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All about the edges

Author:Steve Patterson December 19th, 2009

Edges are as important than the center.  This is true with a batch of brownies and with urban areas. Surface parking or structured garages often surround downtown areas, creating a disconnect to adjacent neighborhoods.

From too numerous surface parking lots (especially along Tucker) to the massive size and blank walls of the convention center & dome, the neighborhoods immediately North of downtown St. Louis.

Throughout our region interstate highways also serve as edges that separate.  A goal needs to be increasing connections — filling in gaps by building on surface parking lots, removing highways and eliminating long blank walls.  Work on the edges while at the same time as the center.

- Steve Patterson

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  • dempster holland
    Surburbia developed primarily because people moved from 4 to 6 family flats to single-family houses. Once that happened, it took four to six times as much land to accomodate the same number of people.Nearlyall aspects of suburban life arises from this fundamental change.
  • JZ71
    Kinda like getting that last stoplight removed from I-64 in St. Charles County? ;)

    But seriously, you're more than right. The real challenge is simple economics combined with laziness. The relative value of convenient parking is apparently higher and more valuable than higher urban densities. We've been tearing down buildings in our cities, to build parking lots and highways, for the last 75 years, while sprawling across perfectly-good farmland. Yes, we all SHOULD be filling in the gaps and working on the edges, but the ONLY effective way I've seen to make this happen has been either physical or political urban growth boundaries. Since the only physical barriers we have around here are rivers (and don't seem to be having much effect), we're going to have to find some champions and leaders if we want to move toward implementing UGB's here.
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