Living for the City

Stevie Wonder’s Living for the City is a great song about hard times, racism, & pollution. Below is an excerpt from the lyrics:

Our city & region has a lot of sorrow and we should all be motivated to “make a better tomorrow.” This includes demanding our elected officials stop their thinking that any development is good development. We need to stop having the fire sale of our land. If we don’t place value on our urbanity who will?

Just enough isn’t good enough!!!

– Steve

Full Lyrics for ‘Living for the City’

Preview ‘Living for the City’ on iTunes Music Store

Missouri Coalition for Roadway Safety misses the mark

The Missouri Coalition for Roadway Safety has a nice site outlining ways to reduce deaths & injuries on Missouri’s roadways.

Four of their eight essential strategies involve education & enforcement while the other four involve building or rebuilding roadways. What about reducing auto trips? What about building are cities where walking or cycling is a viable option? What about increasing mass transit?

The road building industry – including the Missouri Department of Transportation (MODOT) – can’t see options for today’s mess of roads other than more roads. Sure, building median dividers makes a highway safer but what if we reduced the traffic on the highway with a high-speed train between towns?

– Steve

St. Charles County suburb considers something besides single family houses

Chingy’s new hometown of Dardenne Prairie is looking to diversify it’s housing stock. If you are like most people in the St. Louis region you are more likely to know of rap star Chingy than the suburb of Dardenne Prairie. This St. Charles County municipality is largely a bedroom community of single family subdivisions – including the one where rap star Chingy lives. Yes, the St. Louis rapper moved out to the extreme suburbs after making it big in 2003 with his first album, Jackpot. Like so many people in St. Louis – once they hit the jackpot they flee to the land of vinyl siding and front garages.

I’ve been to Chiny’s subdivision – not his house but a neighbors – friends of mine. Like many of the newest subdivisions, the garage doors face the street (and many houses have three-suv garages). A thin veneer of brick graces the front of the houses – putting on a good face. As I recall, this particular subdivision did a better job than most with trees at the entrance but failed to have street trees in the tree lawn.

Up until now, this small municipality has been strictly single family homes on lots with a minimum size of 10,000sf. Period. The city is divided into three wards with two aldermen per ward. To find your ward you don’t worry about precincts – you just look for the name of your subdivision to see which ward you are in (click here to see list). But, city leaders are looking to diversify starting with proposed townhouses.

A developer is proposing a townhouse project which includes what I’m told are “True” Federalist style facades, are closer to the street and rear garages are served by alleys. Townhouse lot size would be 3,945sf – less than half of the single family requirement. Some existing trees on the site are to be saved and included as part of a public park.

All kidding aside about Chingy & suburbia, I do see signs that many of these municipalities are beginning to understand some of the negative ramifications of isolated single family subdivisions. They are a long way away from creating vibrant & diverse neighborhoods but adding townhouses to the mix is certainly a start.

– Steve

Proposed Gravois-Jefferson National Register Historic District

Very soon St. Louis will have another National Register Historic District. The proposed “Gravois-Jefferson Streetcar Suburb National Register Historic District” is an area roughly bounded by Gravois, Jefferson, Meramec and South Grand.

Click here for map of proposed district

It is funny today when you here the term “streetcar suburb” applied to such an urban area in the middle of the city. But the reality is areas such as this proposed district in Dutchtown were developed because the streetcar permitted homeowners to live a few miles from downtown – a big distance at the time. Commercial development along Gravois, Jefferson, Cherokee served the daily needs of the residents. The beautifully scaled commercial area along Meramec East of Grand is ripe for new uses. A coffee house would be an ideal addition.

A National Register Historic District places no requirements on owners nor does it guarantee a contributing structure will not be razed. However, it does make contributing buildings within the district eligible for state & federal tax credits.

I think we’ll see this district emerge as the new place to rehab and live. The terrain is pleasantly rolling and the buildings some of the most attractive in the entire City. The parks are numerous and nicely scaled. If you don’t know the area – I suggest you take a look.

– Steve

A vision for St. Louis

“I believe that a city’s vitality is shown through its use of mass transportation.  The trolleys of San Francisco, Portland and Toronto add atmosphere and convenience to users and visitors of their downtown sidewalks.  In Pittsburgh, the downtown trolleys are free.  When trolleys roamed our area, St. Louis was a vital city.  With the convenience of Metrolink comes a responsibility to make downtown transportation even more creative and cost effective than current systems offer.  Push bus service to the edges of the city’s perimeter and permit quieter, battery-powered trolleys to move throughout the heart of downtown.”

The words above are part of an articulate vision for St. Louis – written nearly eight years ago (June 1997). Aaron Williams envisioned a city exciting to both the visitor but also to the resident. A city full of life with street vendors, vibrant MetroLink stops, roaming cabs, and shuttles completing the transportation picture.

“Policies that limit street “action” must be repealed immediately.  Bring back the newspaper and food vendors.  Allow street musicians and other artists to perform once again on our streets and at Metrolink and bus stations.  In Paris and London, street musicians are as varied and abundant as the cultures of residents in those cities.  We must revitalize our urban areas with the sounds and smells that are an integral part of the experience of visiting any thriving downtown.”

Click here to read the full vision

Some things Williams outlined have come to be, most have not. We’ve changed mayors and our costly stadiums have changed names. Williams’ vision remains a worthy goal.

– Steve