urbanSTL

kipfilet wrote: ↑

Jun 01, 2021

As I wrote, anything that raises property values is ultimately gentrification

So then does that mean that trees growing is gentrification? Or people mowing their lawns? Someone fixing a cracked sidewalk in front of their house? Residents keeping planters and flower boxes blooming? Someone fixing their leaky roof,  replacing drafty windows, or putting on a fresh coat of paint? Neighbors getting together to throw block parties or bake sales? Putting a small playground on a corner lot? Volunteers painting a mural on a previously blank wall? The neighborhood organization getting a grant to refurbish a brick alley? Or a nearby wastewater treatment facility that is outdated closing down? 

Activities like these make neighborhoods more desirable and garner more interest from home buyers. But they may just be part of the richness of day-to-day City life as opposed to gentrification. 

PeterXCV wrote: ↑

Jun 01, 2021

MarkGroth2020 wrote: ↑

May 30, 2021

quincunx wrote: ↑

May 30, 2021

Stltoday - Extensive rehab turns Fox Park building into a home

https://www.stltoday.com/lifestyles/hom ... b577b.html

Do folks on this board consider this gentrification? Reason I ask is I'm weighing the term in the context of Fox Park and wonder if this is what most call gentrification.

Maybe unpopular opinion but I'd say this is gentrification. It was a four family flat, presumably with low rents, and now 2/4 of those apartments are a single family home. It's a bit unclear from the article what the building was like before, but it doesn't seem that it was vacant. So didn't the owner evict the tenants living in the two apartments to build a nice home in their stead? Isn't that forcing out residents? 

Based upon the previous property listing from February 2019, the building had already been converted to a single family on one side. It was sold as-is, and the listing even says "property is in need of work".  And based on the pictures, it does not look like the units were taken / there were tenants who were evicted. So the owners who updated this Fox Park building didn't convert it, they just saved a property that needed some TLC and made it livable for new tenants.

https://www.realtor.com/realestateandho ... 2242-96759

^Thanks for the background info. Doesn't seem like a problem in that case. 

I mean gentrification definitionally is more wealthy people ("the gentry") moving into a neighborhood. Which doesn't particularly concern me, we could use more wealth in the city rather than it being all out in the suburbs. What does concern me is the loss of density + affordability when vast numbers of two family flats are converted to single-family homes, which is happening in Tower Grove South and other neighborhoods. 

The block of Sidney that 3-fam is on is seeing quite a bit of activity...  on an individual building level, some changes are harder to judge than others as to where they fit into the  gentrification question... e.g. this one has a hazy history and it would be nice to have a clearer picture on rents, but across the street a formerly below-market rental with Section 8 history was recently sold and upgraded and rents are now much higher.  

Anyway, in the larger picture ACS data suggests Fox Park has been undergoing at least a moderate level of gentrification, at least if you believe a decline in lower income population while the higher income population increases should be in play.  At least for now though it's been more moderate than in some other neighborhoods, in good part due to the benefit of DeSales CDC, etc. being pretty active with affordable housing... would be great if another project like the successful scattered-site East Fox Homes rehab effort from a few years ago could be secured for the area.

Somewhat an aside, at the Sidney/Nebraska corner (just down from that 3-fam) Fox Parkers will be able to enjoy the Black Forest Kaffee Haus set to open around September, but technically they'll have to cross over to the TGE side.

STLrainbow wrote: ↑

Jun 02, 2021

The block of Sidney that 3-fam is on is seeing quite a bit of activity...  on an individual building level, some changes are harder to judge than others as to where they fit into the  gentrification question... e.g. this one has a hazy history and it would be nice to have a clearer picture on rents, but across the street a formerly below-market rental with Section 8 history was recently sold and upgraded and rents are now much higher.  

Anyway, in the larger picture ACS data suggests Fox Park has been undergoing at least a moderate level of gentrification, at least if you believe a decline in lower income population while the higher income population increases should be in play.  At least for now though it's been more moderate than in some other neighborhoods, in good part due to the benefit of DeSales CDC, etc. being pretty active with affordable housing... would be great if another project like the successful scattered-site East Fox Homes rehab effort from a few years ago could be secured for the area.

Somewhat an aside, at the Sidney/Nebraska corner (just down from that 3-fam) Fox Parkers will be able to enjoy the Black Forest Kaffee Haus set to open around September, but technically they'll have to cross over to the TGE side.

Wonder if/when the city will fix that intersection with a "roundabout".  The circle has been smashed and the surrounding pavement are in desperate need or repair.  Im not against traffic circles, but wonder if there isnt a better traffic calming solution here than a circle.  

Given the type of retail that has opened in Fox Park for the past year or two, it seems quite clear to me that the neighborhood is undergoing gentrification (and perhaps the most visible type of gentrification of any surrounding neighborhoods). 

