tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8826793.post3315456040080568744..comments2023-10-02T08:28:06.724-05:00Comments on Ecology of Absence: Silence is GoldenMichael R. Allenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17262548806079447404noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8826793.post-42752631331710260002007-08-11T09:01:00.000-05:002007-08-11T09:01:00.000-05:00I grew up close to this northern portion of St. Lo...I grew up close to this northern portion of St. Louis and have fond memories of long boulevards with the characteristic brick bungalow and French mansard and flat roofed buildings. In the late sixties and early seventies, it was rough but it was a community, bustling and alive, populated by people I remember by their faces, kids I played with and the hot sun on the pavement, playing in fire hydrants. Walking to school; old people saying hello while sitting on their front porches, going to the corner gas station to put slugs in the bubble gum machine for bubble gum. Its my life, my memories my history.<BR/><BR/>The community was diverse with poor whites and a large number of black folks. We lived together and loved together, struggled together. <BR/><BR/>I am white. I came out alive, my mother graduated with her PhD from Wash U. I didn't get killed, or my brain polluted with whatever white folks imagine it would be.<BR/><BR/>It is my history and now because of racism, some outsiders and the city fathers who are supposed to be entrusted with preserving and caring for the city have allowed it all to be laid to waste.<BR/><BR/>It really truly makes me want to cry to see these pictures of decimation and waste. I now live in New England and people here couldn't even imagine that there are communities so devastated by racism, hatred and its concurrent indifference and exploitation.<BR/><BR/>I am appalled, saddened and disgusted and I can't say I don't feel at least a bit guilty, as if I abandoned my family and roots and come back to find it gone. I left because I was sick of the blatent racism of Missouri and neighboring Illinois. I am a builder now and if I could rebuild and rehabilitate this community, I'd be in there in a New York minute.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8826793.post-69549418349503836082007-05-08T14:18:00.000-05:002007-05-08T14:18:00.000-05:00Horrifying. That was the only word uttered aloud w...Horrifying. That was the only word uttered aloud when I saw your posting on this.<BR/>Didja know that Paul McKee once worked for Paric, which used to manage the very building in which you & I work. <BR/>-Robin H. 3 floors downAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8826793.post-17395409004814685292007-05-08T09:54:00.000-05:002007-05-08T09:54:00.000-05:00No wonder Republican Rodney loves this plan -- it ...No wonder Republican Rodney loves this plan -- it involves moving all of the Democrats out of the 5th ward!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8826793.post-80149026891959319572007-05-07T10:00:00.000-05:002007-05-07T10:00:00.000-05:00This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8826793.post-86236165852177630842007-05-07T09:30:00.000-05:002007-05-07T09:30:00.000-05:00I think it's entirely within reason that the owner...<I>I think it's entirely within reason that the owner of the property stripped it of its windows AND intended to use it as a waste dump from other properties.</I><BR/><BR/>How about hiring the brick rustlers who are at this very moment destroying 3 buildings on 1900 Montgomery?<BR/><BR/>All the little details add up to a systematic assault on the neighborhood.Robert Powershttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11639365590964995479noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8826793.post-50742035893025756212007-05-07T09:27:00.000-05:002007-05-07T09:27:00.000-05:00The assumption that Paul McKee's assemblage of pro...The assumption that Paul McKee's assemblage of property spread over three neighborhoods will lead to largescale demolition because he specifically asked for a bill that provided a tax credit for a 70 acre project site. There could have been many alternative formulations of this bill that would have made the credit much more flexible to a broader range of development scenarios. I would suspect that Greishmeimer wouldn't know a good urban redevelopment bill from McKee's asshole, and Hubbard is too busy cashing the check to care. Conservative out-state Republicans are right to suggest that this tax credit signifies all that is wrong with the state legislative process.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8826793.post-33508656000976034792007-05-07T09:11:00.000-05:002007-05-07T09:11:00.000-05:00^For a specific: McEagle commissioned a master pla...^<BR/><BR/>For a specific: McEagle commissioned a master plan for near north city from Arcturis in 2000 or 2001 that showed most of the street grid removed in favor of a WingHaven-like maze of cul-de-sacs and windy roads. The plan clearly entailed wholesale clearance. <BR/><BR/>If this is untrue and I did not see the plan with my own eyes, let me know.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8826793.post-80180498350187778922007-05-07T09:07:00.000-05:002007-05-07T09:07:00.000-05:00Where do people get the idea that "whole neighborh...Where do people get the idea that "whole neighborhoods" are going to be demolished? Specifics, please.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8826793.post-90267941956731035992007-05-07T08:02:00.000-05:002007-05-07T08:02:00.000-05:00I'm such a cynic. I disagree with this statement: ...I'm such a cynic. <BR/><BR/>I disagree with this statement: "While obviously McKee and his agents did not dump the waste and cannot prevent such incidents..." <BR/><BR/>I think it's entirely within reason that the owner of the property stripped it of its windows AND intended to use it as a waste dump from other properties. There are smaller companies who do such things, why not a large one?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8826793.post-69170326685094753152007-05-06T16:01:00.000-05:002007-05-06T16:01:00.000-05:001) Don't forget that if the Blairmont Bill passes ...1) Don't forget that if the Blairmont Bill passes we'll pay at least $65,000.00 on this one building. I didn't figure 1/2 the asbestos cleanup.<BR/><BR/>2) Wouldn't the same incentives extended to anyone willing to invest in a 'distressed' area stimulate even more growth... especially ones who would even move into the home/area. How does any one who doesn't already own half the north side build or rehab next to McKees Projects?<BR/>Or should they just expect no profit or to be upside down in the end? They don't, so they'll go elsewhere. <BR/><BR/>3)America's going green folks, and we're the heart. Demolishing whole neighborhoods and not using these resources would be an appalling and frivolous waste. A rehab is GREENER than a new green home. Nearly all green technologies can be applied to a rehab.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com