Kirkwood has finally settled on a route to extend Grant's Trail to the city's downtown core. To sum it up, I think the city has done a really nice job with the whole process. The route is the right amount of direct, enjoyable, flat, and practical (by which I mean: I think the city and… Continue reading Grant’s Trail and Our Industrial Wasteland
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
Tomorrow Kirkwood will hold an election that has not garnered much interest. But you should vote if you can. Because tomorrow you have a chance to vote to make Kirkwood better. I speak, of course of Prop 1. Prop 1 would institute a one-cent sales tax in a city-wide transportation development district (TDD) for 40… Continue reading Yes on Prop 1: A Brief Overview
Update: 10/02/2022 Okay, after a year of consideration, a couple of updates on this. I still think the Adams/Lockwood corridor is ripe for exploitation, but it probably makes more sense if conceived of as primarily a transit route rather than a multi-use path (although these uses are complimentary, and if we could pursue both simultaneously,… Continue reading Frisco Trail: The Great Collaboration
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
Update: The rezoning of 250 Commerce failed its first reading before city council last week and seems to have little hope of moving forward in the near term. There's more work to do. Original Story On Thursday night, Kirkwood's newest zoning distinction began its first real test. The R-MM zone (Residential-Missing Middle) created last year,… Continue reading 250 Commerce Ave: A Test for R-MM
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
Update 01/07/2021: The Starbucks was unanimously voted down upon first reading. I'll keep you updated if Starbucks comes back to the drawing board as I suspect they will. Previous Story: First of all, I just want to say sorry for going AWOL for a couple months. The end of the semester got sort of busy… Continue reading The Starbucks Project is Really Bad, Actually.
Update 11/20/2020 Last night, a proposal recently redubbed "The Hutton", Savoy's twelve unit condominium proposal for 134-138 West Madison was approved 6-1. Pitched as the"last of it's kind" by Savoy, this project completes their rapid transformation of this block long stretch that up until very recently had been dominated by small businesses located in small… Continue reading The Hutton
Well, it's been a while, but we finally once again have news on the development front. Next week, after more than a three month layoff, Kirkwood's Planning & Zoning Committee will meet for double session: once on Tuesday and once on Wednesday. They will have a jam-packed agenda to take on when they do so.… Continue reading Starbucks, Flats, and Banks, Oh My!
