Making of a Greenway

The Making of a Greenway

Not Your Ordinary Greenway

Bringing St. Louis Together

PLEASE NOTE:

Where It Could Go

1–2

3–4

5

Getting There Together 6–10 Community Engagement

6

Design and Development

7

Equity

8

Economic Development

9

Governance

Building For The Long Run

10

11–14

December 2019: This project will soon be named through community input. It has been called Chouteau Greenway to date. As you read this update, please consider names that would capture the ideas here!

All proposed conditions imagery is © Stoss.

Not Your Ordinary Greenway

1

The ideas and images you see in this document are draft concepts and will be further vetted by Great Rivers Greenway (GRG) with the community through the ongoing civic engagement process.

Draft concept of how the vacant lot next to the Griot Museum on St. Louis Avenue could be activated

St. Louis is a city with hundreds of great treasures—museums, parks, educational, health and art institutions, businesses, neighborhood nooks and crannies and enduring front porches.

And yet, these special places are separated by barriers, real and implied, that fragment our city and keep us from connecting to those treasures and each other. Through engagement with the St. Louis community, the making of this greenway has become as important as the greenway itself.

This project is about connecting beloved treasures together with the people who live here to create meaningful experiences every day.

It is about giving voice to many who have not had the opportunity to participate in the city’s development. It’s about trying new things and moving forward.

Not Your Ordinary Greenway

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79

PELICAN ISLAND NATURAL AREA

RIVERLANDS

TY KA

BOSCHERT GREENWAY

FRONTIER PARK

WAPELHORST PARK

RIVERWOODS PARK & TRAIL

4.7 mi

94

364

KINLOCH St.

2.8 mi

TRAI

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Ch

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PARK

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3.3 mi

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o

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10.5 mi 94

CREVE COEUR

MISSOURI GREENWAY

141 64

CHESTERFIELD

Deer Cree k

40

170

UNIVERSITY CITY SHAW PARK

R iv er

u ri ss o

Mi

ster

100

GLENDALE

2.2 mi

141

FENTON

WHITECLIFF PARK

CRESTWOOD Gr

EMMENEGGER NATURE PARK

er

GRAVOIS GREENWAY

30

3

4

0

20

40

60

80

5

10

15

20

5 Miles

SUSON COUNTY PARK

Existing Greenways

255

Greenway Coming Soon

55

LOWER MERAMEC COUNTY PARK

MERAMEC 1.9 mi GREENWAY

100 Minutes 25 Minutes

MISSISSIPPI GREENWAY

Future Greenways

231

Other Trails

Meramec Rive r

MISSISSIPPI GREENWAY

CLIFF CAVE COUNTY PARK

7 mi

61

BEE TREE COUNTY PARK

Mi

Great Rivers Greenway, the public agency connecting three of the counties in the St. Louis region with greenways for nearly 20 years, has collaborated with many partners to think about how to bring this particular greenway to life in the City of St. Louis.

Stream

Parks & Open Space

ss

125 miles (and counting!) of greenways for you to explore and enjoy, which include paved trails, conservation projects, amenities and connections along the way. www.GreatRiversGreenway.org 67

MetroLink & Stops

Body of Water ver

2

1.8 mi

2019 Map Legend

Tesson Ferry

iver

Mer ame cR

1

Life Outside Festival

BELLA VILLA

JEFFERSON BARRACKS COUNTY PARK

JEFFERSON COUNTY

Mississippi Greenway

2 mi

267

OFFICER BLAKE C. SNYDER MEMORIAL PARK

21

1.5 mi

0

55

AFFTON

SUNSET HILLS

ILLINOIS

CARONDELET PARK

es

(Grant’s Trail)

