Historical April–May 2017 article. Dates, prices, services and contacts describe the source period; current availability has not been established.
Our March 7 primary election could be characterized two ways: Only a small number of voters participated or a new coterie of progressive young people became quite involved or both.. For Skinker DeBaliviere, our longtime 28th Ward Alderman will be moving on up.
During the course of the campaign, questions were raised regarding economic development and the incentives that have been used by the city of St. Louis to foster development. Key to some of the arguments was the fact that development in St. Louis–as in other U.S. cities–has been uneven. Central cities have been the depository for the poor, often minority, for a long time. Yet, racial change has helped to produce the gross inequity.
When African Americans moved into a neighborhood, that neighborhood experienced systemic business disinvestment. Chain stores were the first to exit.
In addition, redlining, aided and abetted by the federal government and lending institutions, made home ownership very difficult. Home ownership is always linked to greater property care and participation. Postwar development followed similar patterns in many cities. One could say that cities were like lemmings, imitating each other in each progressive wave of development,. Urban renewal and freeway building began the pattern.
Then there were convention centers and hotels. Tourism became the magic bullet that would turn around urban fortunes. Stadium and arena building were critical to this phase. What about the least affluent citizens?
There the answer was public housing and later low to mod projects.
These concentrated those who were not well off and created ill-maintained warehouses for the poor. Today development takes a number of forms. Tourist venues are still brought forward.
But we also see market rate housing and commercial development in various areas of the city, often integrated areas. Historic housing is a lure as may be proximity to work or educational institutions. Many of these developments (or redevelopments) receive some form of subsidy from the city;.
There are tax abatements of up to 25 years and there is tax increment financing where taxes generated by the development subsidize its cost for a number of years. Perhaps 20 years ago, an urbanist colleague maintained at a conference that he did not like development.
Another scholar who had lived in Detroit and College Station said that he had lived where that was no development and where there was.
He concluded that development was better. Although there have been debates in academia about the proper role of cities, there is no doubt that cities must balance budgets and that impedes implementation of too many redistributive policies. Cities have to raise revenue.
They need residents, businesses, workers. Incentives for some of the development that St. Louis is experiencing benefit the developers and more affluent future residents. Is that worth it when so many city blocks are blighted?
With the use of the incentives, the city never receives less from the property than is being redeveloped than it did in its original state.
The benefits are time-limited.
The Chase was fully back on the tax rolls after 10 years. Would development occur without incentives? It’s doubtful. St. Louis competes against like cities and against its own suburbs. Clayton is offering Centene huge incentives.
The West County Mall was redeveloped with a TIF.
In the campaign, Alderman Krewson said that the goal was to offer the least possible to get the job done. What happens to the areas of considerable blight?
Residents need to work with elected officials and city strategists to envision what they would like to see in their neighborhoods. Development should move out from areas where it has thrived to adjacent areas to spread the dream. Developers could be offered partnerships: You do this building in the CWE and also a building to the north. Nothing happens overnight. Skinker DeBaliviere has been experiencing redevelopment for several decades.
But there has to be a start and multiple goals need to be realized to make people’s lives better: better housing and schools, job opportunities, transportation. None of this is easy but hopefully some day there can be greater equity, greater opportunity.
Originally published in The Times of Skinker-DeBaliviere, April–May 2017.
Read this article in the original newspaper issue.
Original source: SD_Times2017_04.pdf, printed page(s) 2; PDF page(s) 2.
