Separate but equal?
A literal road block is the gate shown below:
16th street is a public street that is closed to traffic between Delmar and Dr. Martin Luther King Blvd to the North. In the next block the street has been abandoned by the city and the land is now part of a private parking lot. Two more blocks to the North is the Carr Square Village – a public housing project which was rebuilt within the last 10 years. As a resident of Carr Square Village how could you not feel like you are not wanted on the other side of the gate?
So here we are in 2004 with millions being invested along Washington Avenue yet those folks living in Carr Square Village are forced to go to 14th street to the East to get to all the activity – and jobs. The street grid needs to be reopened so investment can flow to the North and potential employes can flow to the South.
This is simple stuff folks. You put up dividers that say “your type not welcome here” and you get resentment from those excluded boon of Washington Ave. You take down the barriers and the free market will drive the investment North as developers seek new properties to turn into fashionable condos. Tear down that gate Mayor Slay!
In the blocks between Delmar and Carr all the way from Tucker to Jefferson the street grid has really been fucked up over the years. Some really dreadful suburban office park projects have been built. However, some great old warehouses remain as does lots of vacant land. Thoughtful planning could bridge this gap and connect the long separated folks in the projects to the rest of the city. Eventually this rebirth can work its way North to Cass and fill-in the old Pruitt-Igoe site.
Maybe this is too optimistic a goal but I can guarantee you this – if the iron fencing and gate stays in place no developer from the South side of the fence is voluntarily going to work on the other side.