MINNIE HA HA PARK

30

RIVER DES PERES GREENWAY

10.3 mi avo is C

vois Gra

5 mi

FENTON CITY PARK

FOREST 44 CONSERVATION AREA

SHREWSBURY

POWDER VALLEY NATURE CENTER

TOWER GROVE PARK Chippewa

P

3.6 mi MERAMEC GREENWAY

44

LONE ELK COUNTY PARK

GREENTREE PARK

SIMPSON COUNTY PARK

VALLEY PARK

0

HORSESHOE LAKE STATE PARK

FRANCIS PARK

es

50

FAIRGROUND PARK

GATEWAY ARCH

TILLES PARK

GEORGE WINTER COUNTY PARK

PACIFIC

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is

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EUREKA

MERAMEC GREENWAY 5.4 mi

CENTER

dg

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CASTLEWOOD STATE PARK

WU TYSON RESEARCH

Bri

Kin

44

9.4 mi

WEST TYSON COUNTY PARK

ther

FOREST PARK

40

270

ROUTE 66 STATE PARK

SHERMAN PARK

Lu

1.9 mi

WEBSTER GROVES

KIRKWOOD

WESTERN GREENWAY

GREENSFELDER COUNTY PARK

tin

MAPLEWOOD

Manche

ROCKWOODS RANGE

Mar

g

BRENTWOOD

DEER CREEK GREENWAY

340 100

WILDWOOD

100

ural

1.4 mi

64

Lindbergh

QUEENY COUNTY PARK

1.6 mi

SCHOOLHOUSE TRAIL

LEE PARK

CLAYTON

109 BABLER STATE PARK

ROCKWOODS RESERVATION

15 mi 70

Nat

Dr.

OLIVETTE

CENTENNIAL GREENWAY

St. Vincent Greenway

GABARET ISLAND

O’FALLON PARK

HEMAN PARK

3.3 mi

67

FAUST PARK

River des Peres Greenway

(Riverfront Trail)

ST. VINCENT COUNTY PARK

WELLSTON

Oliv e

HOWELL ISLAND

CONFLUENCE TRAIL

MOSENTHEIN ISLAND

MISSISSIPPI GREENWAY

ST. VINCENT GREENWAY

r

WELDON SPRING CONSERVATION AREA

CHOUTEAU ISLAND

1.6 mi

JENNINGS

d

270

MARYLAND HEIGHTS

NORTH RIVERFRONT PARK

RIVERVIEW

Ro c

ek Cre Fee Fee

4.7 mi

KATY

Maline C r e ek

CREVE COEUR LAKE MEMORIAL PARK

WELDON SPRING

BUSCH GREENWAY

BELLA FONTAINE PARK

Rive r

4.1 mi

BELLEFONTAINE NEIGHBORS

MALINE GREENWAY

ST. ANN PARK

180

FEE FEE GREENWAY

r ive

OLD CHAIN OF ROCKS BRIDGE

MOLINE ACRES

i Ri

COTTLEVILLE

BUSCH MEMORIAL CONSERVATION AREA

170

BRIDGETON

70

2.7 mi CENTENNIAL GREENWAY

R pi sip sis Mis

270

67

LAUREL PARK

364

SPANISH LAKE COUNTY PARK

367

ip p

O’FALLON SPORTS PARK

FLORISSANT

370

ST. PETERS

COLUMBIA BOTTOM CONSERVATION AREA

ST FERDINAND PARK

iss

ek

DARDENNE PRAIRIE

7 mi en Dard ne Cre

DARDENNE GREENWAY

0.4 mi WHITE BIRCH MISSOURI GREENWAY PARK

SPENCER CREEK PARK

CORA ISLAND

Mis siss ipp i

ST PETERS GOLF & RECREATION CENTER

SUNSET GREENWAY

3.9 mi

JONES-CONFLUENCE POINT STATE PARK

FORT BELLEFONTAINE COUNTY PARK

HARRY S. TRUMAN PARK

BLANCHETTE PARK

O’FALLON

SUNSET PARK

SAINT STANISLAUS CONSERVATION AREA

BALES PARK

MAPLE ISLAND

Mis sou ri R ive r

rk

70

E AT ST

67

Lewi s & Cla

5.4 mi

LAKE SAINT LOUIS

64

ST. CHARLES

AIL

SIOUX PASSAGE COUNTY PARK

K

Misso uri R iver

370 LAKESIDE 370 PARK FORT ZUMWALT PARK

TR

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St. Vincent Greenway

Engaging the community along the way, GRG and partners launched an international design competition and now have created a Framework Plan. The Framework Plan is a “road map” that sets a tone and provides overall recommendations for the greenway project and process.

