Readers See Our Walkable Origins, Building Stock & Compact Street Grid As Helpful To Future Growth

Not everyone got the poll question last week. The question, What do we have that will help the City of St. Louis to grow & prosper in the next 20-30 years is? (pick up to two), was about the attributes that we currently have — not those we need. The standard answers picked by readers were:

1. The walkable city origins with great building stock and a compact street grid 117 [37.26%]
2. Our cultural institutions 52 [16.56%]
3. Our urban parks & trails 33 [10.51%]
4. General demographic changes 32 [10.19%]
5. The people 24 [7.64%]
6. Other answer… 18 [5.73%]
7. Sports teams: Cardinals, Blues and Rams 13 [4.14%]
8. Nothing, the city isn’t going to grow & prosper 13 [4.14%]
9. The city isn’t within St. Louis County 7 [2.23%]
10. That we only elect Democrats to local office 3 [0.96%]
11. The weather 2 [0.64%]

Other answers is where it becomes clear some readers focused on what we need, rather than what we have:

1. Pride.
2. investment by the city to attract/retain businesses downtown, midtown
3. Vastly reduce the crime rate
4. merge city
5. public schools
6. The bones left over from previous prosperity (e.g. walkable, parks, culture).
7. nothing
8. Safe public schools
9. we have plenty of great things that we need to emphasize, like our LOCATION
10. This is a strange and badly worded poll question. I have no idea what to choose.
11. Relatively few “urbanists” with big ideas about my property / no $ of
12. Have you have businesses to bring people.
13. pretty limited on answers, how about increasing jobs
14. Steady supply of water
15. Restructure local government to give mayor more control
16. Great universities
17. Accessible, extensive public transit
18. Better schools and a better city crime image

Some good other answers include transit, water, and location. A future poll will deal with the “what we need” question.

– Steve Patterson

Poll: Will St. Louis Voters Repeal The Earnings Tax in April 2011?

Tuesday Missouri voters approved Proposition A by a wide margin.

Yes 1,294,705 [68.4%]
No 597,920 [31.6%]
Total Votes 1,892,625

As a result, Missouri cities no longer have the option of an earnings tax.  The two cities with an earnings tax, Kansas City & St. Louis, must hold a vote in the Spring to see if voters wish to keep the earnings tax.  If they vote to eliminate the earnings tax it would be phased out over a 10 year period.  If kept, another vote must take place 5 years later, in 2016.

Voters in both cities voted against Proposition A, although not as strongly in Kansas City

St. Louis:

YES 28,251 [31.84%]
NO 60,473 [68.16%]

Kansas City:

YES 37,264 [44.85%]
NO 45,826 [55.15%]

The poll question this week seeks to find out what you think will be the outcome of this vote in St. Louis.  The answers have two parts — will Rex Sinquefield fund the campaign to repeal the earnings tax and will we keep the tax or repeal it?  The poll is in the upper right sidebar.

– Steve Patterson

Poll: What Do We Have That Will Help Our City Grow & Prosper?

At first I thought I’d go the negative route this week and ask what is it that will hold us back. But I quickly decided to flip it around and look at the positive first, saving the negative for a future poll.

Thus the poll question this week is: What do we have that will help the City of St. Louis to grow & prosper in the next 20-30 years is?

I’ve included a variety of answers, including that we won’t grown & prosper.  No doubt you will have other suggestions.  I’m optimistic that despite our leadership we will grow.  This is mainly due to national trends of increasing disinterest in suburbia among young adults, demographic changes, etc.

– Steve Patterson

Readers Not Positive About Proposed Solutions For Connecting The City To The Arch

Last week readers voted on their thoughts on the winning proposal in the City+Arch+River competition. While the top individual answer shows support (with changes) the overall sentiment is negative:

Q: Now that you’ve had a chance to review the MVVA proposal (for City+Arch+River), what do you think?

1. With a few changes it will work 41 [29.5%]
2. Few elements aren’t bad but otherwise not impressed 39 [28.06%]
3. Very disappointed, my least favorite 24 [17.27%]
4. Doesn’t matter, very little will get built. 18 [12.95%]
5. Very excited, best of the five finalists 7 [5.04%]
6. Other answer… 4 [2.88%]
7. Don’t like or dislike it 3 [2.16%]
8. Unsure/no opinion 3 [2.16%]

The other responses were:

1. the arch is decaying, fix that first!
2. Will this really make the riverfront more vibrant and connected to the city?
3. Disappointed, this is the doable design, not the inspired vision design.
4. The only do-able option

Hopefully in five years we will be impressed by the final outcome.  Here is the MVVA video:

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ArNdigN48Kg

– Steve Patterson

Readers: Use Cards To Educate Rather Than Shame

The poll last week got lots of diverse responses but the biggest group thinks I should use a bit of guilt (“I’m disabled…”) but should otherwise educate those who park in disabled spaces, block crosswalks, etc:

Q: How should I phrase cards to leave on cars blocking disabled parking spaces, pedestrian crosswalks, curb ramps, etc?

1. I’m disabled, how you’ve parked can make things difficult for me and others. 74 [43.53%]
2. I’m disabled, I don’t like how you’ve parked, the authorities have been notified, pic posted on Twitter & Facebook 36 [21.18%]
3. Don’t leave anything, just let it go 14 [8.24%]
4. Other answer… 13 [7.65%]
5. Forget a card, key their car 11 [6.47%]
6. I’m disabled, I don’t like how you’ve parked, the authorities have been notified 10 [5.88%]
7. You insensitive jerk, I hope you end up disabled like me someday 7 [4.12%]
8. Unsure/no opinion 3 [1.76%]
9. I’m disabled, I don’t like how you’ve parked 2 [1.18%]

All of the answers I provided in the poll were things I thought at times I encounter a poorly parked car.  I’d never damage anyone else’s property but for a brief moment just the thought of keying an offending car brings satisfaction.  Mostly I do nothing other than take a picture but I want to have a pre-written card with me to cover those times I don’t want to let it go.

The 13 other answers were:

1. attach a chain to the axle “American Graffiti” style
2. Choice 4 with the Facebook and Twitter part added.
3. kiss or kill me. you pick.
4. Collective Action: No
5. I like the car you’ve got – but recommend posting it with tenacious adhesive
6. I’m disabled, how you’ve parked can make things difficult for me and o Monday,
7. If you have the balls to leave a card, you better put your conact info on it too
8. Grow up
9. move your piece of crap
10. the first option with an image of you in your wheel chair giving them the finger
11. just call the cops, be(come) the squeaky wheel
12. Good idea, but it also sounds really whiny.
13. I would print out the MO code for this and leave it on their car

The following are just some of the other examples where a card would have been nice to leave behind:

I’ll be ordering the revised card soon so I will have them with me when I run into more examples.

– Steve Patterson