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Last week I promised the text from the excellent St. Louis Business-Journal article "Downtown Kirkwood wrestles with its future: More big development or status quo?" Well, thanks to a loyal reader, I'm happy to report you can access the full text of the article here. Thanks to another reader for pointing me toward the most recent episode of Donnybrook in which the hosts discuss the article beginning at the 14:15 mark. Unfortunately, none of the hosts ever seem to connect the dots that the only way we can ensure Kirkwood remains affordable for middle class families is by removing the rules that prevent the supply of new housing from meeting the rising demand to live in the community. Community isn't an aesthetic, it's a bunch of people. And people need houses.
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- A quick note that the Public Works Site Request for Proposals (RFP) closed a couple of weeks back. Last year, the infamous Jefferson lot RFP also closed in December and the council didn't get around to rejecting the six proposals until June, but we also had an election in the interim so hopefully we'll know a little sooner than that
- Some highlights from last week's Webster-Kirkwood Times:
- Starting on pg.1, there's an update on Phase 2 of the Community Center's renovations (including a rendering of one of the new community center rooms). There's also an update on the coming Phase 3 of the Community Center renovations that will look to renovate the ice rink's equipment itself. This is a going to be expensive, so now might be a good time to remind everyone that unlike the KPAC, the ice rink is a money maker for the city. The rink also has a reputation for having some of the best ice in the city so pride is at stake here!
- On pg. 4, there's a story on Webster's upcoming hearing on the KVC mental health facility noting, especially, how long officials expect the public comment session to go on for. I hope Webster approves this thing on principal, but at the very least I hope we can agree that a six hour long public pissing contest is a stupid and undemocratic way of deciding things. I just don't really know what a better system would be.
- On pg. 6, some highlights from this week's mailbag items:
- Alan Hopefl and Carmody are both frustratingly stubborn belligerents in a fight over what the key to pedestrian and cycling safety is, with Carmody emphasizing road design and Hopefl coming down on the side of safety and enforcement, but they're both right! I'm a little skeptical of the education piece, but both road design and enforcement are very important. More on both of these here soon.
- The Boy Scouts are wrong about the deer feeding thing but I do like that they give out a badge for writing a letter to the editor on public policy
- I love Patrick Richmond's discussing of possible Metro Bus route extensions to Downtown Kirkwood. My preference though would be for the route to go directly towards Downtown Webster and on to the MetroLink, as I discuss here
- Speaking of maps, I loved this story on pg.16 about Webster native Andy Hahn's new book, "Mapping St. Louis" in which several maps of Kirkwood transit, both real and hypothetical, are mentioned
- Section B is mostly just a review of the top stories of the year, but one critical update is the note that the much anticipated Kirkwood Station renovations began in November
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That's it for today! Thank you all for a wonderful 2024. Kirkwood Gadfly set a new record of 31k views across the full year, nearly 10k more views than the site got in 2023. Those views came from nearly 17k unique visitors, a 31% increase over last year's total. I'm incredibly proud to count you all among them. Happy New Year and talk soon
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