St. Louis Energized

A Museum Like No Other

noreply@blogger.com (Ben) — Thu, 08 Nov 2012 00:30:00 +0000

There's a problem with photographs of St. Louis' amazing, one-of-a-kind City Museum: try as one might, photos just can't do it justice. It's a place you have to see and actually experience to believe. In fact, I usually don't even try to explain it to first-timers: "You just have to go and see it for yourself."

Nevertheless, I do enjoy trying to share some of its magic through photography. I have sometimes wondered if this is more spoiling the magic than sharing it, and was comforted by these tweets from the City Museum's Twitter account in response to that very question:

"Bob [Cassilly, the Museum's late founder] always saw the museum as a mirrored ball. We all see it differently & at times the same. We love guest photos." . . . and . . . "We have always enjoyed seeing other people's perspective on the museum."

With that in mind, here are my own perspectives on the Museum, as captured on an unusually slow Sunday afternoon. The photos are best viewed (at least on a desktop) by clicking on the first one, and then viewing them as a slideshow. For more photos of City Museum, check out my City Museum photoset on Flickr, or this post in tribute to Bob Cassilly.

Enjoy the photos—and then go enjoy the Museum!

Autumn in the Garden

noreply@blogger.com (Ben) — Mon, 05 Nov 2012 16:20:00 +0000

This past Saturday, I took advantage of the Missouri Botanical Garden's early morning "walking hours," offered free to residents of St. Louis starting at 7:00 a.m. I figured that autumn was probably "past its prime" by early November, but spectacular fall colors are still on full display at the Garden.

Here are some photos of the amazing Garden in autumn: the foliage, the flowers, the sculptures, and the structures. . . and most importantly, our fellow St. Louisans enjoying it all.

A Walk in the Park

noreply@blogger.com (Ben) — Thu, 11 Oct 2012 03:23:00 +0000

Those of you who follow my Flickr photos know that Forest Park is one of my favorite spots. Beyond being a fantastic urban park in general, it is a perfect place to capture photos across the spectrum of genres that interest me: nature, architecture, landscape, and street photography (of sorts). I often wander the park for hours at a time, and love capturing its beauty and our fellow St. Louisans enjoying it.

How many cities are lucky enough to have such a grand, beautiful, historical park at its heart? Well . . . I don't know, actually. Perhaps most of them. In any event, this one is ours, and I think we're damn lucky to have it.

For more Forest Park photos, check out my Forest Park, Saint Louis Art Museum, and Apotheosis photosets on Flickr.

October Baseball: Go Cards!

noreply@blogger.com (Ben) — Mon, 08 Oct 2012 16:33:00 +0000

Well, Game 1 of the National League Division Series didn't turn out as hoped for the St. Louis Cardinals, but better luck will be with them today. I hope to be posting entries like this within a month to congratulate the Cards on 12 in '12!

"I wore it to Game 7 last year!"

Harry Weber's sculpture of Stan Musial.

Angry Redbirds

Adam Wainwright

Carlos Beltrán up to bat

Grove Fest 2012

noreply@blogger.com (Ben) — Sun, 07 Oct 2012 05:36:00 +0000

Here are some photos from the 7th Annual Grove Fest, a great street festival in a great Saint Louis neighborhood.

Working on a paint-by-numbers community mural.

At the Schlafly beer tent.

Fresh Poetry, Ink.

Lewis Reed, President of the St. Louis City Board of Aldermen,
and Antonio French, Alderman of the 21st Ward.

Scenes from a Farmers' Market

noreply@blogger.com (Ben) — Sun, 03 Jun 2012 16:55:00 +0000

It's springtime in St. Louis, which means that farmers' markets across the metro are open for business. Of course, the Soulard Farmers' Market is the oldest and best-known market in town, and is where all of the following photos were taken.

There are plenty of other markets worth checking out, though, giving St. Louisans an opportunity to explore neighborhoods all over the region. Be sure to check out the North City Farmers' Market (in Old North), the Tower Grove Farmers' Market, The Market in the Loop, and the Clayton Farmers' Market. Of course, that's just the tip of the iceberg.

Here was the scene at yesterday's market in Soulard. Of course, the star of the show is the huge selection of fruits, vegetables, and other wares:

Musicians are a common staple of the farmers' market scene . . .

And, of course, the diverse crowds at farmers' markets offer great "people watching" opportunities.

Some architectural shots from around the Soulard Farmers' Market:

What's your favorite farmers' market in St. Louis?

Mannequins on the Loop

noreply@blogger.com (Ben) — Sat, 02 Jun 2012 13:22:00 +0000

Through June 9th, head down to the Delmar Loop to see the decorated mannequins lining the street for the 4th Annual "Mannequins on the Loop" project. Each mannequin represents a different establishment on the Loop.

There is a surprising shortage of information online about this project, though I did find a Youtube video from the second annual event and some other photographs of the mannequins on the Loop's Facebook page. The intent appears to be to promote principles of sustainability through the use of recyclable materials in decorating the mannequins.

I'd like to see the event marketed a bit more, with even higher participation, and more mannequins on the east end of the Loop to draw visitors eastward. In all, though, this is a fun and interesting public art project and yet another reason to visit one of the 10 Great Streets in America!

"AhNiYvWiYa Spirit--Spirit of the First People"
by Mark Swain, representing Plowsharing Crafts.

"Fox and Gypsy" by Emily Iovaldi, representing Devil City
clothing store. The streaks in the background are from

a passing St. Louis MetroBus.

"Tandermonium" by Amanda Schmidt,
representing Big Shark Bicycle Company.

"Ms LeiCi Bag" by Cierra Evans,
representing Pizazz Furniture.

"Groovy" by Jeff Briggs,
representing Blueberry Hill.

Another view of "Tandermonium."

"King James" by Valli McElroy,
representing Three Kings Public House.

"Sweet Treats" by Tracey Johnson,
representing Miss M's Candy Boutique.

(Apologies to a few of the artists, as I didn't get the names of all of the mannequins and their creators.)

Doors, Alleys and Walls

noreply@blogger.com (Ben) — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 02:31:00 +0000

A few of my favorite photography subjects . . . the doors, alleys and walls of St. Louis, Missouri.

Ice Carnival: Scenes from The Delmar Loop

noreply@blogger.com (Ben) — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 15:31:00 +0000

Hello friends—it's been awhile! Before getting to the main purpose of this post, I thought I'd share some thoughts on this blog in general and where I see it going.

When I started this site in April 2010, my intent was to write regularly about issues affecting the City of St. Louis. Among other topics, I wrote a number of posts about the Missouri historic tax credit, the possible re-entry of the City into St. Louis County, and the Archgrounds project. I remain very interested in these specific topics and urban issues in general. My interest in writing about them, though, has waned over the last year for several reasons.

First, I just haven't had time to focus on writing. Between the birth of my third child in March 2011 and opening my solo law practice in July, keeping a blog up to date has moved pretty far down my list of priorities. There will continue to be issues that I want to write about from time to time, but for the foreseeable future I think that most of the writing I have time for will be on legal topics for my law firm website.

Second, with the "free" time I do have, I want to spend as much of it as possible on what has grown to be a huge passion of mine: photography. I have always enjoyed taking photographs, but my interest in it has grown exponentially over the last year—primarily as a result of exploring the City in connection with this blog (funny how things take you to completely unexpected places).

Over time, my posts here have become more and more photo-oriented (see here, here, here, here, here, and here). I have compiled a large collection of photographs of St. Louis on my Flickr page, which I often share via Twitter. And though I have stated several times on this site that I'm not turning it into a "photoblog," I now think that's exactly where it is heading.

Downtown St. Louis as seen from the roof of the Moonrise Hotel.

This site isn't the only thing evolving, though. I also find my interest in photography subjects changing. In the last year or so, most of my photographs have been about "things": buildings, cityscapes, urban parks, architectural details. St. Louis has an endless supply of beautiful scenes for the budding photographer. I have greatly enjoyed getting to know the City and region better through photography, and am surprised even to have had a fair amount of commercial success with it.

If I had to pick a thing that I don't like about my own photographs, though, it is the lack of people. I have many, many shots of the Arch and riverfront, the City's great urban parks and outdoor institutions (Forest Park, Tower Grove Park, Missouri Botanical Garden, etc.), and the great architecture in the diverse neighborhoods around the City. There is an enormous amount of natural and man-made beauty in St. Louis of which its residents should be proud.

Ultimately, though, it is the people of a place, not the place itself, that truly matters. I have, however, avoided taking shots of people to date primarily because it is uncomfortable. There can be a fine line between sticking a camera in a stranger's face and respectfully capturing a public moment that is worth capturing and sharing. I think it is important that I get past my discomforts with street photography and portraiture, both to advance my photography skills and to show that St. Louis is more than a collection of pretty places and things.

I think the quality of my photographs (whatever that may now be) may suffer for some time. Compared to "urban landscape" shots, I find in street photography that it's much harder to "make a photograph" as opposed to just "taking a picture." I think that my success in achieving the former varies in the photos below. Some of the photos I have taken end up looking (to me) like uninspired snapshots; others are closer to my goal of creating a photograph that tells a story.

So, without further ado, here are some photos from the 2012 Loop Ice Carnival from this past Saturday. It was a really fun, well-done event, with throngs of people crowding one of the "10 Great Streets in America" and its businesses. Click on the photos to make them larger. For more photos of the Delmar Loop, check out my Loop photoset on Flickr.

Please let me know what you think—particularly you fellow photographers!

Harry Weber statue of Chuck Berry.

An artist draws caricatures in Componere, an art
gallery on the Loop. (You can find my photos there!)

The Pin-Up Bowl on the Loop.

