Is the Chesterfield Flood Plain The Finest Location in the St. Louis Region?
Today I was looking at the website of the Kemp Auto Museum and I found something more interesting than the stunning collection of Mercedes. Their viewpoint.
The foundation has secured an outstanding location in the Greater St. Louis area. Specifically, it is located in the fast-growing city of Chesterfield. Chesterfield is part of west St. Louis County and is quickly becoming a focal point for business, commerce, and the arts.
Really? Focal point huh? Maybe until we get another good rain… They continue to justify their location:
The museum has unsurpassed visibility as it is physically between a major interstate highway and an arterial corridor that has over one mile of recently developed commercial properties that collectively comprise the largest shopping center in the St. Louis area. Among this active and bustling backdrop, the site for the museum has outstanding exposure.
Active the area is. Bustling is not exactly the kind of term I’d personally use. That seems more appropriate for a pedestrian area. Despite the numerous amounts of commerce and the fact they started from scratch the area is dreadful.
Also nearby is a fast-growing regional airport serving corporate and private aviation, including jet service. In short, the museum is considered by many to be located in the finest location in the whole of St. Louis.
“Finest location in the whole of St. Louis?” Are they dreaming? Maybe some of the car exhaust is getting into their offices? If an area covered in flood waters 11 years ago and now surrounded by every generic chain store known to suburbia is our finest we are in trouble.
This has to be the least desirable place in all of the St. Louis region!
– Steve
It could be a great place to showcase cars that can turn into boats! Do those exist? Hmmm.
Just look at the board of directors for The Fred M. Kemp Foundation:
https://www.sos.mo.gov/BusinessEntity/soskb/Filings.asp?702449#
Since the Foundation’s board lives in Chesterfield, Clayton, Warson Woods and Pacific, is it any wonder why they would have such bias for their flood plain gamble?
The sad thing about the Chesterfield valley is that the next time there is a great flood it won’t flood them, it will flood the next area down river that previously never flooded before. The water has to go somewhere. If the levee holds it back, it’s just going to go down river. The flood plain is where the water should go. So Chesterfield is risking everyone else so they can have their mega strip mall.
“This has to be the least desirable place in all of the St. Louis region!”
Apparently in your bias, you completely forgot about the crumbling shitheaps in north side, east side, and downtown.
jesda, apparently you forgot about the massive restoration going on in the northside, east side, and downtown. those “shitheaps” were ACTUAL self-sustaining neighborhoods (not like the artificial, big-box-driven ones that exist in the county – Oooooh! The Estates at Riverview Woods Bend Ridge Hollow Landing Oaks Willows Place! How authentic! ) that suburbanites abandoned out of – yep – short-sighted selfishness.
Jesda,
Steve may have some bias but Chesterfield Commons is effing ugly and will downturn to dollar stores and other discount shops in less than five years. It’s not a ‘place’ to go to like the CWE, South Grand, Soulard, etc. it’s just a shitheap of stores on a flood plain.