I am happy to have grown up in the metropolitan St. Louis area. Lately, I've seen more of the Illinois side of the river (Mississippi River - that big muddy thing that rolls down between Missouri and Illinois) than I had for months and months. Trips to Alton, Belleville, Wood River, Granite City, Madison, Shiloh, Mascoutah, O'Fallon (IL), have all been for a variety of reasons. Family ties are in the Madison County area, while the trips to St. Clair County have been for several reasons, including business and pleasure.
Having been to the beautiful parts of both Missouri and Illinois during the late winter and early spring, I've found myself even more glad that I never moved to a region where there is only ONE or TWO seasons each year. I PREFER FOUR SEASONS, thank you very much.
Snow (lots of it). Rain (lots of it). 70F (could have been more, but two or three days ain't bad for here). 28F (some would argue plenty, some not enough). Sunshine. Clouds. Full moon (even an eclipse this year). These are things for which I hope I NEVER take for granted. They've been such an integral part of my 2008 - and I hope to re-read this blog entry to make myself recall the early memories of this year.
Monday, March 24, 2008
Saturday, March 15, 2008
Notes from the BLOGGER
I will use this blog a bit more judiciously --- for my "news commentary", please find me at the STL Citizen blog.
http://stlcitizen.blogspot.com/
http://stlcitizen.blogspot.com/
Thursday, March 13, 2008
Ironing Out The Works
It is difficult to believe that companies are looking out for the community as much or even CLOSE TO as much as their "bottom line". I'm not a Libertarian, but I may sound like one today, instead of the independent I am. The context is different, but it can be YOU & ME AGAINST THE WORLD at times.
Point of reference: the area around Weber Road at Interstate 55 at the city-county line in St. Louis. It is a targeted area by developers who see a parcel of several acres of land which they feel is in their best interest to "redevelop" in order to save jobs or bring new jobs to St. Louis. The "IRON WORKS" project currently being considered is one which Pace Properties allegedly wants to build retail space, including "out lots" which could include smaller developments such as a bank branch or restaurants and other small- to medium-sized retailers in addition to the main space which is said to be more than 300-thousand square feet to allegedly include one large tenant - a "big box" retailer. All of this would come with a tax-abated price tag...According to the COPYRIGHTED JOURNAL article (which u can see online: http://southsidejournal.stltoday.com/articles/2008/03/13/news/sj2tn20080311-0312fen-ironworks0.ii1.txt -----
The project "includes $18.5 million in tax increment financing assistance, a Transportation Development District (TDD) to be funded through a half-cent sales tax on purchases made within the retail project, and a Community Improvement District (CID) which is a special-benefit district that would allow Pace to assess and tax itself for community improvement and services.
The TDD and CID assistance provides a method of funding road improvements at Weber Road, Germania Street and Carondelet Boulevard."
------------------------------------
THIS AREA (Weber @ I-55) is where many city police officers and firefighters and school administrators and attorneys and retired middle-class and younger urbanites have lived - in many cases grown up, left for college and careers then returned to buy back into their old neighborhood - because it is QUIET and STABILITY has been the rule instead of the exception.
The article further signals how difficult it is for me and many others to believe that there is something truly GOOD about this tax-abated project:
"Residents of the buyout area on the county side have been offered two and one-half times the market value of their properties by (developer) Pace (Properties).....city residents said they were told years ago they may be offered buyouts, and they wanted to know what the status was and whether they would get the same offers."
A discrepancy already shows up between offers to the city residents on the north side of the project and the county residents along the south side of Weber, if the reporter has his facts straight. As a journalist, I believe the journalist's writings over those from the developer SHOULD someone at Pace wish to supplant that information with their version of "facts".
What gives? The base of the region. How easy is it to see? As easy as the next paragraph (unless I am completely incorrect...and I admit, this is my opinion based upon the news articles I have read):
There is no guarantee that Pace will be forced to own the project for a period of time LONG ENOUGH to say that the TRUE tax base will EVER be committed to the city, county, or state.
That's my two cents, EXCEPT to say: I live in the Carondelet neighborhood near Carondelet Park and close to Grand at Holly Hills...would ANYONE reject my proposal to start a CID (Community Improvement District) for the twelve blocks around my dwelling? I mean --- there are houses which are not "as good" as others, which brings down the overall price of housing in our area, but NOT enough to keep our taxes down. So, my proposal is that we get a CID and members on our "district board" - residents and/or business owners within the area - both assess and tax our twelve-block area for community improvement and services (at least two neighbors are involved in some form of law enforcement, plus there is a Law office).
