SLU Profs To Give Presentation on the “Crisis of Modern Public Housing.”

Two Professors from Saint Louis University, Joseph Heathcott and Todd Swanstrom, will be presenting what promises to be a very interesting topic:

The Crisis of Modernist Public Housing: Pruitt-Igoe in St. Louis and Bijlmermeer in Amsterdam

Pruitt-Igoe, of course, is the failed housing project on the near north side that was imploded in 1972, less than 20 years after completion. The architect, Minoru Yamasaki, also designed the World Trade Center destroyed on September 11, 2001. The Pruitt-Igoe site has been vacant for nearly 35 years.

This will be contrasted with Amsterdam’s Bijilmermeer project which Heathcott and Swanstrom visited this summer while researching abroad. Both projects had seemingly similar origins yet vastly different outcomes. Heathcott and Swanstrom should be able to shed some light as to the reasons why.

This presentation will be held on Thursday, November 2, 2006 at 4:30pm at the SLU Cook School of Business in Room 236 (Building #7 on campus map, caddy corner from The Coronado) and is sponsored by the St. Louis Metropolitan Research Exchange (STLMRE) and the SLU Department of Public Policy Studies. The event is free and open to the public with a reception to follow!

Meet Pat Herod, Candidate for License Collector, Today

Patrick Herod, a candidate for the office of License Collector, is hosting at an open house meet & greet in the backyard of his home in the lovely Holly Hills neighborhood this evening from 5:30pm to 7:30pm tonight, Friday September 29, 2006. More information, including address, can be found on the official flyer.

Although they will accept financial contributions, this even is not billed as a fundraiser. This is simply a chance for you to meet the candidate and find out what he is all about. I’ve met with him in person twice now and I can tell you the man is fascinating. This is a no-risk, no-obligation event.

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In the interest of full disclosure, I will be serving as a very minor consultant on the campaign and have helped set up a campaign site which will soon become more active as Pat and his volunteers begin posting information (yes, he has volunteers in the plural). In case you are wondering, this post is not a paid message from the campaign (none of my posts are paid messages from anyone).

Urban Review Wins RFT Readers’ Choice for Best Blog

Thank you! The RFT issue is out this week with their annual Best Of list. Last year Urban Review was selected by the editors as “Best Civic-Minded Blog” and this year they included “Best Blog” among the items to be selected by their readership. There was some great competition out there so I am honored to have been your choice.

It seems I was also selected by the RFT editors as Best Gadfly:

It was so simple. Fifteenth Ward Alderwoman Jennifer Florida backed a request from a McDonald’s on South Grand Boulevard that wanted to move a block north and across the street. Then serial blogger Steve Patterson got wind of the plan. Via his Web site, Urban Review, Patterson cast himself as the voice of opposition, criticizing the fast-food franchisee’s “suburban” design and warning that area property values would soon rival the price of a Value Meal. Signs were made, a protest was staged, and by May a cadre of activists was calling for Florida’s ouster. Florida dug in her heels and Patterson fought on, implying at one point that the alderwoman was responsible for an “attack” that caused a 90-minute meltdown of his Web site. How did the saga end? It hasn’t. Florida’s still in office, the McDonald’s is on track to move, and Patterson’s still blogging away.

gad·fly

1. A persistent irritating critic; a nuisance.
2. One that acts as a provocative stimulus; a goad.

I’m sure those on the receiving end of my criticisms will go with definition #1 above but I’ll go with #2. And, talk is the McDonald’s deal is dead.

Southside Journal: “Southtown Centre is failing to fulfill promise.”

The Journal proclaims on page one this week that the highly suburban Southtown Centre is “failing to fulfill promise.” Well, I could tell from the sprawl-centric design that it would not do well so in my mind it is fulfilling my expectations.

What both amused and saddened me was the response of 14th-Ward Alderman as quoted in the Surban Journal:

“There’s no reason why that place shouldn’t be full,” Gregali said, “The demographics are great for the shopping center, he said.

As for business, “I think it’s OK. I think it would be better if there were more foot traffic,” Gregali said.

No reason it shouldn’t be full? It should be fully leased based on demographics? Foot traffic? This is precisely why planning fundamentals should not be left to aldermen unless they are skilled in such areas. Gregali, clearly, is not so skilled. But the problems go beyond Gregali.

First of all, demographics are not the sole determining factor for the success of a commercial center. Design plays an increasingly important role to people, especially in an urban context. In addition to wanting a good price on that bag of cat litter at PetsMart people want an attractive and pedestrian-friendly environment. Contrary to what some might suggest, we can actually have both.

I know you come here for the photos as much as the witty dialog so click continue below and check out the images of this disaster.
… Continue Reading

Fine Building on MLK Razed; Ward not in Preservation Review District

Last April the St. Louis Chapter of the American Institute of Architects conducted a design charrette in the historic Ville neighborhood. During the event I scootered up and down MLK getting photos of buildings both in the Ville and in areas east and west. Upon showing pictures of this building to one team, they asked to use the images. One member of that team was Architect John Burse, a resident of Old North St. Louis and a member of the St. Louis Preservation Board.

Burse felt this building was a great model to show how you can mix residential buildings with commercial storefronts. Additionally, all felt the design of the building was quite nice with great proportions and detailing.

The photos are all that remain of this building that, if rehabbed, could have made a nice contribution to the streetscape. Instead another vacant lot will join all the others along MLK.

I took this photo on Saturday afternoon and sent it to John Burse last night. Neither of us recalled seeing it on a Preservation Board agenda (again, he is a member of the Preservation Board). Today I looked up the property address and it is no wonder it did not come before the Preservation Board: it is located in Terry Kennedy’s 18th Ward in one of the many neighborhoods that border MLK.

I don’t believe any of the 18th Ward is in a Preservation Review District — a designation that provides for the review of an application before a demolition permit can be issued. I say I don’t believe because no map of what is in the Preservation Review is available online. I don’t know that one is available even if I asked. One can look up individual properties to see if they are in such a district or a Historic District but that doesn’t show what areas are, in effect, demolition zones.

The irony here is that Ald. Kennedy, as chairman of the Public Safety Committee, sits on the Preservation Board. Ald. Kennedy is up for re-election in March 2007.