Renaissance or not (St. Louis, Clayton, Miller: lofts, high crime, homes)

[wolfpaw64]

I'm not sure if theres been title or thread for this if so i apologize..

I was curious always here about other cities going through a so called "Renaissance" even without population growth however i was interested in your opinion if anyone of you feel St.Louis is going through the same although it seems to be never talked about or mentioned like how other cities champion themselves... Do you feel the high crime that has plagued St.Louis makes any attempt at claiming a "Renaissance" feels tainted or watered down? I mean theres so much going on here however there seems to be no excitement about it all or is it all hush or are St.Louisan's just oblivion to it all?

[MUTGR]

Originally Posted by wolfpaw64

I'm not sure if theres been title or thread for this if so i apologize..

I was curious always here about other cities going through a so called "Renaissance" even without population growth however i was interested in your opinion if anyone of you feel St.Louis is going through the same although it seems to be never talked about or mentioned like how other cities champion themselves... Do you feel the high crime that has plagued St.Louis makes any attempt at claiming a "Renaissance" feels tainted or watered down? I mean theres so much going on here however there seems to be no excitement about it all or is it all hush or are St.Louisan's just oblivion to it all?

I live in the STL County but as a life long area resident I feel like there is a lot of positive stuff going on in the City. I'm not an expert on demographics and census info, but it may still be losing population but improving.

I do think the crime detracts from it. But I'm downtown usually once a week at least for business, go to a few Cardinals games, eat lunch in some of the city neighborhoods, so I still really enjoy the city proper. I love its architecture, history and character.

I want it to succeed as always.

[STLCityMike]

I feel like the central corridor is transforming so much - from downtown through midtown, the Central West End and Clayton. Significant projects include

- Ballpark Village Phase 2
- St. Louis Aquarium and the St. Louis (Ferris) Wheel
- Steelcoat Lofts
- City Foundry
- New SLU Hospital
- St Louis Armory renovation
- The 100 high rise in the CWE
- Wash U campus remodel
- Centene Corporate Headquarters
- NGA relocation to north city that should spur more development


I think that is a LOT in a narrow area, and those are just the large ones. I live on Lafayette Ave in the Gate District and in 10 years that I have lived on this street about 20 homes have been built in a 6 block area. I think that is pretty significant!

Yes, we have crime that we have got to work out, and we have some neighborhoods in the north and south parts of the city we would like to see growth. People do not always talk about all the positive things that are going on.

[FrankMiller]

Originally Posted by wolfpaw64

the high crime that has plagued St.Louis

I feel I have to correct this misconception. If St. Louis' political boundaries were drawn like other cities (i.e. if the city proper included the non-poor neighborhoods), nobody outside of StL would notice or care about StL's crime rate. StL is no more plagued by high crime than any other city.

It is plagued by significant segregation and racism, despite (or maybe somewhat worsened by) all the development happening in the StL central corridor. It's also plagued by auto-centric development, which is a greater mortal threat to most people than crime.

My perception is that there's a lot of excitement around the city. As one example, a lot of my young suburban coworkers commute out from the city. We all, friends and family, go to the city all the time for activities. It certainly feels like it's on a positive trajectory.

[mjtinmemphis]

Originally Posted by FrankMiller

I feel I have to correct this misconception. If St. Louis' political boundaries were drawn like other cities (i.e. if the city proper included the non-poor neighborhoods), nobody outside of StL would notice or care about StL's crime rate. StL is no more plagued by high crime than any other city.

It is plagued by significant segregation and racism, despite (or maybe somewhat worsened by) all the development happening in the StL central corridor. It's also plagued by auto-centric development, which is a greater mortal threat to most people than crime.

My perception is that there's a lot of excitement around the city. As one example, a lot of my young suburban coworkers commute out from the city. We all, friends and family, go to the city all the time for activities. It certainly feels like it's on a positive trajectory.

I agree with this. Many people who have never been to St. Louis are shocked at how pleasant St. Louis is when visiting for the first time.

[Sassybluesy]

Originally Posted by wolfpaw64

I'm not sure if theres been title or thread for this if so i apologize..

I was curious always here about other cities going through a so called "Renaissance" even without population growth however i was interested in your opinion if anyone of you feel St.Louis is going through the same although it seems to be never talked about or mentioned like how other cities champion themselves... Do you feel the high crime that has plagued St.Louis makes any attempt at claiming a "Renaissance" feels tainted or watered down? I mean theres so much going on here however there seems to be no excitement about it all or is it all hush or are St.Louisan's just oblivion to it all?

St. Louis has a severe inferiority complex.

[NJDevil]

Originally Posted by FrankMiller

I feel I have to correct this misconception. If St. Louis' political boundaries were drawn like other cities (i.e. if the city proper included the non-poor neighborhoods), nobody outside of StL would notice or care about StL's crime rate. StL is no more plagued by high crime than any other city.

It is plagued by significant segregation and racism, despite (or maybe somewhat worsened by) all the development happening in the StL central corridor. It's also plagued by auto-centric development, which is a greater mortal threat to most people than crime.

My perception is that there's a lot of excitement around the city. As one example, a lot of my young suburban coworkers commute out from the city. We all, friends and family, go to the city all the time for activities. It certainly feels like it's on a positive trajectory.

This makes me very happy to hear. We have only visited STL twice, but I am completely in love with it. I was looking thru my pics recently and wish it wasn't so far away.

[STL74]

I feel a renaissance. It’s not as far reaching as a rapidly growing sunbelt city but it’s great for our growth rate, really great. I am in the suburbs but I feel happy driving down 40 these days.

[Soccernerd]

St. Louis as a city and region have multiple challenges that it needs to overcome. Some of them go hand-in-hand and need to be addressed simultaneously or are catch 22s. For example, crime is high. Short-term solutions include more officers and community policing. To address long-term crime, education and employment opportunities need to improve. For those opportunities to improve, businesses and more people need to move in, but they won’t do that until crime is reduced.

St. Louis did not get to this point overnight. It has taken decades of depopulation, corrupt politics, deindustrialization, and crime to get to where we now. It will likely take decades for St. Louis to get out of this cycle.

[FrankMiller]

We could reduce crime significantly by just giving money directly to at-risk populations (e.g., make sure all children grow up with reliable food and shelter). We don't have to indirectly coax the free market into fixing everything, we just choose to for some reason.