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Photograph by Matthew O'Shea
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While it’s certainly true that now is the time when all of us are especially interested in bargains and deals, there’s another increment of time to describe when people are interested in insider tips and secrets: always. We all love to have the skinny on the better place to park before the game, the scenic trail that’s way less traveled, how to get past the velvet rope. In this issue’s cover story (“The Insider’s Guide to St. Louis”), we spill the beans—on everything from the best seats at Powell Hall (according to the finely attuned musicians) to private “dorm room” dinners prepared by the city’s top chefs.
During the weeks we spent interviewing insiders from all kinds of fields—transportation, sports, shopping, culture—we found that even the insiders wanted more insider information. When we queried a staffer for the Saint Louis Athletica soccer team about under-the-radar tips fans might take advantage of, we gave an example to stir his thoughts: Show up to Busch Stadium after the seventh inning, and you can watch the Cards game gratis. “Really? That’s great!” he said. We offered up a few more gems. “I definitely have to read this article,” he told us. We did eventually leave that conversation knowing more about the Athletica; he left it a more informed St. Louisan. Goal.
While that feature is a collection of a hundred-plus small pieces, this issue’s central reported feature is about something much larger in scale. “North Side Story," by SLM staffers Jarrett Medlin and Jeannette Cooperman, chronicles Paul McKee’s $8 billion effort to redevelop 1,500-plus acres of north St. Louis—that’s 200 more acres than all of Forest Park. McKee’s project is massive, it’s controversial, and it’s rightly been in the media more and more the past few months. This SLM article, the result of three months of on-the-ground reporting and interviews with more than 80 key players, is meant to be the single article that helps you understand just where this unprecedented project came from, and how its proponents and opponents feel it will change St. Louis—for better or for worse. In addition, we have supplemented this feature with a collection of Web-exclusive stories here at stlmag.com: a history of attempted North Side redevelopments; experts debating the project’s merit; a podcast with the authors about their reporting. Our own goal, both with this package and “The Insider’s Guide” cover story: more informed St. Louisans, a more informed St. Louis.
Stephen Schenkenberg
