Loughborough Commons - the DESCO clowns are not funny

http://www.urbanreviewstl.com/?p=4414
Blogger Steve Patterson has once again blogged about the Loughborough Commons shopping development and found a problem with the pedestrian and wheelchair access --- this time it's getting to and from the new Burger King. We shouldn't be so surprised that comments to Steve's UrbanReviewSTL blog show a lot of agreement with his assertion that DESCO has --- again --- gotten something INcorrect with regard to those who want to actually conveniently shop or buy there.

I lived across the park from this shopping center for more than 10 years and watched the destruction and redevelopment of it almost as closely as Steve. So many of us watched as people were given no option but to move because of eminent domain regulations, making heads shake almost regularly up until --- well, today. Frankly, I miss the old Schnuck's, the Carondelet Sunday Morning Athletic Club (even though I went into the building only thrice in the 7 years when I was only a half-mile away), and - even though I have shopped at Lowe's, Schnuck's (last night), frequented the Bread Company, purchased goods from Office Max, eaten at Qdoba (it is Qdoba, right?), sipped coffee at Starbucks, and now eaten at Burger King (I once worked for a BK in my younger years, so I had to try it out in the first week) - I cannot see why DESCO continues to develop these engineering NIGHTMARES. DRIVING in and out of Loughborough Commons (as well as across it from Loughborough to Lowe's) is not only complicated and hazardous, it is unfriendly to people who (like I have done dozens of times) walk to and from the shopping center --- not to discuss the wheelchairs or cyclists who attempt becoming customers. I lost count before spring 2008 how many times I had to avoid being hit --- or the times when I purposefully walked across the marked crosswalk by the Bread Company to FORCE SOME IDIOT TO STOP THEIR CAR (I'll bet I've done that no fewer than 20 times). These conditions are all because DESCO seemingly cannot make a development in a pedestrian-friendly manner.
I wouldn't paint them the most evil developers ever. Some DESCO properties were developed with the customer in mind. Probably before DESCO purchased them.
Mr. G. Michaud made a great point in his comment on the UrbanReviewSTL blog mentioned above (you can read the blog and see all the comments). As Mr. Michaud pointed out, the government could have shown SOME kind of oversight while it was becoming obvious that conditions were unfriendly to potential customers.
Steve's documenting the pitfalls at Loughborough Commons have been spot-on. What will this development become if Metro ever gets the funding to run a Metrolink line to the northeast portion of this lot? They'll have more foot traffic and buses and cars than they would even consider --- and they'll never refocus or redistribute the parcels to accomodate that traffic. Parking will be atrocious, and by then they'll have developed another parcel of land to relocate their Schnuck's store --- where do you think, perhaps at the corner of Grand and Holly Hills, taking down the apartments and the Foodland and perhaps ten to twenty houses and a street --- or along Loughborough where the current YMCA is located, also bulldozing part of yet another neighborhood? (a prediction...maybe???)
I wonder what the city's mayor thinks about going in and out of the maze now that he lives nearby. Perhaps one day when he is bicycling and decides to go through the park and cross over to get a Starbuck's coffee he will become a first-hand witness of this debacle from the vantage point we who blog about Loughborough Commons have seen all too often.

UnderReported No More

Here's what is not necessarily a scoop. The signaled GREAT DEPRESSION of 2008 --- Johnny Rabbitt Junior's blog of last spring (http://1430dj.blogspot.com) --- is clearly here, with the news that jobless claims are at a 16-year high. In case you don't read those with interest, perhaps you will once someone in your company has felt the need to inform you that your position/job is in jeopardy of being eliminated within the next several months. In addition to the jobless claims numbers, network newscasts this morning talked about some analysts thoughts on the current economic "recession" lasting until next summer --- 2009.
This is not good, is it?

Adding to this is the news out of the Philadelphia Federal Reserve office. Quoting Associated Press (via Yahoo!): Meanwhile, the Philadelphia Federal Reserve said regional manufacturing continued to weaken in November. Its index of manufacturing activity this month fell to its lowest level since October 1990.
That makes me glad I live in the midwest --- I suppose. Except that manufacturing here is generally just as bleak as in the east - with producer costs are up and pricing is down, which we have seen happen in many sectors.

Will the hoped-for economic upswing begin in earnest sooner than next summer? That hinges largely on the banks doing something risky, which many would argue is what got us in the current economic mess in the first place. Oh, if only it were that simple, then we may have had some of the answers as to how and, perhaps, WHEN it will get better. But, it is not that simple, and the answers may not come from the larger banks soon enough.

Most who follow economic and business news will tell us that the small business is what kicks the economy into positive territory. So, actually, it IS the banks that DO something "just risky enough" and LOAN MONEY to NEW BUSINESS start-ups which will HELP the economy.

Questions: Will banks in St. Louis LEAD this trend? Or, will the St. Louis area CONTINUE TO DECLINE because banks will sit on the money they have and will receive and NOT lend to those who can employ those who need work?

I'm going to state this as plainly as I can: should the banks in St. Louis LEAD THE CHARGE to lending, and there is sufficient businessmen and businesswomen, then this market --- with all the advantages of location - location - location, as well as the available office space, employment base availability, cost of living level, even fuel supplies --- could become a TOP 10 CITY AGAIN!!!
No, I am not saying it will happen. I am saying IT SHOULD HAPPEN.

Who will lead the charge? Well, if not one other person will step up and take the microphone on the podium and make this announcement to the people of the metropolitan St. Louis region who need to make these important decisions, please believe me when I say --- I WILL.

Is anyone OOOOUUUUUUUUUUUUUT THHHHEEEEEEEEEERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRE?????

Comments???