Hinderances To Progress In St. Louis

[Tosspot]

I thought you St. Louis folks might be interested in this, it's running on Planetizen's front page today. Sadly, I think both KC and St. Louis share some common difficulties when it comes to rehabbing our cities.

Article-Click Here

[ShowMeKC]

What difficulties are we having? (Kansas City) We've already more than doubled our downtown population (in just 4 years) and have added at least 15,000+ people in our city...

[Tosspot]

Devin,

Overcoming boneheaded and diehard zoning and parking codes for one. These two issues not only affect St. Louis and KC but nearly every American city.

Additionally, this quote, taken from the article's summary on Planetizen, especially the bold part, sounds awfully familar, doesn't it.

"Stanley is learning that the hurdles he faces in St. Louis are far taller than those he encountered during his 21 years as a well-respected planner in Toronto...In Toronto developers begged to build, and the city held the bargaining chip. In St. Louis the opposite is true.

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. But his ideas and recommendations, though commonplace in Toronto, would stun St. Louis developers, laments Stanley."

[Brickcity]

Hey thanks for posting that Article.