Ever wonder why St. Louis has so many vacant corner lots? This is it. This 1890 brick building was condemned in November, 2017 and the place is owned by a Florissant, Missouri resident who as of publishing has not paid their 2017 taxes.

Luckily no lives were lost and no firefighters were hurt and the fire did not spread to the boarded up home next door, which had to be entered to fight the fire. Yet, that property is still open to the elements and any other trespasser/firebug. Come on in!

I am always a little flummoxed by people who say North City is a postcard for abandonment and neglect and walking away vs. rooting down and fixing things. Yeah, there are many examples of that, but South City has it's own level of neglect and abandonment on display as well. The neighborhood I've lived in for several years is a perfect example. And, I could have chosen many others to make my point.

Neglect and abandonment is a city wide problem.

Speculators, slum lords, suburbanite "investors" sitting on properties without the means or desire to do anything continue to be a plague. "Investors" sit in their far away homes and are happy to let the St. Louis properties sit and sit, while trespassers and firebugs become our problem, not theirs. It's not easy to neglect a property and let it rot when you live next to it and have to see it every day. Shame holds sway, but not when it's out of sight and out of mind for these owners, it's "those" people's problem not theirs.

I'm not anti-outside investment be it from the suburbs or out of state, we need all hands/dollars on deck to help improve our city. But I'm not seeing the building permits rolling in from these investors, I've seen more sitting on properties and letting them rot.

Take a neighborhood like Fox Park, just south and west of Lafayette Square and directly east of Compton Heights, two of St. Louis' swankiest, wealthiest, most stable neighborhoods. But when you hit Fox Park, pockets of neglect are on full display. You would think a spot like this would be ripe for private investment and care by the city and the residents and the investors/developers. But, this has not been my experience as a whole having lived here for seven or so years.

It's happening, but it happens slowly.

I'll use my camera and a quick review of public city records to document and discuss every boarded up or burned out property in my neighborhood and see who's at the helm to make my point and let you know what I'm talking about. I'm shining a light on these properties not to embarrass the owners or the neighbors (hell, I'm a neighbor), but to say we have a problem and I care deeply about losing more properties to the elements and trespassers...as well as to suburbanite/out of state slumlords and speculators who can't even keep people out of these properties or keep a decent roof on to stave off the elements.

Places like Fox Park need investment by people who have skin in the game. People who care, regardless of where they are from. If not, we will lose our gorgeous housing stock. This neighborhood is incredibly diverse in architectural style and finishes. It is a straight up gem. But, we have not seen the kind of investment that we need to keep our most vulnerable buildings from falling to the elements or the many squatters that target this area as an easy place to trespass and take up shop. We don't need people googling tax sales and buying up properties with no intention to improve St. Louis.

You could say no one cares. But, I'm not sure that's true. I think having candid conversations about trespassing, property speculators and slumlords is something that comes hard to this part of the city. People mean well, but we need these buildings to be shored up by their owners and not open to the elements and any trespasser looking for a place to squat. It doesn't mean you are an agent of gentrification or anti-homeless to want to demand better of the owners of these boarded up buildings.

A home immediately behind me has been open for years. I've contacted CSB and other people who work for the city and nothing gets done. It is open today. Come on in. No one cares. After a while you quit. What more can I do? Pictures are included below to prove my point.

Man, if I had the money, I'd love to buy this building and bring it back to life and provide a quality place for people to live.

A homeless guy sets up a gas stove in there. I've seen it first hand. Getting something done is nearly impossible and this is a serious challenge that faces St. Louis. The inability to enforce the most basic of laws and regulations. Drive around north of Delmar sometime. Complete and utter lawlessness on the roads. It's dangerous as hell, especially as a pedestrian or scooter/cyclist. No one cares, especially not the cops. They quit on us. I wish I didn't have this cynical view. I want to like everyone and think we're all trying to move the city forward. But, that has not been my experience. Normal citizens get tired as well when you expend energy and try to do something positive, but are met with inertia and apathy from the city. It's a problem we must discuss vs. bury and act like it doesn't exist.

Think this would fly in small towns like Webster Groves, Missouri (you name the suburban town)? This is why people who demand decency from neighbors and property owners end up leaving for the suburbs. A decent quality of life is all people really want, and you can leave St. Louis and find those things very close to here where this stuff in not tolerated. I get it when people say they've had enough and move. Those small towns don't put up with this crap. We of course have to because there aren't enough people who care, residents and city workers alike.

The fire that just happened a couple weeks ago on Geyer and Ohio in Fox Park will continue to happen if no one is accountable for keeping people out of the boarded up shells that they own.

We need investment, owner accountability and neighbors to rise up and demand better. This isn't normal. It is okay to be pissed off about this.

What can a resident/neighborhood do to demand better when the city does nothing? I'm asking out of ignorance. I really don't know.

I'm at times embarrassed and frustrated of my city. We can and have to do so much better. Otherwise, it'll all be gone. Mother Nature and destructive human beings are forces that a brick building that is not maintained cannot fight forever. We are at risk here. When you drive around North City and say "how did this happen", well come on down to South City where the density is still there and get a taste for how history tends to repeat itself.

Here are several examples of the current situation in Fox Park. I'm seriously concerned that we'll continue to lose these homes/buildings one by one.

This beautiful home at 2746 Geyer was built in 1884. Sadly the Ballwin, Missouri owner hasn't paid taxes on the property since 2014. It has been vacant since 1994, maybe longer since city records started posting online in 1994. There are 34 CSB complaints against this property. It's easy not to give a shit about a property or paying taxes when you live in Ballwin. We sadly have to see their neglect on display daily dragging the block down: