果酱视频

ST. LOUIS 鈥� Denis Beganovic walks a stretch of Locust Street in downtown and sees potential.

There鈥檚 the Jefferson Arms building on the corner of Locust and Tucker Boulevard that is under renovation. The once-grand hotel, which opened in 1904 for the World鈥檚 Fair and twice hosted the Democratic National Convention, is being remodeled into a new hotel, along with apartments and retail. The old Shell Building next door now is home to two hotels. Walk west past the stately and historic Central Library and the street starts to teem with hope.

There鈥檚 the new , built in the old YMCA building. The basketball gym floor is still there, but now it鈥檚 a public art gallery. Then there鈥檚 the massive Butler Brothers warehouse, which had been vacant for years but has been beautifully remodeled into apartments and lofts. Head further into Downtown West and you鈥檒l be just north of CityPark, the gem of a soccer stadium that is driving foot traffic and development.

This is the downtown Beganovic sees every day on his walks.

He walks at all times of day and into the evening. A resident of downtown, the 38-year-old walks to Laclede鈥檚 Landing, the Arch, Soulard, Union Station and Carr Square. He鈥檚 walked more than 16,000 miles in the past four years, sharing his finds 鈥� a new restaurant here, a building permit there 鈥� with his social media following.

鈥淭here is steady progress happening downtown,鈥� Beganovic told me.

He was 9 when his family escaped war-torn Bosnia and, like thousands of other refugees, came to 果酱视频 to make a new home. Beganovic recently invited me for a walk, as he has other reporters and civic and business leaders 鈥� and anybody who will take him up on the offer.

He talks about visitors from out of town 鈥� he met a couple from Luxembourg the other day 鈥� and says they enjoy 果酱视频, from the Arch, to the sports and entertainment venues, to the iconic City Museum. 鈥淭he idea that it鈥檚 unsafe to come downtown and enjoy a restaurant,鈥� he says, pausing for effect. 鈥淚 can鈥檛 comprehend it.鈥�

His walking, and his status as perhaps downtown鈥檚 No. 1 cheerleader, started during the pandemic. It was May 2020, and the gym where Beganovic worked out was closed. He started going on long walks to get his exercise. He鈥檇 see something new every day.

There was a time, he says, when he 鈥渂elieved all the narratives about downtown.鈥� What he saw started to change his mind.

For his day job, Beganovic is a city planner. He currently works on planning for military installations around the world. Data is important to him, helping him reinforce what he sees with his own eyes.

Take crime. As I鈥檝e written before, crime is down in 果酱视频, and it has been significantly falling in the past three years. It鈥檚 also decreasing downtown. In fact, crime is down almost 40 percent downtown since its pandemic-era high. Meanwhile, downtown spending and job creation are both up.

When there is a bit of bad news downtown 鈥� a business leaving, or a high-profile crime 鈥� Beganovic goes to Twitter and other social media outlets and pushes back on the negative talk, adding data to the conversation. Like this nugget: In the first six months of 2024, according to state Department of Revenue statistics, downtown St. louis produced more than $900 million in taxable sales, far more than any other neighborhood or municipality in the 果酱视频 region.

A world traveler, Beganovic understands why some civic leaders often wring their hands when comparing 果酱视频 to other cities. A walk in downtown Nashville or Cincinnati, for instance, can make it seem like those cities are more vibrant. But part of that is simply because 果酱视频, both its 2-square-mile downtown and the surrounding region, are more spread out than many other areas.

As we stood outside the construction site at the Jefferson Arms building, Beganovic pointed to the expanse of Tucker Boulevard, 10 lanes wide in some places.

鈥淚t was built for a different city,鈥� he said of the road.

City leaders plan to give it a 鈥渄iet鈥� by cutting down the lanes and making it more bike- and pedestrian-friendly. Those sorts of changes are happening slowly, but they will make a big difference to the perceptions of downtown, Beganovic believes.

鈥淭he real issue in downtown is connectivity,鈥� he says. 鈥淲e have all these great things. They just need to be better connected.鈥�

Not everybody is willing or able to walk as long as Beganovic is 鈥� from Union Station to Ballpark Village, north to the Convention Center and west on Washington Avenue. Downtown has pockets of success, but they are in silos. Giving pedestrians, bicyclists and drivers a clear path to connect from one place to another has to be a priority, he believes.

In the meantime, he鈥檒l keep walking. He鈥檒l keep challenging civic and business leaders to take as much pride in downtown as he does. This is his home, and he wants others to appreciate it.

鈥淲e can take pride in the progress that is being made,鈥� Beganovic says. 鈥淵ou cannot deny that 果酱视频 is safer this year than it was last year, and the year before that. I don鈥檛 feel unsafe. I just don鈥檛.鈥