Centene pulls out of Ballpark Village; is the project dead?

Kind of makes me wish that The Sporting News hadn’t decided to uproot for Charlotte…seems like their headquarters would have logistically fit nicely right next to the stadium.

Surprise, Ballpark Village is still a lake and Kiel Opera House has still not opened. Nice to see the teams got their new digs first.

this is disgusting. this city can’t get anything right. We need new leaders.

Statement of Mayor Francis Slay:

I am very disappointed that Centene and the Ballpark Village Partners could not come to an agreement. Meeting the needs, obligations, legal requirements, and goals of both parties was extremely difficult, complicated, and frustrating.

I want to thank Michael Neidorff for the opportunity to bring his company to Ballpark Village. He gave the City a chance because he understands how important Downtown is to the future of the region. I also believe Bill DeWitt, Jr. and Bill DeWitt, III tried very hard to work through the many complications that this deal presented.

I also want to thank my staff who worked many nights, weekends, and holidays to find a way to forge an agreement between these two parties.

I still support Ballpark Village. Because of changes in the composition of Ballpark Village proposed by the developer, a new redevelopment agreement will have to be negotiated. The project will only move forward on terms that are fair to the taxpayers.

As a city resident I believe nothing is going to change in St. Louis City politics. The democrats has reuined our beatutiful city, we need REAL change in the St. Louis City leadership!

I think it’s great. I believe they should leave that space open and make it sort of a “tent city” for the homeless and drug addicts to gather. Would be a perfect example come 2009 All Star Game to showcase to the national media just how stl leaders and politicians get things done…

I had a feeling this was too good to be true. St. Louis once again misses out on what could have been a very nice addition to the downtown skyline. Instead we have a big muddy mess to look at.

The people at Centeen probally seen all the THUGZ overtaking South St.Louis,like they done North St.Louis.Guess Centeen see the THUGZ about ready to overtake Downtown,to,Good move on their part.

Ballpark Village has been a joke since the beginning. Now it’s just becoming more apparant. Our city leaders keep giving up the soul of this city for big corporate redevelopment schemes. Did you know St. Louis had it’s own Chinatown? Well, it was razed in the 1960s as part of one of the many misguided “urban renewal” plans. Guess what it is now. Paved parking for Busch Stadium. Very urban, and very renewed. Thanks, City Government!

Where can I read Centene’s complete statement?

Why isn’t anyone accountable for this? Downtown is a joke. Remeber Selig? If a new stadium were built we “could” see an All Star game. Done, congratulations. Now DeWitt - “Ballpark Village may be delayed or may not be ready for the All-Star game”. What a load of crap. It’s a dump around that stadium and nothing is being done to hold the Cardinals accountable because they are the Cardinals. Nothing will come of this, they will erect a couple of buildings but nothing further because of “unanticpated costs”, i.e. we aren’t spending any more money on tis project and like the Kiel, it will sit.
This city makes me ill.

What a shame. It would have been nice to have seen a decent-sized building on the south side of downtown. Goodness knows downtown St. Louis could use some new height. Instead we now have a muddy mess to look at and no plans to move forward with anything.

Simply put, just more of Slay’s folly!

Yeah, typical bungling from The Gang That Can’t Develop Straight. People are flocking to urban centers all over the country, and cities are selling their unique urban character to make the most of the influx. But here we get strip malls in Lafayette Square and Carondelet and Soulard, vacant lots and vacant buildings at Grand & Chippewa, and now a huge muddy hole in the middle of downtown for who knows how many years. Oh, but we’ll also get a few expensive sculptures to fill those empty spaces downtown. Whoopee.

I am shocked! So, you mean to tell me that promises were made that if we (city residents) are willing to pay for a new ballpark, other development would be included and it has not? Who say this coming? For one, I did! That is exactly what I told people when all this first happened. While I do love the new stadium, I KNEW that the development would take forever if ever! It has happened in other cities and it is happening here. City residents, we were dupped. And let it come as no surprise. Hell, the Kiel Opera house is still nothing and it was promised over a decade ago. Mayor Slay, you should be ashamed of yourself. You get so much credit for bringing more people into St. Louis. You have done it on the backs of the poor and have not followed through with your promises. Yeah, you have your stadium, now do two more things. 1 - deliver on your promsies and 2 - show that you really do care about the poor in St. Louis. Much like Ballpark village, neither of these things will likely happen! I dare you to prove me wrong!

Here’s a city, with so much potential, it makes baby Paul McCartney look bad. How in the world does a deal like this fall through?

It’s beyond ridiculous. People need to really start questioning themselves about their pride and love for their city. Cause more upsets like this is going to drive st. louis straight to the grave.

GET IT TOGETHER for crying out loud. You’d think that 1960-present would knock some sense into people thinking that we’re NOT doing it right. We need a coup d’etat.

What does it mean? It means that the Cardinal ownership lied to the city and the surrounding areas, selling us a bill of goods that they pretty much knew would never be fulfilled. It means that the area politicians and business leaders cannot close deals. It means the city of St. Louis got screwed, again. Has anyone else notices that every since St. Louis was named the “Best Sports Town in America” area sports have fallen apart?

Ah, men and their egos!

How funny…Slay says Mission Accomplished and claims Biggest Victory in the last 50 years! Only fools would believe that but of course St Lou is number one in that category too.

I find it hard to believe the city is behind this failure. This smells more like the Cardinals ownership and their pathetic cheap-mindedness.

Another example of how nothing gets done in St. Louis. It’s embarrassing how far behind other cities we are. Forget about Boston, Chicago, Philly, who get it. But places like Louisville, and Indianapolis seem to be getting it done…but we can’t.

We have a perfect opportunity with the Arch, and stadium, to make something special of our riverfront area. We draw millions down there to the Arch every summer, but there’s NOTHING for them. You have to drive to the Central West End, or Soulard, or further west for shopping. The area downtown should have it all…shopping, theater, dining, and outdoor markets.

PLEASE wake up and get your act together and move the downtown forward. Our city is falling apart, and it’s the fault of our politicians and their inability to work together to get things done.

Ball park village was never going to happen like we were told at best we will get a couple restaurants put there. Pinnacle will never build the Lemay casino like we were told at best they will move the Admiral down there. We all saw this from day one on both of these projects. Do the city and the developers think were stupid.

funny how they were so excited and all plans to get started were pushed back all for centeen. Interesting how they are 2-4 cents in dividends below expectations. then suddenly able to purchase another medical comapny for a biilion dollars. announcing ballpark villiage site sure boosted there name, nice pr move. Hey, mayor slay fine them and make no exceptions to the penalties for breaking the contract and by the way centeen thanks for contining the urban blite image we will show the country for the all-star game.

“I find it hard to believe the city is behind this failure. This smells more like the Cardinals ownership and their pathetic cheap-mindedness.”

I completely agree with this comment - I have huge doubts that it was the City and it’s leaders that dropped the ball on this one. This reeks of typical corporate hostage-taking.