Skateboarding on the roof of the Moonrise Hotel

Darcy Nayler, a Loop employee and friend,
enjoys a brief moment of calm during her hectic day
of organizing the Ice Carnival.

Forest Park, including the Saint Louis Art Museum,
as seen from the roof of the Moonrise Hotel

The Moonrise Hotel

Self-portrait

The lobby of the Moonrise Hotel

Ranoush restaurant and hookah bar.

Must be a warning that you're
entering the badlands of the
City of St. Louis. ;)

Peat Wollaeger, a St. Louis artist
known as "stenSOUL"
See stensoul.com

Warm Up with the Art of Peat Wollaeger

This space was donated as a one-day pop-up
gallery for stenSOUL's work.

The art of Peat Wollaeger. See stensoul.com

Jerry Garcia keeps his googly-eyes on Loop visitors.

Raven Wolf, a St. Louis jazz saxist.
See PugDogRecords.com

Congratulations St. Louis Cardinals!

noreply@blogger.com (Ben) — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 12:01:00 +0000

Congratulations to the St. Louis Cardinals, 2011 World Series Champions—what a ride! Here are some scenes from yesterday's parade, and some photos of Busch Stadium taken the morning of Game 7. (Update: Shortly after posting this, Tony LaRussa announced his retirement. Congrats on a Hall of Fame career, capped by a championship season!)

Visit Buckingham Boutique (Featuring St. Louis Curio Shoppe) to Benefit City Academy—This Wednesday!!

noreply@blogger.com (Ben) — Sun, 23 Oct 2011 05:15:00 +0000

This Wednesday, October 26th, Buckingham Asset Management will host a fundraiser for the City Academy at its Clayton office, located at 8182 Maryland Ave., Suite 500. The fundraiser will be open to the public from 10 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., and again from 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.

The fundraiser will feature more than twenty vendors selling a variety of items including jewelry, personalized gifts, and St. Louis specialty items.

Through my relationship with the St. Louis Curio Shoppe, I am proud to say that many of my photographs of St. Louis will be featured at the fundraiser.

A large variety of images will be for sale, both color and black and white, in a wide range of sizes. All of my photographs are matted and signed, and are available framed or unframed. In addition to the photo title, the back of each mat or frame includes my explanation of why I love to photograph St. Louis:

I believe that St. Louis—the entire metro, but in particular the City of St. Louis—is one of America’s greatest cities. I love the City’s rich history, diverse neighborhoods, gorgeous brick architecture, beautiful urban parks, and proud, friendly people. I hope to share the beauty of St. Louis with both those who love the City as I do, and those who through my photographs may come to see the City in a new light.

Fifteen percent of all vendor proceeds are being donated to the City Academy. City Academy is a private elementary school located in the Mark Twain/I-70 Industrial neighborhood of north St. Louis. The mission of City Academy is to:

Admit promising children from committed families in our urban community
Offer an exceptional and affordable education
Foster a culture of academic rigor, integrity and citizenship
Cultivate an appreciation of lifelong learning that inspires future success

City Academy from Ginger Imster on Vimeo.

I would like to thank the St. Louis Curio Shoppe for the opportunity to be involved in this benefit. Kristen Gassel and Jacque Brown have been extremely supportive of my photography over the last year. Curio Shoppe's display should be the highlight of the benefit, featuring over twenty local artisans and businesses. It will be a mini art fair in and of itself--conveniently located right next to the bar!

If you haven't been to St. Louis Curio Shoppe (or to Cherokee Street in general lately), I highly recommend a visit. The shop has tons of great items from many local authors, crafters, musicians and artists, and strives "to celebrate all that is St. Louis by actively supporting our community, promoting local businesses and sharing our city's unique history through displays and events." The shop recently announced that they will be recognized at the 8th Annual Kick Ass Awards for their positive contributions to St. Louis. Visit the Curio Shoppe at 2301 Cherokee Street and support their efforts to "Shop Truly Local."

St. Louis Curio Shoppe from Jacob Berkowitz on Vimeo.

The Curio Shoppe also has announced that Amanda Doyle, the author of the new book "Finally! A Locally Produced Guidebook to St. Louis, By and For St. Louisans, Neighborhood By Neighborhood", will be available in the evening for a book signing. Check out this recent interview with Amanda for more information on this great new book. Other businesses being featured by the Curio Shoppe at the benefit include:

1. 314 Threads - adult Ts
2. Allegro Arts - silver jewelry
3. Robinson Crafts - wood products
4. Den Smith - folk art
5. Ian Smith - sculpture
6. The Key of A - vintage jewelry
7. Little Visions - jewelry/cards
8. Lucky Hank - novelty soap
9. Stl-Style - child Ts
10. Windfall Arts - pottery
11. Mark Hurd - graphic prints
12. Jane Linders - prints/photography
13. Wild Things - jewelry
14. Eclectic by Design - stonework
15. Squaresville - housewares
16. Riley Construction - cloth toys
17. Newberry Furniture - wood products
18. Twice Baked Arts - beer bottle clocks
19. Anita's Bath and Body - gift baskets
20. St. Louis Memorabilia - old St. Louis 'stuff'(local and sports)
21. Reedy Press - books

22. Consolore - all-natural soy candles, benefiting the Crime Victim Advocacy Center of St. Louis.

Please join us at the Buckingham Boutique this Wednesday, October 26th (10-2 and 5-8) at 8182 Maryland Ave., Suite 500 in Clayton. We hope to see you there!

Rest in Peace, Mr. Cassilly

noreply@blogger.com (Ben) — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 15:01:00 +0000

The loss suffered by the St. Louis community yesterday, though enormous, pales in comparison to the grief of those who personally knew and loved Bob Cassilly. To his family and friends, my family's condolences and prayers are with you.

I did not know Mr. Cassilly personally, and wish I had. He has certainly loomed large in my mind since my first visit to the City Museum a half decade ago. Excepting only the Arch/Eads/riverfront, it is my favorite place in St. Louis—a place of many fond memories with family and friends.

In the spirit of celebrating his legacy to St. Louis, here are some photos of his works I have taken since moving to St. Louis, primarily at City Museum. May his artistic contributions to our region always be celebrated and protected as a critical part of St. Louis' history.

Rest in Peace.

Can We at Least STUDY the Boulevard?

noreply@blogger.com (Ben) — Tue, 30 Aug 2011 14:51:00 +0000

We interrupt the long (but temporary, I promise) silence of this blog to bring you an urgent request!

Please take 5-10 minutes out of your day to submit a comment to the National Park Service regarding the upcoming Environmental Assessment for the revitalization of the Arch grounds and surrounding areas. In particular, if you are a supporter of City to River's vision for replacing the downtown highway segment (soon-to-be-former I-70) with a signature, at-grade boulevard, please let the NPS know that you think the concept should be formally studied before the design or construction of improvements that could preclude the boulevard for decades to come.

Although the "lid" (a band-aid solution to downtown's connectivity problem) is being studied in detail, there has been no effort whatsoever to study the feasibility of replacing the downtown highway with a boulevard, or a boulevard's compatibility with the "lid." As shown in this post, C2R believes that these concepts can work together, but ONLY if new highway infrastructure is not constructed in a way that physically precludes the boulevard for decades to come—which currently appears to be the road the project is going down.

The boulevard concept should not be dismissed as some half-baked idea of a handful of urban activists, unworthy of even a modicum of serious consideration. Consider:

The boulevard is supported by many key business and community stakeholders;
Every single design finalist for the Arch grounds project voiced support for the boulevard concept, with the winning MVVA team stating that "the benefits of removing the highway altogether are clear, and we have purposely created a proposal that is compatible with either solution" (i.e., the lid or the boulevard);
A well-respected real estate consulting firm has identified an enormous amount of development potential in downtown St. Louis and the Near North Riverfront resulting from the removal of the soon-to-be-redundant highway segment; and
The boulevard is representative of a larger trend that has been successfully implemented in other cities around the world, with the well-respected Congress for New Urbanism recently placing St. Louis on its list of "Freeways Without Futures".

It is unfathomable that all of this would simply be disregarded without so much as a preliminary study. City to River understands that there are concerns with its proposal, particularly relating to traffic, that need to be addressed. What the group is asking for is simply that its proposal be seriously studied to see if it is possible, before "improvements" are designed and/or constructed that will make the boulevard impossible.

Can that be too much to ask? The wholesale dismissal of this bold idea just seems unacceptable, particularly in the context of a project that has given so much lip service to being transparent and taking the public's ideas into account, and the entire purpose of which is to reconnect the City of St. Louis to the Arch and the Mississippi River.

Please click here to let the NPS know that you support the Boulevard. Comments are due today, August 30th, by midnight.

These Are a Few of My Favorite Things (in St. Louis)

noreply@blogger.com (Ben) — Wed, 25 May 2011 04:53:00 +0000

One of these days in the not-too-distant future, I will have time to write again. In the meantime, I thought I would share some images of just a few of the things I love about St. Louis:

ARCH:

ARCHITECTURE/BRICK:

CHEROKEE STREET:

EADS BRIDGE:

FOREST PARK:

MISSOURI BOTANICAL GARDEN:

RIVERFRONT:

SOULARD:

TOWER GROVE PARK:

Tapping the Diaspora: How Does St. Louis Encourage a Boomerang Migration?

noreply@blogger.com (Ben) — Fri, 11 Mar 2011 13:57:00 +0000

I recently had a Twitter exchange with Bradley Sabin, a St. Louis native graduating from the University of Missouri in May, about the need for an "outreach program" targeting St. Louisans that have located elsewhere in the country. This got me thinking back to two things: one, the time I spent struggling to decide whether to remain in San Francisco or return to the Midwest; and two, the concept of "tapping the diaspora" explored by the Post-Dispatch's Tim Logan in last year's excellent "Can St. Louis Compete?" series.