Mississippi Greenway

It presents a masterplan for the greenway, with potential alignments and signature projects. It outlines how the greenway could contribute to equitable economic opportunity, how it could look and feel, and how it could be realized and sustained long-term. This summarizes that plan.

Bringing St. Louis Together

3

Beyond the greenway itself, this is a movement to open up St. Louis and its opportunities to everybody.

Change starts on the porch, extends to the block, spills into the neighborhood and reaches across the region. This will be... ...a space where people get together and have new encounters every day. ...a place where stories are uncovered and celebrated. ...a project that stretches our collective comfort zone. ...a process that inspires action and builds civic trust.

Let’s open up this city—working together, we can make small steps and big moves.

Draft concept of how Delmar Boulevard in Grand Center could be brought to life with a community event

Bringing St. Louis Together

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MISSION

This greenway will transform St. Louis by connecting people and our city’s most treasured places, creating inspiring experiences and equitable opportunities for growth.

KEY PRINCIPLES

INTENDED OUTCOMES

Engagement

Exceptional Experience

We value the participation of many constituencies in collaborative decision-making.

Create a regional gathering place where people can connect to St. Louis and each other.

Equity

Civic Well-Being

We include impacts and opportunities that improve diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Strengthen trust and unite communities on a common ground that boosts civic pride by making the process accountable and inclusive.

Collaboration We commit to the mission and work together to achieve this greenway’s intended outcomes.

Opportunity We seek and promote equitable, value-added opportunities.

Sustainability We ensure long-term success through policy, partnership, funding, governance, operations, and maintenance.

Connectivity

Mill Creek Valley draft art and concept collaboration by Damon Davis & Stoss

Connect people to St. Louis’ neighborhoods, institutions, transit, jobs, destinations and public spaces.

Economic Growth Create equitable opportunities for growth and inspire continued investment in places for people to live, work, play, and visit.

Environmental Leadership Become a model for excellence in ecology and engage communities in stewarding a healthy, urban environment.

Healthy Lifestyles Encourage exploration, activity, exercise and alternative transportation to enhance physical and mental well-being for people of all ages and all abilities.

Draft concept for St. Louis Avenue

Where It Could Go

The design concept is made up of a central loop in the middle of St. Louis, with links connecting to Forest Park, Fairground Park, Gateway Arch National Park, and Tower Grove Park.

Possible Greenway Routes Possible Signature Projects Partner Coordination Project Future Study Area Exiting Greenways Future Greenways

All possible routes shown; technical feasibility and civic engagement will narrow down options

5 In St. Louis, the greenway connects people to the region’s greenway network and other transportation options—it will become a part of St. Louisans’ everyday experience, helping them reach their schools, workplaces, and many destinations throughout the city.

XxXx There Together | Community Engagement Getting

6

This greenway is different not just because of its scale or its ambition, but also because of its process.

Feedback & FunFest: Herbert Hoover

Feedback & FunFest: Tower Grove Park

Diversity, equity, and inclusion are key principles and goals in this project. These values come through in the way we make decisions about how the greenway is designed, planned, and built. Fostering economic and job growth is essential to improving quality of life, which will require many partners. We assembled a steering committee and four working groups from 125 institutional partners, neighborhood representatives, private funders, and city staff who came together to guide how we think about: Equity Economic Development Design, Development & Construction Governance

Working Groups in action

30+ partner tables at Community Update

With the help of an Artists of Color Council, we identified opportunities to integrate art along the greenway in a way that rings true to the local flavor and history of St. Louis. We’ve been to neighborhood meetings, elected official briefings, local leader interviews and community events to ask people for ideas and feedback.

There is an energy in the air in St. Louis, and we’re excited to build on that momentum to create something that everyone living here feels like they belong to and are a part of. This project has and will continue to try new ways to connect and engage people in open dialogue.

Elected official engagement

Working Groups in action

This project feels different because it is different.

Getting There Together | Design and Development XxXx

77

HOW WILL THIS GREENWAY CELEBRATE THE HEART, SOUL, AND GRIT OF ST. LOUIS?

Use art to weave together our diversity of stories.

