tom, the metrolink wouldn’t work. we first have to build the highway, then tear it up and put down the rail. how else would the local pols be able to get under the table payoffs twice.

Carlos,
If they would do the crime statics is a fair and stastical manner, STL would not show up in the top 20.
Here is what I mean, as we all know STL is an independent city, therefore, the statistics they use are from the city only and the per capita murder rate is based on the cities population.
When they compile the murder rate for Chicago they also use the statistics and population of Cook County because Chicago is part of Cook County and not independent like STL. So the Chicago ranking is skewed because it includes more than Chicago proper.
This same statistical flaw is also used against Baltimore and Richmond VA. They are the other two cities with populations over 100,000 that are not part of a county.

carlos, you forgot about the three major hometown banks that used to be downtown; Mercantile Trust, First National, and Boatmen’s. All were doing good till the first initial, name, III or IV surname country day, ivy league guys came in the early 70’s to take daddy’s place. All they knew how to do was get plastered and na-l the secretaries and female clerical help. Trust me, I know because i witnessed it first hand.

kdunlap, you are right about the stats, however, if you eliminated the daily northside murders, half the funeral homes there would be out of business. and just think, all those dead guys who were “just beginning to turn their lives around” would get to do so. might even have a few more babies with five different women.

Tom,
You are correct, the business leaders cannot see past their quarterly balance sheets and calculate their next bonus.
The business leaders in this town use to be just that LEADERS. Now is simply how high can I get the stock price, what peon can I whack so my bonus is even bigger (ever see what happens to a companies stock when they annouce huge layoffs, it usually soars), do I want to sell my Florida home and have a second home in Scottsdale or do I keep both?
It is pure and simple GREED, GREED, GREED and more GREED, see AB as a reference and I am not talking about the Busch family (except for Adolphus the IV)I am talking about the purchasers.

Ladont,

I understand. However, there is plenty more to do in NY, not to mention the number of people there. Chicago is the same way. High taxes yet people still flock there. Strange, but there are plenty of things to do in NY and Chicago downtowns compared to St. Louis downtown.

If you actually pay the 1%, and think you get value for it, fine. I don’t see the value of paying it. Waste and it’s ugly cousin, fraud take most of it.

kdunlap,

The Earnings Tax amounts to about 33% of the annual city budget if I remember right from the last city report.

St. Louis has some potential and has been on the rise in many ways. There are many areas that are looking better than ever - Benton Park, Washington, Lafayette, etc. And many others on the way - Gaslight, Soulard, etc. Anyway, as the residence around a city improve & home values increase, there is an increased demand for higher end goods (groceries, restaurants, entertainment, etc.). With this in mind, it is possible to think of attracting and keeping a sporting team as a byproduct of improving an area itself. Too often it is thrown around that bringing a quality sporting team into a metro area is going to revive it. That is unfortunately rarely true. How often do you hear people say, “I’d love to live right next to the Rams’ stadium” (whatever they’re calling it today)? Sure, businesses will move in to leach off of the game crowds, but those businesses can be in a bad situation in the off-season.

Sporting teams are not the only type of franchise that thrives in a healthy city. Corporate headquarters, Metro-links, retail businesses, etc. all do as well. We should not worry about whether or not the Rams are going to leave. At this point, we need to worry about if the rest of the affluent residents in the city are going to move out. There is a lot of beautification going on in the city (unfortunately, too often at the hands of individual investors rather than city leaders). If we keep a long term perspective, things will come around.

Having screw-ups like Ballpark Village and other high profile project failures can be major setbacks and can really tarnish the image of the city. Not so much because they leave gaping holes, but because they also hurt morale of those living their dust. If our “city leaders” could actually show some high profile success stories (and not just throw a festival here and there), maybe we could maintain a higher morale in the city limits and the rest will eventually follow.

carlos, don’t forget that another great st.louis invention is the car bomb. that was pretty effective back in the 70’s

A realistic hometown girl here:

St. Louis needs to stop pretending, stop dreaming and get a grip. We are not a Chicago, New York, Dallas or even a Detroit. We’re a has been ash heap from a previous time. We think that having a couple of pro sport teams makes us a 1st rate city—WRONG. Quality government, lifestyle, jobs and school system makes for a 1st rate city. Who cares if the Rams, Cardinals, Blues leave? Maybe if they did the public would start to focus on the real needs of this city. We are a disgraceful, rundown, dead zone and are too “proud” to see it.

Two thoughts. As far as the Rams go, we’re in for a Stadium Fight but the team will stay. There are 32 NFL franchises and sustainable markets are dwindling. LA is the only possible big market left. The Jaguars are in a worse situation with a longer history of fan apathy, they’ll sell and move first. There won’t be many locations the Rams can move to in 7 or so years after that happens. We’ll get a new owner that will want a shiny new stadium, but he won’t be able to go anywhere realistically and make any more money than he can make here. So the fight will be on in about 2015 for a new stadium. But what do you expect. The Dome will be 20 years old by then, Busch II was about 40 at its demise. Everyone, from ownership to fans hates the place anyway. It was built at exactly the wrong time for a Dome, right before the common use of a retractable roof (which is what a team in this city needs for football). So we’ll go through that fight, but the team will stay.

My second comment is about the posts here. I haven’t read one, but I bet I can guess what a healthy percentage of the comments are like: Big owners are greedy, players are greedy, the world is against us anyway, let them leave, I don’t care. The world was a much better place years ago when there were no problems to deal with and I could go see a game for $1 and buy food cheaper, blah blah blah. These stuck in the past, big business sucks fatalists irritate me to no end and I have no use for them. They won’t make a difference if the team stays or goes anyway, they’ll just sit back and whine.