Verizon Call Center Closing to Impact Downtown Chesterfield
Recently Verizon announced it was closing its call center in Chesterfield, consolidating the call volume in other call centers in the Midwest. The move will directly impact 340 jobs but the impact will be felt on the streets of downtown Chesterfield. The newsstand on the corner down the street, the hot dog vendor, and the sidewalk cafes will all be indirectly impacted. How will downtown survive? The sidewalks will be less busy.
How is the Downtown Chesterfield Partnership spinning this?
I know what you are thinking, Chesterfield doesn’t have a downtown. Right you are, it is a big giant mass of sprawl. I feel for the folks whose jobs are going away — I’m not not making light of their situation. The impact will be felt just not in the same way as a downtown. We are used to seeing a for lease sign in front of the anonymous mirrored glass box set in a parking lot surrounded by the greenest of green grass. Sadly Chesterfield will continue…
How about this for an idea…make it illegal to use cell phones that are moving more than a certain MPH. Use the built in GPS in most phones to electronically shut them off once they are moving at say 30 MPH. OK, a bit off topic, but follow me. I think doing this could boost residential density. While I’m just as guilty of multi-tasking as the next guy while driving, the recent accidents in the news are sparking my interest in a total ban on moving phones. Since we’re so used to cramming phone-related tasks into our commutes, those with shorter commutes can actually become more productive than their long-haul counterparts as those forced to drive a lot can’t work in the car anymore. Perhaps it’s enough to get businesses and homes closer together. Are there problems with this? Sure. People in the passenger seat, on a subway or Metro or bus, but saving ONE SINGLE life makes it worth it. I don’t want to hear those people talking on the phone on my commute anyway! It’s an increase in safety AND respect for others! Now if I can just find my checkbook I can hire a fleet of lobbyists to make it happen.
You’re sad Chesterfield will continue to exist? That seems harsh. I have to say that as far as aesthetics go I’m not a fan of strip malls and subdivisions or the folks that do enjoy and populate them. I don’t hold any view that these are “bad” or should be regulated out of existence. But after having spent some time lately in the West County and St. Charles county area I’m begining to understand it more as I also have been reading more and more stories about shootings in the city. Along with my own sudden sense that the city for the most part is a filthy annoying place. Even if you manage to live in say 63109 I don’t relish the thought of going to say a Walgreens in the area because of the crowd you find within. It’s sad because it seems I can’t stand anyone any more, rich or poor. Everyone is really annoying. It’s either the welfare mother with her ten kids and the inability to have a transaction run smoothly or her suburban housewife counter part with one screaming annoying kid and an inability to navigate the check out process as well. It’s always something.
Great, it seems people from Affton are annoying too. How about this? Lets make driving over 30mph against the law entirely. Hey, if you save one life it’s worth it right? Just think how safe we will all be if that is the case. I need to find a cave some place.
Steve, our resident Realtor, would be happy to bird-dog you a Unibomber-style shack, Tim. I hope things get better for you. As we say in Affton “it could always be worse…it could be Lemay.”
Tim,
Go ahead and move out West….with those feelings I don’t think us annoying folk will miss you at all.
Speaking as someone who is temporarily domiciled in the city of Chesterfield, I can assure you that I feel more unsafe on the roads of Chesterfield due to the marked increase in road rage over the last decade than I do walking around the streets of St. Louis.
Why don’t I share a short dialogue I had with a friend this weekend:
Me: I’m looking at buying a house in Tower Grove East.
Friend: You’re crazy; two people just got shot to death in TGE last week.
Me: Four people died on the interstates of St. Louis County last week.
Friend: Oh, I guess you have point.
The simple (and heard by me directly from the police) is that if you’re not involved with the wrong crowd, your chances of being murdered in the city are tiny. You are more likely to die in a car accident than be shot by a complete and total stranger.
It appears that there is little love-loss between city and county residents. No doubt there are folks in both regions that haven’t visited the other in years. This animosity seems very deep, and quite frankly, impossible to overcome. I’m not even saying its worth trying to mend fences, maybe both communities are better off going their own ways…I really don’t know. The City however, is the draw, it’s the anchor and folks usually don’t visit so they can go see Chesterfield, Earth City, Fenton, Granite City—it’s downtown.
And you can talk about the ADA, trash, dropping kids off for school in public parking spaces (I still love that one!) and anything else ad nausea but here’s the bottom line…until St. Louis can not only attain accreditation but set the bar in public education performance then all else is futile. This town pays too much attention to Cardinal nation and not enough to the next generation.
And Tim, you need a dog bro 🙂
You don’t have to tell me about the road rage in West County. I’m pissed off most the time I’m driving there because it seems the lines down the center are there for decoration more than guidance. Seriously, its like taking your life in your own hands. It’s only fear of jail that keeps most of the people around me free from harm. Hmmm, a Unibomber shack in Lemay? It’s the people that bug me not the state of modern convience. I like that, people don’t come here to see Earth City. No kidding, but a Quicktrip is annoying no matter where I go. And as far as the schools I’m down with separation of state and education.