Dare I bring this proposal to my alderman? NO. It doesn't have the size and scope of a project the mayor's office wants to tout as "another piece of the puzzle".
Perhaps I should ask for a CID, and a TIF district PLUS annex part of Carondelet Park INTO those districts so we can insure a project that gets media coverage, adds jobs, and gets us - through use of a TDD - an exit at Holly Hills, knocking down the Corinthian Baptist Church, 45 homes, the Gateway Ambulance building (old police precinct) and decidedly take away "wasted" greenspace --- all in the name of redevelopment which we can claim will enhance the base of this "dying city".
Now THERE'S a PROJECT!
Point of reference: the area around Weber Road at Interstate 55 at the city-county line in St. Louis. It is a targeted area by developers who see a parcel of several acres of land which they feel is in their best interest to "redevelop" in order to save jobs or bring new jobs to St. Louis. The "IRON WORKS" project currently being considered is one which Pace Properties allegedly wants to build retail space, including "out lots" which could include smaller developments such as a bank branch or restaurants and other small- to medium-sized retailers in addition to the main space which is said to be more than 300-thousand square feet to allegedly include one large tenant - a "big box" retailer. All of this would come with a tax-abated price tag...According to the COPYRIGHTED JOURNAL article (which u can see online: http://southsidejournal.stltoday.com/articles/2008/03/13/news/sj2tn20080311-0312fen-ironworks0.ii1.txt -----
The project "includes $18.5 million in tax increment financing assistance, a Transportation Development District (TDD) to be funded through a half-cent sales tax on purchases made within the retail project, and a Community Improvement District (CID) which is a special-benefit district that would allow Pace to assess and tax itself for community improvement and services.
The TDD and CID assistance provides a method of funding road improvements at Weber Road, Germania Street and Carondelet Boulevard."
------------------------------------
THIS AREA (Weber @ I-55) is where many city police officers and firefighters and school administrators and attorneys and retired middle-class and younger urbanites have lived - in many cases grown up, left for college and careers then returned to buy back into their old neighborhood - because it is QUIET and STABILITY has been the rule instead of the exception.
The article further signals how difficult it is for me and many others to believe that there is something truly GOOD about this tax-abated project:
"Residents of the buyout area on the county side have been offered two and one-half times the market value of their properties by (developer) Pace (Properties).....city residents said they were told years ago they may be offered buyouts, and they wanted to know what the status was and whether they would get the same offers."
A discrepancy already shows up between offers to the city residents on the north side of the project and the county residents along the south side of Weber, if the reporter has his facts straight. As a journalist, I believe the journalist's writings over those from the developer SHOULD someone at Pace wish to supplant that information with their version of "facts".
What gives? The base of the region. How easy is it to see? As easy as the next paragraph (unless I am completely incorrect...and I admit, this is my opinion based upon the news articles I have read):
There is no guarantee that Pace will be forced to own the project for a period of time LONG ENOUGH to say that the TRUE tax base will EVER be committed to the city, county, or state.
That's my two cents, EXCEPT to say: I live in the Carondelet neighborhood near Carondelet Park and close to Grand at Holly Hills...would ANYONE reject my proposal to start a CID (Community Improvement District) for the twelve blocks around my dwelling? I mean --- there are houses which are not "as good" as others, which brings down the overall price of housing in our area, but NOT enough to keep our taxes down. So, my proposal is that we get a CID and members on our "district board" - residents and/or business owners within the area - both assess and tax our twelve-block area for community improvement and services (at least two neighbors are involved in some form of law enforcement, plus there is a Law office).
Dare I bring this proposal to my alderman? NO. It doesn't have the size and scope of a project the mayor's office wants to tout as "another piece of the puzzle".
Perhaps I should ask for a CID, and a TIF district PLUS annex part of Carondelet Park INTO those districts so we can insure a project that gets media coverage, adds jobs, and gets us - through use of a TDD - an exit at Holly Hills, knocking down the Corinthian Baptist Church, 45 homes, the Gateway Ambulance building (old police precinct) and decidedly take away "wasted" greenspace --- all in the name of redevelopment which we can claim will enhance the base of this "dying city".
Now THERE'S a PROJECT!
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