Blog > Blog > 2008 > June

June 25, 2008 at 9:05 am

Having moved back to South St. Louis a year ago, after a long hiatus in the suburbs, I have really enjoyed being back. While I recognize that “city life” isn’t for everybody, I think that St. Louis has made some real strides in terms of winning back people lost during the mass exodus era of the 80’s and 90’s. Both commercial and residential sectors that had long been neglected, are seeing new life. Even North City is starting to see a significant turnaround in areas such as Old North St. Louis. Read more

June 24, 2008 at 1:38 pm

I’m always happy to see large scale projects go up in the City of St. Louis. Years back, when I first heard about the $5.5 million Lehman Place project in Dogtown (specifically, the Clayton-Tamm Neighborhood), I rejoiced like everyone else. Unfortunately, not all developments are created equal. Now all there is to show for the investment is a huge monstrosity of building, displaying no use of common sense in its design. And did I mention that it has been in foreclosure limbo for almost a year? Read more

June 19, 2008 at 8:50 pm

I got a chance to drive by a few ongoing projects in the St. Louis City neighborhood of Forest Park Southeast (or “The Grove” if you prefer) recently and it looks like things are moving along nicely. What surprised me was that a stumbled across yet another large project that I hadn’t heard about. Then, just this morning, I got word that Commerce Bank is looking for proposals for a potential development at Vandeventer and Manchester. When it rains it pours. Read more

June 18, 2008 at 2:46 pm

If you’ve ever been curious about where and when murders have been taking place in St. Louis City, the Post Dispatch has just made your wish come true. They just posted a map with all the murders in the City over the past three and a half years. The map can be personalized to show murders in only certain years. Read more

June 12, 2008 at 4:05 pm

It’s been over a month since I last posted about my rehab project. Not because things haven’t been progressing, but because I haven’t had time to post. Between work and this project, I’ve had my hands full. Despite the fact that I have done most of this work before, I’ve already learned a lot of lessons along the way. Unfortuneatly, I have been a little lax in sharing them. Looks like I have about five weeks of work to go over. Read more

June 11, 2008 at 4:07 pm

Technology is a glorious thing. Zilpy, not to be confused with Zillow (which I have always found unreliable), is a new website that tracks rental rates and statistics across the country. It just might be the answer to the age old question of how much to ask for rent on a unit. They pull these statistics from all over the internet from sites such as backpage.com and apartmentfinder.com and use them to populate a surprisingly versatile site. Read more

June 5, 2008 at 5:04 pm

A couple of months ago I posted about a pair of upcoming microbreweries opening this June in the Benton Park neighborhood of South St. Louis. I happy to say the the first of the pair, Mattingly Brewing Co, finally opened last week. I had a chance to take a look at the finished product and sample some of the food this afternoon. From what I have seen so far, things are looking promising. Read more

June 4, 2008 at 2:29 pm

This is a piece of trash. Intimidating isn’t it. Well don’t worry. If the St. Louis Board of Alderman has it’s way you won’t have to see this stuff anymore. According to an article recently published in the South Side Journal (Business owners want trash bill canned), Alderman Steve Conway, D-8th Ward, has sponsored a bill requiring convenience stores and carryout restaurants to pick up all trash originating from their place of business within a 300 foot radius at least once a day. Read more

June 2, 2008 at 3:06 pm

Ivy can be a beautiful thing. It adds color and character to a property if used property and offers a great way to cover up ugly or boring architecture. Just look at the lush ivy in this picture. Very nice. Too bad it’s literally eating away the walls of the building. Read more