Individual Rehab Momentum
The North of Delmar approach to revitalization and reconstruction will likely follow a similar trajectory as Old North St. Louis with rehab projects that slowly multiply while growing into a cohesive community that creates a safe and neighborly environment to attract more rehabbers and new construction. In time, a threshold is reached that signals to developers that the neighborhood is safe and stable and capable of new housing.
Small Developer Initiative
Small developers may be similar to Mary "One" Johnson who will build housing along one side of a block and only one side of the street at-a-time. or He or she may built a linear street face or housing on half a block on both side of a steet but not many street or 1/2 blocks. Several northside new construction developments fall into this category such as the Grand Prairie homes which are built for middle class folks but with larger than urban scaled yards (probably as a result of zoning or to mimick suburban formats). We have yet to see how this will meet a threshold and attract more development. But so far, this movement has gained slow momentum throughout the northside in many small developments.
Developer Initiative and Individual Rehab
Another approach is the Forest Park Southeast scenario where developers like Amy and Amrit Gill buy up a large stock of buildings and rehab them over time which signals to other folks a guaranteed private investment into the neighborhood and welcomes individual rehabbers who would not have considered the neighborhood before.
Masterly Planned Developer Initiative
In this approach, a developer with the consultancy of a planning firm masterly designs a large scale development of many contiguous acres. New Urbanism and Mixed-Use developments are the most progressive in this scenario but the traditional large subdivision is the basis. In this scenario, the developer is the sole risk taker to assure the legitimacy of the neighborhood he or she is contructing and the threshold of a safe environment that encourages further development is not present in the masterly planned subdivision outside of the improvements by new individual property owners. However, this development if successful does give way to new ones along it edges.
Government Piecemeal
I regard this approach as the familiar HOPE or mixed-income development that builds such housing by the block or several blocks. It is akin to large groupings of indiviual projects but not as large as a whole neighborhood in scale. Over time the same developer may build one after another until they create a neighborhood but each development has distinctive enough architecture and layout to signal that they are each separate. It is yet uncertain how "successful" (defined as: providing a safe and legitimate environment to attract additional development by other developers or individuals) this model is.
I believe this is where many of us may begin to disagree over the ability of government sponsored developments to coalesce into a legitimate whole and safe neighborhood. Granted it must be taken into consideration that unlike the past government public housing, mixed income housing does not concentrate impovershed families and individuals anywhere near the same rate as past ones did. Thus, middle class and aspiring middle class persons may feel inclined to live in these mixed-income developments such as King Louis Square between LaSalle and Lafayette Square
The North of Delmar approach to revitalization and reconstruction will likely follow a similar trajectory as Old North St. Louis with rehab projects that slowly multiply while growing into a cohesive community that creates a safe and neighborly environment to attract more rehabbers and new construction. In time, a threshold is reached that signals to developers that the neighborhood is safe and stable and capable of new housing.
Small Developer Initiative
Small developers may be similar to Mary "One" Johnson who will build housing along one side of a block and only one side of the street at-a-time. or He or she may built a linear street face or housing on half a block on both side of a steet but not many street or 1/2 blocks. Several northside new construction developments fall into this category such as the Grand Prairie homes which are built for middle class folks but with larger than urban scaled yards (probably as a result of zoning or to mimick suburban formats). We have yet to see how this will meet a threshold and attract more development. But so far, this movement has gained slow momentum throughout the northside in many small developments.
Developer Initiative and Individual Rehab
Another approach is the Forest Park Southeast scenario where developers like Amy and Amrit Gill buy up a large stock of buildings and rehab them over time which signals to other folks a guaranteed private investment into the neighborhood and welcomes individual rehabbers who would not have considered the neighborhood before.
Masterly Planned Developer Initiative
In this approach, a developer with the consultancy of a planning firm masterly designs a large scale development of many contiguous acres. New Urbanism and Mixed-Use developments are the most progressive in this scenario but the traditional large subdivision is the basis. In this scenario, the developer is the sole risk taker to assure the legitimacy of the neighborhood he or she is contructing and the threshold of a safe environment that encourages further development is not present in the masterly planned subdivision outside of the improvements by new individual property owners. However, this development if successful does give way to new ones along it edges.
Government Piecemeal
I regard this approach as the familiar HOPE or mixed-income development that builds such housing by the block or several blocks. It is akin to large groupings of indiviual projects but not as large as a whole neighborhood in scale. Over time the same developer may build one after another until they create a neighborhood but each development has distinctive enough architecture and layout to signal that they are each separate. It is yet uncertain how "successful" (defined as: providing a safe and legitimate environment to attract additional development by other developers or individuals) this model is.
I believe this is where many of us may begin to disagree over the ability of government sponsored developments to coalesce into a legitimate whole and safe neighborhood. Granted it must be taken into consideration that unlike the past government public housing, mixed income housing does not concentrate impovershed families and individuals anywhere near the same rate as past ones did. Thus, middle class and aspiring middle class persons may feel inclined to live in these mixed-income developments such as King Louis Square between LaSalle and Lafayette Square