It will be interesting to read Centene’s and the Cardinals excuses for this - most likely, they wanted a whole lot of something for nothing: that is, few taxes paid by them and the bulk of the expenses paid by us, the taxpayers. After all, holding the city and state hostage was how they got the stadium built by using OUR tax dollars in the first place.

and part of the deal was the Ballpark Village - which will never see the light of day. Why? Most likely, because the city refused to pay for the project.

Don’t blame Slay - blame Centene and the DeWitts for their typical corporate greed and lies.

How complicated could this have been to get done? It’s a friggin BUILDING. You know, the kind that have been built for a century? Glass and steel? Complicated deal? OOF, a punch to the stomach of the city, and to the budding inept management of mini Bill DeWitt.

What a suprise. First they cannot get the property they want in Clayton their way now they back out of this deal most likely because they did not get it their way. As far as I am concerned Centene can leave and find someone willing to put up with their bull.

Not really a huge surprise. The city of Clayton recently bought the land that Centene wanted for their headquarters. I would imagine they’ll probably end up there again.

Andrew: Thanks for the comment. I have posted the full text of Centene’s statement in the body of this Talk of the Day entry.

come on st. louis you have been duped by greedy owners. they pulled the same thing in texas. tthey had no intension of building ball park vilage. the are going to milk the cardinals for every dollar they can squeeze and then they will sell for a profit ann move to the next city

At a minimum, can’t the city plant some grass over the site and throw in a couple trees. At least turn it into green space until a long-term, viable deal can be established. Turn the big hole into a pond or fountain or something, it is nearly at that point now. Do anything to change this ugly blemish into something tollerable.

Apparently the city didn’t pony up enough freebies for Centente to be swayed more. I knew this was never going to get finalized.

When will the city change? How about voting OUT the Democrats and try some Republicans. You people have been electing the same old guard for decades. Dump that antiquated Earning Tax which is driving, or has driven, a lot of people and business away. Take some of that $1.9 million generated so far from the red light cameras and fix the streets. Also, pick up the trash I see everywhere I drive in the city.

In the meantime somebody please get a bulldozer and fill in the gaping hole in the ground and level the area out. Plant some grass and some trees so it doesn’t look like the land that time forgot when the blimp takes an aerial shot of the stadium during baseball season. Let famlies have picnics on that land before ball games. Come on St. Louis and Cardinals leaders, it’s not rocket science here. Perception is everything and what outsides percieve is a dump.

My bet is the DeWitts and the Cardinals. They bought a team, got the city to build them a stadium, and made a fortune doing it. You don’t see them investing in the team, why would they invest in downtown. Just wait and see after the All-Star game you will see the Cardinals up for sale. I don’t blame the mayors office for not completing the deal. It’s got to be a hard sell to convence a company to move to downtown where everyone has already been forced to move out to make way for empty lofts.

Let Cordish finish the project like they started too. They did a great job with the Power & Light district in Kansas City. Who cares a the greedy Cardinals. It is almost time for the owners to pack up and con another city. REMEMBER TEXAS RANGERS. Cardinal owners don’t want whats best for St, Louis. They just want free money, free money. I said many years ago, if I could find a way to remove them I would at a heartbeat.

It’s absurd to suggest that corporate greed has anything to do with the demise of Ballpark Village, or the city for that matter. It’s simple economics. What incentives do the Cardinals or Centene have to get the deal done? Those incentives must come from the government. The government knew going in that this would be difficult. Still, they have to be the arbiter here because of the significance of the project.

For one, if it weren’t for the Cardinals, this city would have been dead a long time ago. The Cardinals have propped up St. Louis’ image and supported the local economy for some 30 years now. What has the government done?

As for blaming Centene, the city of St. Louis needed this deal to get done much more than Centene did. And to that point, it’s incumbent upon the St. Louis government to get it done. No excuses. What has the government done?

If you truly want to place blame, put it on the corrupt St. Louis government and patronage system. The point made about Louisville’s and Indy’s resurgence is well-taken. Those cities have made it a priority to redevelop riverfronts and downtrodden areas. Furthermore, the government has made the choice to become business-friendly. What has the St. Louis government done?

Sure, St. Louis has huge potential. But for my money (and obviously businesses’ money as well), this place is hopeless. Given the mass exodus of jobs and corporate presence in St. Louis over the past decades, you would think our elected officials would get the point.

The powers that be can build whatever they want to build there as long as they don’t ask the citizens, the average Mary & Joe, to fund it. We are tired of funding projects that we can not afford bring our families and enjoy.

Our family used to be able to go to at least a couple of games per year. Not any more.

Frustrated….

I am a native St. Louisian who is currently working and living out-of-state. I have often dreamed of returning to my beloved hometown.

Unfortunately this is just one more example of why I am becoming more cynical about things like Ballpark Village, Kiel Opera House, and so many other projects - like an aquirium on the riverfront - not getting completed.

I never thought I would say this, but I am becoming increasingly embarrassed to call St. Louis my hometown. Maybe one day down the road the civic & political leaders will get their acts together and get something completed for once!!!!!

The elected leaders and the Cardinals represent the soul, spirit and class of St Louis. The downward spiral will only end when the general public insist on better…so don’t bank on it.

Now THIS is what public domain was meant for. The “Partners” have no plan to go forward. Blight it, buy it for “fair market”, smooth it over and plant some grass. Maybe let local artists display some work, whatever! Then when someone has a real plan for the space the city can react quickly.

Wow….another blow to the city. How many more can this city take. I am a big supporter of the city and really hope it can turn around but all the lofts in the world will not save downtown. JOBS are the key!! Way to blow another one STL! This makes me want to take up roots and move to another city that can get around all of the political crap and get things done.

The smartest guy in the “hole” mess is Lamping…he got out while the gettings good. can you say “sinking ship” ? Maybe stock the lake that exists on the site and have fishing contests before all the games.

The only way BV was going to survive is if companies like Centenne were to build there. Specialty shops and restaurants would not survive very long there. Not enough people come downtown on non-ballgame nights. Just pave over BV location and make it a parking lot. Maybe later down the road something could get done.

Here’s the statement just released from Cordish and the Cardinals:

STATEMENT: ST. LOUIS CARDINALS AND THE CORDISH COMPANY

The St. Louis Cardinals and The Cordish Company believe that Centene would have been a great addition to Ballpark Village. We are disappointed that the parties could not come to an agreement, despite months of effort and the best intentions of the City, Centene, and the Ballpark Village team. Ultimately, the many complexities of Centene’s proposed project in Ballpark Village proved insurmountable.

We will now work immediately with the City and State to finalize all public approvals and commence construction of Ballpark Village. The Ballpark Village partnership is in the unique position of having its private financing in place, and we are ready, willing, and able to proceed. Our vision has not changed — Ballpark Village will be a world-class mixed-use project that will positively transform the City of St. Louis.

