Poll: Current Thoughts on McKee’s Northside Regeneration Project?

Friday 5th ward alderman April Ford-Griffin introduced Board Bill 278 regarding Paul McKee’s stalled Northside Regeneration project:

An Ordinance authorizing the execution of a project agreement between the City of St. Louis and Northside Regeneration, LLC; prescribing the form and details of said agreement; authorizing other related actions in connection therewith; and containing a severability clause.

This agreement would cover only a fraction of McKee’s overall project:

The proposal includes cleaning up 14 vacant lots, tearing down six empty buildings and rehabbing seven more, including the old Greyhound Bus station at Cass Avenue and 13th Street. It also would build a $750,000 materials recycling center on 10th Street near Interstate 70, where bricks, wood and other materials from demolished buildings and ripped-up roads would be stored and sold for reuse. (Post-Dispatch)

This is in response to a legal delay last July:

A St. Louis judge threw out a city ordinance Friday that authorized $390 million in tax increment financing – the largest in the city’s history – for Paul McKee Jr.’s $8.1 billion NorthSide redevelopment.
St. Louis Circuit Judge Robert Dierker ruled in favor of city residents who allege in a lawsuit filed last fall that the Board of Aldermen did not comply with state law when it approved a tax increment financing (TIF) package for McKee’s massive project. (St. Louis Business Journal)

So McKee’s Northside Regeneration project is the subject of the poll this week (upper right of blog).

– Steve Patterson

Readers: Racial & Economic Segregation are Problems in St. Louis

Few topics garner such diverse perspectives than race relations. The poll last week was simple; “How Racially Segregated is St. Louis?“

1. Racial segregation is a major problem 61 [28.91%]
2. Economic segregation is worse than racial segregation 49 [23.22%]
3. People are free to live where they like, minorities often self-segregate 44 [20.85%]
4. Racial segregation is an issue 42 [19.91%]
5. Other answer… 9 [4.27%]
6. Racial segregation isn’t an issue 5 [2.37%]
7. No opinion. 1 [0.47%]

The #3 answer (above) of self-segregation can mask larger issues such as long-standing realities that make harmony a challenge. As a white male I can’t possibly know how a black male might feel about the subject.  As a gay man I can tell you the city is very welcoming, but the two are not related.

The nine other answers were:

1. Racial segregation is no worse in St. Louis than any other major American city.
2. Economic segregation and racial segregation are one and the same in St. Louis
3. Racism and ignorance is deeply ingrained here.
4. Depends on neighborhood, but the tension is awful here.
5. Ethnic groups self segregate the world over. Get a clue.
6. In St. Louis, some areas integrate harmoniously, others *definitely* don’t
7. Like LKB24 say: Even the integrated parts of StL are segregated.
8. why call it segregation – some prefer a homogeneous environment
9. It’s less of a problem than 20-30 years ago

Enough people see a problem that it demands closer attention.

– Steve Patterson

Poll: How good of a job does the City of St. Louis do at snow removal?

The poll question this week is: How good of a job does the City of St. Louis do at snow removal?  The poll is located in the upper right corner of the blog.

Add any comments you have below.

– Steve

Readers Expect 2010 Census To Show Population Gain Over 2000 Census

Nearly 85% of you felt St. Louis will show a population gain over the 2000 Census figure with most thinking the number will be higher than the 2009 estimate.

Q: The 2000 Census had St. Louis’ population at 348,189, the 2009 estimate at 356,587. Where will the 2010 count be?

1. More than 356,587: 82 [ 58.57%]
2. Between 348,189 and 356,587: 36 [25.71%]
3. Less than 348,198: 13 [9.29%]
4. who knows, will just have to wait for the results 7 [5%]
5. Other answer… 2 [1.43%]

I fall into the #2 camp, I think our number will be between the 2000 count and the 2009 estimate.  Why?  The methodology used for both is very different. Anything above 348,198 will still be huge though.  Nearly 10% of you think we will show a loss, I hope you are wrong!

The “other” answers were:

1. has to be more than 356,587 due to the amount of construction permits issued
2. >375,000

The actual count taken in 2010 has nothing to do with building permits.  In the last 10 years we’ve shifted population around.  Folks are living in places they didn’t in 2000, like downtown, but other areas have emptied out.

– Steve Patterson

Poll: How Racially Segregated is St. Louis?

Every city has some level of racial segregation among black & white residents, I’m curious how readers perceive this in St. Louis. The poll this week, as always, is located in the upper right corner of the blog.

– Steve Patterson