As incredible as living in San Francisco was, the high cost of living there—even with two salaries and no kids—was almost untenable. (For a rough idea, here's a cost of living calculator that suggests that St. Louis is 60% cheaper than San Francisco, with housing alone being 83% cheaper.) Once my wife and I had our first child, the difficulties associated with remaining on the West Coast for the long-term came into sharp focus, and suddenly the Midwest became a very attractive option for putting down long-term roots. This was true for other transients I knew in California, many of whom have since moved "home" (wherever that may be) after their temporary coastal adventure.

How does St. Louis encourage a "boomerang migration"?

At the time, my wife and I (and quite a few of our friends) would roughly have fit the definition of what Tim Logan called the "diaspora": young Midwesterners (if not, in my case, an actual St. Louisan) "living, working and building careers" elsewhere in the country. Tim noted that various Rust Belt cities have been pursuing "boomerang migration" strategies to lure these educated young people back to their hometowns. Most notably, in Louisville, Kentucky "major employers and the chamber of commerce have been barnstorming through bigger cities reminding expatriates of the comforts of home."

So how can St. Louis encourage its own boomerang migration?  I suppose the effort would start with identifying large groups of expatriates to receive targeted messaging from "home." That doesn't seem like it would be that difficult. In San Francisco, for example, there was an active alumni association for the University of Missouri (the "Bay Area Tigers"). I assume there must be similar organizations all over the country—out-of-town alumni association chapters for SLU, Washington University, UMSL, Mizzou, SIUE, and other area colleges. Many of these alumni are originally St. Louisans. There are surely ways also to identify St. Louisans who went to non-local colleges and have not returned home.

It wouldn't seem that difficult to put together a mailing list, Facebook page, or other network to connect directly with these thousands of St. Louisans spread across the country, and then engage with them on a regular basis through various outreach efforts.  Imagine, for example, circulating a quarterly newsletter to this network that discusses improvements to the region, explores the livability of both established and up-and-coming neighborhoods, highlights businesses and job-related opportunities, and examines other exciting developments (for example, the Arch grounds project).

I realize that people aren't going to move to St. Louis because a newsletter tells them to, and there are almost certainly better ideas than that for engaging our diaspora.  The idea, though, is about being on the radar screen of those who might be considering making a move back to the Midwest. As Tim Logan noted in the case of Louisville, it's more about "building buzz and telling people [a city] has changed for the better . . . reminding natives that there is opportunity back home . . . [and] making the city a little bigger on people's mental map."

One thing that I think might weigh heavily on people's mental map is St. Louis' affordabilty. As noted in David Nicklaus' recent article, "[t]he Midwest in general is an inexpensive place to live and, among the 28 largest U.S. cities, St. Louis edges out Kansas City as cheapest of the cheap."

Now, I understand that being "cheap" is not the "hippest" selling point a community can offer potential residents—but I absolutely would not discount its attractiveness. Many, perhaps most, young people who are moving back to St. Louis from places like San Francisco and New York are almost certainly doing so at least partly for economic reasons. They're not leaving because they hate the ocean and the mountains.

St. Louis should promote its amazing architecture
and cheap housing stock to its diaspora.

St. Louis has many great things to market about itself—its numerous vibrant neighborhoods; its incredible history, architecture, and urban parks; and the opportunities it presents for the civic-minded to be a meaningful part of the rebuilding of the City and region.

But the bottom line is that, in addition to these attributes, St. Louis is cheap. We don't need to hang our hat solely on being most the affordable major city, but—particularly in this economy—it's far from our worst selling point.

So are there currently any coordinated efforts to engage the St. Louis diaspora in ways that are intended to bring them back to the region? There probably are, but I'm not aware of them, and there is surely room for more. Outreach along these lines does not seem that difficult to implement, and would probably pay some dividends over the long haul (for example, between now and the next census). It is just one of many "low investment, high yield" efforts that, if sustained over a long period of time, could end up making a big difference in perceptions of (and hopefully the population of) St. Louis.

Of course, any outreach program geared toward people who have left should complement a focused effort to reduce the number of St. Louis college graduates who leave the region in the first place. As Tim stated in his column:

"[B]etween freshman orientation and graduation day, St. Louis has a great shot to sell itself and then to reap all the talent, ideas and energy these students can bring. . . . Yet the region doesn't make much of that opportunity. There's no sustained effort to connect students with the broader city, to give them much reason to stay."

Tim's column described Philadelphia's efforts to "sell students on Philadelphia," where "civic leaders teamed up with the universities to keep Philadelphia's students in town, launching programs to make the city more student-friendly and to encourage businesses to hire more new graduates." The "sustained, comprehensive effort that makes students think about Philadelphia from the start" appears to be paying off; 150,000 residents with bachelor's degrees were added to Philadelphia's ranks between 2000 and 2008, and the city just announced an end to a 50-year population slide.

Couldn't St. Louis implement programs similar to those that have worked in Philadelphia easily enough? Can't our civic leaders work with university leaders to encourage them to promote not only their school, but St. Louis as a place to stay after school?

As the "Campus Philly" program has done, can't St. Louis' schools come together to organize student discounts (maybe a Groupon-type program geared directly toward St. Louis students and local activities); advertise weekend events and volunteer opportunities; hold career fairs for local employers; encourage students (e.g., Wash U students who profess never to leave The Loop) to explore the entire city and not just their immediate surroundings; and take other steps designed to help students fall in love with the amazing city they are studying in?

These types of efforts can work for St. Louis as they have for other cities, if nurtured over the long-term. As a city and region, we need to make sure that we're not just reading about these concepts over Sunday coffee and forgetting about them, but are fleshing them out into actionable programs that will work for St. Louis. Just as other states have "gone to school" on highly successful Missouri programs (think: our model historic tax credit program), St. Louis should be going to school on programs that have worked to help turn around other urban areas across the country.

It seems like one of the many organizations already working to improve St. Louis could add these type of programs to their platforms easily enough. What about, for example, the Regional Chamber and Growth Association, whose mission includes "to investigate and support public policy initiatives that help the region thrive and grow"? Or FOCUS St. Louis, which strives to "spark[] positive community change by developing leadership, influencing policy, and promoting community connections"? Does FOCUS' "Connect with Young Professionals" program already work to retain current residents and re-attract prior residents? Would corporate sponsorship/funding be needed, and if so, how about a buyers' relocation company (like Wm. French) which would benefit from people moving to St. Louis?

Right now, tens of thousands of students are attending college in St. Louis, but are weighing the pros and cons of a move out of town upon graduation. There are also many expatriates around the country who—like my wife and I five years ago—are seriously weighing a possible move back to St. Louis. Many of these are people who are ready to "settle down" and raise a family in the Midwest, giving us an opportunity to target a demographic that the urban core has been losing in droves (perhaps at a time in their lives when they're not yet focused on where they'll send their kids to school, giving the City the further opportunity to attract them in the first place and retain them down the road as the school situation hopefully improves over the upcoming years).

What can we do to help these people—our current and potentially future diaspora—make the right decision?

What Does "New Thinking" for the Future of St. Louis Mean?

noreply@blogger.com (Ben) — Sat, 05 Mar 2011 14:37:00 +0000

In the wake of disappointing Census results released last week, many St. Louisans are calling for “new thinking” for the future of St. Louis. Some of these demands are pointed directly at the region's current political leadership, while some are coming from the leaders themselves. Calling the population drop in the City of St. Louis "absolutely bad news," Mayor Francis Slay proclaimed that "this will require an urgent and thorough rethinking of how we do almost everything."

A doughnut hole St. Louis
could do without.

It would be hard for any St. Louisan to disagree. The Census revealed a dismal rate of growth across the entire region (less than half the national rate), and a particularly troubling population loss in the region’s core.

And in this instance, “core” does not mean downtown, the “inner city,” or even the entire City of St. Louis. In addition to the loss of 29,000 residents in the City (an 8% decrease), the much larger County of St. Louis also suffered a population loss of almost 2%. The Census results gave lie to any notion that a weakening urban core does not affect the surrounding suburbs, as the continuing exodus sends residents to ever-farther-flung areas.

New ideas clearly are necessary for the sake of the future of St. Louis. But what does “new thinking” look like? It depends, of course, on who you ask. Everyone promotes the things they happen to be thinking about, and there are widely-varying worldviews on where the region should go from here.

To me, “rethinking” and “new thinking” means—in a very general sense—at least two things. First, exploring and implementing fresh, bold, and risky ideas that directly confront the hardest-to-solve problems in the urban core. And second, finally moving forward on long-discussed ideas that have failed to move beyond talk to action, even though generally perceived as beneficial to the future of St. Louis as a region.

Exploring "New" Ideas

In the first category, two new efforts immediately come to mind. The first of these is Open/Closed: Exploring Vacant Land in Saint Louis, a two-day series of meetings organized by NextSTL and Frontier St. Louis. On March 18th and 19th, Open/Closed will explore solutions to the problem of the "thousands of vacant homes and lots that have a corrosive effect on our community."

Open/Closed has scheduled an impressive line-up of panelists and speakers, including politicians and activists; representatives of the Show-Me Institute, the Great Rivers Greenway, and the Preservation Research Office; and Paul McKee of McEagle Properties and the controversial Northside Regeneration project.

(Interestingly, as of this posting, the City's Land Reutilization Authority has not indicated that it will send an LRA representative to Open/Closed, despite invitations. The LRA owns over 9,000 vacant parcels in the City, and serious questions have been raised about its refusal to sell City-owned parcels. Failure to participate in Open/Closed would seem to belie the City's commitment to a "rethinking of how we do almost everything.")