I find it a great source of Gallows humor when “free market” defenders turn around and blame the loss of businesses on Governments who failed to give the Corporations a large enough “incentive package”. Let’s face facts, if your business model is a non starter unless someone gives you truck loads of money, You Have a Bad Business Model. Don’t ask taxpayers to support your grandiose, unprofitable ego projects. I love the justification too - “You should be paying me for the Privilege of my Presence.”

Please.

All the tax payer money spent to build the Cards a brand new, ultra nice, ultra cool Stadium. The City gets a muddy hole in the ground. The Cards get to show off at the All Star Game, and embarrass the city at the same time. This accomplishes two things - it makes the Cards team more valuable by raising it’s public image, and justifies the Cards leaving St. Louis by lowering the cities image. In the end, the tax payers are left holding the bag – and the city has a gaping hole and an empty stadium.

The Cardinals helped this city when they had owners who actually loved St. Louis, Cardinals, and baseball. Augie Busch….that is where the rich tradition of the Cardinals and the fans come from.

Now you have the Ditwitt’s. They love money and money. They are spending no money on players this year, and I’m sure didn’t want to fork out the cash for the BP Village. It’s these greedy businessmen that are steeling from the middle class. They’re going to suck all the money out of St. Louis and disappear. I hope we can find a way to hold them responsible when that does happen.

I can’t go to a game without dropping over $100 just on myself. Where is all this money going?

What would the beloved Jack Buck be saying about this? Is he looking down and shaking his head in disgust at the lack of leadership that City government has shown here?

What we need to do as a community is provide the incentives and tax revenue to encourage development of Ballpark Village into a world class topless nightclub. This way Cardinal players would not have to risk theirs and our lives in a dangerous drunken commute all the way to Sauget, instead they could just trot a short distance out the clubhouse door to their preferred destination. The tip revenue could be collected and help fund our schools.

Here’s another wonderful idea years behind where it should be and now in jeopardy of becoming a stip mall in the middle of downtown. This is looking more a like a development that we will all look back at 30 years from now and wonder what went wrong and what could have been. Most large cities would love to have a huge piece of land to develop in the middle of their downtown and right next to a new vibrant stadium. This is a golden opportunity to do something spectacular that appears to be slipping away.

By the way, what ever happened to phase 1 being completed in September 2007? I had a feeling all along that this site would never see it’s full potential and that hunch appears to be becoming a reality.

Someone please step up and do something great for the city!

I smell a strip club in our future!

This is another ploy for the Cordish development group to stall. They are spread too thin with the Kansas City Power and Light district. The Cardinals have no intention of ever building a Ballpark Village. This out of town ownership group will sell this team long before anything is ever built on this site. The Mayor and the city of St. Louis set up a deal which would have moved a corporate headquarter to the city. Problem is, Baltimore based Cordish and the Ohio based Cardinals ownership does not have the best interest of the city in mind. People should boycott the Cardinals until we see results.

St.Louis can’t win for loosing. Inept politicians and crooked business owners are trying to further their agendas off the back of what few of us there are left in the city that actually add to the tax base. It’s a shame none of these people ever heard of the Golden Rule. We can only hope they reap what they sow, the city certainly is. I,for one, am taking my 80k income and moving to greener pastures. At least I’ll have more pleasant surroundings and the knowledge that the city is no longer wasting my tax dollars providing breaks for multi-million dollar businesses and corporations that promise but don’t deliver. Obviously there are other urban dwellers doing the same. Wake up City Hall !

Obviously the people contacted by Fox 2 News are liers and should be fired.

Why not put in one of those Lowe’s/Wal-Mart Power centers, they always seem to get the deal done. Prolly get a Q’doba and Starbuck’s in there too. It will look just like the rest of beautiful St. Louis!

An absolute joke this city has become. We should all be protesting and boycotting the Cardinals and the city of St. Louis. They are both at fault is this situation. Also, enough is enough with Mayor Slay. What has he really done for this city? Crime is still on the rise, corporations and jobs are leaving this city at an alarming pace and there is no new development to speak of except for thousands of lofts which are going to remain vacant because there is NOTHING to do downtown. I am truly embarassed to call myself a resident of St. Louis. What a joke.

Just took a peak at CNN’s top 100 cities to live and start a business in……guess who wasn’t on the list, St. Louis or anywhere is the surrounding area. I can’t for the life of me understand why………(small the sarchasm). We are the laughing stock of the midwest. I shutter to think what would happen to this town if A/B ever thought about leaving. Talk about ghost town.

not enough people will go down town and risk coming out alive . last one out turn out the lights.

I think everyone needs to calm down a little. We may have dodged a bullet here. All of the earnings tax and sales tax these Centene employees would have brought to the table would have been used to pay for the project. The city (meaning me the taxpayer) would not have profited financially from this for years - like probably 15.

Since they announced their move Centene’s stock is down 50% and they’ve had “accounting issues”. In my opinion, there is a good chance we (the taxpayer) would have built them this nice building and in less than 10 years they would have been bought and moved or had massive layoffs anyway and stuck it to the city.

You can’t say no when a Centene shows interest to move downtown, but this was never going to have a happy ending for the St. Louis taxpayer, in my opinion. We should have then, and should now, push forward with the original plan for BV and light a fire under the cardinals’ @$$ to get it done.

The mayor is doing the best with what he has to work with. Would you rather turn the clock back with Freeman Bosley Jr, or Clarence Harmon. At least there is some progress. The mayor and the city is not to blame for this situation. The Cardinals ownership group is behind schedule, and lying to the citizens of St. Louis. What are we going to do about it? GO CARDS! Buy more tickets, buy more concessions.

Ballpark Village is definitely a huge project that I do not think St. Louis is quite ready for yet. Why doesn’t the city focus on some other historic/tourist areas in St. Louis that are falling apart due to the city’s lack of attention, i.e. The Landing? It’s my favorite place to meet friends, eat, drink and listen to some great music. On the other hand, it is falling apart and could really use some of the city’s assistance. Although, I think the city can lay off some of the parking ticket deputies. They are ridiculous down there.

#56 Mike,

Excellent points. The Centene deal is over (possibly for the best). Let’s now focus on making sure the BV doesn’t also fall through.

This is much more about corruption that ineptness. Remember not long ago eminent domain was used at Gentry’s Landfill (I mean Gentry’s Landing) because the developer promised a new condo tower. The project looks worse than ever. The real investors stay away from St Louis because they know this City is all about cronyism. Until we get a new administration nothing can be accomplished in St. Louis.

freeman and clarence looked out for the small tax payers

No one is going to want to hear this but the St Louis Metro area will never become a Dallas, Minneapolis, Seattle etc. until the city and the county merge and become one. There is clout in numbers and with these two entities constantly battling for jobs and aminities things are only going to to get worse. If the two would never have been seperated you can only imagine what downtown St Louis would look like, just imagine if you picked up downtown Clayton and put it in downtown St. Louis we would have on of the best downtowns in the country. If these two can’t merge then something needs to be done about the 90 municipalities in St Louis County talk about duplication of efforts and no one playing on the same team, no wonder nothing is every accomplish to better the region.

