St. Louis Downtown boom

[LeannaM]

St. Louis is not a perfect city, far from it, but the Downtown boom since 1999 has been great. $4.3 billion has been invested Downtown since 1999. There are now 11,854 residents Downtown, with 88% of all residential units [[rental and sale) occupied. Still, Downtown is fairly affordable. There are still places to get a 1BR Downtown for less than $1000/month, sometimes less than $750/month. Sometimes apartments are offered at affordable rates, meaning if you make below a certain amount, you pay less. This is due to the Missouri state historic tax credits. Those credits are facing criticism in the Missouri state Congress now. Hopefully they are not capped like some would like.

"St. Louis Deputy Mayor Barb Geisman said that when the plan was adopted, there were more than 70 historic buildings downtown that were vacant or underutilized. Today, she said there are less than a dozen"

There are some still empty: St. Louis Center, Dillard's, the Arcade. Hopefully those will be rehabbed. Pyramid companies bought them, but went under a couple years ago.

Escape from New York was filmed in Downtown St. Louis in 1981. "Up in the Air" with George Clooney is currently filming in the city [[as well as the airport and some other areas in the region).

St. Louis still has big crime issues in some areas. There is still some segregation [[North City majority black, for example), but it seems like the city has gotten much better in the last 10 years.

And if we get the China Hub Deal [[of course it's long from over) it should be good for the city and the region.

St. Louis has lost many buildings to the wrecking ball.
http://www.builtstlouis.net/vanish00.html
Hopefully that's stopped now. A lot of neighborhoods other than Downtown are seeing some rehab as well. Old North, Benton Park seem to be seeing some rejuvenation. Old North does have a long way to go. There are areas of North City [[Old North is a neighborhood in North City) that have long, empty blocks with just one or two houses left. But hopefully that will change.

You guys may not care. But I thought that quote about the seventy empty buildings in 1999 and less than a dozen now was pretty cool. Hopefully those dozen or so others will be worked on again as the economy recovers. St. Louis has a lot to work on. Hopefully as it improves, so will the city's reputation, especially among suburbanites and exurbanites.

[ccbatson]

A solid city to keep an eye on for after the economic troubles resolve [[post Obama era).