South Grand seems to be ringing in 2007 with a much higher profile, and I, for one, am ecstatic. This afternoon, on my way home from lunch at Mangia, I saw a red and black jacket ahead of me on the sidewalk. "South Grand Guides". I ran to catch up with the poor guy because I was so excited.
Apparently this week marked the beginning of the South Grand Guides, which will be patrolling the South Grand area as an offshoot of the CID Guides downtown. These friendly folks are there to answer questions, give recommendations, act as secondary public safety officers ( escorting S. Grand patrons and workers, reporting problems, etc.). The man I spoke with today is also a CID Guide downtown, so he's used to the drill, and even better, he himself lives on S. Grand.
I don't know of any other neighborhoods that have rolled out these guides, but again, if S. Grand just got them, perhaps this is part of a larger city initiative. One way or the other, in my eyes, those red and black jackets make S. Grand officially a destination for people who don't live around here, and they sure as heck make it a little safer and more pleasant for those of us who do.
If you see one (and you will), stop and say hi. They like to talk and like to help. I am pretty damn excited.
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South Grand Guides are paid out of the South Grand Community Improvement District ("CID"). That's the same way it works downtown.
The CWE and (I think), Soulard have CIDs, and there they proirize private security (you see those guys in cars), and trash pickup.
For a neighborhood to get these, local residents and businesses must vote to tax themselves to fun dthe CID.
There was a movement in the 16th ward to build a community center with CID, however the project is stalled because advocates have been unable to secure a site.
Thanks for the info. I found a short post on the ACC, but other than that, info was hard to come by, and I only knew what the Guide told me. Thanks for filling in some of the blanks. Greatly appreciated.
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