urbanSTL

I've never had problem with the home. I think the contrast is rather nice.

I love everything about that house. STL needs to push the envelope a bit, and I'm glad it's there.

I have never seen that home before, my wife would love it I have to show it to her this weekend. I personally would love to see more Southwestern and spanish style homes, Stucco, tile roofs, the whole desert look. Watched to many House Hunters on HGTV and fell in love with those type of homes.

I love those houses as well. There's actually quite a few Spanish/Mediterranean homes in Webster Groves, of all places.

we have modernist style stuff going in on the westside. some is great, some is awful. in my opinion, the design can be as wild as you can imagine, so long as it still has a decent relationship to the neighborhood, like an approprate setback (or lack of a setback), no garage doors that face the street, etc.

That's a great house. If it fits poorly, its more because it is so much shorter than its immediate neighbors and not because of its design. I welcome this kind of building in historic neighborhoods and newer ones alike.

stlmike wrote:That's a great house. If it fits poorly, its more because it is so much shorter than its immediate neighbors and not because of its design. I welcome this kind of building in historic neighborhoods and newer ones alike.

I agree -- it's the height that does it. If it were just one lot to the west, it would be immediately next to those two shorter buildings (they're four-flats, I think). It would feel much more in harmony with the block then, even with it's unique design. But the thing with in-fill is that you can't always pick the perfect lot.

I recently heard the barriers are a permanent plan. A chef planned on openning a small bistro, at the building Saaman is renovating, but he pulled out because of the potential loss of customers. A speed bump, and stop signs and a little law enforcement would work just fine to slow people down instead of a barrier. Barriers do not reduce crime or serve any other useful purpose. I could prove that they actually lower property value if I had more time. Barriers just frustrate people because of all the detours you have to take and increase speeding in the alleys behind your house! I can't believe they are putting up a permanent barrier! This is craziness. Stop the insanity

Maybe a four-way flashing red light would do the trick. Oh, sorry...I guess those delicate, sensitive, new city-dwellers in Gaslight Square would be upset by the terrible, hideous, bright lights!

They would probably cast shadows too.



Seriously, I drive through there all the time, and I was down there on several weekends last February and March doing interior build out of the Aleto home, and I did not notice a speeding problem. This is one of the few streets that used to go through, that is why there is a little more traffice than the other streets. Open up all of the other Cul De Sacs and there will be less traffic on Olive. These barriers are probably making more traffic on the other residential streets to the south and north.

MattnSTL wrote:Open up all of the other Cul De Sacs and there will be less traffic on Olive.

Now THERE is a great idea!!!!!

Maybe a four-way flashing red light would do the trick

I'm guessing four-way flashing red lights would work about as well as the stop signs did - they didn't at all! Not all Gaslight Square residents are in favor of these barriers. A petition to have these barriers removed has been circulating (when my wife and I signed there were 25+ signatures) and will be submitted to the alderman. As I understand, the barriers are only a temporary solution, and their functionality will be re-evaluated after 6 months. GS residents have organized a committee and are working with residents on other streets to come up with a better permanent solution.

delicate, sensitive, new city-dwellers in Gaslight Square

Many of the Gaslight Square residents are not new city-dwellers at all. If your goal is for residents to take your comments seriously, you might want to try a more constructive approach.

Zezuz wrote:If your goal is for residents to take your comments seriously, you might want to try a more constructive approach.

I agree whole-heartedly. Not just in this thread or the post being referenced above, but throughout the entire forum. We are trying to facilitate positive dialogue on these fourms. Comments that make a sweeping generalization, sarcastic or not, usually set the wrong tone and usually set subsequent posts off in the wrong direction.



Welcome to the forum and thanks for the reminder Zezuz.



Sorry... back to the topic.

Sorry, I was just blowing off a little steam. I drive that stretch of Olive fairly regularily, and that detour really frustrates me to no end. As has been pointed out, all it does is force traffic onto someone else's block.



I'm glad to hear that not all of the GS residents support the barrier. And I'm glad to hear the neighborhood has already formed groups to actively address such issues. Its a good step towards a healthy, active neighborhood.



Welcome to the forum, Zezuz. I look forward to hearing more from you and your neighbors.



I still hate the barrier, though.

Zezus (or any other Gaslight Square resident), I would be interested in hearing more about your neighborhood and your neighbors. I think it is really important to develop this area between Grand Center and CWE. Some of the houses I have seen online are beautiful. Could you tell us how the experience has been? Any inside scoop or news on future development? Not just the barriers, but info on expanding the neighborhood, about nearby retail?

I think it is really important to develop this area between

Grand Center and CWE.

I agree. My wife and I love the walkability of the neighborhood. We're able to walk to many of the many gems in Grand Center (Moolah, Contemporary Art Museum, Fox), while being able to walk to everything in the CWE.

Any inside scoop or news on future development?

