A Day in St. Louis, A Photo Essay
My day started off supporting friends who are now “purveyors of local & organic groceries” at Local Harvest Grocery on Morganford near Tower Grove Market.
Later in the afternoon I went downtown. Turns out it was a game day at Busch Stadium. Enterprise was having a private party on the two blocks the city wants to turn into a sculpture park. Baseball fans began making their way to the stadium. I observed where they did and did not gather. The rather staid park spaces with no events and no vendors selling water or food were empty except for the occassional person.
This is a long post but it is mostly pictures, a few of the 400+ photos I took in a matter of three and a half hours. Click here to see all the photos from this series. The question I have is this, when thousands visit downtown St. Louis do they see the views shown on the tourist literature or do they see something less attractive?
I keep expecting tumbleweeds to drift across some of those pictures as Sergio Leone music plays.
Is the Union Station theater open for business?
No the theatre is closed. There were rumors a few years back that it would open as a dinner-movie theatre, like an Alamo Roadhouse kind of place. But clearly that fell through.
As an answer to your question Steve, there are certainly a fair number of aesthetic improvements that could be made throughout the city. But isn’t it safe to say that all cities are a bit “uglier” than their tourism photos indicate?
I think a bigger issue is the lack of things to do in most areas of downtown as you indicated.
glad you mentioned local harvest grocery, one of the highlights of my weekend. i really liked the selection i found there. otherwise, i think you make some great observations of the ordinarily unobservable/indistinguishable aethetics
As a relatively-recent transplant, for a couple of years before that, I was indeed a regular “visitor”. My impressions centered more on what was going on (or, more accurately, what wasn’t) activity-wise than on the architecture and the urban design of the city. Many of the newer downtown buildings are no better or no worse than those in comparable cities, and the older stuff was impressive, even the declining areas, where there reamins a huge potential for reinvestment and redevelopment. The same goes for the impact of the elevated freeways, street furniture and street junk, regulatory signs, etc., etc. The mall/parkway west of the arch was and continues to be a major local design challenge – it simply isn’t people-friendly on a daily basis. Overall, I’ve seen a lot of improvement, with the growth of the loft district along Washington leading the way. Are things perfect? Not by a long shot. But, positive progress is happening, and many of the major past design mistakes can be classified as a function of their time and good intentions not panning out
While I’m not disagreeing with you about the aesthetics, Steve, I don’t think most people notice some of the details you pointed out–save the broken lamppost, etc., which just gives fuel to the perception of the City as rundown,mismanaged, etc. I think most visitors take the automobile culture, with its ugly accoutrements and uninhabitable spaces, for granted. Active pedestrian spaces are viewed as an attraction in their own right, not as an expected part of going from one place to another. Just another example of the sad, dehumanizing state of the USA, circa 2007.
I’ve often thought the same thing, Steve – what would an outsider think of our city? You missed one of the most unwelcoming parts of downtown: Memorial Drive!
It’s amazing how many sweeping views of NOTHING we have in various parts of downtown, thanks to the Gateway Mall and especially the pointless park to the east of the Eagleton Courthouse. While I’d like to see that entire lot redeveloped, at the very least, the eastern section of that park fronting the Stadium West garage should be used for new construction.
I see St Louis through the eyes of tourists because I am a tour guide for downtown and neighborhoods – preferrably walking and using Metro, but sometimes on those big awful buses (a gig is a gig and those jobs pay regardless of weather). Tourists are susceptible to presentation: if I am upbeat about revitalization they see fabulous old buildings, a multitude of lofts, attractively landscaped public space. If I am excited about MetroLink, they are too. Yes, it’s good for business to show the positive side. The positive side is easier to perceive than it was even five years ago. (Is the glass half-full or half-empty?)
Experienced urbanists are more critical of course. But almost everyone is impressed with our “potential”. Everyone is pleasantly surprised by the quality of our (capital-C) Cultural resources (SLAM, Symphony, Boatnical Gardens etc). Many exclaim “What a clean city!” “What a beautiful city!” “I had no idea this city was so old/interesting/unique!” It’s great to hear.
But we know it’s not the whole story, Steve, so we need you to keep that camera pointed where CVC and City Hall don’t want to go. We need you to keep things stirred up – we want to realize our potential. Our (small-c) culture, our street life, our prosperity, our life as a City are at stake. Thanks for all you do.
The 9th picture from the bottom, is actually quite majestic, in a weird sort of way.
The swooping highway ramp, with the high rise buildings in the background.
I think you can say a lot of bad things about our highways, and I agree with you on them, but 64/40 has gotta be one of the more interesting urban highways in the country. The double decker highway running through downtown, the crazy entrances and exits…it really is unique and interesting.
But you seemed to have stayed on the Southside of downtown which I think we would all agree is the area that hasn’t gotten the development it needs. I think once Cupples and Ballpark Village are almost done, and Chouteau’s Landing continues to be improved, we’ll start to see some improvements in the areas you shot.
That, and we have FAR too many parking garages.