improved and is steadily improving, despite some setbacks, what kind of impression do these visitors have of the region as a whole because of the lackluster but-improving downtown St. Louis? Maybe that's the next great challenge for civic leaders. Everyone would benefit from a healthier downtown St. Louis.

On a side note, downtown St. Louis could be improved further by a city-county merger and tax reform, which would help to eradicate some the silliness of regional economic poaching.

I think one of the keys to developing a strong downtown is in developing the areas around it into stable and gentrified residential neighborhoods and connecting them by easy transit. I'm talking about Downtown West and Midtown, Columbus Square, Ballpark Village, and that awful highway interchange. St. Louis's downtown is quite unique in that it is surrounded by so few desirable residential areas. Sure we have Soulard but it is separated from Downtown by the huge highways and there isn't even a streetcar line that runs between the two. I'm thinking about something like the Northside in Chicago or Brookline in Boston. The Central West end is really its own entity since its so far away. This is something I'm really hoping that Northside Regeneration can pull off. Once we have dense middle class to affluent residential nearby, Downtown will be a more attractive place to work for CEOs and their workers. Of course, developing residential within downtown is key too but not everybody wants to live in a loft. We need some modern day rowhomes and high rise condos too and maybe a few mansions too. Also, the long term project of beautifying the riverfront will go a long way towards making downtown real estate more desirable.

arch city wrote:
Covington, Kentucky

^Very true. Most of Cincy's big corporations staying committed to downtown Cincy has also spilled across the river to Covington, Kentucky, which has a skyline that will eventually rival Clayton's. The downtowns of Cincy and Covington are growing in vibrancy - not that downtown St. Louis isn't (it is), but St. Louis has greater potential if only the corporate leadership in the region thought outside of the suburban box.

Wow... I went to school about an hour from Cincinnati (Miami University) and remember being in Covington for the Labor Day fireworks shows, lighting up the bridges over the Ohio River with fireworks. This whole area has turned around greatly.

Still, Covington has never been nearly the quagmire that East STL is. Really, pretty much nowhere in the US (maybe Gary, IN or Camden, NJ) can hold a candle to the urban wasteland that is the Near East Side.

metzgda wrote:I realize this isn't feasible, but imagine if our airport could be rebuilt directly across the airport from downtown? There is a lot of unused land that could be raised above flood plain for runways. Further, the terminal could be directly across from downtown providing great views. Most importantly, it would mean corporations that require a lot of travel would have immediate benefits from setting up shop right across the river as getting to the airport would be as easy as a couple Metrolink stops or a quick cab ride. Also, it would be very convenient to live downtown if your job required a lot of travel.

There already is the Downtown STL Airport in Cahokia near Sauget. Lots of private and corporate jets over there... Which is nice.

Q: What would make Downtown STL more attractive?
A: Fixing East STL so that, when someone looks out a window at the Arch from Downtown, it's not a view also into a wasteland of economic disenfranchisement, neglect, corruption, endemic poverty, and corrosion.

Think about what the view of STL would be like from a modern high-rise apartment in East STL.


But, that'll never be conceivable so long as East STL is an economic wasteland. It's real, real hard to make your house look nice and inviting to friends for a party when your next door neighbor is incredibly poor and lives in squalor.



Not that inviting, is it? And those were the prettiest pictures I could find of East STL from the MO side.
Sure isn't Covnington... Hell, it makes Detroit look like Ladue.

Fix East STL, and you'll recognize more businesses in Downtown STL.

A couple queries:

-- was Centene really looking at moving to BPV or was it more wishful thinking (or perhaps trying to get the most out of Clayton and the County to stay)?
-- who/when was the last major corporation to move to downtown? existing corporation to add large numbers of downtown jobs?

^ thanks. hopefully all the Hudson Bay jobs actually came through. btw, I was thinking more than 100 in terms of large jobs commitments to downtown but I guess we'll take what we can! Moves by groups like Anders and Cassidy Turley, etc. which brings several more dozen at a clip are needed as well, but we need some big time commitments.