KCRag Forum

http://www.costar.com/News/Article.aspx ... 0EA9B35FD5 more Retail coming by Menards and that's good.

Economic development "gurus" have long predicted that Kansas City would grow northward at such a rapid rate the two municipalities would be "suburbs" of each other. Originally it was by the year 2000. Not sure what the new target date is.
Interesting that instead of growing north toward Savannah, they're growing south, mostly along the I-29 corridor.

Sportster
...mwsc(u) alum, glad to see it

They just opened a big retail development on the far north edge of the city.  And of course most of the current retail is on the east side on the Belt highway.

But yeah, there is a lot of residential development on the south side.  Many people already commute from southern St. Joe to jobs at KCI or the I-29 office parks.  The trend of KC and St. Joseph growing towards each other definitely increased in the last 10 years, before the recession.

Maybe to the MO/IOWA/KS/NB border to.
If they can get a big industrail to come up there that would help out.

St. Joe was all but declared deadi n the late 70's and early 80's. Packing plant after packing plant closed down and the place was actually voted (in some national magazine) as being in the top 10 worst places to live in the country. 
Which workd great in the bars for tryin to pick up stuck up chicks. 

Between the college and other downtown development, they're slowly making their way back. They do have one of the best parkway systems in the country though and they seem to be spending money on it to make it more user friendly for pedestrians and cyclists. It was designed by George Kessler of Kansas City and St. Louis parks & boulevards fame.

Had some great times in that town...back when...as I remember...or not! 

Sportster
...i think there's still some folks after me from up there!!!

The city also has a huge resource of historic building stock and several museums covering art, history, and the quirky. Although the Belt Highway development pattern is hideous.  It's terrible suburban strip retail, and most of it is of very poor quality that isn't aging well. 

I really like St. Joseph, and am glad it didn't actually die in the 80s and 90s.  It has a ton of potential yet to be realized.  They need to keep expanding the college to bring in younger energy, finish restoring the historic architecture, and shift more attention from the edges to Downtown.

maybe they could advertise to  Fleeing Californians.

Missouri: A $131 million renovation pushes forward on the East Hills Shopping Center in St. Joseph with a renovated "Sunporch Cafe" food court, 35 new tenants, and 16 new kiosks, says MD Management.

St. Joe is growing up a bit.  Finally!

St. Joseph is a town of 68,000 people, yet they have a 24-hour bus system! 

An interesting historic note.  St. Joseph was, at one time, larger than Kansas City back in the 1800s.  The significant event that changed that was the selection and construction of the Hannibal Bridge here in Kansas City. The bridge selection was crucial because it was the first railroad bridge to cross the Missouri River, thus bringing the rail transport industry and further development and growth to Kansas City.  Kansas City grew and soon exceeded the population of St. Joseph.  What a difference a bridge made.

St. Joseph's 2 biggest problems...Hannibal Bridge...and meth.

But I have met many hot women from there.

Why is their a St. Joe forum discussion in the 'North of the River' directory? It should be in the out of town news.

reno89502 wrote: St. Joseph is a town of 68,000 people, yet they have a 24-hour bus system! 

Do they really? I knew they have a bus system, but when I checked it out I remember the buses cutting service pretty early, like 6 PM.

Ever since the city passed a sales tax last year to fund transit, they have added service.  According to my parents who still live in St. Joseph, there has been talk about starting Morning and Evening Express Service to the Barry Road Metro Transit Center.  St Joseph is a town that relies heavily on mass transit, since it is more of a elderly community.

Link to transit website:  http://www.stjoemo.info/publicworks/tra ... teride.cfm

Fast-acting Firefighters Save Missouri Theater

ST. JOSEPH, MO -- The  Missouri Theater complex here was damaged by fire on early Saturday, Feb. 19, 2011.

Fast-acting firefighters took drastic action to save the theater itself from fire damage. Firefighters on the roof cut a 4-foot-wide trench in the roof and ceiling of the building adjacent to the east wall of the Missouri Theater. Because of their efforts, the theater itself only sustained smoke damage.  

Dressing and rehearsal rooms, and theater office space, in an adjacent building were the only areas damaged by fire.  Most costumes and props were lost. The adjacent building in the theater complex serves as an umbrella location for several groups, including the Allied Arts Council, the Performing Arts Association, the St. Joseph Symphony and the Robidoux Resident Theatre.

The Missouri Theater was designed by the Boller Brothers architecture firm, and completed in 1927. It is among the rarest of theaters that utilize a Moorish interior style and designs coming from Assyrian, Persian, Hittite, and Arabian culture.

The 1200-seat theater is owned by the City of St. Joseph, and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.  The most recent renovation occurred in 2002.

http://cinematreasures.org/theater/230/

Photo:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/25229906@N ... /#sizes/s/

MissouriTheater.org

http://www.firefightingnews.com/article ... leID=91232

The Boller brothers designed the Granada Theater in KCK.  It's called an atmospheric.  As a kid in the 50's, I loved watching the stars move across the ceiling.  They also designed the long-gone Electric Theater in KCK.  It was run down when I was a kid and always seemed a bit creepy.

They did lots of theaters in the midwest.

http://cinematreasures.org/firm/10/show ... t=location

Study suggests moving St. Joseph Frontier Casino from present site to downtown next to Civic Arena.

Major recommendations of the study:

Casino will purchase downtown Holiday Inn and expand it.

A new Casino, with a larger gaming floor, and event space/theater will be built north of the Holiday Inn and west of Civic Arena.

The City will build a 500 space parking garage.

An entertainment district will be created along Felix Street using existing buildings.

Civic Arena will be updated.

The existing casino location on the river will be redeveloped. Possibly into athletic playing fields, a marina, and a restaurant.

The flooding last year that shut down the casino for three months was cited as a reason for the move. It is also the reason additional expansion of the present casino doesn't make sense. It is also mentioned that moving the casino would leverage downtown redevelopment in a better way, since the present casino is not walkable to downtown.

The proposed casino will still be 1000 feet from the riverbank, as is required by current law.


http://www.bizjournals.com/kansascity/b ... IkR4jelrPz

http://www.newspressnow.com/news/local_ ... 9f726.html

http://www.stjoemo.info/planning/St.%20 ... 0Study.pdf

Proposed site:

https://maps.google.com/maps?q=2nd+and+ ... 64501&z=18

Aerial showing present site and proposed site.

https://maps.google.com/maps?q=2nd+and+ ... 64501&z=15

I'm getting to the point of supporting an instant death penalty upon conviction of copper theft or stealing historic features out of houses.

Some St. Joseph homes being robbed of historical charm

A northwest Missouri city is filled with homes featuring amazing architecture. Unfortunately, some are being robbed of historical detail.

“This guy who has been breaking in has stolen the bronze hardware on the doors,” said Lisa Rock, who specializes in selling historic properties.

“A lot of people like to salvage metals, and so, these properties get stripped of copper, then they find out the hardware is worth something, they’ve even gone to faucets now, just a junky old faucet because it’s brass!” Rock added.

...

DesPlanques says the stolen item will only bring about 20 percent of what it costs to replace it.

“Fifty dollars worth of copper is going to end up costing the new owner $8,000 or so to rewire the property,” he said.

http://fox4kc.com/2014/01/13/some-st-jo ... cal-charm/