I suspect that the failure of the Centenne project is all about corporate greed, the Cordish company, city and state would not give Centenne everything they wanted so they are going to take their ball and go home and probably call home another state.

So has there ever been a big ticket development that has worked for downtown Saint Louis since the Arch and old stadium in the late 60’s?

Its been the lofts and City Museum and Tap Room and other smaller scale stuff that has brought live to downtown.

Unfortunately, this is the latest chapter in a book called the Demise of a Great City. Just look at the census trends over the last 30 years, after all people vote with their feet. While St. Louis has remained at about 2.5 million (excluding the collar counties it annexes every 10 years to feel relevant), cities like Atlanta, Minneapolis, Denver heck even Indiannapolis are growing by leaps and bounds. St. Louis metro has been passed or will be passed by everyone of them. Even Kansas City metro (still a one horse or cow town) is going to eclipse STL at the current rate. Meanwhile, we have Dick “I rely on Swamis and drive a Volvo” Fleming and the rest of the B team telling us all that the sky isn’t falling. It is.

St. Louisans need to get past their parochial I went to high school here and my grandma was at the Worlds Fair in 1904 mentality and think like grown ups to arrest the multitute of problems. Ask yourself, why does Clayton exist? Perhaps its the earnings tax most people can easily avoid by decamping from the city. Ask yourself, why does the state of Mo take St. Louis for granted? Perhaps its the lack of a singular voice speaking on behalf of the economic engine for the state.

I now live elsewhere, and long to move back to STL because of the great things St. Louis still has to offer, but am always distressed by the lack of progressive thinking in the Gateway.

Joe Edwards for Mayor!

Something tells me this is not all about the City. I believe Dewitt and corporate greed has once again showed their true colors. We were all threatened to give Dewitt a new stadium or else. Now your ticket prices are through the roof and a family can no longer afford to go to a ballgame. Baseball Village is just another step in their agenda to make more money. It isn’t about the city, or jobs, or anything. It is about all of us allowing ourselves to be bullied by sports teams and their demands. .

I just finished reading the statements of the 3 groups (mayor, centene, cardinals/cordish). Everyone is so disappointed, they all worked so hard, but it was just too difficult, blah blah blah. As I stated in an earlier post, I’m not that upset Centene fell through. I sure would like some straight answers though. They make it sound like they were embarking on the building of the panama canal - although my guess is there was less whining on that project.

Mayor Slay should not seek reelection, just as Governor Blunt has done. I have a few questions?

During the Slay Adninistration:

1. How many thousands of jobs has downtown lost?

2. Have race relations ever been worse in St. Louis?

3. Has crime ever been worse in St. Louis?

4. Have the schools ever been in worse shape?

5. How many grandiose downtown eminent domain or redevelopment schemes have never
been started or completed as promised? Just a few are Ballpark Village, Gentry’s Landing,
the former St. Louis Centre Mall.

6. Have prices of downtown real estate ever been lower? For example, recent sales, Laclede
Gas Building $23 sf, Millennium Building $18 sf, Shell Building $22 sf. This month Plaza
Square Apartments were auctioned off and reports are that the high bid was $16,560 per unit.
You will not find prices this depressed anywhere in the US.

7. How many downtown restaurants have closed in the last few months?

8. The Renaissance Convention Hotel is a loser, and the Lumiere Casino is reported to be
doing terribly.

ST. LOUIS NEEDS CHANGE, SOMEONE WHO UNDERSTANDS BUSINESS AND WELCOMES INVESTORS FROM OUT OF TOWN, AND SOMEONE WHO WILL RESPECT ALL RACES

St. Louis could easily be a top metropolitan area if we got our act right. We have a world class monument on a crappy riverfront. We sit in the most geographically centered place in the country at the convergence of the two largest rivers, but cannot attract major industry. We have miles and miles of 19th century historical architecture that would sale for millions on the East Coast, but we let it go to hell. I mean St. Louis has all the intangibles, but we cant get anything done because of crappy leadership, racism, and a backwards MO legislature. What St. Louis really needs is a merger and less politicians. We need to get over the old racism, county/city split bull of the pass and move into the 21st century. Companies and people leave St. Louis because there seems to be this cloud of apathy and nobody seems to give a damn about civic pride. We will have problems getting Metrolink, because our leaders have bad funding and MDOT would rather build Atlanta style highways instead of promoting public transportation growth when St. Louis doesnt have bad traffic. I mean what the hell guys! The people of St. Louis and St. Louis County need to get together and demand CHANGE and we need it immediately or this city will start to go downhill. Can anyone say Detroit and Cleveland, were not there yet but if we dont do something we could be.

Agree with comment about “St. Louis not being able to get anything right or done”. It takes years if not decades to get the simplest things accomplished in St Louis, like building a downtown bridge and etc. It seems the city always settles for the cheapest way out. It really surprises me how the Gateway Arch ever got built?

Please, who ever owns the lot where the Ballpark Village was to be built, fill in the hole, plant some grass and trees, add a couple of side walks and park benches, and many a few sidewalk lights. Make the area look like some cares.

I am sick and tired of all you St. Louis naysayers using this news to bash the city and all of the good things that are going on. I believe the writers that state that the Cardinals and Coridsh are responsible for this debaucle.

I llive in the city and enjoy it very much; will BV be built?

Who knows?

But it is not a reason to bash the city of St. Louis!

Get real folks, and if you don’t like it, GET OUT and I don’t mean to Chesterfield or St. Charles.

Jim,

I think you’re attitude of “don’t like it, get out” is the exact problem of st. louis. I think in all of hearts, we deeply love this god forsaken city, that’s why people are so upset. Like a dad seeing their son f*cking up all the time. We don’t need people to leave, we need people to stay. We need to change so that people want to stay…the very people that are so upset. Doesn’t ANYONE get this?

The point is, it IS time for change. We need to stop the BS. Stop the pessimism. Stop the conservative half-ass approach to things. Stop the cronyism. Stop the same-old politics. Stop the racial divide. Stop the dis-unity.

We need something drastic as a city. We need someone to unify the city and county. WE need to stop the parochialism. WE, the people of st. louis (county and city).

Quote by Steve M:
“The people at Centeen probally seen all the THUGZ overtaking South St.Louis,like they done North St.Louis.Guess Centeen see the THUGZ about ready to overtake Downtown,to,Good move on their part”

Good one Steve. You are a real smart guy. Did you go to Harvard? Oh that’s right I forgot, You have never traveled out of the county.

C’mon people… Wake up. There is no tolerance for this pig-headedness.

IT is a crime that the good ol boys network down at city hall still runs the show. I donot blame Slay as much as the tax and spend DEMS that run it. Anyone that thinks otherwise is foolish. I can guarentee that, this is about taxes and Tifts and kickbacks to your friendly local city government.

It’s business as usual.

When will ST.LOUIS get it.

