St. Louis

4 abandoned homes in St. Louis's Greater Ville neighborhood

Why Did a 'Mysterious' Company Buy Hundreds of Properties in St. Louis?

Over the course of a year beginning in June 2008, a 'mysterious holding company' named Urban Assets bought 240 parcels across a five-mile swath of the north side of St. Louis. Since then, it's just let them decay.

August 28, 2013 - St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Will Short-Term 'Failure' Lead to Long-Term Success of St. Louis Ballpark Village?

Last week the St. Louis Cardinals heralded the opening of a surface parking lot as a 'milestone' in the $650 million mixed-use development known as Ballpark Village. For Alderman Scott Ogilvie the lot represents the 'total failure' of the project.

August 15, 2013 - St. Louis Riverfront Times

NIMBY Epidemic Infects St. Louis

Senior citizen apartment complexes, a gas station, and 17 emergency communication towers are among the latest targets of staunch neighborhood opposition in the St. Louis area. What is the line between reasonable objections and "BANANAS" opposition?

August 4, 2013 - St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Can St. Louis Keep Its Unique Heritage from Crumbling?

As the back-to-the-city movement takes hold, cities are turning old industrial buildings into distinctive spaces prized as offices and lofts. St. Louis is trying to figure out how to preserve their legacy assets from crumbling as they await new life.

July 12, 2013 - St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Midwestern DOTs Struggle to Keep Up With Forward-Thinking Residents

Across America's Midwest, resident revolts have challenged the traditional DOT orthodoxy of continuous highway construction. The most recent battleground is St. Louis, where a growing movement is protesting a highway project first conceived in 1957.

July 1, 2013 - DC.Streetsblog

Does New Orleans Need a New Tourism Icon?

The centerpiece of a $500 million plan for redeveloping New Orleans' riverfront is an 'iconic' sculpture, replacing the empty World Trade Center tower. Roberta Brandes Gratz argues the city should focus on small steps instead of a tourism boondoggle.

June 26, 2013 - The Lens

St. Louis Reneges on Plan to Study Highway Teardown

With great fanfare, St. Louis put out an RFP last year to study the conversion of a portion of the elevated I-70 highway separating downtown St. Louis from its historic riverfront into a boulevard. That study has been scrapped for vague reasons.

June 26, 2013 - St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Is CA High-Speed Rail Stalling the Federal Rail Program?

House Republicans object to further funding of the High-Speed Intercity Passenger Rail program - largely due to California's expectation to receive $42 billion in federal funding - yet less ambitious projects have shown much promise.

May 8, 2013 - Governing Magazine

Reducing Historic Tax Credit Could Curb Development in St. Louis

A successful tax credit that boosts development and preservation in St. Louis's historic urban core is under legislative attack in Missouri.

March 30, 2013 - Next City

Midwest Gets Taste Of High(er) Speed Rail

The speedometer on the Chicago to St. Louis train hit 110 mph - and stayed there for five minutes, but it was enough to elevate the spirits of Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood and the other dignitaries on-board. Normal speeds top out at 79 mph.

October 22, 2012 - The Huffington Post

Return of Rail Could Be Ticket to Reviving Landmark St. Louis Station

Once a national hub of passenger rail service, St. Louis's majestic Union Station hasn't seen a train in five years. The impending sale of the station may provide the opportunity to bring a historic use back to one of the country's grand relics.

October 11, 2012 - St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Rail Debate: Should the Federal Government Invest in High Speed Rail?

Two transportation experts, Ken Orski, editor of Innovation Briefs and Joshua Schank, CEO of the Eno Center take opposing sides on whether it makes sense for the federal government to invest in high speed rail in this Wall Street Journal exclusive.

September 26, 2012 - The Wall Street Journal - Business

How Zoning Might Make or Break New Streetcar Lines

As St. Louis and Portland speed along with new streetcar developments, Yonah Freemark considers how zoning may determine the success of one, and the failure of another.

September 23, 2012 - the transport politic

Cities Look to Break the Rising Cost of College

As the federal and several state governments continue to allow costs for a college education to rise, local governments and business are looking for strategies to stem the tide.

July 12, 2012 - The Huffington Post

Development Threatens Ancient Suburb in St. Louis

Excavating in East St. Louis in advance of an approaching freeway and future development, archaeologists have uncovered the remains of a sophisticated American Indian settlement nearly a thousand years old that "no one knew existed."

June 4, 2012 - NPR

Friday Funny: Best Cities for Cheapskates

Granted, this post may straddle the borderline between funny and sadly pertinent in these challenging economic times. But, we think any rankings that rely upon the number of Dollar General stores in a 30-mile radius deserves a bit of a chuckle.

May 18, 2012 - yahoo! Finance

Will Generation Y Drive a Rust Belt Redux?

In search of cheap rent and an urban experience with some bona fide street cred, young people are making the move out to the Rust Belt, Will Doig reports.

May 17, 2012 - Salon

A Closer Look At Growth Data Showing An Urban Revival

On April 5, the U.S. Census Bureau released growth data from April 2010 to July 2011 showing that for the first time in 20 years, urban growth surpassed exurban growth. Yonah Freemark takes a closer look at the data for 21 metropolitan areas.

April 10, 2012 - theTransportPolitic

Will St. Louis Become the Next City to Demolish Its Elevated Urban Highway?

Alex Ihnen writes about the fast moving proposal to convert 1-mile of the elevated I-70 highway separating downtown St. Louis from its historic riverfront.

March 5, 2012 - nextSTL.com

Reflections on Towers in the Park, and the Limits of Architecture

Michael Kimmelman, after visiting the Penn South housing cooperative in Manhattan and reflecting on the new film "The Pruitt-Igoe Myth", questions the role that design has in determining success or failure for tower in the park housing type.

January 26, 2012 - The New York Times

Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools

This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.

Planning for Universal Design

Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.

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An annual review of books related to planning.

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100 Most Influential Urbanists

The who's who of urbanism, according to Planetizen readers.

Urban Planning Creators You Should Know

A short list of voices on social, video, and podcasting platforms.