The Forest Park–DeBaliviere MetroLink station has been problematic recently. A woman was shot and killed there on May 11th, followed by another shooting the following weekend. Local news articles quote concerned residents and commuters who are hesitant to use MetroLink in the future.
Hidden under a bridge, Forest Park–DeBaliviere station has long had a bad reputation. As a major transfer point on a transit system used predominately by the poor, it’s not surprising that the station attracts a criminal element. The deleterious vibe of the station extends up along DeBaliviere Avenue, where Ocean Grill—a hole-in-the-wall takeout restaurant—attracts a constant population of loiterers along the sidewalk next to the station entrance.
This hyper-localized atmosphere of sketchiness—occupying the station and some 300 feet of sidewalk on one side of the street—is toxic to the surrounding neighborhood. Unfortunately, the station sits a the nexus of one of St. Louis’s few development hotspots. In the past five years, three large new apartment buildings have been constructed within 1/5-mile of the station, making DeBaliviere one of the region’s strongest examples of transit-oriented development.
It’s imperative that Forest Park–DeBaliviere succeed as an example of what a less car-centric, denser St. Louis could look like. “Success” means that these apartment complexes are well-leased and the station sees an increase in passengers. This is only achievable if the station’s environment is secure and welcoming to people less familiar or comfortable with using public transit.
An unfortunate liberal–progressive tendency is to be more skeptical of the wealthy newcomers to a neighborhood than the antisocial loiterers and transients that frighten the newcomers. This is certainly the perspective underlying these forum posts that caught my attention (all emphasis mine):
On top of that, a lot of people I know won’t even walk on [the east side of DeBaliviere] (I ride the metrolink and think they are crazy and being a tad bit racist but I can’t make them change their behavior) especially the demographic going to an independent coffee shop.
The dynamic between those that use the bus stop and the mostly college/grad students in the surrounding apartments is interesting for sure. There is a degree of racism/paranoia tied to it.
Is it really “racism” and “paranoia” to avoid the MetroLink station if multiple people have been injured or killed there recently? Clearly the paranoia was justified! How can we attribute anyone’s intent to “racism” when there’s a blatantly obvious, tangible motivator for their behavior? These same posters even acknowledge the station’s atmosphere is extremely discomforting, especially for women:
Until metro or the city block off that sidewalk that goes in front of Ocean Grill from cars that gets treated like an extra lane of street and a parking lot hangout (there’s cars parked there right this second hanging out blocking the sidewalk smoking and playing music), I’m not sure if that side will get going. It also gets trashed every single day but Metro does clean up most of the time.
Though it’s not that uncommon to see fighting/drug dealing there. It would help if that was cleaned up along with the litter and cars on the sidewalk.
Apparently a lot of the young women (the college and grad demographic you speak of) get cat called often by the guys who park their cars in front of ocean grill and hang out. I’ve talked to several people who moved after their lease or picked a different place because of this corner (again I also think it’s mostly paranoia of suburban transplants but we do want young women to feel safe). The fact that cars drive onto the sidewalk and park there, causing safety issues for pedestrians and people waiting for the bus, and accessibility issues for those with disabilities is the most frustrating thing to me. The metro access is a great asset and people waiting for the bus that just happen to be of a different income demo isn’t an issue. I agree though I think the hanging out on the sidewalk, blocking it, passing drugs, throwing Ocean Grill trash everywhere and pestering people is an issue.
Again, we can’t call the reactions of nearby residents “paranoia” if there’s a real, direct, tangible reason for their discomfort! Liberals and progressives are too wishy-washy about condemning aggressively antisocial behavior because they’re afraid of appearing racist or sympathetic to uncool suburban conservatives. Even this laundry list of serious problems with the station’s surroundings requires a disclaimer that signals the commenter isn’t buying into the “paranoia of suburban transplants”. Yeah, people are getting shot, dealing drugs, and sexually harassing women at this station, but that’s just life in the big city, you know?
The Reddit comments from the May 11th shooting reinforce the station’s issues:
I used to live near there and god that station ALWAYS had something going down. I was constantly harassed and catcalled walking by that station. I truly dont understand why that specific spot is so wild. I even got mugged once there but all i had was 3 dollars haha
Then my friend got carjacked at gunpoint while visiting me at 4pm and i decided it was time to move lol.
Very active metrolink station. Very interesting one. At that time it was a meeting point for a local fb fighting page. Nothing like trying to get home but there’s two women fighting in the middle of the street…surrounded by men recording it…
Heard multiple shootings and witnessed one in broad daylight at the now demolished strip mall. Had dudes lurking in our basement. Two guys approach my car (bad actors constantly bending over to check their laces, 4th time in a block buddy, they tied) at 11pm on a Tuesday. High speed chase that took hours ended on my street (KSDK did a 15 sec mention about it). Big city antics.
This station has completely preventable problems but metro and city allow people to just hang around the station on the sidewalk in their cars, some bad actors that hang out around the Ocean Grill with no destination. Normal people actually wait and use the buses at that stop constantly and people walk to Forest Park. A lot of the behavior that goes on there is not acceptable. It’s ridiculous people can’t feel safe just walking to park or to transit.
It is ridiculous, and hotspots of disorder like this are toxic to cities. Many urbanists would rather chastise people for being afraid of urban neighborhoods and public transit than resolve the root causes of their discomfort. But high-minded urbanists will never overcome the lived experience of being proximate to disorder—the discomfort that people feel in real time when they’re exposed to antisocial behavior. Fear of urban areas can become hyperbolic, but it persists in our culture because those fears are so often validated by the behavior of people in cities.
What would it be worth to Metro or the City of St. Louis to eliminate petty crime and antisocial behavior? How many riders would our transit system gain if it shed its unsafe reputation? How many neighborhoods would thrive if they were freed from the oppression of violence, theft, and vandalism? This utopian future surely represents hundreds of millions (if not billions) of dollars of additional personal income, tax revenue, and avoided injury and suffering over the status quo. But urbanists who are all too eager to prove their toughness and progressive street cred never consider this counterfactual—only their own abnormal tolerance for dysfunction that they believe everyone should be forced to adopt.
I’m not irritated because I’m personally afraid of the city. I live in a safe neighborhood and am privileged to be able to avoid St. Louis’s more sour characteristics. I’m irritated on behalf of the thousands of regular people who have to put up with this bullshit—people who live on the north side and are trying to make a living; people who rely on our transit system; people who are victimized for no other reason than being in the wrong part of St. Louis at the wrong time. I’m irritated because the decades-long effort to revitalize urban living in this country is continuously undermined by an absurd tolerance for criminals.
The consequence of all of this is not that crime in cities will naturally resolve itself without the presence of police. Without the critical public service provided by police, criminals will continue to fester in our communities, exercising their unchecked power over innocent people. St. Louis and cities like it will continue to have a ceiling on their potential. Only those who are willing to tolerate elevated levels of crime and disorder will move here—and that doesn’t include everyone:
Barbara Rodriguez lives in a Pershing Avenue apartment and was driving by right before 8 p.m. on May 18.
“I just hear these screams like this girl screaming, really, really traumatically screaming,” Rodriguez said. “Then, I look and see this girl on the ground. She’s bleeding profusely from her arm.”
(…)
Rodriguez is now not planning to renew her lease after two violent weekends, despite loving the location.