A second relatively new effort is The Brick Bank, which hopes to save bricks and other architectural elements from the numerous crumbling structures throughout the City. By collecting and securing the bricks (and, eventually, full-scale deconstruction of structures that are beyond repair), the Brick Bank hopes to make the bricks available for future construction and to stem the bleeding of red brick out of St. Louis caused by brick thieves.

Granted, these are only two (somewhat related) efforts to identify solutions to the sea of problems that St. Louis needs to address. But they are big ideas, meant to address big problems, and worthy of serious consideration. Undoubtedly, some of the specific proposals coming out of these groups will be highly controversial, as would be expected with any radical rethinking of how to tackle St. Louis' most intractable problems (think: charter schools, and the Northside Regeneration project). But their organizers and advocates deserve credit for exploring solutions to difficult problems and should be engaged seriously by the City's current political leaders.

Implementing "Old" Ideas

The second category is not exactly "new" thinking, but rather the implementation of ideas that have been jawed over for years. As a region, it seems clear that St. Louis does not have a problem pinpointing some of the major issues holding it back. Taking concrete steps toward solving those problems appears to be more difficult.

The reunification of the City and the County is, in my view, one of the biggest issues in this category. Admittedly, many people (in both the City and the County) oppose the City's re-entry into the County, and it certainly isn't going to be a cure-all for the region's ailments. As I have written here and here, though, I believe that re-entry would increase regional cooperation and be an important step toward competing more against other regions than ourselves.

"St. Louis is a World Class City"

Thankfully, St. Louis is focusing more and more on the problems caused by the region's fragmentation, with the Census results prompting even louder calls for greater intraregional cooperation. Citizens' groups have joined the cause, including the "St. Louis is a World Class City" group helmed by business owner Bill Frisella and Dr. Charles Schmitz of UMSL, which promotes re-entry. I hope their efforts at governmental restructuring are successful, but if not, that they at least catalyze increased collaboration and a reduction of wasteful redundancies throughout St. Louis.

Another "old" idea that needs to move forward into action is a modification of the way in which public financing incentives—particularly tax increment financing—are used by intra-regional municipalities in an "inefficient, zero-sum competition for tax base with their neighbors." Public financing incentives can be powerful and legitimate development tools, but in their current form have failed to create economic growth in the region.

Two changes are particularly needed. One, TIF—an incentive that has "drifted" very far from its original purpose—should be made unavailable for retail projects. Although TIF can make sense for capturing property taxes that truly would not have been available "but for" the development, it seems indisputable that retail TIFs do nothing more than shift around a finite pool of retail activity and sales tax dollars. One town's "win" is another town's loss, with no net economic growth for the St. Louis region as a whole.

Two, public financing should be directed toward where it is truly needed the most. In my view, that means primarily focusing on truly blighted areas of the urban core, that have little or no chance of a major rebirth without significant investment by both the private and public sectors. That might mean a further tightening of the definition of "blight" required for TIF projects, and other measures ensuring that incentives like New Markets Tax Credits are directed to areas that need them the most. (On the latter note, Wednesday's announcement that Peabody Energy turned down $10 million in NMTCs was a breath of fresh air, whatever the motivation behind the decision might have been.)

Governmental consolidation and public financing reform are only two examples of regional issues that, if turned from mere ideas into action, might go a long way toward improving regional cohesion and St. Louis' economic future. Of course, there are other impediments to regional growth, including macroeconomic issues such as attracting jobs to the region. All of these regional problems are incredibly complex issues that require focused attention by the business community and our political leadership (regionally and state-wide). They are not, however, unsolvable—at least if the region begins moving from thinking to acting, starting today.

Can the stunning Arcade Building ever be brought back
to life without a strong historic tax credit program?

(As somewhat of a sidenote, I would argue that there is a third category of "thinking" that deserves our close attention: protecting ideas that have already proven to be highly successful, from short-sighted attacks and harmful changes. I would place Missouri's historic tax credit program—which I have written about here, here, here, and here, and the fate of which is still uknown—at the top of this category of proven-to-be-correct thinking that should be modified as little as possible. And I do believe that principled distinctions can be made between HTCs and other less efficient and more abused tax incentives, but that is a topic for another day.)

Strengthening the Core for the "Urban Birds"

Perhaps not surprisingly, the new ideas discussed above tend to be ones that directly impact the urban core. The City, particularly hard-hit areas like north City, requires our most focused attention and boldest ideas if we ever are to reverse the hollowing out of St. Louis.

At their core, these are ideas about making urban communities more livable for the residents and workers who are already there—places that offer a good quality of life as measured by safety, attractive streetscapes and structures, community cohesion, walkability and accessibility, recreational opportunities, and human-scaled improvements. It's not an "if you build it, they will come" mentality (which hasn't worked for St. Louis), but making an area more livable for the current population does result in an environment to which others are more likely to gravitate.

"Urban birds" need homes too.

Whenever I think about livability, the phenomenon of niche differentiation comes to mind. Niche differentiation is a process of natural selection where competing species partition resources and adopt different habitats so as not to out-compete each other. For example, two bird species might feed at different heights of the same tree, or have specialized beaks adapted for particular food sources.

In terms of human populations (e.g., St. Louis residents), I think of niche differentiation less in terms of competition, and more in terms of the natural inclinations people have toward living in particular types of environments. Many people thrive on cities and everything that comes with them—density of population and development, walkable communities, and the vibrancy of mixed-use/mixed-income neighborhoods. I think of this group as the "urban birds."

Others simply don't share those values, or place higher value on the positive attributes of outlying areas (e.g., better public schools) than what they value about the city. And generally speaking, there is nothing wrong with that—different strokes for different folks, as they say (and contrary to the theories of some urbanists, the suburbs aren't going anywhere anytime soon). Of course, St. Louis (like all regions) should work against sprawl and toward smarter growth, but it's fanciful to think that the majority of the region is going to be converted to urban living.

In the absence of acceptable urban "habitats," though, even those highly inclined toward city-dwelling are forced to "adapt" to different environments. At least in the near-term, this might directly benefit the areas to which these urban birds fly (e.g., St. Charles, Warren, and Lincoln Counties, each of which enjoyed a significant population increase over the last decade). But on a long-term, regional basis (which is the way I think St. Louis must consider these issues), it is to our collective disadvantage not to have a healthy City environment capable of attracting urban-minded people from other regions. A vibrant urban core is absolutely essential to the long-term prosperity of any metropolitan area.

Source: nextSTL.com

In some City neighborhoods, improvements in livability have resulted in growth. Downtown's population, for example, increased 359% from 2000 to 2010, in the face of significant population loss in the City overall. Downtown's renaissance is directly attributable to improvements in livability, including restored historic buildings, attractive residential options (e.g., the Washington Avenue Loft District), increases in safety, improved streetscapes, and new recreational options (e.g., Citygarden). As a result, downtown St. Louis has become a place where urban birds want to, and do, live.

On the other hand, population has decreased in some neighborhoods despite what, by most accounts, would be considered to be significant improvements in livability. On the City's near south side, for example, neighborhoods such as Tower Grove East, Shaw, and Fox Park saw significant "pop drops" even while "acquiring the trappings of urban revitalization." In these neighborhoods, population growth is either merely lagging improvements in livability (at best), or is held back by other overriding, negative dynamics despite such improvements (at worst).

So what conclusions can we draw? For one, there obviously are negative dynamics that will continue to preclude growth in the City irrespective of improvements in livability made to this or that neighborhood. Most obviously, the City will continue to lose families in the absence of quality, affordable school choices. Charter schools, while controversial, are certain to be instrumental in reversing the flow of families out of the City. (Jeff Rainford, Chief of Staff to Mayor Slay, recently noted on Twitter that "[i]f not for charters, the City would have lost at least another 15,000 people.").

Perhaps as importantly, growing the urban core will ever be an uphill battle so long as we are not briskly adding to the population of the region as a whole. Population growth (or even stabilization) in the City can only be achieved by stemming the outflow of current residents and by capturing a reasonable percentage of new residents that are moving into the region at a faster-than-current rate.

The "10% Solution" might work in a

region of strong growth, but what

about in barely-growing St. Louis?

Last year, Aaron Renn, an urban analyst writing as The Urbanophile, laid out a "10 percent solution for urban growth" in Rustbelt-type cities (also discussed here). The "10% solution" simply means that a region such as St. Louis should "seek to capture about 10% of net new regional growth for the urban core." While seemingly unambitious, Renn makes a case for the 10% solution being not only achievable, but "utterly transformative."

But what about in a region like St. Louis where overall population growth is abysmal? Unless our overall region begins growing at least at an average rate, and a meaningful percentage of new residents are attracted to the core, it will be difficult to achieve a critical mass of City (or even County) residents to turn around the population losses of the past. As Renn states:

"Obviously [the 10% solution] only works if your region is growing. If you are stagnant or shrinking, you've got a bigger challenge on your hands. There the imperative is to restart the regional economic and demographic engine. Hopefully the core can play a role in doing that."

Strengthening the Region for All St. Louisans

So how does St. Louis strengthen the region as a whole? We could start by actually implementing some of the "old" ideas discussed above, rather than just talking about them. We also should vigorously pursue the modest-but-measurable goals set forth in the Regional Chamber and Growth Association's latest five-year plan, which calls f or St. Louis "to rank consistently in the top half of the nation's big metro areas on various economic measures." Successfully implementing the RCGA's plan to achieve its goals (primarily through measures to attract workers and entrepreneurs) will require concerted efforts at the municipal, county, and state-wide levels.

But Renn is surely correct that the urban core will have a role in "restart[ing] the regional economic and demographic engine" of St. Louis, and a key one at that. The nation-wide trend lines are clear: an ever-growing number of residents (and even businesses) value centrally-located, walkable, mixed-use neighborhoods. Whether or not the bulk of our region's current residents want to live in or near the City, we cannot hope to attract these future generations of urban birds without a strong core. For me, this is not a "city v. suburbs" mentality; if we can successfully shape the City to bring more residents and businesses to "St. Louis", it ultimately will benefit all of the region, not just the City itself.

Interestingly but not surprisingly, then, St. Louis faces the same chicken-and-egg problem facing other Rustbelt cities. Without a healthy urban core, it is difficult to grow the entire region by attracting the next generation of residents and businesses; healing the core, in turn, is an uphill battle unless the region as a whole is strong and growing. The future of St. Louis depends on an interdependent and symbiotic relationship between the City and the rest of the region, and strengthening St. Louis as a whole requires focused attention on both.

A Call to Action

"Rethinking" or "new thinking" for St. Louis' future can mean different things, then, depending on the issue being addressed. People will, and should, disagree about what ideas are more or less worthy of our collective attention. It seems clear, though, that identifying ways to make our urban core more livable and implementing ideas to grow the region as a whole are equally important.

What is even more critical is that St. Louisans move beyond just "thinking" about these issues, and begin doing. It will be difficult to reverse the downward trend of the past decades, but, with sustained action, not impossible. Key efforts are already underway.

In my view, a critical component of turning big ideas into future-changing actions is close cooperation among different "factions" of St. Louisans—the City, County, and other regional entities; Republicans and Democrats; different races and ethnicities, particularly the black and white communities; the public and private sectors; and the so-called "old guard" and the "new guard" of community and political leaders.

On that last item, I'm certain that some disagree, preferring instead a "revolution" against the perceived failures of current leadership and a "now we're going to do it my way" mentality. It is not difficult to understand; for those who have long worked hard to make St. Louis a better place, the Census results were crushingly disappointing and frustrating.

But if the Census has taught us anything, it's that we—all St. Louisans—are in this together. I believe that it is incumbent on our "old guard" leaders (political and otherwise) to engage seriously with the "new guard" thought leaders of St. Louis in determining our future direction, and that the "new" must engage the "old" to maximize the likelihood of success of their efforts. Now is the time for work, and if people remain unsatisfied with the direction our region is headed—well, as the President has been known to say, "that's what elections are for."

If all of this talk of "inter-faction cooperation" sounds Pollyannish, consider that St. Louis has recently shown the ability to come together on other vital efforts, including the passage by County voters of a sales tax hike for public transit (a cause more typically championed in the urban core), and the (unfortunately unsuccessful) effort to land the 2012 Democratic National Convention, generally supported by Democrats and Republicans alike.

If St. Louis does not face an existential threat per se, it at least stands at a crossroads of the very nature of what "St. Louis" will mean to residents and the world at large in the future. The Census has given us an enormous wake-up call, and surely can spur other cooperative efforts among unlikely bedfellows. As Mayor Slay said, "[i]f this doesn’t jump-start regional thinking, nothing will."

Consider also that we surely won't succeed in rebuilding the City and our region without the active participation of many, many St. Louisans. No white knight is coming to save us; it is up to us. Every person who professes to care about St. Louis must get actively involved in shaping its future.

That might seen daunting, as it's easy to question how much impact any one person can really have. But often it just involves taking a first step—researching an issue, making a call, asking how you can help. Consider: What issues are you passionate about? What skills can you offer? Who, or what, do you want to help?

I, for one, love St. Louis as it is. So I will continue to enjoy, promote, and boost St. Louis, and hope others do the same. We should be proud of a City (and region) of such rich history, beautiful architecture, diverse neighborhoods, and friendly people. Like many others, though, I recognize our vastly under-realized potential. My commitment is to stay involved and engaged in various efforts to help reach that potential over the upcoming years and decades.

What are you going to do to help create a better future for St. Louis, today?

Ten Great Things about the Plans for the Arch Grounds

noreply@blogger.com (Ben) — Fri, 28 Jan 2011 07:01:00 +0000

On Wednesday night, St. Louis finally got a look at the refined design plans for the proposed improvements to the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial and surrounding areas. The improvements envisioned by Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates are ambitious and exciting, and will involve an enormous investment in the city and region over the next five years. Here are the aspects of the plans that I like the best:

1. Gateway Mall. Perhaps my favorite aspect of the plan is not on the Arch grounds at all, but rather in downtown's Gateway Mall that extends westward from the Memorial. The presenters repeatedly pointed to Citygarden as an inspiration for the type of improvements and programming that should be located on the Gateway Mall. Michael Van Valkenburgh called Citygarden's success "extremely encouraging" and a sign that "something is happening to the cultural values" of St. Louis.

Kiener Plaza as envisioned by MVVA

Drawing from the 2009 Gateway Mall Master Plan, MVVA plans to build on Citygarden's success by extending the "urban hallway" eastward, through Kiener Plaza, around the Old Courthouse, and to the Arch grounds. I love that the plan reaches this far into the city, directly addressing the design competition's mandate to reconnect the city to the Arch.

Current plans for the Gateway Mall include "major water play areas" and an old-time carousel in Kiener Plaza; a restaurant similar to New York's Shake Shack (with one suggestion for a Ted Drewes instead); a beer garden/patio area (replacing the original plan for a beer garden/ice rink on the southern end of the Memorial); and other family activities and amenities. Coupled with the great idea of letting visitors buy Arch tickets at remote kiosks, tourists and residents will have many fun reasons to explore downtown before and after visiting the Arch.

2. Museum Improvements. The west-facing glass entrance to the Museum of Western Expansion will change not only the way visitors enter the museum, but the entire way it is perceived and enjoyed. The current below-the-Arch entrance is hidden from view and uninviting, with long outdoor queues and a somewhat unpleasant feeling of descending below the ground (which will be mitigated by a ground-level, light-admitting entrance).

The glass facade will welcome visitors arriving from the Gateway Mall directly into the museum's new front door, creating (in the words of museum architect Scott Newman) an "iconic identity." The city-facing entrance will engage pedestrians in a way that the current museum (and, unfortunately, buildings on the west side of Memorial Drive) currently does not. Inside the museum, visitors will find a new lobby; two stories of both new and renovated gallery, event, and educational space; upgraded retail amenities and restrooms; and rotating exhibits to encourage repeat visits.

Gateway Geyser Pavilion, as envisioned by MVVA

3. East Side Improvements. MVVA anticipates expanding the Memorial footprint on the east side of the river by fifty to sixty acres. A 100,000 square foot pavilion will be constructed around the existing Gateway Geyser, with the elevated walkway shown in MVVA's original plan to be completed after Illinois Route 3 is completed in 2016.

Although relatively understated, these improvements—coupled with new ways to get across the Mississippi (gondolas!)—will begin activing the Illinois side of the river in entirely new ways. I love the idea of people enjoying the city from across the river, and hope that it will help catalyze improved relations with Illinois and a better future for the city of East St. Louis.

4. C2R-Compatibility. In its original design narrative, MVVA said that "the benefits of removing the [downtown] highway altogether are clear, and we have purposely created a proposal that is compatible with" highway removal. The updated design does not include immediate highway removal (not surprisingly), but City to River has shown how the proposed boulevard could work with the proposed pedestrian "lid" that will extend from Luther Ely Smith Square to the Arch grounds.

MVVA's proposed closure of Memorial Drive makes the boulevard even more critical in order to faciliate circulation throughout downtown via a connected street grid. City to River will continue to work toward the longer-term goal of removing the downtown highway, and believes that this can be accomplished in the years shortly following completion of the initial improvements.

Improved Memorial landscaping as envisioned by MVVA

5. Landscaping. Although it's not the kind of improvement that is likely to get a lot of "buzz" (particularly compared to the gondolas!), I really like the plans for updating the landscaping throughout the Memorial and the Gateway Mall. Approximately 12,000 trees will be planted, including those that will replace ashes currently threatened by the emerald ash borer beetle. The trees on the Gateway Mall will be "shade trees"—large, fast-growing, and deciduous. Both the respite from the summer sun and the views of the tree allees along the Mall and in Luther Ely Smith Square will be welcome additions.

Inside the Memorial, the areas around the north and south ponds will be turned into lush meadows with denser tree plantings. As described by Michael Van Valkenburgh, denser landscaping will result in more wildlife and a richer experience for visitors, consistent with the never-implemented visions of Dan Kiley and Eero Saarinen.

6. Eads Bridge. This point falls more in the category of things that I hope to love about an even further revised design. On a disappointing note, MVVA's plan currently does not call for dedicated pedestrian/bicycling lanes over the Eads, but hopefully that will get worked out over time. And although the closure of Washington Avenue east of Memorial Drive seems unnecessary and contrary to the goal of increased connectivity, its removal—together with the welcomed demolition of the behemoth parking garage—will make pedestrian access to the northern end of the park through the bridge's portals much more inviting.

Visitors will enter the northern end of the Memorial
through the Eads Bridge portals, as envisioned
by MVVA

The Eads Bridge is absolutely breathtaking, and provides great city views from the existing walkway. My hope is that, in the end, the improvements will result in more people (particularly bicyclists and pedestrians) being on and around the bridge, and that it will be widely recognized as being as important to the city's riverfront as is the Arch itself.

