BB42 would decrease minimum lot sizes for single and two-fams!
https://www.stlouis-mo.gov/government/c ... BBId=16697
https://www.stlouis-mo.gov/government/c ... BBId=16697
It passed the first vote, perfection, at the BoA.
https://www.bizjournals.com/stlouis/new ... anges.html
BOA passed, Spencer approved lot sizes reduction.
BOA passed, Spencer approved lot sizes reduction.
Right now, St. Louis has a good group of alders informed on matters of Urban Planning, Land Use, Zoning. It's a constellation that doesn't always line up so I hope we see many more adjustments like this one over the next few years.
I agree it seems like there are a lot of small changes being floated/pushed that are no brainers but in the past no one on the Board had much interest in spending time on these issues.addxb2 wrote: ↑Jul 12, 2025Right now, St. Louis has a good group of alders informed on matters of Urban Planning, Land Use, Zoning. It's a constellation that doesn't always line up so I hope we see many more adjustments like this one over the next few years.
Think of all the garages in south city that could be retrofit to have a unit above them. City should give homeowners tax breaks to take these on.
City of STL seeks public participation in major zoning upgrade initiative
https://www.stlouis-mo.gov/government/d ... pation.cfmThe Zoning Upgrade public launch event will feature an introduction to the project and a panel discussion with zoning experts from around the country, moderated by Dara Eskridge of InvestSTL. Residents will be able to share their thoughts and priorities and sign up to participate in the process moving forward.
The event will be held on Wednesday, Sept. 3, at 5:30 p.m. at Forest Park’s Visitor & Education Center, 5595 Grand Dr. Doors open at 5 p.m.
I would say "help a little bit"
Stl PR - St. Louis officials hope plan to update 1950s zoning policy will reverse population drain
https://www.stlpr.org/economy-business/ ... tion-drain
Stl PR - St. Louis officials hope plan to update 1950s zoning policy will reverse population drain
https://www.stlpr.org/economy-business/ ... tion-drain
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Cool. I hope this effort includes parking mandate reform
The first newsletter looks encouraging https://www.zoup-stl.com/newsletters
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Wonder what is going on over in Birmingham, it could be a hell of a city if it ever takes off.
WU Public Health - How can we make St. Louis a healthier, better place to live?
https://schoolofpublichealth.washu.edu/ ... e-to-live/
https://schoolofpublichealth.washu.edu/ ... e-to-live/
I think the city needs a broad, long term redevelopment plan for the parts of Downtown, Downtown West, and LaSalle Park around Chouteau and 8th Street, south of the train tracks.
I don't know how we can seriously imagine a "thriving" downtown in our future when we have complexes like the Purina HQ having a total accessed value of ~$34.5M or about $1.07M/acre. For reference, my parent's single family home in South City is $2.4M/acre. Metropolitan Square is ~$36M/acre. This is the story across this entire area, very very horribly utilized land generating very little tax revenue.
If there is something I would like to see Spencer do, it would be to put together a top down redevelopment plan that includes business relocations, new built infrastructure, and new construction using some Rams money, ideally Spencer being "business friendly" should help getting the private sector on board. Obviously this is all mostly wish casting from me, but I still don't see a future where STL is thriving and we have this black hole between downtown and Lafayette Square/LaSalle Park, etc.
My thrown together idea would be to:
1) Incentivize Ameren and Purina to move across to real downtown, probably leasing space or buying buildings. This would retain the companies and employees, improve downtown's office numbers, improve downtown's economy, and give a much needed shot to downtown. It would also make their sprawling office complexes vacant and ready to redevelop.
2) Relocate other businesses that will not work with the broder redevelopment plan, which would focus on residential, retail, and small office, while keeping those that fit with the plan.
3) Demolish buildings not suitable for the broader plan while maintaining buildings that can be redeveloped in line with the plan.
4) Rebuild the street-grid and rebuild utility infrastructure to make the area ready and primed for redevelopment.
