Loft Living: Accommodating Dogs and Their Owners
The gossip columnist for the “worst newspaper”in America, Deb Peterson, is reporting local developer Kevin McGowan doesn’t think dog is man’s best friend:
FAUX FRIEND: Kevin McGowan of McGowan Walsh developers recently sponsored a Q&A session on downtown development at Copia on Washington Avenue. Many of the questions that night were about dog parks. McGowan expressed his support for them while maintaining that the city won’t approve one. Now for the rest of the story. Seems that McGowan himself is anti-pet. He recently sent an e-mail around to residents of his building at 1221 Locust Street expressing his views on pets. “Most of you are aware I am not a pet owner and in general I find them dirty, destructive and annoying. Because of pets I do not own there is fur on the elevator, in our staircase, in our basement, in my car, in my house and occasionally on my suits upon exiting the building.” The note goes on to say that pets are dangerous and that he wants to keep the building pet-free. Some residents are fuming because they say McGowan passed the no-pet policy for the building while a resident was out of town, forcing her to get rid of a new puppy she had brought home with her.
I made some inquiries today and got some diverse views. One person, not affiliated with the McGowan family or the building, said the building’s board did in fact have a legit meeting and passed a no-pet policy. A pet ban is not that uncommon for condo buildings, loft or otherwise, as people have concern about noise and such. It is also not uncommon for boards to meet while someone is out of town or has a conflict. It is typical for a board to post any issues up for vote in advance and then to have provisions for someone that cannot attend to give their proxy to someone else to vote in their place.
I personally would never buy into a building where a single family owned a majority of the units. As with all condos the board may not do things you like and it may require you to challenge their decision legally or simply sell and move. This happens in tightly controlled subdivisions as well so don’t think this is a city thing. It comes down to creating legal entities to control common areas and how do the various owners reach mutual decisions.
As for dogs, I’m not a big fan. But they are growing on me. I kinda view them like kids — I like other people’s kids & dogs but I don’t want either for myself. With a goldfish or cat the pet owner (caretaker really) doesn’t have any interaction with neighbors as a result of the pet. But, the dog owner must go out and walk that dog which is an opportunity to meet and talk with others on the sidewalk. They add to the vibrancy where ever they may be, a very good thing. Well, so long as they pickup after the dog.
And downtown you see people walking dogs all the time. This creates problems of disposal of waste, where to leave the dog when going into a store and such. Very good problems to have downtown! For many the solution is in creating a dedicated dog park. But where? I’m told the Serra sculpture is serving as a default dog park already. I joked with one downtown dog owner today about welding on some items to hold bags for poop patrol.
With lofts nearly to the river, adjacent to Busch stadium and then all the way to Jefferson I don’t know that a single dog park is the solution. I think we need to make downtown dog friendly. Restaurants and stores might include a metal bar for wrapping up a leash near the entrance. Throughout downtown we can have “doggy bags” near trash cans. Make downtown one big dog park.
– Steve
I’m currently a cat person, but I used to own two golden retrievers at once (though not while living in my loft), so there’s my cred. Coupla random pooch ponderings:
– I knew downtown was going to be a “real” neighborhood when people started walking dogs at night. The place was all but abandoned when we moved in in 2000. By 2003, single women walking dogs could be spotted now and then. By early this year, when we moved, downtown was knee-deep in dogs at all hours. That sort of on-street vitality is all good.
– Speaking of wagging the dog: I floated the Serra-Sculpture-as-dog-park idea to several authorities (DTSLP among them) over the last few years, none of whom could be made to understand I WAS NOT JOKING. Think about it. You put little swinging saloon doors on the gaps (plexi to keep the look clean). You’re done! The radio call-in debates alone would be worth millions in free advertising for the ‘hood. It would be a nationwide story. Think of the headlines: “Serra Goes to the Dogs in St. Louis” … “Canine Culture Wars” … “But Is It Arf?”
All the stories would lead with “the growing population of loft dwellers in downtown St. Louis need a place for their dogs to do their business …” See? The keywords “growing population” would be tied to “St Louis” and “business” in every search engine.
Mayor Slay, are you listening!!!!????
Think STORY, people!
And the look on poor Emily Pulitzer’s face when forced to react to this philistine concept on camera. The horror!
