St. Charles County suburb considers something besides single family houses
Chingy’s new hometown of Dardenne Prairie is looking to diversify it’s housing stock. If you are like most people in the St. Louis region you are more likely to know of rap star Chingy than the suburb of Dardenne Prairie. This St. Charles County municipality is largely a bedroom community of single family subdivisions – including the one where rap star Chingy lives. Yes, the St. Louis rapper moved out to the extreme suburbs after making it big in 2003 with his first album, Jackpot. Like so many people in St. Louis – once they hit the jackpot they flee to the land of vinyl siding and front garages.
I’ve been to Chiny’s subdivision – not his house but a neighbors – friends of mine. Like many of the newest subdivisions, the garage doors face the street (and many houses have three-suv garages). A thin veneer of brick graces the front of the houses – putting on a good face. As I recall, this particular subdivision did a better job than most with trees at the entrance but failed to have street trees in the tree lawn.
Up until now, this small municipality has been strictly single family homes on lots with a minimum size of 10,000sf. Period. The city is divided into three wards with two aldermen per ward. To find your ward you don’t worry about precincts – you just look for the name of your subdivision to see which ward you are in (click here to see list). But, city leaders are looking to diversify starting with proposed townhouses.
A developer is proposing a townhouse project which includes what I’m told are “True” Federalist style facades, are closer to the street and rear garages are served by alleys. Townhouse lot size would be 3,945sf – less than half of the single family requirement. Some existing trees on the site are to be saved and included as part of a public park.
All kidding aside about Chingy & suburbia, I do see signs that many of these municipalities are beginning to understand some of the negative ramifications of isolated single family subdivisions. They are a long way away from creating vibrant & diverse neighborhoods but adding townhouses to the mix is certainly a start.
– Steve
Funny…I thought I passed him out here while pulling into the BP on Mexico and Bryan. Kind of hard to miss a Land Rover with spinning 20″ rims 😉
The truly ironic part of density being (re)discovered as a contributing part of a high quality residential environment is that the transportation model serving these neighborhoods collapses under increased density. The ill-conceived, unsustainable, “feeder” system simply can’t handle the existing population, let alone the increased traffic generated by townhome residents all trying to leave for work through the subdivision’s single entrance at 7:30 every morning. I see “townhomes” and “lofts” being constructed at Winghaven vastly increasing population density in the designated “zones” without any thought or care to the characteristics that make these housing typologies successful in a true urban environment: a tight street grid, consistent building setbacks, sidewalks, street trees, commercial uses scattered throughout, a mosaic of cultures and people, etc.
[Excellent points – the street grid is a very important part of the mix! – Steve]