7. Old Courthouse. Van Valkenburgh stressed that, in MVVA's view, the Old Courthouse is to be as revered as the Arch, and that together the two icons create a great "urban moment." The courthouse will be updated with 13,000 square feet of renovated gallery and exhibit space, and made ADA-compliant.

Coupled with the re-energized areas around the courthouse (the improved east-west hallway, and landscaped slope from Luther Ely Smith Square to the new pedestrian lid), these improvements should result in many more visits to the courthouse itself, and a greater appreciation for its importance to the history of St. Louis.

8. Timing. One of the most exciting aspects of this enormous project is that it's not something that's going to happen much later in St. Louisans' lives, or in our children's lifetimes—it is going to be completed within five years. This is a hugely ambitious deadline given the current economic situation, and some design features (gondolas??) will surely be dropped and deadlines missed. Nonetheless, given the high level of support for the project in the private sector and at all levels of government, it is hard to imagine that the bulk of MVVA's vision won't be realized over the course of just the next few years.

9. "Co-Promotion". St. Louis may not fall in the category of what some refer to as a "world-class" city (think: NYC), but it unquestionably has numerous world-class features. Besides the Arch, the St. Louis region includes parks and attractions that could compete with their counterparts anywhere in the world: to name only a few, the spectacular Missouri Botanical Gardens, the beautiful and diverse Forest Park, and the archaeological treasure of Cahokia Mounds. Walter Metcalfe (whose efforts were vital in organizing the competition and securing key political support) raised the notion of the Arch grounds improvements as being a jumping-off point for co-promoting all of St. Louis' other great assets to the rest of the world, which would be a great result.

The purpose of this particular competition was to connect the City to the Arch to the River. My hope is that the rest of St. Louis—particularly the beautiful, diverse neighborhoods of the urban core—similarly becomes better connected in the not-too-distant future. As St. Louis continues to invest in its key assets, and to better connect those assets through public transit, trolley lines, and/or walkable communities, the rest of the world (including desperately-needed employers and employees) will better be able to see the beauty and potential of our home. Can this competition jump-start other efforts at connectivity and regional cohesion? I hope so.

10. Gondolas! OK, so I was wrong. In a post last fall, I predicted that none of the "big-ticket, eye candy items" from other teams—specifically, the gondolas—would be included in MVVA's final design. And when Behnisch Architekten first proposed gondolas in its losing design entry, my first thought was "Hey, this ain't Disneyland." To me, the concept seemed gimmicky, an unwise use of funds, and inconsistent with the idea of respecting the Arch as the unquestioned centerpiece of the Memorial. The futuristic, fanciful depictions included in Behnisch's renderings didn't help.

The gondola(!) route envisioned by MVVA

My initial reactions have been tempered a bit by MVVA's design, and I'm starting to come around to the view held by those who find the gondolas to be one of the most compelling aspects of the updated design. The one-mile gondola line will cross the river along the Poplar Street Bridge, before turning east and leading to the center of the east side improvements. This location and height should minimize interference with views of the Arch. The gondolas are expected to be separately funded through the sale of bonds, supported by revenues from its operations (at least I assume that general obligation bonds would be off the table).

Assuming that the gondolas are appropriately deferential of the Arch and aren't a money-loser for local or state government . . . well, then, I suppose I'm on board (collective sighs-of-relief from MVVA, the National Park Service, and Mayor Slay's office). Without a doubt, gondolas (including some glass-bottomed ones) crossing the Mississippi River will be a major tourist draw, provide excellent new views of the St. Louis region, and be a LOT of fun.
___________________________________________________________________________________
October 28, 2015, can't come quickly enough. As emcee Carol Buck said, the Arch grounds project will add to downtown's existing renaissance, and as brother Joe said (via video), now is the time for the Show-Me State to "show them" that we can get it done. I believe that we can get it done, and will get it done. As I have said many times before, it is a truly exciting time for St. Louis. Indeed, only one word comes close to capturing the enthusiasm and wonder felt by most St. Louisans as we embark on this historic endeavor . . . . . GONDOLAS!?!

For more detailed information on the MVVA design plan, take a look at the website of the CityArchRiver 2015 Foundation, coverage from the Post-Dispatch and Beacon, and ongoing comprehensive analsyis from UrbanSTL.

Photographing St. Louis

noreply@blogger.com (Ben) — Tue, 18 Jan 2011 05:34:00 +0000

In a post this last fall, I said that I intended for this site to continue to be more of a written blog than a photoblog. Although that remains true, the fact that I have been spending an inordinate amount of my spare time these last few months taking photographs around St. Louis means that I have had very little time to write. Luckily, the days are starting to get longer so I soon will have more time. (I'm obviously joking, but I swear I had someone say that to me once).

St. Louis is a never-ending source of inspiration for an aspiring photographer. I could (and do) spend hours on end exploring and photographing the city's distinct and diverse neighborhoods, beautiful parks, and riverfront (including, of course, the magnificent Arch).

One of my primary (non-work/non-family) goals of 2011 is to continue to capture and share scenes from the city. I find the creation of photographs to be incredibly fulfilling in its own right, but my interest in photography goes beyond that. For me (a non-native St. Louisan), photographing St. Louis has become my way to really see the city, to get a better sense of its myriad neighborhoods, and to get a self-taught history lesson about the subjects I am photographing. I hope to greatly increase the breadth and depth of my subjects in the upcoming year.

Here are some of my favorite photographs from the last few months. As always, my apologies to my followers on Twitter and Flickr who likely have seen some or all of these before. I hope to better integrate this site with those accounts in the near future.

"Fountain in the Ruins"
The faux ruins and fountain pond at Tower Grove Park.
Created by park founder Henry Shaw in 1872/73,
and restored in summer 2010.

"Flurries"
Snow blows outside the World's Fair Pavilion in St. Louis' Forest Park.

"Missouri Tall Grass Redux"
The historic Eads Bridge. The sculpture in the foreground is
"Missouri Tall Grass" by Robin Murez (1999), commissioned by
The Laclede's Landing Foundation (Commercial and Historic Area
Public Art Program).

"Winter Morning at Grand Basin"
On a recent snowy morning, with the Saint Louis Art Museum
in the background.

"Trolley to the Museum"
A 2.2-mile electric-hybrid trolley line is scheduled to be completed
in fall 2012, running from the western end of the Delmar Loop to
the Missouri History Museum in Forest Park (via DeBaliviere).
For ADA-accessibility reasons, replica streetcars will be used
rather than this heritage Peter Witt vehicle.

"Locomotion"
Looking east from St. Louis' Jefferson Avenue.

"Cold Steel"
The Gateway Arch on a frigid January morning.

"Dusk on Jefferson Avenue"
A view to the southwest from St. Louis' Jefferson Avenue, at dusk.

"Another Man's Treasure"
In the basement of Retro 101 on one of St. Louis' best streets, Cherokee Street.

"Downtown at Dawn"
Downtown St. Louis, shortly before sunrise.

"Outside the Cage"
This flower appeared to be trying to escape the World's Fair Flight
Cage at the St. Louis Zoo, photographed from outside the Zoo.

"Bench in Tower Grove Park"
A black and white version of a photograph I published
on this site in fall 2010.

St. Louis Desaturated

noreply@blogger.com (Ben) — Mon, 06 Dec 2010 02:36:00 +0000

Late fall and the winter provide great atmospherics for black and white photography. I feel like B&W captures a certain subtle melancholy that is associated with this colder, darker time of the year, while continuing to reflect the underlying beauty of the subject.

Here are some recent pictures from around the City of St. Louis (click on pictures for larger versions). I hope you agree that it doesn't need to be sunny or warm to get out and enjoy the scenery!

A bridge over Pagoda Lake in Forest Park, near The Muny.

"Washed Ashore"
St. Louis' cobblestone levee on a recent foggy morning,
with the historic Eads Bridge in the background.

"For the Birds"
Some of the abundant bird life at Tower Grove Park,
taken at the "ruins" and fountain pond.

"To the Arch"
The path from the northern end of the Jefferson
National Expansion Memorial to the Gateway Arch,
on a foggy morning.

"Into the Mist"
The Gateway Arch on a recent foggy morning.

"The Return"
This is "The Captain's Return," adjacent to the Eads Bridge.
This is the explorers' (and dog Seaman's) return to St. Louis after a 2+ year
journey to the West, on September 23, 1806.

The landmark Wainwright Building in downtown St. Louis.
Some may consider it heresy to take the red out of the red brick for this
picture, but I like how it focuses the eye on just the building's form and
detail work, particularly the highly ornamented cornice.

"Silver Morning"
The Gateway Arch from the Eads Bridge, early morning.

The faux ruins and fountain pond at Tower Grove
Park. Created by park founder Henry Shaw in
1872/73, and restored in summer 2010.

"Frogger"
This sculpture, along with the nearby turtle, are the works of Bob
Cassilly, creator of the amazing St. Louis City Museum.
Located in the playground of Lafayette Park.

"Edge of the Park"
This iron fence is located along the eastern edge of Lafayette Park in St. Louis.
The fence and stone gates were designed by Francis Tunica and erected in 1869.

"Into the Storm"
This statue, "Apotheosis of St. Louis," stands at the top of Art Hill in Forest Park, in front of the Art Museum. The statue, of Saint Louis, King Louis IX of France, was originally cast by Charles H.Niehaus and later cast in bronze by the W. R. Hodges firm. The original plaster statue stood at the entrance of the 1904 World's Fair. The final bronze work was unveiled on October 4, 1906, and was the symbol of the City of St. Louis, until completion of the Gateway Arch.

"The Rockery"
The Rockery in St. Louis' Lafayette Park was built in 1866. According to the park's website,
"Only one Iron Bridge remains of two that replaced rustic bridges lost in the Cyclone of 1896."

