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The Future Great City podcast

nextSTL began as the St. Louis Urban Workshop in 2009. Since then, the site has continued to evolve. Incorporating more voices across more platforms to tell the story, past, present, & future, of St. Louis. The evolution of Facebook and Twitter has changed the discussion, and the process of writing about urban and civic issues. Conferences, events, appearances by nextSTL contributors on radio and television, we’ve done, and will continue to do it all. Now it’s time to launch the Future Great City podcast. The podcast will facilitate more conversations with more of the people shaping St. Louis today.
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Now displaying: February, 2016
Feb 23, 2016

In this episode we speak with Ralph Pfremmer Executive Director of Trailnet. The organization’s mission is to “lead in fostering healthy, active and vibrant communities where walking, bicycling and the use of public transit are a way of life” through programs, transportation planning, and policy initiatives. Most recently, Trailnet weighed in on plans to repave and add bike lanes to Gravois Avenue. Under former Executive Director Ann Mack led Trailnet’s effort to oppose the South County Connector, a MoDOT road widening project also opposed by the communities through which it would pass.

Prior to joining the staff at Trailnet in October 2014, Ralph was the CEO and founder of Pfoodman Holdings, a multi-unit food service management company serving education, business/retail, and senior living sectors. He used active living and sustainability as a platform for business development, promoting his company’s culture by establishing a unique presence in communities.

The Trailnet challenge, and now Ralph’s, is to work with partner organizations – Great Rivers Greenway, East-West Gateway, Missouri Bicycle and Pedestrian Federation, MoDOT, St. Louis City, St. Louis County, and others. Ralph joined the cycling community after a health scare in 1998 that motivated him to incorporate exercise into his daily routine and begin a healthier way of life. 

nextSTL began as the St. Louis Urban Workshop in 2009. Since then, the site has continued to incorporate more voices across more platforms to tell the story, past, present, & future, of St. Louis. Now it’s time to launch the Future Great City podcast.

Feb 9, 2016

In this episode we speak with Ben Hilliker, the founder and CEO of Hilliker Corp., a commercial real estate firm in St. Louis. Ben graduated from Washington University in St. Louis and was President of an engineering firm with offices in five cities, prior to entering the commercial real estate field. In 1973, Ben sold the engineering firm and went to work in commercial real estate. In 1985 he established Hilliker Corporation, which has grown to 18 full-time agents today.

Hilliker Corp. is known for its focus on challenging, and largely urban, properties. In the podcast Ben talks about the changing math of historic St. Louis warehouses where residential conversions led to a massive jump in prices and the preservation of dozens of threatened buildings. Other dynamics in the St. Louis commercial real estate are touch on as well, including the impact of the 1993 flood and the then depressed market.

nextSTL began as the St. Louis Urban Workshop in 2009. Since then, the site has continued to incorporate more voices across more platforms to tell the story, past, present, & future, of St. Louis. Now it’s time to launch the Future Great City podcast.

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