Arch City Chronicle: Blog:

Via the StLouist mailing list. A meeting to look at the effect that increasing property and housing costs will have on the diversity and livability of South St. Louis. What is the effect on middle-income families who want to live in an area that was defined by its cohesive, middle-income community? Certainly development can be beneficial, but is it being done responsibly? Bring your questions and share your thoughts.

What: South Side Housing Assembly
Where: South Side Day Nursery Hub Office, 2716
Pestalozzi
When: Sunday April 24th at 4pm

What exactly is the problem and how do we define it?
What do you think positive development looks like? How
can we create more community control over development?
What resources do we have to share? What action can we
take? Come together to discuss these ideas and issues!
What do you think?

Posted by Matthew on Wed., Apr 20, 2005 at 4:08 PM |

Comments

Usually it is low income families that are priced out of neighborhoods after redevelopment (unless creative mechanisms are used to develop and/or preserve affordable housing).

Most middle income families can afford to live in the city.

On the other hand, talking with friends who live in the South Grand area, folks who got in early-say by the mid to late nineties, have seen their homes double or triple in value. So the prime blocks have gotten too pricey for most first time homebuyers.

Hopefully this trend will push demand for housing in more previously ignored areas, drawing more stable households to these neighborhoods.

The people that are caught are low income families, mostly renters, who cannot pay the rising rents of gentrifying neighborhoods.

Community based organizations can help set priorities and neighborhood direction to support more affordable housing.

But in reality, a lot of community groups shun affordable housing, prioritizing market rate for sale development instead. They point out statistics that show how their neighborhood is already overburdened with rental housing, and so what they need to do is develop more market rate, for sale housing to attract *middle income* families.

Posted by rick on Thu., Apr 21, 2005 at 10:26 AM

Interesting article in USA Today today. New studies are being published that reject the idea of gentrification as a negative force in the community.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2005-04-19-gentrification_x.htm

Posted by Matt B on Thu., Apr 21, 2005 at 3:28 PM

Currently in the Benton Park West area, I see the problems as being:
- LRA property largely being classified as Class "C", so it's no longer available for individuals to purchase and rehab on their own or as side lots;
- Speculators buying up properties that could potentially be rehabbed quite nicely, but instead taking advantage of low purchase prices and tax credit programs to flip the properties without doing much real work;
- Still one of the highest rates of Section 8 voucher usage in the City.

To me, Millennium Restoration, Beachfront, etc. are doing generally good things; and realistically, they pick and choose the properties they redevelop. They can bring up the surrounding block.

We definitely need to keep BPW affordable. Right now, there is some high-end development happening that is good; on the other hand, some properties seem to be selling for more than they are really worth, given the amount of work that has actually been done to improve them. So what I fear will happen is a new, fairly naive homeowner will come in, get frustrated, then turn it back over to "investment" property rental units.

I don't think total gentrification is a real possibility; but I am concerned that crappy rehab jobs will diminish the momentum that is building. Not to mention crime and the perceptions thereof.

Posted by Joe Frank on Fri., Apr 22, 2005 at 12:42 PM

As for the Giants, their own happiness was short-lived as they lost to - who else?

Posted by alieldridge on Sun., Jun 18, 2006 at 4:10 AM

Posted by ardenarde on Sun., Jun 18, 2006 at 8:38 PM

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