Looking for Leadership on Regional Cohesion

noreply@blogger.com (Ben) — Sat, 20 Nov 2010 02:00:00 +0000

Will this flag someday fly over ALL of St. Louis?

This week, the Post-Dispatch continued its excellent "Can St. Louis Compete?" series, analyzing the region's disproportionate focus on real estate development rather than job creation, and the competitive and counter-productive use of tax incentives by the region's numerous governmental entities.  It seems pretty clear that if the paper's query ended "With Itself?", the answer would be a resounding "yes."

There are, of course, no easy solutions to the problems examined by the series, rooted as they are in complex and intertwined financial, political, and social issues. I believe, however, that the re-entry of the City of St. Louis into St. Louis County—if not a full-scale consolidation of the City and the County—would be a step in the right direction. This spring, I wrote a post on reunification, arguing that "re-joining the City to the County would help foster a sense of regional cooperation that is lacking now, to the greater good of all of St. Louis." While only a cursory overview of the issues (and probably oversimplistic in its analysis), I continue to believe in its central premise that reunification would be a long-term net positive for all of St. Louis.

Of course, as many others have said, rejoining the City and the County would not be a "silver bullet" to solve the region's problems.  Such "solutions" don't exist in the real world. Without complementary reform efforts, such as changing the way in which intra-regional municipalities use local tax incentives (particularly tax increment financing) in an "inefficient, zero-sum competition for tax base with their neighbors", it's possible that reunification would have very little effect at all. To me, though, the question isn't whether reunification solves the problems the region faces (it certainly won't), but whether it is a step—however small—in the right direction.

Admittedly, it may not be. As some suggest, enhanced collaboration among specific organizations and interest groups may be more effective and efficient than changes to governmental structure. There is certainly evidence that city-county consolidations don't always result in the cost savings touted by their advocates, and even that they can do more harm than good. And concerns held by residents of the City (e.g., ceding control over urban issues to the County) and the County (e.g., the assumption of liabilities from the financially struggling City) are not irrational.

To me, though, it seems intuitive (and real-life examples from elsewhere suggest) that a united City and County would become stronger over the long term. If nothing else, the re-entry of the City into the County would be a symbolic step toward increased regional cooperation, and ultimately may advance a new paradigm of competing against other regions instead of ourselves. As business columnist David Nicklaus said in Tuesday's online discussion, "The outside world sees us as one metro region, and the more we look at ourselves that way, the better off we'll be."

Of course, we cannot know the precise effects of reunification before it occurs. What we do know, though, is that St. Louis—ALL of St. Louis—needs to analyze these questions critically, to the point of starting to come up with some answers. For too long, we have heard about the problems caused, at least in part, by the ultra-divided nature of our region, and by our self-defeating infighting. How long do we have to hear about the problems, before we start demanding solutions?

Perhaps those demands are about to multiply. Gauging by the (mostly) thoughtful online comments to one of the series' articles, the region's citizens are engaged in the discussion and are looking for answers. In addition, there are rumors in the air about the formation of a citizens' group to begin advocating for the re-entry of the City into the County.  The conversation will be further advanced with the publication (probably in a month or so) of the next installment of the "Can St. Louis Compete?" series, which will focus specifically on our governmental structure.

It is my hope that the increased focus and public engagement on these issues will act as a catalyst for policymakers and business leaders alike to begin identifying ways—specific ways—to begin tackling these oft-cited problems.  Again, it is certainly possible that reunification is not the answer. But if that is not one of our first steps, then what—specifically—is? What are the first steps we should take together to begin competing more with other regions—for businesses, jobs, and residents—than with ourselves?

And who is going to lead the discussion? City of St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay, for one, has long advocated the City's re-entry into the County.  Mayor Slay amplified his position on the issue earlier this year, taking to his blog, Twitter account, and the media with calls for a vote on the re-entry of the City into the County within two years. Mayor Slay rightly noted that there would have to be a "huge benefit" to the County for reunification to work, and described the process as "slow" and "with much public debate." In a discussion I had with the Mayor's office earlier this year, I was told that a push for reunification would begin after the County Executive election in November, assuming that the County Executive (Charlie Dooley) was agreeable to it.

The public debate seems to be well underway, and I believe that the Mayor's position has not changed. What is less clear (to me, anyway) is the extent to which County leaders are stepping to the plate. "Dooley's Merger" became a heated issue in the waning days of County Executive Dooley's campaign against challenger Bill Corrigan, with County Executive Dooley backing off earlier statements in support of "merger."

Since the election, County Executive Dooley's public stance on the issue has been somewhat muddled. He has stated that "the city-county merger issue will not be one of my priorities in the next term," described reunification to the Post-Dispatch as "not a Dooley or a Slay thing," and argued that "It's got to be what the people want. And apparently, people are not interested in doing it right now." Subsequently, though, he has clarified to The Riverfront Times that the "merger" topic is not "off the table," and that he is open to discussing the idea if it will help the economy of both the county and city, bring jobs and make the region better."

There is no doubt that any proposed reunification of the City and County is politically tricky, and that the public's input is critical.  Equally clear, though, is that moving the ball forward will also require strong top-down political leadership. Merger may not be "a priority," but beginning to identify concrete solutions to the problems it is intended to address must be.  It is incumbent on all of the political leaders of our community—in the City, the County, Missouri, and Illinois—to work cooperatively to determine how to strengthen the region for the future. That is certainly underway to some extent already; hopefully the focus will sharpen in upcoming months.

It is time—beyond time—for strengthened regional cohesion, whether that takes the form of formal consolidation or merely enhanced internal collaboration.  Either way, it's time for our region to stand together as ST. LOUIS—UNITED.

Why St. Louis Should Vote for Simone

noreply@blogger.com (Ben) — Wed, 17 Nov 2010 03:52:00 +0000

Those of you on Twitter are almost certainly aware of the ongoing "Vote for Simone" campaign. This post is for my millions (and millions!) of readers who are not on Twitter or otherwise haven't heard about Simone's contributions to St. Louis.

Simone Bernstein is the 18-year old founder of St. Louis Volunteen, a comprehensive online database of St. Louis volunteer opportunities, geared toward matching youth volunteers with the service needs of charitable organizations. Simone also has focused on opening up volunteer opportunities to youths under 18, which are typically limited due to safety and liability issues. Using her website and social networking sites like Twitter, Simone posts volunteer assignments and promotes a variety of charitable causes.

Through St. Louis Volunteen, Simone's efforts have resulted in placing more than 1,500 area students into volunteer opportunities. In addition, almost fifty St. Louis organizations are now willing to consider volunteers under the age of eighteen. Simone also was instrumental in organizing the First St. Louis Youth and Family Volunteer Fair, which connected over 25 organizations and 500 interested volunteers at the Magic House.

Simone has now been named a 2010 "Woman of Worth" by L'Oreal Paris, which recognizes Simone as "an inspiring volunteer, an outstanding achiever, and a beautiful person who's making a difference in her community." She already has received a $5,000 award for her charity of choice, and is in the running for a $25,000 award if voted as the Woman of Worth National Honoree.

In Simone's own words: "I was fortunate to be selected as one of 10 females throughout the US for the L'Oreal Paris Women of Worth award. I am one of the youngest honorees and the only one from the Midwest.

L'Oreal Paris has donated $5,000 directly to continue providing funding for future Youth and Family Volunteer Fairs at the St. Louis Magic House. The next Youth and Family Volunteer Fair will be Sunday, April 10, 2011. The event is a great way to promote and share an organization's mission with the community.

I have a chance at winning a huge grant of $25,000. I would like to put those funds to use for funded summer volunteer enrichment programs for inner-city youth. Middle and upper class kids are encouraged to volunteer, but transportation and finances make it more challenging for inner-city youth. ALL funds will go back to programs that focus on youth."

Simone named the following organizations as ones that "are passionate about helping youth and utilize youth volunteers," and that she would like to help with her grant proceeds if she wins: St. Louis Crisis Nursery (@StlCrisisKids); St. Louis Making Music (@Stlmakingmusic); the Education Exchange Corps (@EduXchangecorps); Scope Missouri (@ScopeMO); and the Danforth Center's World Food Day.

Simone has done a lot for the greater good of the St. Louis community—particularly for an 18-year old. Her efforts should be encouraged and rewarded. Let's all take a few seconds and return a good deed to her, and help her become the National Honoree by voting (and asking others to vote) for her.

Unlike some contests, you only have to vote once (per e-mail address), and it literally takes only a couple of seconds to vote. Voting ends on November 24th. The Women of Worth honorees will be recognized at a dinner in New York City on December 9th, at which the National Honoree will be announced.

Vote for Simone!

Autumn in Tower Grove Park

noreply@blogger.com (Ben) — Tue, 16 Nov 2010 04:24:00 +0000

Vine-covered tree near Grand Blvd.
entrance to Tower Grove Park

Any season is a great time to visit Tower Grove Park, but if you haven't yet enjoyed an autumn day there this year, I would highly recommend getting there before the remaining color is gone.

Although sometimes called one of the City's "best kept secrets", the park has a huge number of devotees and was recently hailed by the Riverfront Times as the "Best Public Park" for 2010. It may be overshadowed by the better-known and more-visited Forest Park, but, in my opinion, its relative peacefulness is a big part of its charm. On my most recent visit, the word that kept coming to mind was: serenity.

Tower Grove Park was donated by Henry Shaw to the citizens of St. Louis in 1868. In addition to its beautiful natural scenery and wildlife (particularly birds), the urban forest boasts some of St. Louis' finest landscape architecture, statuary, and numerous Victorian-era pavilions that can be reserved for weddings, picnics, and other events.

