Railvolution Speakers Comment on St. Louis
The 2006 Railvolution Conference continues today in Chicago. Here are a few more short videos from national experts commenting on St. Louis:
Todd Litman:
Executive Director of the Victoria Transportation Policy Institute and author of the new book Parking Management Best Practices. Litman led an intense 4-hour symposium on Sunday afternoon at the headquarters of the American Planning Association.
M. David Lee, FAIA:
Mr. Lee has been one of the most dynamic speakers so far in this conference. He brings to the table an impressive resume: a partner in the architecture & planning firm Stull and Lee as well as an Adjunct Professor at Harvard. He has been doing work this summer in New Orleans:
Harriet Tregoning:
Ms. Tregoning is the Executive Director of the Smart Growth Leadership Institute in Washington D.C., but is originally from the St. Louis region.
The conference includes a session this morning looking at over 30 funding initiatives that were on ballots around the country yesterday. This will be interesting to see as we in the St. Louis region (at least city & county) will be asked in the near future for a tax increase to help fund operations & expansion for Metro (light rail & bus operations).
[Note: The videos stop before the end credits but you can see all of each commenter. I will fix this tomorrow as well as the spelling of Harriet Tregoning’s first name on the open credits. But, today I’m heading back to the conference and then driving back to St. Louis. Yes, I drove my car because it was a last minute decision to attend this conference plus I am picking up stuff at Ikea — I get nearly 40mpg so it is not so bad.]
Too bad you couldn’t take advantage of Superbus – it’s what, $1 each way if you buy in advance . . .
When talking about St Louis, even the experts focus on the tremendous assets St. Louis has that it fails to value and the inferiority complex that is so prevalent. Anyone I know who visits St. Louis seems to be very impressed with it, they always report back to me on how it’s one of thier favorite cities they’ve visited. When are the people of St. Louis going to wake up and see it for themselves?
Jane Jacobs has spoken on how one of the most important things needed for a city to work well is for its people to love it. She specifically mentioned Portland as having this quality and it being the key to their success.
StL definitely has some great assets. So what’s the problem? Why is it, with all these valuable communal assets, that surrounding property sells at much lower prices than similar properties in to other cities? Why doesn’t Ms Tregoning live in StL?
Obvious:
1) Poor leadership dominated by one party,
2) A school system which rewards failure with diplomas,
3) Too much tolerance for crime,
4) An economic strategy that favors TIFs over organic growth,
5) Continuing inability to attract corporate investment, and
6) An electorate who wants more of the same which is the real problem.
The message is clear, unless you believe in a super-liberal strategy, void of common sense, don’t invest your assets or time here. It’s OK to visit, take in the zoo, admire the gardens, enjoy the park, marvel at the beautiful architecture, but place your family in the middle of this governmental mess, diploma mills, and crime?
What is so amazing to read is the continuing failure of the public to comprehend and understand the obvious. The inferiority complex is well deserved as it reflects these problems and failures.
john,
the problems are obvious but i don’t think the solutions are quite so obvious. anyway i just wanted to ask what you mean by “Too much tolerance for crime.” as in not enough neighborhood watch? or the police and justice systems are not cracking down hard enough?
Were there 30 funding initiatives on ballots yesterday?
Steve, Where are you? I’m sure avid readers all over the globe await your next post like me. I’d be interested in your take on the “meterless” parking on S. Grand between Arsenal and Connecticut (or thereabouts). The Journal has an article on the subject in the current issue.
Steve was at the Railvolution conference in Chicago.
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