A Brand New Website
It all began with Post-It notes and sharpies
In March of 2023, the Communications Committee met at Soulard Station with one goal - to imagine how we would rebuild the SRG website from scratch. Armed with multiple colored Post-It notes and sharpies, we put every idea we could think of out there and debated what we did and didn’t want to do when we rebuilt the website.
We decided to dig into the Soulard Restorations Group and use it to guide our focus. We settled on three of our core ideas:
Foster community improvement
Encourage restoration and preservation of District property
Stabilize the community by fostering civic pride
The result of those discussions and ideas is this website.
Moving forward, Soulard.org will host much more than contact information and details about upcoming events. It will be home to articles and stories about our neighborhood. It will feature a growing archive of our past newspapers and art from our events. And it will serve as a hub for organizing important ideas and information about living in Soulard.
The committee has evolved over time, but I would like to take a moment to thank every member who contributed directly to this effort. A HUGE thank you to Val Ackerman, Konstantin Brazhnik, Jim Dallas, Abby Goodson, Beth Hoops, Megan Mehrle, Billy Tomber, Allyson Whipple, and Jack Yaekel.
We’ll be taking June off, but we’ll be back in July to keep building on this amazing new foundation.
13TH AND GRAVOIS TRANSFORMATION
Citizens for Modern Transit and AARP in St. Louis are excited to unveil plans for revitalizing the MetroBus stop at the juncture of 13th St. and Gravois Ave! This "Transit Stop Transformation Project" will reinvent the space into a dynamic, inviting area with new designs, comfortable seating, ample shade, and welcoming green spaces. They are inviting transit users, community members, officials, and all invested parties to contribute their vision for this transformation by completing an online survey.
Examples of previous transit stop transformations can be found here.
2023-2024 SRG Board Candidates
The annual elections for the Soulard Restoration Group will be in April via electronic election.
Please view the biographies below to learn more about each candidate.
CANDIDATE FOR PRESIDENT-ELECT
Adriano Martinez
CANDIDATE FOR SECRETARY
Elizabeth Henry
CANDIDATES FOR DIRECTOR
(3 spots are up for election)
Abby Goodson
Amanda Ramcharan
Connie Suydam
Aaron Terry
Lillian Thompson
FY 2023 Board Approved Budget
The SRG Board recently voted and approved a budget for Fiscal Year 2023 (the "FY 2023 Board-Approved Budget").
FY 2023 runs from July 1, 2022 through June 30, 2023. Next step is General Membership vote, to take place at the August 3 General Membership meeting.
VIEW BUDGET
Candidates for the 2022-2023 Elections Announced.
SRG Elections Slate
At the February board meeting, the SRG Board voted to recommend the slate of candidates for the annual election that takes place in April. Below is the list of candidates, as well as returning board members.
Nominations remain open through March 11, 2022.
| POSITION | RETURNING | CANDIDATES |
|---|---|---|
| President | Michael Pastore | |
| Immediate Past President | Jim Dallas | |
| President Elect | Abbey Bethel | |
| Secretary | Chris Currington | |
| Treasurer | Debby Brown | |
| Odd Calendar Year Directors | Nancy Lambert | |
| Gary Toribio | ||
| Karen Moske | ||
| Even Calendar Year Directors | Margi Koors | |
| Craig Markham | ||
| Stephen Shuman |
Soulard Safety Committee Survey – Executive Summary – 8/18/21
· Survey was completed by 100 respondents between April and end of May. Sixty-two percent of respondents live South of Russell and 22% live North of Russell.
o Perception of crime in Soulard:
§ One-half (50%) agree that crime is a major issue, 28% are neutral, and 21% disagree.
§ One-half (52%) believe that crime in the past 3 years has stayed the same, 35% believe that is has increased, and 13% believe it has decreased.
§ Over two-thirds (70%) agree with the statement “I feel safe in our neighborhood.”
§ Almost one-half (48%) agree with the statement “I feel safe going out at night in our neighborhood,” while 23% disagree and 28% are neutral.
§ One-third (36%) of respondents indicated that they have personally experienced a crime in Soulard in the past 3 years, 50% did not and 14% left the question unanswered. (Note: This number may be skewed and not transfer to the general population due to interest in filling out the survey because of a personal experience with crime).
§ Crimes that need to be addressed:
· Traffic- related issues such as speeding and running signs and lights (28%)
· Car break ins (26%)
· Property theft/damage (18%)
· Car/vehicle/car jacking (15%)
o Crime prevention efforts:
§ Police patrols – Over one-half (59%) think there needs to be more police patrols and 41% think there needs to be about the same.
§ Lighting – Over one-half (60%) believe lighting varies from block to block
§ Neighborhood Watch – The majority (59% )are interested in reviving and participating in a Neighborhood Watch effort
§ To increase general safety, the following areas were mentioned the most:
· Increase policing/security (22)
· Taming neighborhood traffic and vehicle access (12)
· Better lighting (11)
· More cameras and communication among neighbors (11)
· Having a Neighborhood Watch and communicating among neighbors (8)
o Pedestrian and Intersection safety:
§ Almost one-half (48%) agree that pedestrians are safe on our sidewalks and intersections. One-quarter (28%) are neutral and one-quarter (23%) disagree.
§ Intersections that raise concern (* indicates that it is included in the CID study):
· Russell (23) *
· 12th Street (18) *
· 9th Street (10)*
· Barton (9) *
· 7th Street/Broadway (5)
· 13th Street (3)
· 8th Street (3)
· Overall, 61 intersections that were mentioned are included in the CID study and 14 are not included.
Top ways residents find out what’s happening in Soulard:
· Nextdoor (60%)
· SRG Blaster (58%)
· SRG General Meeting (44%)
· Renaissance (31%)
Other ways to find out information (open-ended question)
· 19 responses centered around neighborhood connections (talking with neighbors, word of mouth, etc)