Downtown Now ... And Then

The housing market is down, Centene pulled out of BPV, we haven't heard a peep out of the Bottle District in months ... It's time for some reflection. While you wait for what will be, take a minute to test yourself on what you know about what has come to pass

1. A January 1998 downtown housing study by Zimmerman/Volk associates called for the creation of 470 new housing units and $1.2 billion in investments downtown. About how many units/how much in investment had been added by 2007?)

A) 470 units and $1.2 billion in investments

B) 1,000 units and $2 billion in investments

C) 2,000 units and $2 billion in investments

D) 4,000 units and $4 billion in investments

2. General Growth Properties, which will manage the forthcoming Mercantile Exchange, has four other malls in its Missouri portfolio. Which of the following is not a tenant in at least one of those malls?

A) Garfield's Restaurant & Pub

B) Senior Towne

C) Lollicup

D) The Art of Shaving

E) Little Easy Cajun

3. What is the name of the sculpture in this rendering, considered the centerpiece of the soon-to-be-completed Old Post Office Plaza?

A) "Torso di Ikaro"

B) "The Fall of Man"

C) "Parte Traseira Sexy"

D) "Headless Torso at Rest, No. 9"

4. Which national institution signed a letter of intent in 1999 to create an affiliate museum on Gateway Mall?

A) The Guggenheim

B) The Smithsonian

C) The Library of Congress

D) The National Gallery of Art

E) The Museum of Questionable Medical Devices

5. What items did Sen. John Danforth reference last year when grousing about the lack of food options available at the Arch?

A) Nuts, berries and granola

B) Bison jerky and plum butter

C) Bison jerky and peach cobbler

D) Cheese curds and apple butter

E) Sunflower seeds and squirrels on a stick

6. Match the faces of these downtown boosters with their names and the organizations they head.

A) David Luckes, Greater Saint Louis Community Foundation

B) Dick Fleming, Regional Chamber & Growth Association

C) Rodney Crim, St. Louis Development Corp.

D) Jim Cloar, Downtown St. Louis Partnership

7. The Pyramid Companies bought St. Louis Centre for $9.1 million in 2006. How much did the downtown mall cost to build in 1985?

A) $95 million

B) $45 million

C) $120 million

D) Someone actually paid for it?

8. To what was Bob Bedell, former president of the CVC, referring when he said, "I hope St. Louis really starts feeling good about itself. Because it should"?

A) The announcement that the Washington Avenue skybridges would be demolished

B) The NCAA's awarding St. Louis the 2005 Men's Final Four

C) News of a luxury hotel to be built on Laclede's Landing

D) The city's decision to start seeing a therapist for its crushing self-esteem issues

9. Put the following booster organization–related events into chronological order:

A) St. Louis 2004 is established

B) Downtown St. Louis Inc. becomes Downtown St. Louis Partnership

C) Downtown Now! is established

D) Downtown Now! is folded into DSLP

E) St. Louis 2004 ceases operations

F) Downtown St. Louis Inc. is established

10. Fill in the Blank: In 2005 a senior associate for HOK Planning Group said of the company's riverfront plans, "Because of the rise and fall of the water, it can cause a lot of structural challenges. But we are looking at ______. It's an idea that is popular in certain locations, such as in Europe." What was he referring to?

A) Houses on stilts

B) A gondola-and-canal system

C) Floating islands

D) Building a new casino on pontoons

11. In terms of population density, with approximately 3,500 people per square mile, downtown is on par with which of these major foreign cities?

A) London

B) Paris

C) Madrid

D) Beijing

12. Match the following district names with their respective spots on the map:

A) North Riverfront

B) Civic Center

C) Carr Square

D) Post Office Square

E) Washington Avenue/Garment District

F) Downtown West

G) Central Business District

H) Columbus Square

I) Laclede's Landing

J) Chouteau

K) Cupples Station/Ballpark

13. In a satirical 2006 article, what world-famous architect did the Riverfront Times report would design Ballpark Village?

A) Tadao Ando

B) Daniel Libeskind

C) Steven Holl

D) Frank Gehry

E) The dude who designed Pruitt-Igoe

14. Which of these elements was not included in the recently released proposal for the Gateway Mall redevelopment?

A) Light pylons

B) A Ferris wheel

C) An interactive fountain

D) Beach volleyball courts

E) A bike rental facility

F) A "river of light"

G) A bio-retention garden

15. Which of these statements is not true of Barbara Geisman, the city's deputy mayor of development?

A) Bought two buildings in Lafayette Square in 1975 for $400 apiece

B) Was a volunteer bricklayer for a rebuilding effort after severe storms struck Soulard in 1973

C) Once said she and her live-in partner, Richard Callow, "bought new furniture the other day ... We split the work according to our talents: He took it out of the box; I assembled it."

D) Won a grant to attend a program for government employees at Harvard

E) Locked her Wash. U. Urban Planning 101 professor in a closet until he agreed to give her an A on a paper about negotiating development deals

16. According to transportation figures released by the Downtown St. Louis Partnership, fully 60 percent of downtown residents drive alone to work. How long is the average downtown resident's commute?

A) 15 minutes or less

B) 16–30 minutes

C) 31–60 minutes

D) More than an hour

17. How much in tax-increment financing did the City of St. Louis approve for the Bottle District in 2005?

A) $51.3 million

B) $76.2 million

C) $16 million

D) $21.7 million

E) $12 million

18. In 1999 downtown St. Louis drew approximately 15 million tourists. How many tourists was it pulling in by 2007?

A) 12.3 million

B) 15 million

C) 15.5 million

D) 22.3 million

19. In 2007 downtown St. Louis had more tourists than all but which of the following cities?

A) Miami

B) San Francisco

C) Atlanta

D) Freeport, Bahamas

20. In 2006 St. Louis was awarded the World Leadership Forum's Urban Renewal award. Which of the following cities was not among the finalists?

A) Calcutta, India

B) Nairobi, Kenya

C) Kansas City, Mo.

D) Manchester, England

21. Match each loft building with the industry it once housed:

22. Which city government employee once worked summers at a textile company in the building that currently houses Barack Obama's St. Louis headquarters?

A) Mayor Francis Slay

B) Comptroller Darlene Green

C) Board of Aldermen president Lewis Reed

D) Chief of Police Joe Mokwa

23. The International Downtown Association held its annual spring conference here in April. When did St. Louis last host an IDA conference?

A) 1954

B) 1969

C) 1979

D) 1984

24. True or False:

A San Diego musical collective calling itself Pruitt Igoe has been described as "serene or spastic, ambient, lustful, tonally chaotic, or concussive."

Let us know how you did on the quiz by emailing your score to feedback@stlmag.com.

Answer Key

1. d; 2. e; 3. a; 4. b; 5. b; 6. a-2, b-4, c-3, d-1; 7. a; 8. b; 9. a-2, b-4, c-3, d-6, e-5, f-1; 10. c; 11. b; 12. a-7, b-6, c-5, d-9, e-2, f-8, g-4, h-11, i-10, j-3, k-1; 13. d; 14. b; 15. e; 16. a; 17. a; 18. d; 19. c; 20. b; 21. a-2, b-3, c-4, d-1; 22. a; 23. d; 24. True

By Margaret Bauer and Matthew Halverson