If you lose your base of taxation from local businesses, because they are charged to much then the whole town will go up in smoke.

M

I’m embarrassed to live in this city!

I believe, to answer #71, that people in STL are just really frustrated that this city never lives up to its potential for whatever reason that may be. There is plenty of blame to go around. I myself get really tired of getting excited by every announcement of somethign great on the horizon only to be deflated when it all goes down the drain because agreements can’t be made. I have lived away from STL since 1985 and always look forward to coming ‘home”. While I agree with #71 some great things have been done in and around the city there is still that knowing that things could be even better. I know too that no major change will come to the area until we become one. There are too many ridiculously small communities with their ever so small sphere of thinking leaders that will always be a ball and chain on the growth of the region. looking in from the outside it is both sad and laughable. My wife is from Phoenix and that city is on the rise. Why, because people work together and get things done for the common good. Those calling for a change in our government are right. But a Rebublican would never stand a chance in STL. People there still think the Democrats care about them. They do, as long as there is something in it for them.

What a huge disappointment. I don’t know for sure, but I certainly haven’t heard of any other significant investment in the site from anyone else. Regardless of any of that, I’d like to see the Cardinals make a commitment to do something to beautify that site in the short term. It really is an eyesore. How come people like Slay, McCaskill and Danforth want to dig up the Arch grounds, but don’t throw their weight behind a project to promote the most visible site in downtown St. Louis?

Get it together,

You are right in calling me on the fact of telling people to leave if they don’t like STL;
I love this place as well! I live in the city because I want to!

And people live in the county becuase they want to; enough said.

I also agree we need more reasons for people to stay.

But I don’t agree with putting all the blame on city govt. and none of it on the Cardinals or Cordish or even Centene?? Lets wait for all of the facts before passing judgement.

A final thought; a united city and county is a wonderful idea!! Just wish it would happen in my lifetime.

FYI: Brian Barton just took a fastball in the face!

anybody interested in St. Louis city/county urban politics and really want to talk about the issues and get involved or even learn about the city more should look up this forum. Its growing and full of people that actually love the city and want it to progress.
http://www.urbanstl.com

There are many reasons why StL real estate is so cheap…the main one is it will be even cheaper tomorrow. Too many politicians with too many bad ideas and too little talent dominate city and county government. Every large business knows this and will take full advantage of these weaknesses. This result should not surprise anyone who understands the StL region…
even Clayton sold its soul for Centene to watch it walk away.

#76 it is the Republicans in outstate Missouri that are economically strangling St. Louis by taxing and not spending, because they have some kind of vendetta against the Democratic St. Louis area. Matt Blunt has said he doesn’t care about the urban areas and whenever St. Louis politicians try to do something in Jeff City, our envious neighbors across the state vote against us. What needs to be done is simple….we need a freakin MERGER! So we can step to the Missouri government with power as a single entity. St. Louis County is already like 20% of the states population and the St. Louis area is easily half.

Money talks. When BV gets built (and it will in some fashion or another), get down there and spend your money, that’s how you convince businesses to come/stay in the city. I’ve spent a ton of money at Famous/Macy’s downtown over the years, how about you? Call up Wachovia and tell them to transfer your AG Edwards accounts to Edward Jones. Use Enterprise for car rentals and drink AB products. If Centene moves out of town, start writing your congressman and demand they stop doing business with them. Try to convince your employer to move/stay in the city.

So everyone here is saying the same thing. I think it’s pretty evident that the people of both St. Louis City and County are fed up with business as usual, and that our pride for our city is becoming increasingly uprooted from the depths due to the lack of results in the past 50 years.

What are WE going to do about it? Those of us who care, are taking the time to write on these boards, as writing on the internet is our only outlet of communication as citizens these days. There MUST be something we can do. We need to merge. We need to vote correctly. We need to abolish these silly political boundaries and stop having non-educated Joe Blow or some parochial alderman making decisions that impact a region of 2.8 million people.

We can we do, those of us who care?!

#84

Unfortunately, I think that ship has sailed. I don\’t see any way for a merger to happen unless you could somehow get someone at the state level to force it. Perhaps the city and inner ring suburbs could come up with some plan to work together on attracting business to the city, but even that would be a stretch I think.

This comes as no surprise to me. Slay and friends have pi$$ed away anything decent in the city, all the while increasing taxes. Not like I wanted to pay taxes on a facility that I would never use since I can’t stand drunk suburbanites and terrible music, which is primarily what the downtown baseball crowd is all about. Maybe Slay & co. are not to blame, but I am becoming more and more disillusioned with STL every day and it’s reasonable to suspect our leaders have a lot to do with a rapidly-deteriorating city. I don’t blame Centene for considering options outside the region. And as a side note - I’m really disappointed that STL decided that another casino was prudent. How embarrassing that our city can allow another casino (that is not as posh as it’s been made out to be, trust me; there are just as many people at Lumiere in sweat pants as there are at any other crappy casino), rather than paying attention to the real issues this city is facing - multiple murders almost every day; increasing homeless population. STL is a slum, which is why I’m moving out of it.

st louis also has a union problem city teachers union convention center unions . the unions and the dems crime . keep voting for democrates st. louis will be just fine might look at crime rates before bying that loft

Can anyone tell me what a Republican would do in the city of St. Louis? That a Democrat cant? Look at the stats idiots whenever a Republican is in office the crime rate is twice as high. Remember the crack era of the 80’s? guess who was President then! Your beloved Ronald Reagan who said that there were no hungry people in America when there are bums on the sidewalk 2 blocks away from the White House. This is not a Democrat or Republican issue. This is a St. Louis issue. We need a change in this region. Whether it be merger or impeaching this crappy St. Louis politicians.

Maybe I should run for mayor!!! Would anyone actually vote for me?

Very unfortunate. However, nothing surprises me with this new ownership. Things have changed. My personal opinion is that the team and everything associated with this ownership, will be sold within 5 years. I think this has been ongoing now for some time. I would hope I was wrong, but I have no faith in this group. It is, after all, a business and that is all the ownership is concerned with. If it isn’t providing what they wanted when they originally got into the baseball business, they will bail. A business decision is what they will call it.

I hope I am wrong.

#88

You don’t get it do you. Reagan had nothing to do with the Dem good ol boys network who have been running this town since the 40’s. No National President can fix a towns problems. That is the point. When we do get visionary people to stand up. They are shut out by the TAX and SPEND DEMS that are only interest in 2 things. HOW to Keep their power. And HOW to line their pockets. Why do you think so many businesses have left the city. When I can get lower taxes and get better service with no attitude where do I will go to do business. ST.louis County etc……. NOW having said that. The County wanted to merge DECADES ago. But guess who thought their toilet didnot stink. That’s right the city. Now you want the county to take on The citiies corruption and politics. What are you smoking
M

[…] The Cardinals and Cordish issue a joint statement…which saves time, I guess. The St. Louis Cardinals and The Cordish Company believe that […]

Don’t blame the Cardinals or the city on this one. The Cordish Co. is impossible to work with, and has a result are losing potential tenants left and right.

