MO: Is downtown St. Louis safe? One state agency says 'no'

[mountaineer]

Is downtown St. Louis safe? One state agency says 'no'
By Kurt Erickson
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
 1 hr ago

JEFFERSON CITY • Is downtown St. Louis too crime-ridden and dangerous for state employees to work there?

That’s the argument one state agency is making.

A Post-Dispatch review of budget requests by state agencies shows the Missouri Department of Revenue is asking for money to move seven employees out of the Wainwright State Office Building in the heart of downtown to an office in Clayton.

“Employees are increasingly concerned about their safety while walking to the parking garage and the MetroLink Station,” notes a line item in the document. ...

The request by the state agency drew scorn from the Partnership for Downtown St. Louis, which promotes the city’s center core.

“I find it ironic that a state department would decide that their best option is to leave rather than to work toward a solution,” said Missy Kelley, president and CEO of the partnership. “St. Louis is the biggest economic center of the state, and downtown St. Louis is the economic engine of the region. This is something we all have to own and we all have to work at addressing.” ...

St. Louis Post-Dispatch
With all due respect to Ms. Kelley, it's hardly the job of the Missouri Department of Revenue’s legal office to ensure that the neighborhood in which their office is located is safe. That's kind of up to city officials.

[dfwgator]

But at least it's safer than East St. Louis...


Sorry...

[sneakypete]

But at least it's safer than East St. Louis...


Sorry...

@dfwgator

Mogadishu is safer than East St. Louis.

I somehow became instantly alert from my drunken blackout and found myself in East St. Louis after midnight on a Saturday Night. IIRC,this was sometime in the 80's when I liked to wash down my LSD with jugs of white whiskey. To this very day I have no idea how or why I got there. I was probably living over 1,000 miles away from there at that time. What I do know is I instantly became aware I was in danger,and when I looked up I discovered I was the only white man in sight,it looked like I was back in Haiti again,and all I had for protection was a 6 shot 38 Special revolver. I had an adrenaline rush from all the looks of hatred I was getting,and it sobered me up instantly. I think the only thing that saved me was they probably thought I was a undercover cop looking to get assaulted so the cops could make arrests.

One of the scariest damn places I have ever been. To this day I have no idea why I was there. The only two people I knew from St.Louis were army friends of mine,and both of them died in Laos during the VN war.