opinions of a kid from chesterfield... (St. Louis, Washington: loft, safe area, casinos)

[lancerbaseball5]

Hey whats up guys. So as you can tell from the title of this thread, I'm from the typical, upper-middle class West County family, but I really love the city.

I've been down there a few times this summer (4th of July, Science Center, City Museum, Cards Game, Soulard, etc). Besides realizing how great the urban renewal taking place is, I've also seen some problems.

-Smoking everywhere, especially on the 4th. Anyone else in favor of a smoking ban?
-City/county divide. I know everybody talks about this, but seriously. I think the city needs to "annex" some of the municipalities in north county, a well as U City, Mapelwood, Richmond Heights, etc. Bigger pop, tax base, more cool stuff to do, more safe areas.
-Connect the cool areas. There's pockets of the city/close to the city that are great (soulard, tower grove, the Loop, CW End, Washington Ave, stadium area, midtown/SLU/Grand), but then areas that suck in between.
-Public Transportation/a connected city. I was just in Boston, and honestly, its way better than STL. People were everywhere, walking, on trolleys, on the T (light rail), shopping, dining. Downtown just feels empty unless theres a game. Better public transportation could link the 'burbs and the hotspots of the city.
-Use the city's history/waterfront. I realize Boston has great historical stuff, but so does st louis. More "gateway to the west" kind of stuff. and make I-55/I-70 a damn tunnel so it doesnt cut off the city from the arch. I realize we have a muddy, commercial river instead of a beautiul ocean harbor, but still, clean up the riverfront. more parks/attractions/restaurants and less casinos. clean up east st louis riverfront too.

Okay so I guess thats it. So respond if you want, and tell me what you think STL can do to become a cooler city.

[klynn1283]

I commend you for saying something.
I once compared STL to some large east coast cities on this board and upset many. Oops.

I think STL has come a long way during the 8 years I was away. I really like downtown Washington Ave loft district and the numerous sidewalk-front stores/cafes/bars/art galleries. But in the grand scheme of things, this gentrified area is very small (few block radius) when compared to the overall size of the city.

I was downtown visiting a friend on a week night, left around 10p and to be honest, I thought the area was unsettling. NO people in sight, everything was deserted and as I made my way through a few streets to get from Locus to 40/61, the only sign of life I witnessed were a few homeless people. Coming from NYC and considering myself a VERY street smart big city girl, I felt unsettled. I wasn't too nervous but I was aware of my isolated surroundings. That was enough for me.

I think STL is just in the early stages of urbanization/renewal of the downtown core...it's come a long way but always room for more.

[aragx6]

1. I'm in favor of letting businesses run their businesses as they see fit as long as they aren't breaking the law. But don't worry -- St. Louis will have a smoking ban soon enough. I haven't lived in a city since 2005 that allowed smoking inside.

2. The city won't be able to annex those areas until the city is technically a part of the county. Who knows when that will happen. But I am in agreement that it should. That said, just annexing for the sake of annexing isn't all that useful, and some of the municipalities you mentioned have no real reason to want to be annexed. They're doing just fine on their own.

3. We're working on it. It takes time. The housing bust hasn't helped. But it is happening. The area between SLU and CWE is much nicer than it was 20 years ago and the stretch of south city west of Soulard (Benton Park, West Benton Park, Tower Grove East and Tower Grove South) that used to suck has greatly improved.

4. Boston has almost twice as many people in a smaller area. Not exactly a fair comparison. St. Louis will likely never have that kind of transit system, but what we have is very good for our size and again MUCH progress has been made.

5. Don't just hope that this will happen. Get involved! There is a killer plan out there to really pull downtown and the riverfront/arch together, but it won't happen without public support. City to River

[aragx6]

Also, there's simply not all that many people who live downtown right now (though it's grown immensely) so it shouldn't be surprising that it's rather empty on week nights. Chicago's loop is completely empty in the evenings (the Walgreens closes at 7!) but it is safe. I have walked around Downtown St. Louis (not alone, because honestly as a woman I won't do that at night anywhere)countless times at night and have always felt safe.

Question: If you were in an empty parking lot at 10 p.m. in the Chesterfield Commons would you feel unsafe?

[DinsdalePirahna]

I am amazed that the riverfront has never been developed for recreational and tourism purposes

[billiken]

I don't really see the point in comparing St Louis to major cities. St Louis is a midsized city, not a major metropolis.

St Louis is going smoke free at the beginnning of next year, thank god.

[DinsdalePirahna]

Its bigger than pittsburgh and pittsburgh has a lot more going on

[aragx6]

Pittsuburgh and St. Louis are very comparable and have lots in common. But I completely disagree that it has "a lot more going on." Would you cite examples?

What it has significantly in its favor is the closer connection to the east coast. Much easier to do a weekend trip.

[stlcitygirl]

Originally Posted by DinsdalePirahna

Its bigger than pittsburgh and pittsburgh has a lot more going on

ugh, go away already. Aren't you too busy living your amazing California life style to be bothered with an STL forum?

To the OP: It takes people who love the city to continue the revitilization momentum.


-Smoking ban will take place January 1st
-City/County merger couldn't come fast enough, but dont hold your breath, a lot of politics involved.
-Connect the cool areas. Were working on it, my neighborhood was complete ghetto 10 years ago. It's now thriving with young families, professionals and people who love living in the city. It takes people moving into the city, more rehabbing, more businesses opening. You may not be able to see this from Chesterfield, but the city is revitilizing at a pretty decent rate. I moved to the city from the county almost 4 years ago, all my friends followed, I see this trend happening more and more.

-Public Transportation/a connected city. Boston is much larger, bad comparison. For a medium size city, the public transit is good. Much better than other cities our size. If you live in the right places, you can be carless. Right now I am up for a position, that would enable me to take transit every day, and I plan to.

-Use the city's history/waterfront. Yes! hopefully with the Arch grounds contest, city to river, and other big projects happening, this will happen.

[lancerbaseball5]

Originally Posted by aragx6

Question: If you were in an empty parking lot at 10 p.m. in the Chesterfield Commons would you feel unsafe?

no i really wouldnt lol... but chesterfield has enough psycho moms trying to drive their escalade exl to scare me and my corolla