I thought that there was supposed to be some sort of financial penalty assessed to the Cardinal ownership group if parts of Ballpark Village were not developed by specific dates. How come no one is talking about that? Was that just political talk so the public would finance the stadium with less yelling? I made a bet with some friends that Ballpark Village would never be built. Looks like I might win that bet.

The problem is St. Louis, not the owners. If anything the Cardinals are trying to help rebuild the downtown area, but they can not do it own their own. They need St. Louis and us to help. What is the point of building new restaurants and shopping center if you can’t fill them? I think one of the problems is the new loft development? Whose decision was to let all these real estate developers develop overpriced $500,000 lofts? I’m not seeing people rushing down there to buy, though you do have the option to rent 2 bedrooms for $1,600 a month…get real people. You can only sell that in desired markets and the last time I check a place with high crime, homelessness, schools system falling apart and very limited restaurants and shopping is not that place. If you want to rebuild downtown you have to start first by targeting your middle class to come back and a good place to start would be Monday 03/31 when there is about 30,000 of them downtown for the Cardinals home opener.

Richmond Heights and Clayton studied merging together–because it might make good sense economically. RH has all the commercial development near the Galleria, and Clayton has all the business downtown. Both places have a range of housing, from low to high. If any two places could merge it would be them.

I don’t remember details from the report (cost savings of merged services wouldn’t be “enough”), but my feeling is the mini powers-that-be within each preferred their positions and wanted to maintain the status quo, damn the potential for growth and regional leadership.

So, there lead the best and brightest of St. Louis. It just shows that unless threatened with losing everything, nothing is going to change. (Many County municipalities are on the brink of bankruptcy as it is–and if they do, they might disincorporate).

How did Indy merge governments? How about Jacksonville? Who made it happen there? Was it one charasmatic politician? A group of wealthy businesses? The “little people”?

We do have extreme regional pride. Imagine a politician telling his community, “we will be better off if we join together as St. Louisans” and make a point of cooperation and partnerships with neighbors. He could be popular. But he would have to be courageous, because it would mean the end of the position he won, in the hopes of gaining a bigger seat in a combined municipality.

Another day and another kick in the ass for STL. This is so funny it can be used for punch lines. This city is a joke, and the laughing stock of the midwest. I’m so glad I moved from STL ages ago. From the loss of Sporting News to Macy’s to now Centene, this city economically is on life support. I guess more red light cameras will do the trick to add a little change to the coffers. It is so sad to see this city just flat out die in front of us.

Problem with STL is simple, to many municipalities, to much LOCAL government, people who don’t give a shit about the city, and why would they since there is squat to do, and in all honesty, way to many “ghetto” americans lurking around each street corner, with some possesing ill intent. Until the bridge of city and county occurs, this will continue. Indy merged and look, Louisville merged and viola, progress baby, it can be done. To Centene’s credit, why pay an extra silly 1% city tax just for the luxuary of working and staring at the God awful STL skyine. Centene may even leave the region, hey we’ll scoop ‘em up in Chicago. STL cannot afford to lose strong viable companies.

This is no surprise. We are a broken city. We cannot even come together to make a no-brainer like this a reality. I love St. Louis from the bottom of my heart, but I must admit– no progressive city would ever drop the ball on this one. It’s not just the city’s fault either. It stems from all the political and economic fragmentation that plagues our town. It seems like the only projects that actually come to fruition around here are the bad ones that call for demolition of historic buildings and parking, parking and more parking! Get it together, St. Louis leaders. You are ruining our once-great city!

That’s funny I swear the Post reported on Monday that the deal was solid and that FOX 2 was erroneous in reporting last week that the deal was dead. Hmmmmm interesting.

#91: “TAX and SPEND DEMS that are only interest in 2 things. HOW to Keep their power. And HOW to line their pockets”

Isn’t that all Republicans do, too? The Republicans in power now have given us the biggest deficit, and Bush used the fearmongering over the “war” to bring Republicans to power in the mid-term elections. Look, I don’t care about anybody’s alignment, but this stereotype-slinging political garbage just wastes everyone’s time.

#96: Clayton doesn’t really qualify as having any low-priced housing. I think the merger decision had something to do with people feeling as though they would lose voice with their council members, as well as some other stuff. The school district was a big bugaboo, also, though it wouldn’t be affected. Small-time thinking, again. Having not read the report, I can’t disagree with the results, though at least they thought about it. (I thought they should have included retail-rich Brentwood, and Wal-Mart and housing-laden Maplewood.)

It is, was and always will be a waste of money to finance and make deals with professional sports teams and companies.. Baseball Village will only last as long as the original leases are signed… Rent is to expensive and just like St. Louis centre, the tax payer will be stuck with the bill… On it’s face value we had to spend tax payer money so baseball players can make a couple extra million a year.. Nothing unique will come of it unless you want to call Applebee’s and TGI fridays unique, cause nobody else is stupid enough to sign those type of leases.. T.I.F. Tax Incremented Fraud.. Now lets start investigating and throwing criminals in jail!

I find it incredibly frustrating that old Busch, a one-of-a-kind landmark, was torn down to be replaced by a retro-styled design, replete with cheap cinder-block internal buildings, lines-of-sight that are hardly better, and less seating! I hate it. I don’t know what the new stadium brings if not some new downtown development, and that is obviously failing. The Kiel Opera House, the Bottle District, Chouteau’s Landing, downtown I-70 lid, riverfront improvements, and Gateway Mall improvements - the leaders must stop talking and start doing. A new casino and a worthless park in front of the Eagleton Courthouse do not get them to a passing grade. In fact, without Ballpark Village, I would say they are beyond regaining our trust.

I am disappointed by the POLL: “Who do you blame for the collapse of the Centene Project” - there should have been another choice in order to blame the Iranians. That way when Heir Bush can use it as a reason to start a thermonuclear war (an idea that’s really popular with the typical “off their meds” Post reader)

The blame should be placed on Centene!! Although details have not come out about HOW this deal fell apart, there are more than enough signs to show that Centene was blowing smoke this entire time. Lets recap: Company comes up with a major development plan containing 2 towers on an entire block of Clayton. Company asks Clayton for incentives and to secure the remaining properties, all of which were of productive use and in good condition (hence the court ruling there was no reason they be condemned!!). Instead of working with Clayton, revising their plan to fit (1 tower apparently wasnt good enough for Clayton but it was for downtown?) they state their intentions to “look at their options”, meaning they were looking for more handouts and subsidies.

The city offers just about everything possible to get them down there and build their tower. During this courting period, their financial performance is called into question. Fast forward to last week. Said property is now put back on the market in Clayton, and Centene coincidentally announces the deal at BPV is off and once again they are “Looking at all their options including other states”. Just where do they get off thinking they have this kind of leverage, especially since I doubt many in STL have even heard of Centene before these announcements? Being a business in a metro area with a stagnant population growth and a fragmented mess of cities willing to fight over tax revenue certainly does have its advantages, doesnt it?