Build from the heart, grit and soul that make this region.

Design a place that projects an optimistic, prosperous and inclusive future for St. Louis.

This greenway will be a place for us to celebrate the neighborhoods and special places that make St. Louis so alive and vibrant. Open space, public art, landscape treatments, and infrastructure all contribute to turning “many spaces” into a “place.”

Community Day 2018

Open Space

Landscape Treatments

This greenway could bring life to existing, underutilized property and lay the groundwork for new open spaces. With community input, open spaces and vacant lots can be transformed from overlooked spaces into valuable spots for art, play, education, and ecological restoration.

With such an extensive greenway, each segment will be designed to respond to its particular neighborhood context and microclimate. Trees and plants will vary on different parts of the greenway in ways that complement each route and contribute to a more sustainable regional ecology.

Public Art

Infrastructure

In addition to fostering a look, feel, personality, and soul for the greenway, art can also connect people and create opportunities to engage with this region’s complex history. Art installations can energize St. Louis in new ways, turning it into a gathering space for people from all over the city, region, and world to share ideas.

The pavings, furnishings, bridges, and lighting on the greenway will also be inspired by the physical characteristics of the St. Louis region. We will use materials that are sustainably sourced and easy to maintain, in keeping with our commitment to be a leader in sustainability and environmentalism.

We have reviewed possible routes for the greenway, evaluating on technical feasibility, degree of connectivity, impact, and experience. Together with community engagement, these criteria will decide where the greenway can go as the project moves forward.

Getting There Together | Equity

8

WHAT CAN EQUITY MEAN FOR THIS PROJECT?

The process is inclusive, transparent and all about people.

The project is a catalyst to create opportunities for all.

The greenway is a place for you, whoever you are.

4 DIMENSIONS OF EQUITY FOR THE GREENWAY:

Business, Jobs, & Wealth Creation

Identity & Culture

Create, promote, and sustain opportunities for businesses and jobs in a way that prioritizes women, people of color, and residents of St. Louis.

Celebrate and connect well-known and forgotten histories, stories, and traditions into the identity and design of the greenway.

Great Rivers Greenway has a successful track record of working with minorityand women-owned businesses on past greenway projects. With partners, this new greenway project will expand to influencing affordable housing, real estate development, business incubation, and support and mentorship.

This project will weave arts and culture throughout the design and programming of the greenway to tell diverse and genuine stories rooted in the various neighborhoods and communities in St. Louis.

Quality of Life & Neighborhoods

Civic & Community Participation

Nurture the health and vibrancy of the people, neighborhoods, and environment along the greenway.

Build meaningful and lasting relationships with the entire St. Louis community, from residents to civic and community organizations.

Through programs like the Life Outside Festival, GRG has encouraged people to try new forms of active living. In making this greenway, we will look beyond recreation to also consider how our work can improve mobility, increase opportunity, and build community.

We are building a greenway that everyone in St. Louis can take heart in and take pride in. Beyond just building awareness for the greenway, we’re also committed to inviting people to become stewards and leaders themselves.

Getting There Together | Economic Development

9

WHAT CAN GROW FROM THIS GREENWAY?

Opportunities to grow jobs and build wealth in the communities adjacent to the greenway.

New opportunities to invest in strengthening neighborhoods.

Attracting and retaining people who want to live, work, and play in the city.

Urban greenways can open up the city to many temporary and permanent opportunities for relatively low capital and operating costs. Economic growth can take place in many different ways, on various scales along and around the greenway, promoting both neighborhood businesses, innovation districts and large business developments. They create welcoming and distinctive places with the effect of reducing vacancy, leveraging redevelopment potential, increasing public and private investment and enhancing and uniting communities.

These are ambitious goals that will take many partners, but we believe that we can get there together.

Economic development along the greenway also means strengthening relationships between educational, health and cultural institutions and local employers, fostering the growth of industries with opportunities for residents without college degrees, improving access to high-quality jobs, encouraging entrepreneurship, and preparing residents for jobs in growing industries.

