On February 7th, the City of Kirkwood submitted an STP (Surface Transportation Program) grant application to East-West Gateway for the overhaul of Argonne Drive from Taylor in the East to Geyer in the West. Last week, the application itself became publicly available, and after reviewing the plans, I'm pleasantly surprised by what the city staff… Continue reading Argonne Drive: Spitting Distance from Perfection
At tonight's meeting, Kirkwood City Council will approve a grant application to overhaul Downtown Kirkwood's most iconic street. If East-West Gateway approves the city's STP grant application, the federal government would foot $2,089,600 —80%— of the $2,612,000 of the total estimated cost to redesign and repave Argonne between Geyer and Taylor, with the City covering… Continue reading Argonne Deserves a Bike Lane
In April 2023, I wrote a piece titled "Meacham Park is an Island: Part 1" that described the ways in which the historically Black neighborhood in the southeast corner of Kirkwood remained physically isolated from the rest of the community. The article seemed to resonate, and I even got a lot of comments from Meacham… Continue reading Meacham Park is an Island: Part 2
Update 02/07/2025: At last night's meeting, City Council passed a modified version of the sidewalk infill zoning text amendment. Instead of ditching the requirement that homeowners building large additions be required to add sidewalks wholesale, the Council decided instead to expand Director of Public Services Chris Krueger's discretion in deciding whether or not sidewalk infill… Continue reading Foregoing Sidewalks Won’t Make Kirkwood Affordable
Over a year after Kirkwood published its Attainable Housing Study, the city took its first cautious steps toward implementing some of its recommended solutions at last Thursday's City Council Work Session. But as Director of Planning Jonathan Raiche began presenting the study's findings, some council members appeared skeptical of its underlying premise. Council Member Jaksetic,… Continue reading Housing Reform on the Horizon?
On November 5th, Kirkwood voters will head to the polls to make an incredibly important choice. I speak, of course, of the question of whether or not the city should institute Prop T, a city-wide Transportation Development District (TDD) that would fund street improvements through a new city-wide half-cent sales tax levy. While the condition… Continue reading Four Reasons I’m Against Prop T
Kirkwood has issued a Request For Proposals for mixed-use development on 6 city-owned acres in the heart of Downtown. The city hopes the responses will yield a multi-faceted windfall for the community, but the stipulations listed in the RFP and the —$12.5 million the city has already sunk into facilitating such development— may mean that… Continue reading Public Works Site RFP Issued: Kirkwood Seeks to Recoup $12.5M
Update 9/30/2024: I made a mistake in estimating the tax revenue impact of this project. While I originally estimated the city would have brought in $900k in annual tax revenue from the project, upon further review, the impact would have likely been closer to $300k annually. For transparency's sake, I would like to thoroughly explain… Continue reading HDA Plan Rejected; City Loses $300k a Year
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
