More say, 'Meet me in St. Louis' as city shows signs of renewal - Charisse Jones (USA Today, May 10)
USA Today came to town, and didn't quite get everything right -- although it's good to get good press from a paper read at airports, motels and chain restaurants everywhere.
Here are a few problematic sentences:
"The old post office, for years a relic surrounded by other vacant buildings, has been refurbished, its space fully rented."
This project is the worst representative of downtown renovation. The OPO is fully rented by government agencies and institutions invited (or cajoled) into taking space. The only entrepreneurial tenants are the Pasta House Pronto and the St. Louis Business Journal, and those both have ties to the developers of the project. Yawn!
"Lambert-St. Louis International Airport unveiled a $1 billion expansion April 13."
This is evidence of renaissance? All I have read about the expansion so far has been bad news: cost overruns, limited efficiency, lack of use of new runways and so forth. Plus, the airport is far away fom the city and has little to do with the quality of life for St. Louisans -- although I guess it's a bellwether for USA Today readers.
"McCree Town, a violent southside neighborhood that was filled with dilapidated housing, has been rechristened Botanical Heights, and people are lining up to buy new homes."
Not only did the paper get the McRee Town name wrong, it readily accepted force-fed facts to paint a rosy picture.
"After losing some corporate headquarters in recent years, the city hopes the presence of local institutions such as Washington University will help nurture new industries."
Huh? Perhaps the reporter skim-read a packet from CORTEX.
Thursday, May 11, 2006
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12 comments:
Good points! Another fact is nearly every tenant in the OPO reloated from another downtown building, a zero sum gain.
I like this one: "Last month, a $365 million baseball stadium for the St. Louis Cardinals opened downtown, perhaps the most conspicuous sign of a comeback that one former critic has called one of the nation's strongest."
Did they not know this stadium is a replacement for the original Busch Stadium which used to occupy space that is now the new outfield. It is difficult to see how the new stadium, which actually holds fewer fans, is the most conspicuous sign of a comeback. It's not like the infrastructure was anywhere else they could have put the stadium.
Maybe there's some good info later in the article, but I quit reading when they quoted Tom Reeves. This is the guy who could not recall the details of the Downtown Now plan when he was under oath. St. Louis should thank Pulaski Bank for taking him off our hands.
Let's all take a deep breath, and repeat after me...s-l-o-w-l-y...
"The Cards would have left the city, and a big hole in downtown...the Cards would have left the city and a big hole in downtown...the Cards would have left the city and a big hole in downtown".
Oh, and with Ballpark Village, the total project is close to a billion dollar investment.
Thanks Mayor Slay, Barb Geisman, Tom Reeves, and the whole downtown development team!
You guys are accomplishing more on your watch than has been seen in fifty years!
And look at all the great national press we're getting!
Congratulations are in order!
Huzzah! Huzzah!!
regarding what you said about:
"Thanks Mayor Slay, Barb Geisman, Tom Reeves, and the whole downtown development team!
You guys are accomplishing more on your watch than has been seen in fifty years!"
HA! you mean just having the chutzpah to take credit for stuff that either would have happened anyway that they had nothing to do with, or that happened (in some cases) in spite of them. typical worthless politicians.....and since you are not identifying youself "anonymous" I assume you are problably one of the mayor's hacks.
Seriously to say that everything positive that has happened in the last five years would have happened anyway or has happened in spite of the mayor is just rediculous and is really being narrow minded. If you don't like the mayor you don't like the mayor but that doesn't invalidate the positive things he's done. Does he deserve all the credit for the good? No. Does he deserve some of the credit? I'd say yes.
And as far as the new airport runway it was built on time and on budget and was considered a model for these types of capital projects. Now whether it is needed anymore that's another question.
Michael, Claire, I love your blog but sometimes people need to realize things aren't 100% black or 100% white. Most things are somewhere in between
This reminds me of a fairly recent article I read online that some newspaper from (I think?) Texas, which made it sound as if the new stadium was almost singlehandedly responsible for the revitalization. (Google's turning up nothing right now)
Just sick and tired of Slay and his little cadre of leg breakers taking credit for any and everything positive in the city. If anything, he represents the old school "urban renewal" mentality of the 50s more than anything else...to him, old buildings are just old buildings. It's just his dumb luck that, contrary to his mentality, he happens to be in office at a time when innovative risk takers are taking chances to renew the city, and being rewarded by a receptive market...right place at the right time. He has already clearly demonstrated that he will bust the kneecaps of any urban innovator (Craig Heller, anybody?)that dares to suggest that they have a better idea than he does. I stand by my original statement.
I'm not trying to portray Slay as a prince. I'm just saying that there were a lot of other mayors in office before him that had a declining city on their hands. I'd say more of the credit goes to the Missouri Historic Tax credit law that wqas passed in 98, but to say that some of the deals around town Park East, Merchandise Mart, Convention Hotel, etc would have happened without mayoral support is just wrong. And it goes both ways. Slay's support could have saved the Century Building or the Ambassador Building, but he failed there, he failed big time. I just think there's no merit in saying anything good that has happened in the city during Slay's tenure has just been "dumb luck" on his part.
The Ambassador Building was demolished in 1996.
well frippy, you and your boss would be dead wrong. People did line up and the houses were sold.
Frippy, your boss is an idiot and quite un-informed, as you also appear to be on this development.
I know several middle class families (with kids) that either live there or can't wait to have their house built in that neighborhood. It has changed dramatically, whether you like the architecture or not (which I don't).
The OPO space is stunning and magnificent, no doubt about it.
Had lunch Monday at the PHPronto! location. Was not impressed. Food cold, overpriced for what it was, not clear whether to bus own table or not.
I'd give it another chance if I thought it would be a better experience; but I'm skeptical.
Any chance of getting the Post Office to move back in? I believe it moved to 4th Street prior to renovations; but the cool old P.O. boxes remain, presumably unused.
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