ECONOMIC IMPACT ALONG AND BEYOND THE GREENWAY

St. Vincent Greenway

GREENWAY

NEIGHBORHOOD

(within 500 feet)

(within 1/4 mile)

CITY & REGION

Along the Greenway

Neighboring the Greenway

City & Region

• New places to explore • Easier ways to get around • Jobs and contract opportunities • Stabilize and add property value

• Stronger neighborhoods • More local business opportunities • Investment in disinvested areas

• Growing population • New employers and jobs

Getting There Together | Governance

10

HOW WILL WE GET THERE?

Bring more voices to the table.

Be straightforward and transparent about our goals and our processes.

Create and commit to a new way of working together.

Because this project is unlike the ones we’ve done before, we need to be thoughtful about how a large, urban project comes to life. We are learning from the successes and challenges of projects around the country to determine what will work best for St. Louis.

This greenway project and process must include many partners and community members in order to…

• Engage in meaningful community dialogue with a diversity of perspectives.

• Create neighborhood plans that coordinate with existing plans by the City and other institutional partners.

• Develop land use goals and controls, potentially involving rezoning.

• Develop metrics for equitable economic development within each neighborhood and solicit and create incentives for smallscale development to support advancement of those objectives (e.g. urban homesteading, new multifamily development, small business support, workforce training, etc.).

Feedback & FunFest

• Develop value capture funding strategies to sustain operations and maintenance, potentially including creating assessment districts.

• Advocate for neighborhood philanthropy.

• Create partnerships with local organizations and stakeholders for long-term success.

Building For The Long Run

ARMORY AND FOUNDRY RENDERING

Draft concept of the greenway connecting the City Foundry and Armory District areas in midtown

11

Building For The Long Run

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Imagine connecting people and places, creating vibrant everyday experiences. Picture the momentum and investment, the opportunities to thrive and the civic pride. Let’s bring this vision to life in a new, green way.

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Potential Alignment for Greenway Existing Greenway Future Greenways

S Grand

Blvd

Va nd ev e

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Partner Coordination Project Future Study Area Tower Grove Par

k N

0

1/8 1/4

1/2

3/4

1

Miles

Building For The Long Run

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WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?

As with other greenways around the region, as any given segment moves forward, the process will include much more civic engagement to plan and design it together. Next steps include: • The most immediate next step is to engage the region to name the greenway, creating an identity that is fun yet fundamental, simple yet broad, and that reflects the heart, soul and grit of St. Louis.

• Dedicate design quality to ensuring local love for the greenway and global distinction for St. Louis. Ensure a clear design and brand that is woven through all aspects of the greenway.

• Coordinate and collaborate economic development plans, projects and opportunities with the City and other partners.

• Coordinate and collaborate with the City and other organizations to ensure additional trails, sidewalks, street routes for bicycles and transit options are connected to this greenway.

• Given the need and historic lack of investment, prioritize north city as a focus area for greenway projects.

• Design and implementation should meet people where they are, encouraging active participation from a variety of stakeholders. It should challenge people to think beyond their neighborhoods to the wider region and its opportunities for growth and equitable development.

• Encourage courageous collaboration among city residents, city leaders, community development organizations, developers, institutions and other stakeholders to assist in finding the practices, policies and resources to implement the economic and equitable plans adjacent to the greenway.

• Develop an art master plan that elevates the design and provides opportunities to engage artists of all backgrounds with neighborhood residents in creating delightful places to learn and explore.

• Develop a long-term, sustainable governance model that ensures investment of public and private time, talent and treasure from a variety of resources to build ownership over time.

GRACIOUS THANKS TO FUNDERS OF THIS PHASE OF THE PROJECT:

Draft concept of trestle under I-64

Draft concept of South Grand Avenue

Anonymous BJC HealthCare Emily Rauh Pulitzer Forest Park Forever Green Street Armory Investors, LLC and Philip G. Hulse Kranzberg Arts Foundation Lawrence Group Saint Louis University Washington University in St. Louis + taxpayers of the St. Louis region GRG is a public agency funded by sales tax

Building For The Long Run

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We are listening. Add your voice and be part of this process: www.greatriversgreenway.org/makingof

Great Rivers Greenway

Community Update January 2019

GreatRiversSTL

GreatRiversSTL

www.greatriversgreenway.org/makingof