In The Dark 6.17.2007 | 1 Comment(s)

I've been following the story via Ecology of Absence for months, but the post dispatch has finally used their resources, and those of Michael Allen, to inform St. Louisians about what's been happening in North St. Louis for years.

Just some personal thoughts about this whole thing.

"We were never far enough along in our acquisitions to have considered development options," he said. McKee denied turning occupied buildings into nuisance properties, saying he was "prepared to be held to a higher standard than the property owners who sold to us."

I believe north St. Louis residents who have taken the task of boarding up McKee's properties upon themselves are probably asking themselves exactly when McKee intended on stepping up to the plate and transforming himself into the wonderful property owner he claims he wants to be.

"The mayor and I have met several times with Mr. McKee," said Jeff Rainford, Slay's chief of staff. "He has shown us a vision that is very exciting, but he has not shown us a plan."

It's hard to for me to believe that the Mayor doesn't know about the problems McKee's properties are causing. I'm sure the mayor, or his aides, reads the various urban blogs, which means he has read about what residents of North St. Louis are enduring. Is Slay keeping his mouth shut because McKee has given him money? Is it because this is happening in North St. Louis and nobody really cares about what happens up there? I don't have the answers, but I don't understand why a mayor who is always talking up St. Louis and its residents would turn a blind eye to the problems a developer is causing an already stressed section of the city.

While I think the story brought some light to this whole tax credit and land assemblage scheme in North St. Louis, I don't think anything will change because of it. It's my opinion that a lot of people have given up on North St. Louis, figure it's a lost cause, and the best way to improve north city is to bulldoze it and start over. Most people, who don't live in North City, probably think wholesale demolition and new, generic residential, retail and office development is perfect for the area.

I'm all for smart, urban development in the city, I welcome it! I just want the process to be a bit more transparent, and I want developers who assemble land & properties to be held to the same rules that I am. That is to maintain my property and keep it from becoming a nuisance.

By  skewgee, at 2:49 AM

saturday night i slept at my parent's house in suburban saint louis county. when i woke up sunday morning i woke up in the parallel universe where the blogs i have been reading had articles in the post-dispatch's sunday cover. unlike that parallel universe, my mother seemed really concerned about how tax incentives were making the lives of other people detereorate. better late than never - it seems seing it in print still makes it set in for some people. thanks for sharing your personal experience as well