City expert says downtown STL on upswing (St. Louis, Washington: best cities, how much)

[STLCardsBlues1989]

Thriving downtowns have talented workers and residents who are drawn to convenient, walkable, and vibrant areas that feature entertainment, local stores and, if fortunate, a special amenity, such as the Arch.
That's the broadbrush description Carol Coletta gave today to downtown St. Louis, or at least the downtown St. Louis boosters say they are building. When Coletta speaks, big-city mayors and urban experts listen. Coletta is director of ArtPlace, a new effort to accelerate creative placemaking across the country, and former head of CEOs for Cities, a national network of urban leaders.
She was the main speaker at the annual meeting of the Partnership for Downtown St. Louis. Several hundred people attended the meeting's luncheon at the Hyatt Regency Riverfront hotel.

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Read more: City expert says downtown STL on upswing

Good news.
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[flynavyj]

The massive influx of residents into downtown st. louis, what 300%+ should be enough to let anyone know there's an upswing present there. And anyone and there brother will agree that St. Louis needs more jobs, the whole metro area needs more jobs. We also need to find ways to keep these new residents in St. Louis. It doesn't much matter to me if new young (25-30 year olds) move to downtown St. Louis and if they move to the county when they get a little older. Truth is we need to keep attracting new residents and finding ways to keep them once they grow up and have a family, not to mention into retirement.

Young people being mobile is probably one of the biggest hurdles. It's going to be difficult to attract businesses to the area when the businesses can simply attract the young people to them. Many of the "big name" businesses seen as "trendy" by the younger working generation are based in locations that seem more exotic, or destination. Places that young people want to put on their map of "yep, lived there in my 20's and it was awesome". St. Louis, MO isn't exactly high on the "destination" list...hopefully, some good startup companies will be able to sprout right here at home, bring in new stock, pay good salaries, and retain these individuals as they get older. If we can continue that, we can continue growth!

[topospace]

Originally Posted by STLCardsBlues1989

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Read more: City expert says downtown STL on upswing

Good news.
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You do realize that this "expert" was paid to give this speech? Do you really think should was going to say anything different?

[BoomBoxing]

Coletta is director of ArtPlace, a new effort to accelerate creative placemaking across the country, and former head of CEOs for Cities, a national network of urban leaders.

Yeah sounds like a fraud to me! And you're totally right, anyone with good things to say about St. Louis will only do so because they were paid handsomely.

[BoomBoxing]

Keeping with the theme of good press St. Louis got in the last week.

AAA Midwest named St. Louis best large city for a weekend getaway: AAA dubs St. Louis 'Best Large City for a Weekend'

Wash U. named Americas "trendiest" Research University:
The TRENDIEST Colleges

And there was our #11 showing on best cities to raise a family a couple of weeks ago. Silly and a bit superfluous? Yes...but if people are going to harp on the bad press, we may as well highlight the good too.

[DinsdalePirahna]

I cant think of any other midwestern city in Missouri, Illinois, Kansas and Indiana, (except Chicago)_ that I would want to spend time in

[kshe95girl]

Originally Posted by DinsdalePirahna

I cant think of any other midwestern city in Missouri, Illinois, Kansas and Indiana, (except Chicago)_ that I would want to spend time in

Its not like anyone is forcing you to.
-shrugs-

[aragx6]

Originally Posted by DinsdalePirahna

I cant think of any other midwestern city in Missouri, Illinois, Kansas and Indiana, (except Chicago)_ that I would want to spend time in

That almost sounded complimentary.

[moorlander]

Downtown St. Louis has been on the upswing since 2000. $5-6 Billion invested and a thriving downtown residential neighborhood. Yeah I think this guy is a little a little late to the party.

[Chicago76]

Originally Posted by flynavyj

Young people being mobile is probably one of the biggest hurdles. It's going to be difficult to attract businesses to the area when the businesses can simply attract the young people to them. Many of the "big name" businesses seen as "trendy" by the younger working generation are based in locations that seem more exotic, or destination. Places that young people want to put on their map of "yep, lived there in my 20's and it was awesome". St. Louis, MO isn't exactly high on the "destination" list...hopefully, some good startup companies will be able to sprout right here at home, bring in new stock, pay good salaries, and retain these individuals as they get older. If we can continue that, we can continue growth!

I think you're right on this, but the balance is tipping. A lot of my generation (Gen Xers) headed to SF, Chicago, LA, NYC, etc in large part because the areas where we grew up didn't have much in the way of urban vibrance. We grew up in the 70s and 80s in an era of downtown blight and by the time things began to change (90s), when we left school, the critical mass wasn't there yet. Second and third tier city living wasn't as viable then if you wanted walkability, entertainment, and an urban experience.

Today, it's a bit more nuanced. STL will never be able to match the NYCs and Chicagos and Bostons of the country, but if it offers a taste of those areas, the cost of living factor enters the equation. Personally, I tried out NYC and London before picking Chicago due to COL. I didn't need 50 bars in a 4 minute walk of my place compared to 20 if it meant paying 50% more to live. If you can still have 8 places in a few min walk and live 30-40% cheaper than Chicago in STL, and viably own a house in my 20s, that gives the next generation something to chew on.

Throw in the higher taxes for individuals and businesses you find in the northeast, California, Illinois, etc, and there will be a tipping point. A lot of the talent and business shift will go to other lower tax areas like Houston, Dallas, Atlanta, etc, but the key for cities like those in the MW will be to skim enough of that talent (and employment) to continue to build while the next wave of southern cities get more expensive.

One of the assets that often gets overlooked in this comes from the 30-45 demographic. A lot of these folks made their careers elsewhere and are returning to STL for family reasons and because they see improvements in terms of urban living in the city and inner burbs. They bring a skill set from years of employment in larger cities that would be harder to develop in STL and a "can do" attitude. How much influence that demographic has in the area's future will have a tremendous impact on the development of the city.