“Small Architectural Interventions in Troubled Neighborhoods”
I got word of a potentially interesting presentation this evening at Wash U:
On Monday, April 30, at 7 p.m., John Kleinschmidt will present a talk on small architectural interventions in troubled neighborhoods in Kemp Auditorium (Room 116) in Givens Hall at Washington U.
John is a third year student in the College of Architecture and worked on this study as an independent project. He concentrated on Old North St. Louis’s 14th Street Mall, on a proposed infill project on North Union and on a WU/AIA proposal for a farmer’s market in the Ville neighborhood.
Givens Hall is the main architecture school building at Wash U. I don’t know the visitor parking situation but they do have some usually full bike racks near the building entrance. The new Skinker MetroLink stop is a short distance away if you wish to take light rail. Bus is also an option but I don’t know the route numbers.
At one time in architecture, engineering, and planning schools the thought was you needed major projects to completely remake “troubled neighborhoods.” I think this mindset is still rattling around at city hall. Many, these days, are focusing on smaller solutions. Can we come in and seek out problems and come up with a series of smaller, easier to implement solutions, that can help communities without disrupting what works? I think if we are going to succeed in helping some areas the answer needs to be “yes.” The one size fits all new subdivision or strip center solutions are simply not realistic or even necessary everywhere.
UPDATE 5/1/07 @ 9:45am:
I attended the interesting event last night. It was not exactly as I had expected. The speaker did not offer any new ideas but was sharing thoughts from an architectural writing class about efforts in three areas, Union @ Labadie, The Ville and 14th street. The course is being taught by former Post-Dispatch critic Bob Duffy.
There’s an old farmer’s market on State Street in East St. Louis. Check it out today.
It’s the place with the flattened improvements laying like a pancake on the site.
You might have trouble finding it though…because there are lots of places in ESL fitting that description.
Thinking about the N. 14th Street Mall, have you visited it lately?
It’s an urban ghost town. What small improvements could help there?
I can think of $25,000,000 small improvments that would do some good, starting out with reopening the street. And that’ll take about a million of them.
The plan to redevelop the 14th Street Mall is a major undertaking. If the presenter
were to call it a “small intervention” would mischaracterizes the intiative by major
proportions. For the mall project to be a success, it will require broad based community support,
major financial investment, leadership and shared vision.
A small intervention would be the opening of a branch office of a popular neighborhood
bar on Cherokee. But we know for even that to happen requires much in the way
community work.
I fear that the search for “small interventions” is a search for quick answers, when in
reality, most solutions for tired neighborhoods are long term and substantial. Not small.
Since most readers here will be unable to attend tonight’s meeting, we will look forward
to reading more about the ideas presented.
If a small intervention is that one intrepid homebuyer, rehabbing a building for owner
occupancy, volunteering to be the block captain, and then eventually,
neighborhood association president, well, that might seem small to the planners of the
world, but it’s a major commitment on the part of that one intrepid homebuyer.
It’s encouraging to see people more open-minded these days about the small scaled intervention in urban neighborhoods, as I think this is all that’s needed in many cases. However there are also places like the former McRee town, where the large-scale intervention seems is the best hope, and unfortunately the city is not lacking in McRee-type areas. I hope as a planning community we can come to a better understanding of what type of remedy is best in a particular situation.
Good luck St. Louis, I have rehabbed 6 properties in the city and I am so DONE!
I will not put another nickel in this den of theives. Break ins, tagged property, burned alleys, tree rubble still from last year in alleys, citations for other crimminal CON-contractors leaving there trash in dumpsters behind your property. My property condemned because I had the utilities turned on and I was guilty until I proved that the property was vacant. Three court dates to prove my innocense because the inspectors failed to show. The Mayor bragging about more people living in the city… ask yourself who? People from New Orlenes, jobless vandals everywhere. Good luck if you think a commercial venture will fix the crimminals.
^
Not all circumstances are equal. I am sorry to hear of your bad experiences, but there are so many good experiences with city rehabbing out there.
I’m not talking those that come from the Mayor’s spin factory but real stories from real people — including many like myself who would rather get more help than hype from Room 200.
Victimized by the StL culture? I empathize with Pat’s story and can add many chapters to it. It is indicative of how selective enforcement is used to dole out favors to some and penalize the average owner who is organically making our surroundings better for all. Funny, Steve’s security word is “participate”… do you mean Pat failed to “participate” in enough political fund raising?
If a a neighborhood is really “troubled”, architectural interventions aren’t the solution.