Monday, December 19, 2005

Ask Not.....

Welcome to Downtown St. LouisDowntown St. Louis obviously has the absolute best "Welcome to St. Louis" sign in the country in the Gateway Arch. When crossing the Poplar Street Bridge into St. Louis people passing through know they've just entered St. Louis the City. What about the neighborhoods?

I have a speech saved from the late Greg Freeman about some of his observations about the city. One of them was that as a city, we do a poor job of marketing our city and its neighborhoods within the metro area.
(Read the whole speech here) In the past 10 years that has changed quite a bit, but there is more that can be done.

The highway exit off 40 at 20th Street seems to be a great location for this, but wouldn't it be great as an entrance to the downtown and downtown west neighborhoods to show some community spirit about the area and welcome everyone to the neighborhood? There are still a lot of people who, despite the loft district getting lots of publicity for the architecture and the lofts themselves, don't really realize that there is a growing population calling this area home.

In this case, it appears unattractive to add this suggestion as another financial request on the city. Maybe that's the best route. That's what taxes are for, right? What about a grass roots effort?

Input is welcomed. Don't be afraid.

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