Cordish should not get a free pass, but lets not be so quick to blame Cordish and the Cardinals over a mess that was started and ended by a company that continues to believe it is entitled to be handed its corporate headquarters on a silver platter.

The Kiel Opera House, the Bottle District, Chouteau’s Landing, the “infamous” downtown I-70 lid (to connect d-town), riverfront improvements, and Gateway Mall improvements, the names, the ideas, the lists they go on and on. This city is all talk and zero action. Yes I have been at times very hard on the people of STL due to the perverbial high school question, but somehow, this region needs to function as a metro area with a true identity. When pople come to STL for buisiness they are not thinking Wildwood or Lajew, they are thinking d-town, lights, action, people, pulse. In d-town STL you hear the sound of a flat line.

Slowly this region continues to fall out of relevence and is known basically for that overrated arch with it’s view of..hmmm STL and A-B. Nashville, Louisville, Indy, Cincy…are all surpassing STL in population size (eventually) they have better skylines and density with peole living working and playing d-town, while STL is about Cardinal baseball, cheap A-B products (there is real beer out there people) and then the mad dash on hwy 40 to get home to the burbs so we can brag we were at the game albiet on the cell phone.

Centene will probably leave the area totally, and that would yet again, be another company to say F- STL. Customer service jobs are casuing a brain drain in the area, no way the region prospers with those idiot jobs. I love STL, but it makes me shed a tear watching it crash and burn all while other cities get it and are making it work. Sad, but no city drops the ball when a corporate giant comes knocking. Also, regarding Cordish, don’t always pick the lowest bidder Mr Slay.

Ever consider that West Berlin and East Berlin Reunited after 40+ years of divide and we can’t even get the two sides of Skinker together. Hell, we don’t even have a wall dividing us. Just narrow minded parochialism. Its sad to think that all we do is talk a good game, draw up elaborate plans and then point the fingers when they fail to materialize. Definitely a STL mindset.

What is amazing to me is that some people here are professing such shock and new outrage at this. C’mon, folks — Ball Park Village has been a pipe dream from the first day the fat cats sat down in the back room and cooked up a way to have the St. Louis taxpayers finance their business venture. But we cannot lay this debacle at Francis Slay’s door. The big money all lined up like sheep behind a bunch of slickster cronies that never had St. Louis’ interests in mind and let them extort our cooperation with their implied threat to move our precious Cardinals. All the movers and shakers - and many thousands of Cardinal fans, all kowtowed to the notion that our city would prosper if we built a fancy new sports venue - a notion long disproven in umpteen other cities.

Sorry, folks, but the same folly that leads the majority of our populace to drastically overvalue sports has been brought home one more time, by — you guessed it — us. And For every one of you who voices anger and disgust at Mayor Slay and the Cardinals’ ownership, there are five of you who cheered when you heard the new stadium was going to happen, then saw how fast you could line up to buy season tickets. And now you pay ridiculous amounts of money to watch a bunch of lazy athletes that don’t give the proverbial rat’s patootie about St. Louis go about the business of getting richer.

Congratulations, St. Louis.

When, oh when, will we ever learn?

I’m a native from St. Louis that lives in Houston now for the past ten years and it seems to me that not much has changed back home. When I saw that Baseball Village plan along with the Bottle District and Loft District being planned there I actually became excited. But just like the Kiel Opera House plan seems like St. Louis still won’t be able to compete on an equal scale with other cities and make it the grnad place that it once was over 40 years ago when it was the 10th largest city in the country. In fact I was shocked to see that Amtrak after all these years is finally getting a new station. My late but great buddy Greg Freeman would have been happy about that. Maybe one day the great hole next to new Busch will be something worth looking at if not a parking lot for tail gaters before ball games.

Would you just fill Lake Dewitt with water, put a fountain in the middle, grass around the edges, and forget about Ballpark Village? Something said “we’re never going to build anything on this site” when a so-called temporary parking lot went in on Broadway. I’ve given up yelling “BUILD SOMETHING” when I drive by every day.

Anything will spruce up the area for the All Star Game rather than the giant mud pit we have now. But why get ahead of ourselves? We’ll probably lose that too.

Idiot Cardinal fans grease the Cardinal Machine. They allow themselves and the region to be screwed like this.

So, the Cardinals won the Series in 2006………big deal. I could care less.

People need to quit going to the games and paying their hard earned money to these robber barons.

I’m kinda mad and glad this didn’t go through, because now we get to address some much needed issues in the St. Louis areas. For one this area is in desperate need of unity and a major ego boost and none of this will get done until we get rid of those damn politicians and little small ass cities. We have almost 100 little towns in St. Louis County and over 28 alderman in the city, With all these damn elected officials nothing will ever get done. We also need to MERGE the city and county. You see what it has done for Louisville and Indianapolis, why not us? Look at all the cities that have passed us by in recent years because St. Louis refuses to move into the 21st century. I say we start a petition to get rid of all these damn politicians, we have more politicians in St. Louis than New York, LA, and Chicago combined and we don’t have the population to support that. In order for St. Louis to progress we need the people to get involved.
Check out this urban discussions website. http://www.urbanstl.com, there are people here who care we just need to find each either and get organized to take our city back and make it serve us and not these greedy politicians that fuel racial, political, and emotion difference to get there way.

Yeah, today’s news is tragic. What is more disappointing is not the Cardinals or the Mayor, but most on thoseon this blog who project a small-minded, conservative and short-sighted view of the situation. Over the years many critiized building an arena for the Blues, they critized building a stadium for the Rams too, thinking a team would never come, and an airport in Illinois, as well as efforts to retain Ralston Purina. I would bet many of these same nansayers are on this blog. Every thriving U.S. metro area (Chicago, Atlanta, Seattle) has successfully galvanized support for the business community. The difference is that these areas are willing to take risks. Do they always success? No of course not.

Sadly this level of support for risk taking does not exist in the St. Louis metro area. Not surprisingly Centene is looking to leave. Do you blame them? If you are resistent to progress and business development, move to Fort Wayne, IN. If you hate big business, move to Paducah, KY. Lastly, if you think you can separate downtown’s ill’s from the region, your smoking something illegal. More often than not, business travelers and tourists developing their impression of the region by what they see downtown. You can no more separate Chestfield from Downtown St. Louis, than you can separate Bloomfield Hills from Detroit. If the core becomes rotton, the whole region is spoiled.

I don’t need anymore convincing to know this project isn’t going to happen, or at least not without a lot more of the people’s money.

It is time for the city of Saint Louis to declare the area blighted and start the process to take it over under eminent domain. It’s time to play hardball with the Cardinals.

This city continues to disgust me with its inability to do anything or attract anyone. It is completely business hostile. Every time I return home to this city and pass through the pathetic excuse for an airport and then drive through the burned out and barely alive downtown area I wonder why I stay here and why I actually thought that something may change while I was away. Leadership, progressive thinking, pride, action…maybe some of these politicians and aldermen will take a little of this to heart and try to make this city something great again. 1904 is gone people, let it die would you?

