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Our zoning code needs an upgrade. Its last overhaul was in 1947 by noted St. Louis villain Harland Bartholomew. It has density maximums and parking minimums. That is bass ackwards. Year after year we lament St. Louis’ population decline. I don’t recall anyone ever throwing a party to celebrate an increase in the number of […]

The post Let’s Zone for People appeared first on NextSTL.

This post was inspired by this StlToday article published yesterday – MetroLink’s new gates don’t yet work. ‘Worse than useless,’ rider says ST. LOUIS — MoDOT has now installed tolls booths at nearly one-third of the entry ramps on interstates and major highways in the region, part of a comprehensive security upgrade. But the toll […]

The post MoDOT’s new tolls don’t yet work. ‘Worse than useless,’ driver says appeared first on NextSTL.

The much maligned Private Building Stabilization Program has been terminated and liens forgiven by Mayor Spencer. I’m not going to argue that the shortcomings and alleged corruption weren’t so. You can read some of the coverage below. What I will do is show you some of the good that came of the program. StlToday – St. […]

The post The Private Building Stabilization Program did some good appeared first on NextSTL.

Late last year I stumbled upon a photograph – a scale model of Cementland made by City Museum visionary Bob Cassilly as an in-progress representation of the core 40 acres of the then-56-acre Riverview Neighborhood/Riverview Municipality site.  I had always heard that any plans for Cementland were entirely in Bob’s head, and thus any direction […]

The post Viva Cementland appeared first on NextSTL.

Ever wonder what happened to the Way Out Club that graced the 1920’s “Palms” building at 2525 South Jefferson in the Fox Park neighborhood?   Photo source: Mark Groth – St. Louis City Talk The Way Out Club was a legendary and beloved St. Louis tavern and live venue built for people who preferred alternatives to […]

The post South Jefferson evolution continues in Fox Park appeared first on NextSTL.

As my water and sewer bills kept creeping up due to previous generations’ abdication of infrastructure maintenance leaving us holding the bag, I’ve been wondering about getting a water meter. Most residential water users in the city don’t have a water meter, so the city charges based on the number of rooms, toilets, baths, and […]

The post Water Meter vs. Flat Rate – Here’s the Math appeared first on NextSTL.

On March 18, 2025, just three weeks before the mayoral election, St. Louis Mayor Tishaura Jones stood in front of a bulldozer and announced the long-awaited demolition of the Workhouse, the city’s notorious former jail. Once a symbol of mass incarceration and racial injustice, the Workhouse had become something else in the years since its […]

The post Op-Ed: Without a Plan – The $10 Million Waste at the Workhouse appeared first on NextSTL.

The gigantic Amoco sign at Clayton Road and Skinker Blvd has been repainted.  “We really butchered this sign rebrand in 2019. We apologize to the City of St. Louis. It’s been a source of embarrassment for years and I’m excited to announce that we finally corrected our mistake.” said John Murphy, Director of Brand Continuity […]

The post Amoco Apologizes to St. Louis and Repairs Botched Landmark Sign appeared first on NextSTL.

Building permit data from the first three months of 2025 are concerning. The dollar amount and number of application are down. The dollar amount can be quite lumpy due to large projects dominating. For example there is the $400M Cardinal Glennon Hospital permit application yet to be issued. So analysis of or extrapolation from short […]

The post Q1 2025 Building Permit Applications Down appeared first on NextSTL.

After decades of blight, the southwest corner of Morgan Ford and Arsenal across from Tower Grove Park in the Tower Grove South neighborhood is becoming four townhomes. The demolition of the low-productivity auto-oriented land use commenced today. A developer based in south St. Louis County acquired the property last year. An $800k building permit was […]

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A Look at 1200 Market Street From a User Experience Perspective

The post Signs Point to Confusion and Frustration at St. Louis City Hall appeared first on NextSTL.

On Wednesday the Gateway Arch Park Foundation announced (Press Release) it had chosen The Cordish Companies of Ballpark Village fame to replace the Millennium Hotel site downtown. The GAPF put out a request for proposals last year after it acquired the property, which has been vacant since 2014. The nearly $670 million preliminary plan integrates […]

The post Cordish proposes complete rebuild of the Millennium site appeared first on NextSTL.

DMG Investments of New York City is proposing a 7-story apartment building, dubbed “Air St. Louis” on the vacant lot at 3901 Forest Park Ave and Vandeventer across from Ikea currently owned by CORTEX. A $25M zoning-only building permit application was submitted last August. We’ve gotten a first look via documents submitted tot he city. […]

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By Matt Wyczalkowski and Christian Frommelt This is a pivotal time to advocate for bicycle and pedestrian safety in St. Louis. As car crashes and dangerous roads imperil us and divide neighborhoods, the City will spend hundreds of millions over the next three years to address traffic violence. The $46M Principal Arterial Traffic Safety program, […]

The post Fighting for Safety on St. Louis’ Most Dangerous Roads appeared first on NextSTL.

Earlier this year,  I happened upon the drone video work of Jimmy Wolfe aka Empty Midwest on Youtube.  In his now 22 part series on abandoned STL structures, Jimmy has documented many of STL’s most endangered architectural treasures from above, revealing the damage and decay invisible from the curb. Prominent among the dozens of structures […]

The post An Inventory of 70 Former Public School Buildings in STL appeared first on NextSTL.

At the corner of Olive and Jefferson in Downtown West St. Louis stands a building from 1968—a relatively recent addition to the city’s landscape. While this modern structure has its own unique story, the site is steeped in an even deeper history. This unassuming corner has been home to key moments in civil rights and […]

The post 2334 Olive: A Century of Progressive Politics appeared first on NextSTL.

How (Bad) Urban Design Affects the Way We Feel Hanging outside of a bar with a group of friends in Turin, Italy, I’m amazed at how the city feels so alive. The night is black, the piazza lights cast a dim yellow, and the streets are filled with countless people out and about. They’re enjoying […]

The post St. Louis’ Sad Suburban Design appeared first on NextSTL.

People Walking, Biking, Busing Count––We Should Count Them (Literally) In May 2024, Chicago’s Department of Transportation claimed that biking had doubled in that city over the past five years. If biking doubled in my hometown, St. Louis, we may never know it. Measuring modal share—the proportion of people walking/rolling, biking, taking public transit, and driving—will […]

The post Why Crash Statistics are Inadequate for Planning Safer Streets appeared first on NextSTL.

Late last summer, I proposed that the city implement a city-wide bike network using recently awarded Rams Settlement Funds. Eventually, this idea was included among 20 other finalists, rising up as one of the more popular possibilities for use of the windfall, among hundreds of citizen proposals initially submitted. In anticipation of the informal public […]

The post St. Louis Residents Call for Better Bike Infrastructure appeared first on NextSTL.

Construction continues in full swing at many job sites big and small. Below is a sampling. 1014 Spruce – The 11TH & Spruce Apartments. 148 apartments Grand and Papin – Steelcote Edwin – 196 market-rate apartments, 249 affordable structured parking spaces, 65,000 square feet of retail for Target, and 141 surface parking spaces. It looks […]

The post Construction photo roundup July 2024 appeared first on NextSTL.