Parking, Policy Analysis

What If We Made Housing Free

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

Politics

Kirkwood’s Next Mayor

If you haven't yet gotten the chance to check out my analysis of the six candidates vying to join Zimmer or Gibbons on the Council, I think it provides some good context for the article below and is worth checking out ahead of Tuesday's election! This coming Tuesday, Kirkwood will elect a new Mayor for… Continue reading Kirkwood’s Next Mayor

Development, Housing, Parking

Lots Leveraged: RFP Issued for Downtown

Kirkwood has issued a request for proposal (RFP) for two prominent city-owned lots in Downtown Kirkwood according to a newsletter from Council member Liz Gibbons. The two lots, 107-115 W Jefferson, and 125 E Jefferson are both zoned for B-2 General Business, the city's most intensive use. The eastern lot sits right next to the… Continue reading Lots Leveraged: RFP Issued for Downtown

Policy Analysis, Transportation

Grant’s Trail: More Work to Do

Update 01/27/2023: Good news! Kirkwood will, in fact, be pursuing Phase 1B in this year's call for STP grant proposals according to next week's City Council agenda. The proposal matches that which I outlined below, running from Fillmore to Leffingwell. The city is asking for $1,731,310 in Federal funding and will match that share, should… Continue reading Grant’s Trail: More Work to Do

Policy Analysis

How To Adjust To The Remote Work Era

Happy 2023 Kirkwood, thanks for another great year. In 2022 we: Approved 60 new homes and additional retail via the Kirkwood Apartments Began construction on another 152 homes and retail via The James Completed construction on The Hutton's 12 homes Finished 24 townhomes along Big Bend known as The Townes at Geyer Grove These were… Continue reading How To Adjust To The Remote Work Era

Development, Housing

Kirkwood Apartments Coming to Downtown

Update: 03/03/2023 New renderings have been made available for 60 apartments coming to 300 N. Kirkwood Rd. Of greatest note is the inclusion of balconies for the first time, a change that Kirkwood's City Council encouraged the developers to explore during the hearing. We also have gotten our first rendering of the building's pool deck:… Continue reading Kirkwood Apartments Coming to Downtown

Development

The Birth of Downtown North

The area around Madison and Monroe, for a while now, has seemed to be the hotbed for development in Kirkwood. As far back as 2004, with the construction of the massive Kirkwood Plaza development, all the way through to today with the development of the Hutton, the final of Savoy's three condo developments along Madison,… Continue reading The Birth of Downtown North

Parking, Transportation

Leverage The Lots, Balance the Books

A couple of weeks ago, I reviewed some of the insights that could be gleaned from the failed Proposition 1 vote. This week, I want to offer some ideas to fill the funding hole Prop 1 left. As I said then, Kirkwood still has potholes to fill, bike lanes to stripe, and trails to construct.… Continue reading Leverage The Lots, Balance the Books

Development

4 Hands to Downtown Kirkwood: A Ticket to Ride

Update: 10/11/2022 4 Hands has announced that they now plan to open their Kirkwood location in the Spring of 2023, presumably to give themselves a chance to start out on the right foot in warmer weather. The space will have a gorgeous outdoor patio, but the indoor space is more limited. Peacemaker Lobster & Crab,… Continue reading 4 Hands to Downtown Kirkwood: A Ticket to Ride

Development, Policy Analysis

An Update on West Adams in the New Year

Update 06/07/2023 The fourth unit is back, and the design has changed as 144 W. Adams finally made its way back before the Architectural Review Board this week! Original Story Tonight Kirkwood City Council will hold it's first public hearing of 2021. Most notably on the agenda is the Council's incredibly important vote on the… Continue reading An Update on West Adams in the New Year