GS has spurred a couple of new townhouse developments at Olive & Vandeventer, and Sarah & McPherson. But I would really like to see more rehabbing of the beautiful homes along 4000-4200 Washington Ave. A couple of empty lots on the 4200 block of Washington have been excavated, but I haven't been able to find out what the plans are.



I've also heard that the same developer who built the townhomes on the southwest corner of Olive & Whittier will be also be developing a 12-14 unit condo building on the northwest corner. And the Gaslight Square Condominiums are coming along nicely. I'll try to take some pictures this weekend.

Could you tell us how the experience has been?

Our experience so far in GS has really been a great one.

We enjoy both the diversity and the friendliness of those in our neighborhood. We're currenty in the process of developing an association and organizing some community events, such as trash pickup and block parties. I'll be happy to answer any questions you have over PM.

Great news, Zezus. Thanks...much of that I was unaware of.

I ran by there on Westminster this afternoon (man, was it nice out or what), and I have to say that I'm surprised by how nice it looks. I know there's been a lot of hate on those 3/4 vinyl homes, but in context, with a few authentic ones sprinkled in there, most don't look all that bad. The main difference between the ugly new construction and the fairly nice new construction to me is the roof. Vinyl siding with a flat roof is very unfortunate. The all brick homes can pull off a flat roof, but it looks ridiculous on the new homes.

We're currenty in the process of developing an association and organizing some community events, such as trash pickup and block parties.

There will be no association with a barrier blocking half the street off from one another. If we are going to have an association, we have to open our neighborhood up to each other. Speeding can be controlled by other means. I lived in an association in NJ, and it saves us a lot of money to have an association take care of trash, neighborhood watch, landscaping and snow, etc. But noone will sign off on an association that caters to a gaslight square divided into two blocks. City living is about living close to one another, having a sense of community and access to urban life and sticking together, not sectioning each other off. If you want a barrier, move to a farm and put six of them up! For those that are considering moving into the gaslight square: Do not buy unless they take that barrier down! Put some pressure on your developer! Take down the barrier

Agreed, Peter and all. The barriers have got to come down. The residents of the 4100 block (who have been left OUT of all previous meetings with the alderman) are planning to meet with Alderman Kennedy later this month to talk about the barriers and the negative impact they are having on development. A small group of people in the 4200 block had these put into place and they are very vocal about them remaining there. Their concerns are traffic, speeding and not being able to stand in the street and have a conversation. (Welcome to city life, my friends! That is why we have sidewalks) . There are other ways to control speeding than putting ugly barricades right down the center of a development. I got to read the minutes from their "associations" last meeting and they want everyone to contribute money to light the entry and monument at Boyle and Olive. I dont think anyone in the 4100 block is going to contribute until the barricades come down. These are NOT conducive to forming a cohesive neighborhood unit. (not to mention the fact that they are hindering further development of our neighborhood)

I completely agree that the barricades should come down. Just last night I saw a firetruck with sirens blaring have to make a U-turn at the barricades and go around the block. We need a more unified, cohesive neighborhood, and these barricades are preventing that from happening.



The only alderman meeting I was aware of was ~ 2 weeks ago. I wasn't able to attend b/c we (4200 block residents) weren't notified until a few hours before the meeting via a note in our mailbox. And I didn't realize the 4100 block was left out altogether. Had I known this I would have gladly passed along the info. I was also unaware that anyone was trying to create a separate association for the 4200 block. This doesn't make any sense to me - I'm all for having a unified association for both blocks. If you'd like, I'll be glad to pass on any info I receive in the future about meeting w/ the alderman, associations, etc.

Zezuz, please keep me posted via this forum or PM. Please share with me the reasons behind segregating city blocks from the Alderman meetings, and keep me up to date on the association as well. The safety concerns are the most important. I understand them completely. I understand the construction traffic. Speeding can be controlled. and construction will go away.



But the barriers themselves are creating additional traffic! Every time someone puts one up, they are re-routing traffic, and making our problem someone elses! One barrier begets another one, and so on and so forth. You can't keep putting up barriers to avoid a problem. Problems have to be confronted, and this isolationist attitude is creating more problems than its solving. That's no way to lead, and that's not how to be a functional adult. Someone has to take a stand on this issue and say no to new barriers. I'm sure the kind Alderman is sick of hearing about barriers, when we should be talking to him about law enforcement and taxes, or public schools or something!

You guys could lobby St. Louis Urban Progress to lend their voice to the issue.



We've started to get involved in urban issues across the city, and have gotten very positive press. If the Alderman won't give you proper warning about when the meetings take place, so that your voice can be heard, that is an issue that needs to be addressed.

Does anyone think the barriers should be there? Because I hear everyone on the same side. No one in this forum likes the barriers, yet they are there. Stand up for what you believe in. Speak now or forever hold your peace

I will keep you posted. I also heard that someone is working on a neighborhood website, which will contain all of this info. I'll post the URL once I find out.