Rollin Stanley on St. Louis & Urban Planning
Rollin Stanley, Executive Director of the St. Louis Planning & Urban Design Agency, joined a group of over twenty people at Grbic on Sunday for a discussion of Jane Jacobs’ classic book, Death and Life of Great American Cities. For a couple of hours we had great discussions of the book, St. Louis, sprawl, and modern design.
In October 2004 the Riverfront Times did an feature story on Stanley. Randall Roberts writes:
Rollin Stanley has bold plans for St. Louis. If he had his way, downtown’s one-way streets would be eliminated, buildings would have to retrofit their basements to include showers for bicyclists, and bike lanes would meander alongside major thoroughfares. Stanley envisions a pedestrian paradise where workers, residents and visitors can window-shop and run errands. He also wants more teeth put in Missouri’s planning and zoning laws; currently, his department isn’t required by law to examine, approve — or see — any proposed deviation from the zoning guidelines and comprehensive land-use plan.
Yesteday was my first time meeting Rollin Stanley and his wife Ann. Vary rarely am I immediately impressed with anyone – much less a city official that has to be somewhat political. The Stanley’s are a pleasant exception! While I didn’t necessarily agree 100% with what Stanley had to say it was certainly in the high 90s.
I feel better knowing Rollin Stanley is in town and making a difference. While change at City Hall will not be immediate I have much greater confidence in the long term prospects for the City of St. Louis.
Since the weather was so nice on Sunday and the location was just under two miles from my house, I decided to ride my bike. I felt really urban showing up on my bike.
In case you are curious, this is not an old bike newly painted. It is a brand new bicycle from Kronan Cycle in Sweden. Mine is a single speed with coaster brake but the 3-speed model would make life much easier. I’ve only had this bike a few months but I really enjoy the looks from people.
– Steve
I just read the RFT article about Rollin! I had heard about him, but missed this article in Oct. I absolutely LOVED some of the quotes. Let’s hope he’s able to stick it out here long enough to do all he hopes to do.
oh, children, though it pains me greatly to be so self-congratulatory….TheCommonspace knew we were onto something when he first got to town…
http://www.thecommonspace.org/2002/10/churchstate.php
🙂
Yes, Amanda you guys are good judges of character!
I want one of those bikes! Did you buy it from the web site?
[Reply: I got it from a bike dealer in San Diego – the only dealer to have any left in stock. Due to value changes with our currency the prices are going up – making it hard for bike dealers to make a profit. I think the only choice now might be to order through the web site. I had A&M Bicycles (Arsenal & Morganford) assemble my bike for me. – Steve]