Neighborhood Revitalization Done Right Engages Community in Every Step
Date Posted: February 11, 2025
Posted In: Discussion, News,
From St. Louis Public Radio: St. Louis’ north side has a marred history with urban revitalization efforts. Developers like Paul McKee offered impressive plans but lack input from the community that has kept their neighborhoods together despite generations of disinvestment.
The consequences of these revitalization efforts are well documented. The story of the predominantly Black neighborhood of Mill Creek Valley — torn down in the late 1950s — continues to be told through oral histories and public remembrances. The beginning stages of the highly anticipated New NGA West campus was met with criticisms of McKee’s purchase of plots of land only to sell it back at a premium to the City of St. Louis.
This pattern leaves residents apprehensive of anyone promising change or improvement. Great Rivers Greenway is all too familiar with the side-eye from residents. The organization’s director of equity and economic impact, Christopher Peoples, has faced skepticism from residents before. But he told St. Louis on the Air that the nonprofit’s mission is what drew him from his career as an engineer and land surveyor.
“When this opportunity came about to be the economic development director for Great Rivers Greenway, I felt like it was more in line with where I wanted to go with my career. I wanted to focus on doing work in my community and helping people that look like me,” he said. “I felt like this was an opportunity for me to make a change in a role that people that look like me normally aren’t in.”
Peoples grew up in the College Hill neighborhood, a predominantly Black community in north St. Louis. He remembers a time when there were several options of grocery and retail stores and more activity on Grand and St. Louis Avenue. It’s a stark contrast to today, when there are multiple vacant lots and the area is considered a food desert.