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.