I presume you mean Lucky Accomplice and Little Fox (before that Purple Martin). Yes, those are expensive. Lona's Lil Eats is not overly expensive. Kim Van is still here. These new places didn't displace affordable options, they were empty for years. Other larger developments in my 11 years here was a shuttered Taco Bell to a Early Childhood Center at Jefferson/Russell and a massive former factory, now Rung for Women. These things don't scream gentrification to me. That said, the neighborhood seems way more middle class...but will the young people stay if they have kids or when the kids get school-aged. Fox Park seems way less violent and much more peaceful now. Gentrified? Not sure, but it sure is nicer than it was ten years ago. And our property taxes are skyrocketing. That is how schools are funded...

^ the Early Childhood Center is already gone? holy cow. that was quite a substantial new building for such a short run.

urban_dilettante wrote: ↑

Jun 07, 2021

^ the Early Childhood Center is already gone? holy cow. that was quite a substantial new building for such a short run.

No, the ECC is still there. I was saying in relation to big development and changes in Fox Park, they haven't been standard "gentrification" changes. Non profits and such...

urban_dilettante wrote: ↑

Jun 07, 2021

^ the Early Childhood Center is already gone? holy cow. that was quite a substantial new building for such a short run.

No, they said that the previously shuttered Taco Bell became the site for the Early Childhood Center.

dweebe wrote: ↑

Jun 07, 2021

MarkGroth2020 wrote: ↑

Jun 07, 2021

And the short lived Fox Park Grille at Nebraska/Shenandoah has remained vacant for years and years.

When did that close? 2012 or 2013?

Went there a few times when a friend lived nearby and every time it was either we had service issues, someone near us had problems or an employee was having issues. Always drama.

Yeah, it was a train wreck. Wanted it to succeed, but it was a mess from the beginning. 

MarkGroth2020 wrote: ↑

Jun 07, 2021

I presume you mean Lucky Accomplice and Little Fox (before that Purple Martin). Yes, those are expensive. Lona's Lil Eats is not overly expensive. Kim Van is still here. These new places didn't displace affordable options, they were empty for years. Other larger developments in my 11 years here was a shuttered Taco Bell to a Early Childhood Center at Jefferson/Russell and a massive former factory, now Rung for Women. These things don't scream gentrification to me. That said, the neighborhood seems way more middle class...but will the young people stay if they have kids or when the kids get school-aged. Fox Park seems way less violent and much more peaceful now. Gentrified? Not sure, but it sure is nicer than it was ten years ago. And our property taxes are skyrocketing. That is how schools are funded...

Yes, I had those in mind, plus Coffeestamp and the new coffee shop that is opening up at Nebraska and Sidney (which as someone else has mentioned is technically TGE, but closer to Fox Park's "center of gravity"). 
Fox Park is probably the neighborhood where clear changes in terms of general perception of safety and income were most obvious in the almost 4 years we have lived here. I remember reading about a kid getting shot in the Park proper the week I moved to St. Louis. Now, the Park is full of strollers and young families on the weekends. 

Yeah, forgot about Coffeestamp. That place is great by the way. That building was empty for years as well. To me textbook gentrification is previous businesses getting pushed out by rising rents and high end clientele. Not the case here. Regarding crime, it was rough. I am working on a blog with some personal stories of our block changing over the years. Things are so much less stressful in these parts.

I guess it boils down to whether you consider indirect effects of rising property values or not. I guess I do consider, but most people do not. You mentioned that your property taxes have been going up quite a bit; I wonder how much people will be displaced because they cannot afford to pay those taxes. Rising property values and associated tax increases was a significant source of displacement in some parts of Brooklyn when I used to live there (lower income people could not afford those taxes and would essentially be forced to sell). 

MarkGroth2020 wrote: ↑

Jun 07, 2021

urban_dilettante wrote: ↑

Jun 07, 2021

^ the Early Childhood Center is already gone? holy cow. that was quite a substantial new building for such a short run.

No, the ECC is still there. I was saying in relation to big development and changes in Fox Park, they haven't been standard "gentrification" changes. Non profits and such...

gotcha. i read it quickly as "everything from a shuttered Taco Bell to an Early Childhood Center..."

Nextstl - Apartments Planned for 2528 Texas in Fox Park

An $8M building permit application has been submitted for multi-family conversion of 2528 Texas at Sidney in the Fox Park neighborhood. Blackline has the building under contract and plans to convert it into 78 apartments. They are seeking historic tax credits.

https://nextstl.com/2021/07/apartments- ... 528-texas/

Great news! I love that building and it was really sad to see it in its current state. It is so great to see Fox Park improving so much and so quickly, especially those blocks adjacent to Jefferson and Gravois.

Hopefully this is just the first puzzle piece to an eventual node of density at this intersection. Maybe some new construction apartments soon?

Some news: 
1. Rung is planning on an expansion already.  New 3 story building to be added west of historic building.  Early stages of planning. 
2. Old body shop at Shenandoah, near Jefferson has 150k permit out for office / agricultural use - Ozark Forest Mushroom storage, distribution and growth.

Rung Foundation expansion

Ozark Forest Mushrooms is going to rehab a building at 2616 Shenandoah Ave for growing facility with a retail "pick up" 

https://www.feastmagazine.com/st-louis/ ... 91b3f.html

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/202 ... erica.html

Awesome to see a restaurant in this neighborhood (Little Fox) featured in the paper of record!