The State of Real Estate

The April 2005 issue of St. Louis Magazine includes their annual ’2005 Real Estate Guide.’ This magazine is mostly, in my view, a West County society magazine.

One agent is quoted as saying, “I am seeing people looking seriously at Lafayette Square. In one week, I did two sales down there.” In 2005 some people are just now waking up to Lafayette Square. Old St. Louis notion #1 – the city is “down there.”

The magazine promotes downtown lofts but from a different perspective than I am accustomed:

“In the heart of downtown, lofts have become the trendy and affordable way to downsize, while contributing to the revitalization of the Washington Avenue area. But the area is still not a guaranteed investment.”

To affluent county folks with 5,000sf McMansions I guess a downtown loft is both a downsize and affordable. Despite the number of lofts built in the last few years it doesn’t seem like demand can be met. But what is with the “not a guaranteed investment” comment? No real estate purchase is a guaranteed investment. Old St. Louis notion #2 – buying in the city is risky. If you want a risky investment buy a vinyl clad ranch in a subdivision 45 minutes from downtown St. Louis. The magazine quoted a real estate appraiser as a backup of this view:

“I’m having some concerns about lofts. I haven’t seen many resales yet. A lot of these folks are going to be transferred to other jobs. We’ll be able to tell in two to four years when the young, single families start having kids and move out.”

Old St. Louis notion #3 – people with kids leave the city if they can afford to. I know of people with school age children moving to downtown and midtown. Many families live in the city – sending their children to public, magnet, private, and parochial. Still others home school. The choices are many. For some city couples the lower property taxes in the city plus not necessarily having two cars more than pays for private schooling. Other parents find not spending hours driving to and from work or from subdivision to mall to industrial park gives them more time to spend with their kids and at their kid’s school. There is no substitute for parental participation.

“Another sizzling neighborhood is Maplewood.”

First, Maplewood is a municipality – not a neighborhood. People need to stop throwing the word neighborhood around so indiscriminately. Municipalities and subdivisions are not neighborhoods. Old St. Louis notion #4 – anyplace is a neighborhood. New Urbanists have developed a list of 13 elements that most neighborhoods have. Click here and scroll down to see the elements of a neighborhood. That having been said, Maplewood does contain some great neighborhoods.

“There are great deals to be had in neighborhoods such as Forest Park Southeast and Old North St. Louis”, states the article. Wow, finally something good. Oh wait, “but buying in these areas is risky, because while some neighborhoods, such as Lafayette Square, can safely be called revitalized, others have a more uncertain future.” Old St. Louis notion #5 – anything not mostly white is risky. Buying real estate involves risk. I’ll agree that FPSE and ONSL involve greater risk than say Lafayette Square. I don’t think it is necessary to keep reinforcing this idea. If we continue calling an area risky guess what, it will remain risky!

In their buy or rent section you are advised to rent if, “Your job requires a substantial amount of travel.” Again, I disagree. Many downtown loft owners travel. They enjoy being able to get to the airport via MetroLink. The connectedness offered by loft living and Washington Avenue gives loft owning travelers a sense of belonging when they are in town and excellent tax benefits. The two-page spread of sale stats includes median days on market. At 188 days downtown looks like things don’t move. Since many lofts go on the market as soon as the developer buys the building and establishes a unit price this is a bit misleading.

One of the biggest challenges in St. Louis is simply one of perception. This article does very little to change perceptions about the city. In fact, it reinforces the conventional thinking that has kept many suburbanites from considering the city.

– Steve

Steve Patterson’s Favorite Urban Books

The following are some of my favorite books on urban issues. They are presented alphabetically by Author.

– Steve

Green Urbanism: Learning from European Cities
Author: Timothy Beatley

Great ideas that we need to take into consideration

How Buildings Learn: What Happens After They’re Built
Author: Stewart Brand

A great look at how buildings change over the years

Cash, Tokens, and Transfers: A History of Urban Mass Transit in North America
Author: Brian J. Cudahy

A must read book on mass transit

Suburban Nation: The Rise of Sprawl and the Decline of the American Dream
Authors: Andres Duany, Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk, and Jeff Speck

A great look at sprawl and what can be done about it

The Rise of the Creative Class and how it’s transforming work, leisure, community and everyday life
Author: Richard Florida.

Controversial book looks at changes in classes and how new social classes are changing cities

The Living City: How Urban Residents are Revitalizing America’s Neighborhoods and Downtown Shopping Districts by Thinking Small in a Big Way
Author: Roberta Brandes Gratz

Inspiring book about the importance of the little guy and doing a building at a time

The Death and Life of Great American Cities
Author: Jane Jacobs

A classic. If only planners had paid attention to her 40 years ago

The Geography of Nowhere: The Rise and Decline of America’s Man-Made Landscape
Author: James Howard Kunstler

Kunstler’s first work on cities. A must read.

