I Take the Bait

Mayor Slay asks several questions in his blog post today about Paul McKee and the Blairmont controversy in North St. Louis.

If you do read the newspaper’s story, ask yourself these questions: If Paul McKee is chased away, who will invest in north St. Louis on a large scale? Who will do something today with the thousands of vacant lots and buildings there? And, finally, ask yourself why developers would ever do anything in the most challenging neighborhoods of the City, when they could more easily invest their money in other neighborhoods or the suburbs and exurbs — if this "coverage" is what they get?

First of all, Mr. Mayor, I don't think that Mr. McKee will be chased away. He's got too much invested already, both in real estate and political contributions. So far as news coverage, I think that anyone whose lawyer drafts legislation granting them huge tax credits should expect the media to be curious about the project. While I don't disagree with you about Wagman's writing, I don't think it's any worse than the front-page articles he wrote about the BJC / Forest Park deal spreading rumours that BJC would move out of the City. The Region's Fourth Estate is actually doing its job for a few days before the paper's Community Advisory Board of Important People jerks the reins back in.

Who will do something today with the vacant buildings and lots, you ask? Over the years, I've known several long-term residents of ONSL who purchased and rehabbed homes long ago; I know younger people new to the neighborhood who are in the process of restoring their historic structures. A contractor friend called me the other day asking for a proposal for design services for a block of commercial buildings and adjacent infill housing within walking distance of Crown Candy. Momentum is building, but slow, steady growth isn't as pretty on the reelection materials, is it?

What McKee's companies are doing today is destabilizing neighborhoods by purchasing stable, occupied homes and turning them into empty, dangerous hulks. The degrading state of the properties causes the cash-strapped City to pay for demolition and working neighbors to spend their time and money securing buildings in an effort to forestall the physical degradation and keep criminals away from their homes. Finally, small investors are discouraged from considering the area because everyone assumes that McKee has it wrapped up with the politicians from Blunt down, and that what isn't bought at market value will be acquired through eminent domain.

Finally, you make the assumption that large-scale projects are the only way to save the City, Mayor Slay. Look at the neighborhoods that have led the rejuvenation of the City. The success you see is not based in the wholesale destruction and recreation of entire areas, but incremental change in the places with the most intact fabric. In fact, the large-scale redevelopments of the City have been among its most notorious failures: consider, for example, Pruitt-Igoe.