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My City: Poems on St. Louis from Metro High School students

2 years 1 month ago

I teach American Literature at Metro High School in St. Louis Public Schools. In a recent lesson, students analyzed Carl Sandburg’s “Chicago” and James Weldon Johnson’s “My City” to better understand the early 20th century city in addition to a number of literary focuses. After reading the two poems, I tasked students with penning a […]

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Tony Nipert

The Chinese-American Experience in St. Louis and how Preservation Cements Our Stories and Sense of Place

2 years 1 month ago

I recently read a quote: “Historic preservation is often linked, hand in hand, with ideas of placemaking, where preservationists embed their work in a neighborhood, community, or landscape to highlight what makes that place unique and preserve its character. In doing this work, preservationists make evaluations about a place’s beauty, integrity, and significance. In the […]

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Mark Groth

Dissecting homicide statistics in St. Louis City and looking at 2022 projections

2 years 1 month ago

Welcome to the Murder Capital. As an epithet, it’s right up there with Gateway to the West and Mound City. Cursory Google searches about St. Louis tend to highlight the danger inherent to this place. Historic white flight and modern Black flight are, in part, predicated on a notion and narrative that St. Louis is […]

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Tony Nipert

What should be: Ruth Porter Mall

2 years 2 months ago

Context for the proposal St. Louis’ West End neighborhood is destined for a positive decade. It was one of few northside neighborhoods to witness population growth in the 2020 census adding almost 300 residents. The neighborhood is also 70% Black and saw increases in both Asian and Hispanic populations. It sits on the north end […]

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Tony Nipert

MetroLink is much safer than you think

2 years 2 months ago

Back in November, Bi-State began the process to install turnstiles at MetroLink stations. A $52 million undertaking backed by Centene CEO Michael Neidorff, supporters argued it would make the system much safer. To speak briefly on the turnstiles, there is little evidence that they will improve safety or change the perception of crime. The first […]

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Tony Nipert

St. Louis to study north-south rapid transit… again

2 years 2 months ago

On Wednesday, Citizens for Modern Transit presented that St. Louis would once again enter into a study of north-south rapid transit. Alternatives to Light Rail Transit (LRT) will be explored over the next 15 months. This is the third study in 14 years on a potential north-south route. Locals often call St. Louis a city […]

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Tony Nipert

St. Louis’ neighborhood population density

2 years 2 months ago

*For this graphic, habitable area of the City of St. Louis was calculated to be 48.176 square miles. The city is officially 66.2 square miles, with land area measured at 61.9 square miles. Subtracted from this were city parks, Bellefontaine and Cavalry Cemeteries and the largely industrial neighborhoods of North Riverfront, Near North Riverfront, Riverview, […]

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Tony Nipert

Marquette Homes Project Coming to Dutchtown

2 years 2 months ago

There’s great news in Dutchtown as we enter 2022: Lutheran Development Group has received funding for Marquette Homes, a transformative project that will bring 60 new and rehabbed affordable housing units to the neighborhood! What Is Marquette Homes? The Marquette Homes project includes 14 buildings and lots that will comprise over 54,000 square feet of residential space, […]

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DutchtownSTL.org

Hint of Progress Towards Phase One of Armory Residential

2 years 2 months ago

There’s a hint that residential by the Armory is proceeding. A permit application was submitted Jan 7th for the demolition of the south side of 3650 Market which could be to make way for the phase 1 building. The StL Business Journal reported in May that the first phase was 265 apartments and an estimated […]

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Richard Bose

Drive-thru Imo’s Proposed for East Loop

2 years 2 months ago

Imo’s is proposing a location at the corner of Delmar and DeGiverville in the Skinker DeBaliviere neighborhood near the Delmar Metrolink station. They purchased the property, 5956 Delmar, from Joe Edwards in May 2021 for $140,000 according to city property records. The single-story building would occupy the northeast portion of the parcel. A patio for […]

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Richard Bose

Considering BRT on Kingshighway

2 years 2 months ago

Kingshighway is one of the most important boulevards in the city. Nine miles long, it stretches across the city from north to south. It borders a handful of parks including Forest Park and Tower Grove Park. It also terminates on the north side at Bellefontaine Cemetery. It’s so meaningful to the lived experience of St. […]

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Tony Nipert

$1.3 Billion in Building Permits Issued in 2021

2 years 2 months ago

2021 was another banner year for development in St. Louis. The pandemic didn’t slow things down, resulting in a record dollar amount of building permits issued surpassing 2018. In nominal terms at least. The 2018 amount adjusted by the Consumer Price Index (July 2018 to July 2021) would be $1.314B. The CPI doesn’t track construction […]

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Richard Bose

Lambert Airport Layout Plan Update

2 years 2 months ago

Last Wednesday, airport officials gave an update to the ongoing Airport Layout Plan (PDF). The presentation included a “preferred” plan, as well as some other options that could potentially be done to renovate the airport to more modern standards. Those plans included options to keep both T1 and T2 or consolidate everything to T1. The […]

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Jonathan Shank

Groth Guide to Soulard

2 years 2 months ago

Soulard is a south St. Louis neighborhood bound by 7th/Broadway to the south east and I-55 to the west and north. The 2000 census data counted 3,187 residents (11% decrease from 1990) of whom 80% were white, 16% black, 2% Hispanic/Latino and 1% Asian.  There were 2,216 housing units @ 82% occupancy rate, split 28%/72% […]

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Mark Groth

Permits Issued for City Foundry Phase 2

2 years 2 months ago

The city issued building permits of $43.1M and $11.3M were issued Jan 6th for City Foundry phase 2 developed by New + Found. The larger permit is for a 14-story, 272-unit residential tower with a 481-car parking garage and 25,000 square feet of retail space. The smaller is for an 83,000 square-foot office building. The […]

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Richard Bose

Groth Guide to Lewis Place

2 years 2 months ago

Lewis Place is a north St. Louis neighborhood bound by Dr. Martin Luther King Drive to the north, Delmar Boulevard to the south, Newstead Avenue to the east and Walton Avenue to the west. The 2000 census counted 2,004 residents (30% decline from 1990) of whom 97% were black, 1% Hispanic/Latino. There were 1,045 housing […]

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Mark Groth

La Collina Photo Tour

2 years 2 months ago

The La Collina development in The Hill neighborhood is pretty far along. It consists of a 225-unit apartment building by Draper & Kramer dubbed Moda at The Hill and up to 58 single family homes. The homes were built by McBride Homes. They sold fast, so congrats to them. Let’s have a look around. Background- […]

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Richard Bose

What to do with the Loop Trolley?

2 years 2 months ago

Having watched every publication use the Loop Trolley as clickbait, I wade into this conversation with some trepidation. I have a complex view of the Loop Trolley as it sits garaged today. On the one hand, I think the Loop Trolley should never have been built as a heritage streetcar. I can’t help but look […]

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Tony Nipert

Groth Guide to Academy

2 years 3 months ago

Academy is a north St. Louis neighborhood bound by Martin Luther King Drive to the north, Delmar Boulevard to the south, Union Boulevard to the west and Kingshighway Boulevard to the east. The 2000 census data counted 3,797 residents (down 32% from 1990’s count) of whom 98% were black, 1% white. There were 1,729 housing […]

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Mark Groth

Looking back on streetcars running through St. Louis’ west side

2 years 3 months ago

St. Louis was once the nation’s premiere streetcar city. The maps below show just how extensively the streetcars gridded the city to meet transportation needs. The St. Louis Car Company produced the most widely used street cars in the country. As cars reigned supreme over St. Louis streets in the post-war period, the streetcars became […]

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Tony Nipert