City Comforts
Author: David Sucher

Packed with those little “comforts” that make a city great.

City: Rediscovering the Center
Author: William H. Whyte

Whyte’s research into uses of public spaces is legendary.

St. Louis Center – Save the Skybridge

Never before have I reprinted an entire email received from someone. But, in the case below I hope you get a big smile reading it just as I did:
– Steve

ST. LOUIS – As reported in Martin Van Der Werf’s
column in the Post-Dispatch today, efforts are afoot
to remove the pedestrian “skybridge” from the St.
Louis Centre complex, thereby forever altering the
scenic streetscape along this burgeoning section of
Washington Avenue. In response, a group of concerned
citizens is planning a multi-pronged approach to keep
the historic skybridge intact.

“Changing the dramatic exterior of the St. Louis
Center skybridge would be a mistake,” says Franklin
Jennings, a spokesperson for the ad-hoc “Save the
Skybridge” effort. “Once torn asunder, the views in
this area of eastern Downtown would never be the same.
We consider the skybridge to be part-and-parcel of the
robust nature and dramatic vista of this working
neighborhood. It has been a part of Downtown for
roughly two decades. Our contention is that it should
be serviceable for at least two generations.”
… Continue Reading

Insider’s Guide to St. Louis – NOT!

Regular readers of Urban Review St. Louis know that I am working with a couple considering moving to St. Louis from Staten Island NY. As part of our discussions on neighborhoods we’ve focused on areas just North of Delmar (Cabanne) due to proximity to MetroLink, the Loop and the CWE. The architecture is also stunning. Many streets are lined with well maintained homes from loving homeowners who just happen to be mostly black.

As part of their research into St. Louis they picked up the “Insider’s Guide to St. Louis” written by local writer Dawne Massey. Unfortunately, Massey’s insider information is the same old message that continues to damage North St. Louis. We are really killing ourselves when we continue to write off such a large geographic area. I’ve got a few examples.

Massey has this to say about St. Louis’ Greyhound bus terminal:

“Since the bus station (1450 N. 13th St.) isn’t in a desirable location, you should take a cab from the station to your hotel. Also, it’s not a good idea to walk around the
bus station area at any time of day.”

What? I’d certainly walk from the bus station to downtown. The only reason I wouldn’t walk is because the pedestrian qualities are dreadful – but that is not the message Massey is sending to outsiders.

Massey also comments on the the city’s North side:

“There isn’t a whole lot to see and do in the area of town known as the ‘near-north’ side. Other than the historic African-American neighborhood known as The Ville and
the Greyhound bus station, there aren’t too many reasons to venture into this series of older neighborhoods in serious need of rejuvenation. Some local developers are slowly making progress on this front, with new low-income family housing units taking over vacant lots and deteriorating buildings. Annie Malone, one of the country’s first African-American millionaires, was the most famous resident of The Ville, and the neighborhood’s Sumner High School is the alma mater to St. Louisans Tina Turner, Arthur Ashe, and Chuck Berry.”

Hello? How about Crown Candy Kitchen? How about the water towers? How about Hyde Park? How about the Bissell Mansion with its spectacular views and great food? O’Fallon Park? Bellefontaine Cemetery? Calvary Cemetery? Fountain Park? Windermere Place? Scott Joplin House?

I Googled Massey and found references to some articles in the Post-Dispatch Get Out section as well as the St. Louis Blues Foundation. Not Blues hockey but as in the musical style. It seems Massey is the director of the foundation looking to build a museum on Laclede’s Landing.

Anyone in St. Louis that likes Blues must have ventured into North St. Louis a time or two? Those German’s & Irish in South St. Louis may have been great brick masons but Blues musicians they were not. My best memory of Blues in St. Louis is hearing the Bosman Twins not the Missouri Botanical Gardens but at the Moose Lounge (4571 Pope Ave, St Louis, 63115 (314) 385-5700) near O’Fallon Park.

If you are interested in sharing your thoughts on this writer’s take on North St. Louis you can contact the publisher, The Globe Pequot Press via email.

North St. Louis has some of the city’s best architecture and urban streets. Yes, some of it is a little worse for wear but other areas are pristine. It is only when we stop these self defeating statements about the North side will we ever rebuild our city. South City and the CWE needs a strong North side. St. Louis County and the entire region need a strong City of St. Louis. We’ve got to start sending the right messages to ourselves and to outsiders.

– Steve

Is Wal-Mart Good for America?

Great photo collection of St. Louis

Check out the Thomas Kempland collection of photos taken by J.R. Eike in the early part of the 20th Century. Most are in the Dutchtown neighborhood where I have lived for the last 10 years. Be warned, these are really interesting and time-consuming!

Steve

A New Frontier For Suburban Builders

You gotta read this website!