The park includes four full-length sculptures (William Shakespeare, Alexander von Humboldt, Christopher Columbus, and Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben), and a music pavilion surrounded by marble busts of composers Mozart, Rossini, Beethoven, Wagner, Gounod, and Verdi. Other ornamental works are scattered throughout the park.

Main Drive in Tower Grove Park, early morning.

Christopher Columbus by Ferdinand von Miller, dedicated October 12,
1886. This first statue of Columbus in the U.S. is believed to be "the
only statue in the US of a bearded Columbus, a feature added at the
insistence of the donor [Henry Shaw]. A rumor has it that objecting,
the sculptor carved on the statue: 'I knew he didn't have a beard.'"

The Music Pavilion is surrounded by this marble bust of Mozart as
well as ones of composers Rossini, Beethoven, Wagner, Gounod, and Verdi.

Echoing the words of one of the park's commissioners in 1883, the park's official website states that "the public pleasure grounds of a great city . . . are disassociated from all political, religious or social antagonisms; people generally visit them in their happiest, most reflective moods, and on days when the cares and anxieties of business and labor are laid aside." Those words ring true to me in general, and particularly in relation to Tower Grove Park.

Autumn may be on the wane, but the park is a great place to visit in any season. The park is the site of many of the City's gatherings throughout the year, including the popular Festival of Nations, which saw its largest crowd to date—140,000 visitors—in summer 2010. And on Saturday mornings from May through early November, the Tower Grove Farmers' Market and Bazaar (located just west of the Pool Pavilion) is bustling with shoppers and other visitors. Particularly in the summer, this is a great time to bring the entire family to the park, as throngs of kids splash in the wading pool and enjoy the nearby playgrounds.

Enjoying the music at the Festival of Nations,
Summer 2010.

Families splash in the fountain at the Wading Pool Pavilion,
adjacent to the Tower Grove Farmers' Market.

For much more information on Tower Grove Park's history, attractions, and events, be sure to visit the park's official website or the City's site dedicated to the park. If you really want to dig into its history, check out this digitized version of the 1883 Tower Grove Park of the City of St. Louis. Review of its Origin and History, Plan of Improvement, Ornamental Features, Etc. With Illustrations.

Of course, if you want to get a true flavor of the park—get out and enjoy it!

Scenes from Our Beautiful City

noreply@blogger.com (Ben) — Mon, 08 Nov 2010 03:23:00 +0000

Lately, I have not had nearly as much time to post on this site as I would like. I hope to be able to write more in the upcoming months, but in the meantime, I thought I would share some photographs from around the City of St. Louis. I bought a DSLR camera last month and have been spending a lot of time taking pictures around town (part of the reason I haven't written as much lately).

While I intend for this site to continue to be more of a written blog than a photoblog, the main point of the site is to spread a positive image of the City of St. Louis--and what better way to do that than to share some scenes from our beautiful city. You know what they say pictures are worth . . . so, until I can get back to actual writing, here are 12,000 words.

(Apologies to my Twitter and/or Flickr followers, who likely have seen some or all of these before).

“The Runner” by William Zorach.
Kiener Plaza, downtown St. Louis.

Eros Bendato (the "sideways head") by Igor Mitoraj.
Citygarden, downtown St. Louis.
The Southwestern Bell Building is in the background.

Nathan Frank Bandstand in Pagoda Lake, Forest Park
(Thanks to "Anonymous" for the info on this structure)

Christ Church Cathedral, 1210 Locust Street.

Vine on Brick, Cherokee Street.

Arch through the trees.

Civil Courts Building reflected at Citygarden.

Art Museum under construction.

"Guardians of the Brick." Hammerstone's in Soulard.
This brick building on their back patio is believed to have been a whiskey still during Prohibition.

"Waiting on a Train"

"Bunnyzilla" at Citygarden.

Arch at sunrise, from the Eads Bridge.

Winning Women Historic Tax Credit Forum: Tuesday, November 9th

noreply@blogger.com (Ben) — Wed, 27 Oct 2010 03:08:00 +0000

Winning Women is a St. Louis-based organization of highly successful women dedicated to promoting women in business, education, government and health initiatives to advance regional economic growth; to making the region a better place to live and work; and to reinforcing the region's position as a desirable community in which women can build successful careers, businesses and family lives. Among other activities, the group provides interested, motivated young women opportunities to meet and learn about available career options and to interact first hand with active, successful female executives.

In addition, Winning Women holds periodic forums on key current issues affecting the St. Louis region. The upcoming November 9th forum will address Missouri's historic tax credit ("HTC") program, both in terms of its past successes and the ongoing legislative efforts to modify the program.

Winning Women has put together an outstanding and diverse panel for this forum, including Sarah L. Coffin, PhD (one of the principal investigators of a key study on HTCs prepared for the Missouri Growth Association); Susan Montee (Missouri State Auditor); Tishaura Jones (Missouri State Representative); Wendy Timm (President of the Missouri Growth Association); and other political, business, and historic preservation leaders.

This event will provide insights into the current state of legislative activity surrounding Missouri's HTC program, and is sure to be of particular interest to those who want to ensure that recent harmful tinkering with the program does not lead to even worse, permanent legislation. For more information on the forum, including how to register (by November 3rd), please click on and print the picture below. If you are interested in learning more about Winning Women, you can contact the group here.

Click picture for larger, printable version

Congratulations to MVVA Team, Winner of The City + The Arch + The River 2015 Competition!

noreply@blogger.com (Ben) — Sat, 25 Sep 2010 01:43:00 +0000

The selection of the team helmed by Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates as the winner of The City + The Arch + The River 2015 international design competition marks a key milestone in the decades-long effort to revitalize the Arch grounds. For a detailed look at MVVA's plans for reconnecting the City of St. Louis to the Arch grounds and the riverfront, go here and/or watch the video below:

As would be expected (no matter which team won), there is a wide range of opinion as to whether the competition jury selected the best design. Personally, in my first reaction to the release of the designs, I tweeted that I liked MVVA's design the best, primarily because it seemed to me to be the most compatible with City to River's longer-term proposal to replace the downtown highway with a boulevard. In subsequent weeks, though, I had MVVA considerably further down the list.

Having had several days to dig back into MVVA's design, I have to say that I am really excited with the outcome of the competition. In the relatively near future, among other improvements we can expect to see (subject to design changes):

A westward-facing, street-level entrance to a significantly expanded underground museum;
Removal of the existing parking garage at the northern end of the Memorial, creating access to walkable portals through the Eads Bridge to Laclede's Landing;
New spaces and improvements to enjoy at the northern end of the Memorial, including play areas for children, shaded seating areas, a large earthen amphitheater (better placed, in my opinion, than the theaters proposed for the east side of the river), and a new Gateway Urban Ecology Center;
A new, well-designed Cathedral Square next to the Old Cathedral, with an adjacent market pavilion and restaurant;
On the east side of the river, a bird sanctuary with treetop-level walkways above restored wetlands;
A riverside cobblestone plaza, intended to "accommodate a broader spectrum of markets, concerts, and seasonal attractions";
Smarter use of parking to activate the north, south, and west edges of the Memorial, and remote ticketing facilities intended to encourage visitors to explore downtown while waiting for their Arch tours to begin;
A seasonal beer garden and ice rink on the currently-underused south end of park, as well as better connections to the Choteau's Landing area;
Expanded space on the Eads Bridge for pedestrian and cycling use; and
A one-block "lid" over the depressed lanes of (soon-to-be-former) Interstate 70 with "noise mitigation hoods," intended to create a more pleasant pedestrian experience.

If these improvements are actually completed--and all indications are that key governmental and business players intend to ensure that they are--then I think the design competition will largely have fulfilled its mandate to "take one of our country’s first urban park sites, weave it into the city fabric, explore the role of Jefferson National Expansion Memorial as an active part of the downtown and a contributor to economic growth, celebrate the riverfront and mitigate the divisive ‘moat’ of transportation around the site."

For those who think that the design is merely "safe," I think they have not considered the massive undertaking that is involved in completing the improvements described above, and are missing the bigger picture. The design does, after all, have to be feasible within the parameters (temporal and otherwise) set by the design competition (without which nothing would be happening at all), and economic reality.

Of course, what MVVA has proposed is a preliminary design, and there is room for improvement. Over the next 90 days, the team will work with the National Park Service, the City, and key stakeholders to revise and refine the design. Comments from the public are welcomed, so if you see something you don't like--or don't see something you do like--then now is the time to voice those opinions.

Interestingly, MVVA even appears to be open to incorporating design components from the other teams in the competition. I wouldn't anticipate any of the big-ticket, eye candy items (think gondolas) working their way into the final design, but there is certainly room for (for example) better cross-river connections, better activation of Kiener Plaza, and better connections between the Memorial and downtown.

That last point may be the most exciting, as MVVA appears to be interested in designing in a way that is consistent with the broader goal of replacing the downtown highway with a boulevard. As noted in the team's earlier design narrative, "We have proposed a one-block overpass, rather than an at-grade boulevard, because it is less expensive, easier to achieve by 2015, and would require fewer jurisdictional and regulatory negotiations. But the benefits of removing the highway altogether are clear, and we have purposely created a proposal that is compatible with either solution." City to River has extended its congratulations to MVVA, and hopes to work closely with the team and other stakeholders in the upcoming months.

On balance, I think St. Louisans should be thrilled with where this competition has led, or that it even occurred at all (it being a monumental achievement in and of itself). I have probably said it hundreds of times and I will say it again--this is an incredibly exciting time for St. Louis. Thanks to the organizers of the design competition, and congratulations to MVVA and its team members!