Let’s face it. I’ve been talking to a lot of people in South City and many of our favorite businesses (and not so favorite businesses) have been closing lately. There’s clearly something going on where there’s just not enough money going to locally-owned businesses and even national chains, and the result is that many commercial districts are looking rough. I don’t know what the answer is, but I think it is a symptom of a much larger problem. Remember Giuseppe’s? It was a nice little place in Dutchtown, but now it’s been boarded up and covered with graffiti for years. It’s just sad.
I touched on this years ago in a St. Louis Magazine article, but the “gentlemen’s agreement” that had at least maintained a little bit of equilibrium (despite continued population loss) continues to fray. I’m talking about housing prices, and the corresponding property taxes that have skyrocketed along with them (with a stealth increase in trash fees passed through the board of aldermen with no outreach to voters). The “gentlemen’s agreement” had always been for decades that in exchange for terrible city services and a struggling public school system, city residents at least could look forward to low housing prices and real estate taxes, thus allowing them the ability to afford private school for their children (or if they were childless, at least getting the low quality of services they were paying for with commensurate low taxes). St. Louis can’t thrive when it’s losing so many families with children. I think it’s pretty obvious that there’s no plan and no hope to save the public schools in St. Louis.
Even worse, I checked real estate listings in walkable, urban suburbs with similar political leanings in strong school districts just across the border from the City, and there were many very nice houses for sale that were less expensive than in many St. Louis neighborhoods!
Something terrible is happening in St. Louis. Housing prices (and rent) are skyrocketing, but the school district is imploding and city services are hitting rock bottom. Is it any wonder that the population is plummeting? When I moved to Washington, DC back in 2000, a friend who moved out there at the same remarked darkly that the area had New York prices with St. Louis wages (that’s changed, somewhat). Now St. Louis City is starting to have East Coast housing prices with St. Louis wages! While I am lucky to own a house in a nice neighborhood in the city, I can tell you what it feels like having lived on the East Coast to have no hope of ever owning my own home (it’s one of the reasons I left). Rents in my neighborhood, I’ve been told, are upwards of two to three times more than my mortgage payment.
A friend recently told me they lost a bidding war for a house in Shaw by $65,000. I remarked to her that it gave me flashbacks to what I saw on the East Coast. Yes, yes, I know, I should be happy, right? Think of all the equity I have in my house, blah, blah, blah. But in the meantime, more and more of people’s income is going to mortgage payments and rent, and not to their favorite businesses.
Favorite Posts
On a brighter note, here are readers’ posts from over the years:
You bring up such good points! Thank you for all your work and documentation of our STL neighborhoods, Chris! I don’t comment often but I do read and enjoy most of your postings! This one “says it all” and needs to be shared with the Alders! By the way, I still miss Giuseppe’s! And I remember calling to find out about buying the building years ago when it first closed and it was advertised for 150K at that time. I was told it was already sold but nothing ever happened to it. It was kind of like I was being discouraged to even make an offer on it. It makes me wonder about all the abandoned buildings we have in STL that change hands but “not on the open market”. I live next to such a home which has had around 18 owners (many “straw party owners”) since the 37 years I have lived next to it. And the sell prices have been either undocumented or widely divergent and not representative of the true value of the home. It is like some sort of money laundering scheme is going on? ? I sent the documentation that I had on the house next to me to the Mo Attorney General’s office but they declined to investigate . It infuriates me that here in STL degenerate property owners are allowed to let buildings they own to become so deteriorated that they are a hazard to our communities! The Catholic Church is one of the worst offenders—-grrrrrrr! And there are no fines or such small fines that the property owners don’t care! I think there should be legislation that a house or business structure gets only 2 years grace period for being empty, then if not sold, rehabbed or rented, the taxes on it start doubling every year, then by 10 years of being empty the owner would be charged with a felony for have an empty, uncared for building in our communities! We have to get serious about this issue! This type of serious legislation would help to alleviate some of these issues you discuss, but I realize there is more that needs to be done!
City government must continue to increase the wages (at whatever rate) of all its employees. So, as there is less housing stock paying taxes and specifically property taxes, there is nothing to do but raise tax rates. To me, that is the partial cause. As for the high rents, low wages, that I’m at a loss to explain. That is true here in central Florida. Most of this neighborhood are one person businesses, for example plumbers, gardeners, etc. But if you work for hourly wages, you will end up getting food stamps and other government benefits, being a net drain on society, not a taxpayer.
Thanks again, Chris. There is nothing else like St Louis Patina.
Maybe we could all chip in and buy these fine young derelicts some coloring books they could express their talents with instead of defacing their own communities. And what’s the city supposed to do when people can’t take care of their own properties and choose to destroy others? In the near future dutchtown will mirror college hill, etc. and there’s nothing anyone can do to stop it until we all take accountability and are held accountable for how we act and contribute to society. The scrubby Dutch maintained their neighborhood to the point of scrubbing clean the sidewalks in front of their homes! It was an embarrassment not to do so. Now there is no shame, and everyone spends more energy fixating on excuses in lieu of fixing the problem. The city’s has adopted the mentality of why clean it up, it’s just going to get dirty again. And little by little we loose the architecture & craftsmanship that will NEVER be recreated.
If prices increase, somehow it must be that people are willing to pay these prices. So what changed in the meanwhile? Are we seeing more people moving to the city? You do not seem to imply it. Are wages significantly higher now? That is certainly the case for the lowest paid ones: much fewer people are at minimum wage or close to it now. That could explain higher rents.
One thing that did happen: People stopped eating out after the pandemic. The restaurant business is suffering from that and is far from getting the business from before the pandemic. This is a nationwide phenomenon.
I am not the same Chris as the author, I should have mentioned.
I was really disappointed to see South Grand emptying but in my head, I was seeing Morganford flourish and figured some kind of exchange was happening inside the neighborhoods. Even in TGE and Fox Park we’ve had some places pop up outside just the avenue corridors. But then there were 3 closures announced for Morganford, another on S Grand, and then one at the Compton Heights/TGE border and it’s a lot. We’re paying more for houses and then in taxes and people with higher incomes are moving in…but then it seems like we’re not spending it locally where it counts more, or maybe we’re spending but landlords are just too greedy for a restaurant to thrive. I think previously there was one of those gentlemen’s agreements there too and now that social contract has also failed.
I completely agree.
The schools thing is what kept me from settling in STL city. Just couldn’t reconcile paying taxes for public schools that A) didn’t feel safe to send my kids to, B) created a haves / have nots situation wrt all the magnets and C) required my kids to wear uniforms because (mumble mumble mumble). I pay taxes for schools, and I expect to be able to use those schools full stop. My best compromised was old St. Charles. Low housing prices, an urban environment, good diversity, good public services, good community events, and functioning schools.
100% valid comment.