UrbanSTL

kennedy

kennedy

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So, I finally found the aB of St. Louis. It's called UrbanSTL, and it's waaaaay bigger than aB (2,855 members!). Sort of ironic, because St. Louis is incredibly un-urban. Although, from what I've read, they have a lot of people who care about improving the city's condition. Probably bigger because they have a larger membership from the outlying area (I'm not sure, but their metro could be bigger than Boston's). Anyhow, Briv or anyone, if you feel like checking it out to see how other forums like this are run, here's the link:

Urban St. Louis
 
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Odd...I guess just try typing in www.urbanstl.com into the address bar.

And, I was wrong about the MSA-Boston is 4.5M, St. Louis is 2.8M. But this forum draws from almost all of Missouri, except perhaps KC; as well as southern Illinois.
 
they have a lot of people who care about improving the city's condition
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This is definitely why. Buffalo even has a large-circulation newspaper devoted to civic boosterism of this sort. There's a feeling that more needs to be done to compensate.

Bostonians love nothing more than to rest on their laurels, which is why the NIMBYs among them are among the most adamant opponents of any change.

Oh, also, I'm going to be all offensive and just say: there's probably just less to do in St. Louis, so yeah, lots more people spending time on an online forum makes sense.
 
Very likely. I've actually found a ton of threads where they compare to Boston, in particular, the Big Dig. Some of what they say is accurate, some is utter trash. "Why would they put a highway underground? The drivers won't be able to see anything!"

Sad, but most people in "West County" (read: gut-wrenching suburban excess) have no way to even conceptualize what a city feels like, or how neighborhoods work. I was trying to explain to a friend of mine how instead of having to drive to the mall, etc., for something to do, we could just walk downtown. He thought downtown meant city. He said, "So, for example, you and your friends were like a five-minute walk from Fenway?" He just couldn't understand that towns could have an urban core, just like a city, let alone that one would walk there.

And don't get me started on their smoking ban. Just now are they considering legislation to ban smoking everywhere (living in MA so long, I thought this was just a given). They're so f*cking oblivious! "French fries are bad for your health, does that mean they should be banned too?" Best response, by Jim Rome: "Secondhand-fudge never killed anyone."
 
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I am a St. Louisan who found this site through Googling on my new MyTouch phone to find the UrbanSTL forums.

I think some of what has been said is a little misguided.

St. Louis is not as urban as Boston, yet both cities are the densest portions of their large and primarily suburban regions.

Second, if you need convincing that St. Louis is urban and has significant architectural merit, please visit one of several threads on Skyscraper Page. Here's an example. http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?t=170320.

Third, UrbanSTL is a large forum because St. Louis is witnessing a tremendous revitalization. The city's decline is famous (4th largest American city in 1900; 850,000 people at peak population in 1950 with around 355,000 today in 61 square miles). Yet the city's remarkable turnaround just isn't garnering as much press. All over the city, neighborhoods are seeing derelict structures put back into productive use. A once utterly dreary downtown is adding amenities by the day.

I'd be lying to you if I said St. Louis could play with the big boys in terms of art, fashion, and anything avant-garde, but if you want great food, nightlife, and sports on the cheap, it is quite the draw. For a city its size, it's packed with things to do. Most of its events and attractions are affordable as a bonus, if not free outright.

I can go into more detail for anyone interested.

Kennedy--

Where in St. Louis did you move? If you need assistance discovering Urban St. Louis, let me know. You're right that "West County" (not at all part of the city) is simply not urban and that many County residents refer to all of the city as "downtown".
 
Certainly, since coming to St. Louis, my impressions have changed. Regarding West County, however, they have not.

I've been into the city and the Central West End a few times, and been to some of the cultural institutions. Many of them really are on par with some bigger cities.

I have seen the explosion of growth in the downtown area, and St. Louis is definitely up and coming (that Ballpark Village though, seems to be St. Louis' version of Columbus Center-it really would help downtown, in my opinion).