Maybe the politicians from the other 90+ municipalities in the County will show some interest.

OMG THIS IS SUCH A TRADEGY! BOOHOOHOO! Get real here people. Does it really matter if a Ballpark Village gets built or not? Some A-hole corporation hooked to a Chilis and a Red Robin. Yeah that would have brought in all the big tourist dollars. Im sure we would have surpassed Vegas as a vacation destination with that awesome attraction. Do you people remember when we payed for the TWA Dome and we were told we had to have it to handle all the huge conventions we were gonna get? Its used 8 days a year unless the Pope visits last time I checked. I swear I dont think any of these posts are coming from native St Louisians. You sound like a bunch of spoiled east coasters who were forced to relocate here from your corporate headquarters. I for one will take a new casino over a damn strip mall with office space anyday. So after reading these posts my advice is grow up. And get used to disappointment. This is STL ya know.

Centene is a company full of wimps!

No Tax money for these idiots! They want a lake? They should get a lake for all of MLB to see when the All-Star Game comes to town. These supposed leaders are a failure and should be exposed as such. Every time I’ve been to a Cardinals I and look at where ball park village is supposed to be I think I am in baseball hell! This is a joke! Just let it sit!!

No Tax money for these idiots! They want a lake? They should get a lake for all of MLB to see when the All-Star Game come to town. These supposed leaders are a failure and should be exposed as such. Every time I’ve been to a Cardinals game I look at where ball park village is supposed to be and I think I am in baseball hell!. This is a joke ! Just let it sit!!

A rumor around work today is that Centene is going to lease/purchase the tallest building in the AG Edwards/Wachovia Securities Complex and share the campus with Wachovia Securities, and that this option killed the ballpark village deal.

As someone who spent a long 2 years in your town, I can’t say that this is a surprise. I grew up across the river and will always be a Cards fan, but also lived in South City. The mindset in the “Big City” was much smaller than what I experienced living in New Athens, Illinois. All of the natives are fixated on the past (ok there are some normal, well adjusted St. Louisans). Its a badge of honor to discuss what high school you attended or what parish you grew up in. Yet, not everyone is Catholic or cares.

I now live in Minneapolis with a stop in Omaha before moving here. I won’t even try to compare the Twin Cities which have a less favorable climate and the same river running through it. But Omaha had more civic mindedness and had a greater vision than St. Louis.

I will always visit my beloved Cardinals, but based on my couple of years there, I can’t say that I am sorry for you.

It cannot be argued Larry Salci, Bi-State’s former leader, made some mistakes. One thing he said, however, still rings true about St. Louis: It’s a bunch of clowns. That’s OK though. Atlanta, Dallas, Seattle, and other growing cities who have real leadership will probably pick up yet another corporate HQ at the expense of STL’s continuing decline. Way to go guys.

Yeah OK Ha Ha. Omaha ? Youve gotta be on acid. And New Athens IL? LOLOLOLOL! Your a funny guy!

Fellas every city has its problems. No place is utopia. Seattle has the highest suicide rate in the country. Atlantas inner city is as crime rirdden as St Louis and now they are the hub for Mexican meth distribution. Dallas has some of the worst traffic and pollution in the country. And believe it or not its hotter and more humid in the summer than St Louis. Stop whining!

Hey Ha Ha how do you like those bridges up in Minneapolis? Sounds like a real progressive smart city. Shame they cant keep their bridges from falling in the river during rush hour. Ha Ha!

Downtown will be awesome. Where’s the optimism? Ballpark Village will be built, it just won’t have some publicly traded company that’s about to go under as its’ anchor.

I’m optimistic because I read the concern on this very board. Everybody wants it to succeed.

Yeah, we’re dissapointed from what appears to be a set-back.

I’m doing my part! I’m moving from South County to Washington Avenue on Tuesday!

I challenge the rest of you to do the same! Come on down! Let’s make it what we all hope and know it can be.

this does not look like an issue with the city government. It looks more like a Cardinal issue. Give Slay credit. The city has come a long way under him. Just think what happened to the city under the last few administrations. I hate we lost Centene to ballpark Village, but my guess is that it has more to do with whoever is trying to develop the village and not the mayor. We’ve come a long way. Downtown is looking much better. We have a long way to go, but has happened in downtown, happened under Slay’s watch. I’m a county resident, but I love the city and at least Slay is trying to bring the city back. I remember the midnight basketball mess, all the money wasted in the earlier administrations, with nothing to show for it. Take a look at downtown and drive around the city and see all the new consturction of homes. Give slay some credit. They city looks better now than in years. We’ll get there, but we need to do something about the crime. That really scares me..

why is anyone surprised? the city of st. louis is basically a whole in the ground anyway. seems appropriate to me.

bottom line: st louis is corrupt… NOT tourist friendly… sticky hands out everywhere for your fines, taxes, graft.

Let’s hand the city back to the Indians. Maybe they can turn things around….and there is already an abundance of casinos.

One, I’m not surprised that things didn’t work out. I’m guessing that Centene was using the “announcement” for leverage to get a deal done in Clayton. Two, the short-term “solution” is pretty obvious - make the site flat, pave it, and when the All-Star Game rolls around, it will be the perfect place to put up all the big white tents for all the private parties and the All-Star Fan Fest. The rest of the time, it’ll just be more, convenient parking. And three, eventually our dreams and the market will merge, and what can be built will be built . . .

Laclede Town, Plaza Square, City Center, The Landing, Savis Center to refurbish Keil Opera House, Ball Park Village, TWA, AA abandoning STL as a hub, Southwest Bell moving to Texas, McDonnel bought by Boeing, horrible schools… Just throw this on the pile of failures that makes St Louis a smaller and smaller village. Can’t we get some LEADERSHIP in this town?? Look at any national weather report - - ST Louis ISN’T ON THE MAP!! Nobody cares about weather in a city that doesn’t have an airport or a downtown. Let’s face it, St Louis is moving backwards. Every 5 years or so a bunch of suits will propose some grand scheme to revitalize downtown, all they need is the citizens to pony up some land or higher taxes or whateever and life will be beautiful and Scruggs and Stix will return to downtown and we’ll be back in the 1940’s where we dream to be. When will we stop drinking this Kool Aid? We had a beautiful ball park and tore it down because??? When will we learn??

I believe that St. Louis should copy the great success another city has had. Former Governor of California Jerry Brown loved the City of Oakland and hated to see it crumble. Oakland was in a tough spot because it was competing with the world class cities of San Francisco, Los Angeles and San Diego. In a very unselfish (and unpretentious) act, former Gov. Brown ran for Mayor of Oakland, which is quite a demotion from being Governor. Since becoming Mayor of Oakland, the improvements are nothing short of astonishing. I believe that a former US Senator, (for example), or someone else with extraordinary experie