General Election on Tuesday

Tuesday is general election day in much of the region, here ere a couple of links to help you find what you will see on your ballot:

• City of St. Louis
• St. Louis County

In the city I’ll be rooting for independent Scott Olgilvie over former 24th alderman Tom Bauer (he was previously recalled by voters). I also anticipate the passage of Proposition E to retain the earnings tax for the next five years.

In the county I will be watching the contest for Assessor, which hasn’t been an elected position in years.  In Florissant they have a six-way race for mayor, I happen to know two of them: Andrew G. Podleski and Susan M. Geerling.

– Steve Patterson

Readers: Gentrification In St. Louis Is A Good Thing

In the poll last week readers indicated gentrification was a good for St. Louis:

1. a good thing, we need more middle & upper income residents to fill vacant structures 115 72.78%
2. Other answer… 20 12.66%
3. neither good or bad, not really a problem 14 8.86%
4. a bad thing, making it harder for the working poor to stay in newly trendy areas 8 5.06%
5. unsure/no opinion 1 0.63%

But there were many “other” answers submitted:

1. Sometimes it is good, sometimes if it bad but always an issue in redevelpment.
2. non existent
3. Both good and bad, for the aforementioned reasons.
4. a good thing that needs to be matched by investment in lower income housing
5. Both aspects: good b/c we need redevelopment
6. an insanely complex issue that calls for property tax/assessment reform.
7. We would be lucky to have this problem.
8. nonexistent!
9. Some gentrification is needed to revive parts of the city
10. Much more complex than a poll……………………………………………
11. generally bad, but some mixed-income options are becoming available…
12. every city needs a good mix of people of all income levels
13. as long as the new residents are filling previously vacant structures it is ok.
14. I would say its a problem that has both good and bad aspects
15. I don’t like poor people, they don’t like me, and I don’t want &#
16. seeing as how low income residents have treated the city i would say its great
17. both, can be good for the economy but minorities
18. Both good and bad.
19. “. . . is”: uncontrollable in a free society.
20. It’s fine, but needs to be better organized.

Indeed, gentrification in a complex topic but clearly the majority feels that it is needed on some level in St. Louis.

– Steve Patterson

U.S. Bank Plaza To Remain A Dead Space?

Back in 2008 it was announced that the plaza at 7th & Locust would be replaced with a parking garage (Tough Decisions: Useless Plaza Vs. Another F-ing Parking Garage).  The plaza unfortunately replaced the Ambassador Theater.

Since the 2008 announcement St. Louis Centre is being converted into a parking garage with ground-level retail. So the plaza remains a lifeless hole downtown. Don’t even think about sitting on the grass at lunch, the guard will run you off. The grass, and the entire plaza space, are for show only — not use.

The Ambassador filled the space beautifully but it has been gone more than 15 years now.  Mercantile Bank, later bought by U.S. Bank, wanted to create a welcoming entrance to the tower.  A massive dead space isn’t welcoming! The solution?

In the short term invite vendors to sell food from carts & trucks at lunchtime.  A vendor truck can just pull into the circle drive.  Also, invest in a few tables, chairs and umbrellas.  Encourage people to sit on the grass and play in the fountain. Basically the opposite of what they’ve done for 15+ years.

Longer term the grassy area should be replaced with a highly  modern glass & steel building of at least 2 stories in height. I’m thinking a restaurant space, perhaps with more seating on the roof.  The auto access for the circle drive could be removed and the plaza repaved to eliminate the curbs, part being used for seating of the restaurant.

We just can’t afford dead corners like this to remain lifeless, no matter how green the grass is even in November.

– Steve Patterson

The Next Eastbound Train Will Be Arriving In Thirty Seconds

Riders of our light rail system, MetroLink, are used to hearing a number of platform announcements, including:

“Attention passengers, the next eastbound [or westbound] train will be arriving in thirty seconds.”

I’m sure the visually-impaired passengers find this announcement very helpful.  To the rest of us it is rather humorous.  At the Forest Park station the announcement usually doesn’t start until the train is already pulling into the station.

It would be nice to know if the next train is nine or five minutes away.  When heading westbound before Forest Park it would be nice to know if the next train is headed to the Airport or Shrewsbury. This shouldn’t be too difficult to accomplish but it would be helpful information.

– Steve Patterson

Weekly Poll: What Do You Think Of When You Hear The Term “Affordable Housing”?

Earlier this month I participated in a two-day conference on affordable housing sponsored by FOCUS-St. Louis (agenda- PDF):

FOCUS St. Louis, in partnership with the Des Lee Collaborative Vision, presents Housing: Building a New Foundation for Economic Prosperity. This symposium explores affordable housing in Missouri and Southwest Illinois, taking a close look at the disparity between the location of many jobs and the location of housing that is affordable for workers who fill those positions, and ways to resolve these issues to help build sustainable, prosperous communities.

You are thinking, “Why bother in St. Louis?”  Our housing is cheap, right?  I was on a panel discussing land use policy as it relates to affordable housing.

Affordable Housing is the subject of the poll this week (upper right of site). Results and commentary on Wednesday April 6, 2011.

– Steve Patterson