The City of St. Louis has its sights set on revitalization for 11 North City neighborhoods, engaging community members and experienced planning consultants in a collaborative endeavor to address long-standing concerns and enhance residents' quality of life. According to a recent announcement, the city is looking for firms to develop neighborhood plans addressing housing, economic development, safety, and other key areas of urban living.
Mayor Tishaura O. Jones emphasized the importance of these community-driven plans, recognizing the unique nature of each neighborhood while identifying issues such as "an aging housing stock and lack of services" as a result of "decades of disinvestment." In a statement obtained by St. Louis's official website, Jones said, "Creating these neighborhood plans is a foundational step to ensure that all of our neighborhoods in St. Louis can succeed and that your zip code doesn’t determine your opportunity."
The neighborhoods targeted for this initiative, which include College Hill, Fairground Neighborhood, Hamilton Heights, and eight others, will be a part of a participatory process to set both short-term and long-term goals. Notably, over one hundred acres of land in the Mark Twain I-70 Industrial neighborhood will be available for development, offering an attractive opportunity for retail and potential residential use, including the 47-acre Army Reserve Center site.
Contracted firms will face the challenge of ensuring broad community engagement and producing a range of deliverables, such as comprehensive analyses and conceptual drawings. Don Roe, the executive director of the City’s Planning & Urban Design Agency, said on the City of St. Louis website, "These neighborhood plans will help to proactively guide development that benefits all of our residents and community members." The plans are expected to be ready for adoption by late 2026, marking a significant milestone in the city's overarching PlanSTL initiative that aims to create and adopt neighborhood plans for all 79 neighborhoods throughout St. Louis.
This ambitious planning program is funded partly by the Economic Development Sales Tax that city voters passed in 2017. As of now, planning efforts are already underway in 14 other neighborhoods. For those interested in shaping the future of these communities, the request for proposals opened on Feb. 10 and will close on March 12, with an optional pre-submittal Zoom meeting scheduled for Thursday at 3 p.m. Details and participation instructions are available on the city’s website for those looking to contribute to the transformation of St. Louis’s North City neighborhoods.