Not much time to post right now, but I'd really like to talk to you some more about St. Louis. I'm in the process of looking for an architectural firm to do an internship at for my senior year of high school, if you happen to have any ideas, let me know!
 
kennedy said:
Certainly, since coming to St. Louis, my impressions have changed. Regarding West County, however, they have not.

I've been into the city and the Central West End a few times, and been to some of the cultural institutions. Many of them really are on par with some bigger cities.

I have seen the explosion of growth in the downtown area, and St. Louis is definitely up and coming (that Ballpark Village though, seems to be St. Louis' version of Columbus Center-it really would help downtown, in my opinion).

Not much time to post right now, but I'd really like to talk to you some more about St. Louis. I'm in the process of looking for an architectural firm to do an internship at for my senior year of high school, if you happen to have any ideas, let me know!
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Sure!

Trivers Associates (downtown) is a big one: http://trivers.com/.

Killeen Studio (Benton Park) has done some good work: http://www.killeenstudio.com/.

Millennium Restoration (Tower Grove East) is more of a development/interiors group, but has done some amazing historic rehabs across the city.

Those are just off the top of my head. Try contacting those and see how it goes.
 
cool link. I love city specific forums as opposed to say, skyscrapercity, because you get a more genuine feel about people's opinions on their own cities and the development that is occurring.

I will add this to my rotation.
 
hey thanks for posting the link to those stl pics, some of them were very enjoyable, especially those with narrow streets, tree lined sidewalks, and brick rowhouses. kind of reminded me more of a northeast city (boston, ny, portland, undoubtedly others)
 
I'm Dave and am one of the partners of nextSTL (formerly urbanSTL.) I've gotta admit I find some aspects of this thread amusing. Also, it's pretty cool to see how peeps see things on the outside looking in. And hopefully Kennedy has had an awesome transition from beantown to brewtown.

Anyway, cool forum you have here. Ours has evolved a bit since you first started gabbing about us.

http://nextstl.com
 
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innov8ion said:
I'm Dave and am one of the partners of nextSTL (formerly urbanSTL.) I've gotta admit I find some aspects of this thread amusing. Also, it's pretty cool to see how peeps see things on the outside looking in. And hopefully Kennedy has had an awesome transition from beantown to brewtown.

Anyway, cool forum you have here. Ours has evolved a bit since you first started gabbing about us.

http://nextstl.com
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The website is beautiful and very well organized. Well done to whoever designed it. It's engaging as well with a lot of positive Web 2.0 elements (social networking, blogs, news articles).

Out site has so much potential, yet our index page (http://www.archboston.org) is just a hotlinked image that leads to the forum. The whole thing feels like it's stuck in 2002. I honestly believe that it is one of the reasons this site isn't as large as it could be. Heck, it's about Boston: one of, if not the most, historic city in this country.

Please never say "beantown" again though. It makes us Bostonians sick.
 
That site is beautiful but I actually think this site's forum, at least, is easier to read. Much higher contrast colors, clearer division between posts, etc.

ArchBoston was supposed to have a different color scheme (to match the logo) but something went awry and we wound up with this one. Whatevs. It's the content that's important anyway.
 
czsz said:
That site is beautiful but I actually think this site's forum, at least, is easier to read. Much higher contrast colors, clearer division between posts, etc.

ArchBoston was supposed to have a different color scheme (to match the logo) but something went awry and we wound up with this one. Whatevs. It's the content that's important anyway.
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Nay, nay, pilgrim. Web design is critical to success in this day and age. Content is only half of it.

Our logo, site, everything needs to be updated. I'm a freelance web designer and I'm on co-op this semester (no studio yay). I might try and whip up some prototypes.

And thank the good Lord above that we didn't get that diarrhea green scheme though. The scheme we have now is just the default vBulletin theme. I know how to skin vBulletin too.
 
^ I think the logo is fine, but a custom skin & buttons would be nice.
 
nextstl is slick and it looks like a pretty vibrant community. The ads plastered between every 5 posts are annoying though.

I'm always open to suggestions on how to improve the site. I think it's important to keep a narrow focus and not to try to do too much though. Simplicity is key.

I'll start a thread asking for new ideas for this board HERE
 
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