5) Improve pedestrian and bicycle connections to downtown via 8th Street, Tucker Bridge, 14th street bridge, and 18th Street bridge with new lighting, protected cycle tracks, and protected sidewalks.
6) What would the plan even look like? I imagine keeping the historic buildings that remain, probably keeping most of Ameren and Purina's buildings with the goal of mixed use redevelopment. Apartmemt complexes and town homes I think would look great here, some parks as well. The area would be split into many different plots and in theory, multiple developers could come in and build in different areas.
Again, I'm aware I am wishcasting, I'm aware that Ameren and Purina are not seeking new HQs, I'm aware none of our leaders have any vision, all I'm saying is that this area is a massive burden on the city and downtown and there *should* be a broad top down redevelopment plan for a long term vision.
The area I'm talking about is ~188 acres, much of which are surface parking lots. Nearby ongoing/proposed developments include the new apartments at LaSalle and Missouri, Gateway South, and the Clinton-Peabody redevelopment.![]()
I don't know how we can seriously imagine a "thriving" downtown in our future when we have complexes like the Purina HQ having a total accessed value of ~$34.5M or about $1.07M/acre. For reference, my parent's single family home in South City is $2.4M/acre. Metropolitan Square is ~$36M/acre. This is the story across this entire area, very very horribly utilized land generating very little tax revenue.
If there is something I would like to see Spencer do, it would be to put together a top down redevelopment plan that includes business relocations, new built infrastructure, and new construction using some Rams money, ideally Spencer being "business friendly" should help getting the private sector on board. Obviously this is all mostly wish casting from me, but I still don't see a future where STL is thriving and we have this black hole between downtown and Lafayette Square/LaSalle Park, etc.
My thrown together idea would be to:
1) Incentivize Ameren and Purina to move across to real downtown, probably leasing space or buying buildings. This would retain the companies and employees, improve downtown's office numbers, improve downtown's economy, and give a much needed shot to downtown. It would also make their sprawling office complexes vacant and ready to redevelop.
2) Relocate other businesses that will not work with the broder redevelopment plan, which would focus on residential, retail, and small office, while keeping those that fit with the plan.
3) Demolish buildings not suitable for the broader plan while maintaining buildings that can be redeveloped in line with the plan.
4) Rebuild the street-grid and rebuild utility infrastructure to make the area ready and primed for redevelopment.
5) Improve pedestrian and bicycle connections to downtown via 8th Street, Tucker Bridge, 14th street bridge, and 18th Street bridge with new lighting, protected cycle tracks, and protected sidewalks.
6) What would the plan even look like? I imagine keeping the historic buildings that remain, probably keeping most of Ameren and Purina's buildings with the goal of mixed use redevelopment. Apartmemt complexes and town homes I think would look great here, some parks as well. The area would be split into many different plots and in theory, multiple developers could come in and build in different areas.
Again, I'm aware I am wishcasting, I'm aware that Ameren and Purina are not seeking new HQs, I'm aware none of our leaders have any vision, all I'm saying is that this area is a massive burden on the city and downtown and there *should* be a broad top down redevelopment plan for a long term vision.
The area I'm talking about is ~188 acres, much of which are surface parking lots. Nearby ongoing/proposed developments include the new apartments at LaSalle and Missouri, Gateway South, and the Clinton-Peabody redevelopment.
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Unfortunately that whole area was specifically designed to be a buffer between Downtown and the undesirables in the neighborhoods to the south. It's embarrassing how auto oriented these campuses are adjacent to DOWNTOWN. Absolute black holes of street life.
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^Areas like this should be put on a "greening plan" where they are required to cover 50% of their canopy with trees over 5-10 years
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I’m pretty sure that area was designed that way before the neighborhoods to the South became the way that they are currently.GoHarvOrGoHome wrote: ↑Oct 03, 2025Unfortunately that whole area was specifically designed to be a buffer between Downtown and the undesirables in the neighborhoods to the south. It's embarrassing how auto oriented these campuses are adjacent to DOWNTOWN. Absolute black holes of street life.