5-6-14 CPAC Kickoff Meeting Summary

Home Browse Search

There was a frequent focus on creating a vision for Olive as an employment and innovation district. Some participants felt whereas the Delmar Loop is an entertainment, restaurant, and nightlife district, - use housing developments. Multiple groups stressed the need for quality affordable housing in University City and felt that the Olive corridor should increase in density, including upper floors dedicated to residential units. Further, participants recognized the value of the Asian population and business community but felt that specialty programming was needed to better incorporate those activities into the community. Ideas included more prominently promoting the presence of an immigrant entrepreneurship district to the larger St. Louis region, as well as the City facilitating relationship-building activities with the adjacent, predominantly African-American residential neighborhoods. One specific idea was to locate a Small Business Administration (SBA) satellite office on Olive with an expertise in immigrant business development. Entrepreneurship & Employment Growth Another nearly unanimous vision was to transition University City from more of a residential and participants felt University City was already organically growing as a center for entrepreneurship and small business growth, but it was not effectively telling that story to the entire metropolitan area. Residents stated they would prefer to see employers located in the City rather than big box stores and other retailers, and felt the City should consider incentive tools to stimulate this kind of development, including using TIF Districts, enterprise zones, and other strategies. Some participants felt that University City is well positioned near four-year universities (i.e. Washington University, St. Louis University, UMSL) but that the area would benefit from technical and vocational skills training schools, which could be an integral part of local employment growth. Groups felt the Cunningham industrial district as well as Olive Boulevard were the best locations to invest in incubator spaces, small business development zones, and student-led innovation facilities, and such efforts should be coordinated (if not owned) by these adjacent universities. Neighborhood Stabilization & Reinvestment Every group expressed concerned about the long- neighborhoods and placed a high priority on programs and projects that enhanced these areas and raised property values. Although the throughout the City, there was a focus on the 3 rd ward and with multi-family housing properties in particular. Groups stated that policies and programs need to be developed to address the high concentration of rental housing, absentee landlords, frequent property maintenance issues, more regular code enforcement, and targeting vacant structures, which some participants noted are often rd abandoned and accommodating squatters. Specifically, participants felt that crime in the 3 ward must be more pro-actively addressed, that vacant lots must be filled by either new homes, community gardens, or pocket parks. g goals and plans and better coordination could be achieved. Participants noted the need for more senior housing as well as affordable housing units, and proposed using upper-floors of new mixed-use projects as a location for at least some of these residential units. A specific proposal was for the City to create a non-