urbanSTL

Notice how the person with the passionate connection to the area just moved in...in MAY???? C'mon.

And describing Bohemian Hill as a "neighborhood" is really a stretch. A BIG stretch.

It's a remnant of a remnant,carved up by highways and parking lots.

There are some cool buildings there, but the historic context is long gone.

You will hear this from me again and again. It's about the people.

What's the position of LaSalle Park neighborhood association?

Soulard Restoration Group?

Lafayette Square Restoration Group?

I'm much more interested in learning about the stances of these organizations than one individual who just move to the area last month.

And as far as the alderman is concerned, saying he doesn't support the idea of a QT at the corner doesn't mean it won't happen.

What does the zoning say? That's the first question.

And when it comes to historic preservation, Bohemian Hill is really sort of a writeoff.

If they took down the whole area and built a neighborhood serving mixed use development with housing, offices, and retail, I think it would be well worth a serious look.

I think your stance on this stuff tends to be pretty fair, NN, but I don't think it's fair to write off this resident no matter how knew they are.

She's "people" isn't she? And she's not just someone on a message board upset, she invested her money into that house in that part of the city. She has every right to have a strong opinion.

Those houses can be part of any "neighborhood serving mixed use development with housing, offices, and retail," so there's absolutely no reason they should be torn down.

If they were dilapidated, without ownership, and in the way of a big development, that'd be one thing. But they seem to be largely occupied and/or in good shape, and I'm extremely skeptical this is the sort of development you're suggesting.

As an area the history is irreparably damaged, I agree. But that block, largely, isn't. We should save what's there and build around it, not write it off.

My point about the newcomer resident (and we really don't know the financial ins and outs of her situation - didn't the news report say the building was in her family? So she might have inherited it), anyhow, my point is this: one person in a city of 300,000+ is sort of like one commenter on this forum - not much.

She might be well-informed, well-intentioned, sincere, and honest, but she's just one person. She will have a lot work to do convincing others to turn around the outcome at Bohemian Hill.

Even little Bohemian Hill does have some organizational fabric behind it, or at least did. At one time there was the "Red Brick Community Land Trust" working in the area http://www.tmaarchitects.org/redbrick.html. Is it still active? Its website has gone dark: http://community-wealth.org/content/red ... land-trust

Youth Education and Health in Soulard (YEHS) was also in the mix in Bohemian Hill. Their profile has gone down quite a bit. Are they selling out? Do they have a development plan for the area? And again, I go back to organizations having more leverage than individuals.

Does the RBCLT/YEHS group (if still active), have support of neighbors and neighboring community organizations? Does the one new owner/resident have a connection to the RBLT or any of the adjoining community organizations? Do they together have any sort of vision for what should be built long term in the Bohemian Hill area? And obviously things took a big turn when Walgreen's and Field Foods entered the picture. The spot became a focus of commercial development serving surrounding neighborhoods.

Maybe there is an official redevelopment plan on record for the area? Signs in the past (IIRC) advertised the availability of tax abatement on redevelopment there, meaning some sort of plan exists. Maybe. Or maybe that's just Realtor hype? Who knows?

We all (mostly) ooh and ahh over cool buildings, generally old, but that's really just scratching the surface of a question about the future of an area. There are many layers. And down in the lower levels of those layers are where people, history, organizations are the significant actors in the daily playing out of the futures of our community.

From my point of view, I'm much more interested in the dynamics going on in those lower levels than I am the coolness of any single building - or group of buildings. And you could likely predict, if there's enough interest and significance in any building or collection of buildings, there's a lot of critical mass in the people working at those lower levels about what the future holds for those buildings we see on the surface today.

Northside Neighbor wrote:Notice how the person with the passionate connection to the area just moved in...in MAY???? C'mon.

And describing Bohemian Hill as a "neighborhood" is really a stretch. A BIG stretch.

It's a remnant of a remnant,carved up by highways and parking lots.

There are some cool buildings there, but the historic context is long.


And when it comes to historic preservation, Bohemian Hill is really sort of a writeoff.
.

Why write it off instead of building it back up? Why give in and take the lazy route? Is it not a vital connector of two of STL's most prized neighborhoods?

It's zoned D. Multifamily Residential

It's zoned D. Multifamily Residential

Well that settles it then. Zoning changes require aldermanic approval/adoption of ordinances:

http://www.slpl.lib.mo.us/cco/code/data/t2692.htm

Few details, looking for killer

KMOX - Pedestrian Killed At Jefferson & Chouteau

http://stlouis.cbslocal.com/2016/12/11/ ... -chouteau/

Wow, wild.  You invite sh*t development and you get more sh*t back.  I thought QuikTrip would revitalize this distressed section of Chouteau.

Pretty sure that 150,000 SF class A office space got pulled long time ago

^and a shame it was.  But that intersection is looking worse and worse each day.  Maybe it was just the trash blown into it today but it's pretty depressing.  I don't think a car wash is going to help.

Car wash coming soon sign is up

Crickets from Ingrassia so far