New urbanism? We've got your urbanism right here

The Board of Aldermen received a briefing on the East West Gateway Council's Great Streets Symposium held earlier in October following their regular meeting Friday.

Les Sterman, Executive Director of East West Gateway, and Donna Day, leader of the transportation corridor improvement group, presented a summary of the symposium.

The symposium was designed to bring together planners, engineers, elected officials and others to discuss ways to create "great streets." Examples of streets on their way to becoming "great" are the Loop stretch of Delmar and South Grand Blvd just south of Tower Grove Park.

"Great Streets" would be those avenues that, through their design, foster community and encourage pedestrian activity. Elements such as buffering the traffic, slowing-down traffic, narrowing the streets and creating more pedestrian friendly sidewalks can create those urban environments.

E-W Gateway hopes to get three demonstration projects under way to help illustrate their efforts. They pointed to a development project on Manchester Ave. at Sarah St. that, though it is not their project, is a good example that puts those ideas in practice.

Alderman Donna Baringer, 16th Ward, brought up the key point, money. She said she had been through all the steps and she had all the plans she needed, but where would the financing come from?

E-W Gateway plans to set aside $2 to 3 million of the federal funds it receives as seed money. Though, as Alderman Gregory Carter, 27th Ward, pointed out, "that's not a lot of money."

Sterman said they plan on being the guide to getting the aldermen the finances they need, not the central source. Much of the Gateway's effort is focused on education.

There will be a workshop in February bringing together these same groups to address the issues. In addition they will introduce an online design guide; a clearinghouse of information available to residents, planners and elected officials.

Sterman admitted that there were projects done in the past that they would not approve now. He said much of the recent development had been driven by engineering rather than planning.

"There's a bit more flexibility in the standards that we've been told over the years," said Sturman.

The presentations given at the October symposium are available here.