This idea is still available, no charge …
[REPLY Yes, the look on Pulitzer’s face would be priceless. We could get Mastercard to do one of those commercials here: Pure breed dog, $1,000; Custom tooled leather collar and leash, $400; Alterations to renowned sculpture, $2,500; Look on Emily Pulitzer’s face: PRICELESS.
But seriously the public message could be very positive in a bigger sense as you indicate. Maybe it should be the Kevin McGowan Dog Park at the Serra Sculpture. – SLP]
While I think the Serra sculpture would be an ideal location, what happened to the dog park plans for Lucas Park? Kevin McGowan was working on that and he was pretty clear back then that he didn’t like dogs. At least he recognized the benefit of a dog park for the neighborhood.
And where is 1221 Locust Street? Are there resdidential units in the Shell Building? McGowan/Walsh doesn’t own the Jefferson Arms or Christchurch Cathedral. What else is in the 1200 block of Locust? The least the gossip queen could do is get the street correct. I’m guessing she means Lucas.
I guess Kevin is out of favor with someone at the PD these days. Usually, the only real local news is hinted at in the gossip column so I guess this means someone at city hall is pissed off at Kevin for something.
For what it’s worth, I am one of the people who actually likes the Serra sculpture. I find it quite beautiful. And I am really NOT joking about that.
But for the greater good, I’m sure Mr. Serra and Ms. Pulitzer could see the wisdom in bringing this additional use to their underappreciated installation.
Steve is right: Downtown should be more dog-friendly. Dog parks are one other way of isolating parts of urban life into tidy little pockets. Integrate everything into city life, even dogs! (I am most definitely not a dog person.)
Kevin McGowan is a speciest and a dogiphobe. I dream of a day when we can have a city that does not discriminate against another living thing just because it didn’t happen to be born a human.
Wasn’t it McGowan Walsh that was giving away free scooters to loft buyers? How European. But banning residents from having a little dog for companionship? How provincial.
Seen Chicago’s lakefront lately? Yup, packed with dog owners and their disposable incomes. Sacre bleu, Chicago even has dog beaches!
When my husband and I look for a condo in the coming months, you can bet we won’t be looking in any McGowan Walsh buildings. I’d imagine Mr. McGowan, if he felt like it, could make a case that my children can be a little “dirty, destructive and annoying,” too.
When we first moved here, I looked for new-ish Hondas on the street and people walking dogs as evaluation points on the health of a neighborhood.
Northwest Coffee has a great solution on the dog parking issue: they have three carabiners attached to the fence on the side of the building for people to clip their leashes to.
Erin–unless you’ve got your heart set on living downtown–there are a couple of units for sale in our CWE building (including a 3-bedroom that’s not officially on the market yet) and we’d love to have another family or two here!
Pet lovers may hate me for saying this, but dogs in a multi-unit bulding really are a conundrum. I’ve lived in a building that allowed pets where dirty paw prints on common space carpets, copious shedding of fur, and loud (or) relentless barking made the experience miserable. I’m just glad I wasn’t allergic to my neighbor’s pet.
Some of the lofts I’ve toured DT had fairly thin walls. Add the echo-y nature of the high ceiling buildings and you’ve got a strong case against dogs based on noise alone.
My husband and I were thinking about re-locating to St. Louis from Oklahoma City. (we fell in love with St. Louis during our visit last August) After reading the negativity that many of the downtown St. Louis resdients and real estate owners project towards dogs, I don’t know if I want to move to St. Louis. This is absurd! I came to this website to find out more about where I can walk my little companion after the move. I think I will stay in Oklahoma City where at least our dogs are treated with a little respect! Maybe we should move to Chicago where they have doggie beaches… Any suggestions would be much appreciated.
I think you are overreacting.
I cant believe you are all putting so much energy into this.
Not wanting to move to St. Louis city because one man does not want dogs in his building. What do you care about the policies he has in his buildings? You aren’t going to live there. He is talking about helping get a dog park in the city for other people even though he chooses not to have dogs himself. Shoudln’t you be commending him for helping others instead of criticizing him? As for the woman who suposedly brought home a puppy without knowing about the decision to make the condo “dog free”…. if you own a condo somewhere and you want a say in the decisions the condo board makes, may be you should get more involved.
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