A couple of weeks back, Patrick Richmond wrote a mailbag letter in the Webster-Kirkwood Times that I think made some great points: First, I think he's spot on that the only real way of combatting congestion and a perceived shortage of parking in a growing Kirkwood is to get some people to switch from driving… Continue reading Micro-Transit: A Better Use for TDD
I've written 95 stories since I started Kirkwood Gadfly back in 2017. Of those 100 stories, my three stories covering the Jefferson RFP responses the city rejected rank 2, 3, and 8 in terms of numbers of views. Why? Well, my theory goes a little something like this: Kirkwood residents have repeatedly indicated that their… Continue reading Council Passes on $60m Investment & 362 Parking Spaces from NOVUS
I've long made the case that in order for Kirkwood to get the most out of its significant development in the Grant's Trail extension, they should clear the way for the private sector to invest in the land alongside it. That mostly means loosening zoning restrictions for what uses are allowed on adjacent land, but… Continue reading Present & Future Development Along Grant’s Trail
Update 9/10/24: The Board of Adjustment seems to have voted down the variances requested by this project at last night's meeting. While I do not have the official final tally, two members seem to have been broadly supportive based on their comments, while three were opposed. While seeing such a high-quality project stymied is frustrating,… Continue reading The Maje Residences: 7 Townhomes Next to Grant’s Trail
A few weeks back I began my exploration of the proposals that had been submitted to Kirkwood City Council in response to the RFP the city issued on the two city owned surface parking lots on Jefferson Ave. We first looked at IPG's proposal for a mixed-use boutique hotel and parking structure on the East… Continue reading PJ’s Rejected Proposal Shows the High Price of NIMBYism
Last week I wrote that the city had officially rejected IPG's proposal for the city-owned East Jefferson Parking Lot. That plan would have added a 66-room boutique hotel, shopping, and a net increase of over a hundred parking spots to Downtown Kirkwood, but it was only one-half of their submission to the city. Today I… Continue reading IPG Part 2: Council Rejects Another $33m of Investment
Back in December, Kirkwood issued a Request for Proposals on the two city-owned parking lots on Jefferson Avenue, which ultimately yielded six separate proposals for each of the two lots. By mid-June 2024, however, the newly elected City Council reneged on the forward-looking initiative and opted to reject each of the twelve proposals submitted in… Continue reading IPG Boutique Hotel & Parking Proposal Rejected by City
On nearly every new post I publish, I get some variation of the same comment: "What about parking?" Many of these commenters will acknowledge that all of the official studies of Kirkwood's parking have found no shortage of available parking but insist that their own informal experiences prove otherwise. Go to Downtown Kirkwood on any… Continue reading How to Solve The Parking Problem (and Cut Taxes)
Last Fall, Kirkwood City Council agreed to reduce the number of lanes on North Kirkwood Road from four lanes down to three from Adams to Bodley. It looks like this fall, the battleground will move further South. Phase 2 of the Kirkwood Road project will look to overhaul the city's premier thoroughfare from Monroe to… Continue reading South Kirkwood Road’s Turn for a Diet
Imagine we made housing free in Kirkwood for everyone. Kirkwood has good schools, low crime, and a quaint Downtown with lots of good restaurants and shops, so I imagine our free homes would be quite popular. Actually, even if it didn't have all those things, it'd be quite popular; where the hell else are you… Continue reading What If We Made Housing Free
