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.
He said that gentrification is known for its negative connotations, but that it’s not necessarily a bad thing.
“If done right, I think gentrification can be a good thing for any neighborhood. Gentrification isn’t just a term of moving whites in and [people of color] out. It’s more of looking at how does the fabric of the neighborhood change,” Peoples said. “If we’re [developing] at a community level, that the community is involved in how their neighborhood is changing, then I think there is warmth there. Bringing back development to the city, especially the central corridor and north city, is critical for us [to bring] our region back and making it thrive.”
Great Rivers Greenway has convened community conversations across the region to inform their projects. Peoples’ focus is on the Covenant Blu/Grand Center, St. Louis Place and Jeff-Vander-Lou neighborhoods as part of the infrastructure project Brickline Greenway. He also serves as the executive director of Brickline North Community Development Corporation, a role created in response to the direct feedback from residents in the greenway’s footprint and collaboration with the St. Louis Development Corporation.
“We all came together and realized that we were all marching towards the same goal. Even though these neighborhoods have different identities and different demographics, they all had some of the same problems,” Peoples said. “The fact that the Brickline Greenway would be traversing it, I could be a resource to them. It was an opportunity to bring us all together and see how we could move forward.”
For more about Great Rivers Greenway’s Brickline Greenway project, including the current status of projects along North Grand Boulevard and Market Avenue and Chris People’s invitation to attend community meetings, listen to St. Louis on the Air on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube or click the play button below.
Related Event
What: Gateway Mall (Market Street) Public Open House
When: 4:30 p.m.-7 p.m. Feb 25
Where: Spark St. Louis in Ballpark Village (6 Cardinal Way, St. Louis, MO 63102)
“St. Louis on the Air” brings you the stories of St. Louis and the people who live, work and create in our region. The show is produced by Miya Norfleet, Emily Woodbury, Danny Wicentowski, Elaine Cha and Alex Heuer. Jada Jones is our production assistant. The audio engineer is Aaron Doerr.
