最新杏吧原创

ST. LOUIS 鈥� Residents and leaders of two north 最新杏吧原创 neighborhoods are building a plan to clean up alleys, repave streets, fix sidewalks and save turn-of-the-century brick homes in one of the last intact residential communities in north 最新杏吧原创.

The O鈥橣allon and Penrose neighborhoods that border O鈥橣allon Park retain far more of their historic housing stock than many north city neighborhoods, which for decades have struggled with crime, vacancy and an exodus of residents.

鈥淥鈥橣allon and Penrose, that鈥檚 really, when you get north, that鈥檚 really that last intact neighborhood,鈥� said O鈥橣allon Neighborhood Association President Abdul Abdullah.

But the neighborhoods need help. Along Adelaide Avenue, well-maintained brick homes overlook O鈥橣allon Park鈥檚 forests and meadows. A block away, a swath of Alice Avenue is almost entirely abandoned. Vacant lots and boarded-up buildings checker streets nearby.

Abdullah and his neighbors are hoping residents will be willing to pool their resources to invest in public safety, cleanup and other services that can help stabilize the streets and keep them from falling further into abandonment and decay.

The 最新杏吧原创 Board of Aldermen this month approved a sweeping special taxing district covering the entire 21st Ward, which includes O鈥橣allon, the eastern half of Penrose and a sliver of College Hill. In April, ward residents will vote, the final step toward approval of the O鈥橣allon-Penrose Special Business District, which would levy a property tax of 85 cents for each $100 of assessed value on landowners in the area.

鈥淚 see it doing exactly what the city of 最新杏吧原创 is failing to do, and that鈥檚 maintaining properties, that is adding beautification to the area and it鈥檚 investing in economic development,鈥� said 21st Ward Alderman John Collins-Muhammad.

Other city neighborhoods, including the Central West End, downtown and the Grove, use special taxing districts to supplement public safety and maintenance services. Often, neighborhood commercial corridors add community improvement districts to pay for business marketing, off-duty police patrols and small-scale street and sidewalk improvements. Some wealthier neighborhoods, such as DeBaliviere Place, the Central West End and Tower Grove South, have special business districts covering residential properties.

But the O鈥橣allon-Penrose proposal would be the first special business district covering a whole ward in north 最新杏吧原创, said Collins-Muhammad. And the proposed district is far larger than others, covering about a square mile nestled between Fairground Park on Natural Bridge Avenue and O鈥橣allon Park along Interstate 70.

鈥淧eople are not going to move back to north 最新杏吧原创 if they don鈥檛 see new investment and continuing care,鈥� Collins-Muhammad said. 鈥淭his is going to be extremely important because this could potentially lay the groundwork for establishing more special taxing districts in other wards. This will be the test tool to see if we can get this right and if we can actually fix the small problems.鈥�

An independent board appointed by the mayor would manage the district and decide how to spend the money. For most homeowners in the area, the property tax increase would be less than $50 per year.

But it could generate about $150,000 a year, according to city assessment data, enough to begin to pay for cameras and other infrastructure that wealthier neighborhoods already purchase through special taxing districts.

Abdullah, who works with special business districts as head of the nonprofit Park Central Development near Forest Park, has spent the last two years building support among neighborhood residents for the new district. It鈥檚 unfortunate, he said, that neighborhoods like O鈥橣allon have to pay to supplement the additional city services they need. But without them, he fears residents will keep moving out.

鈥淲e have to do something in the city to stabilize the city,鈥� he said. 鈥淭he people in the neighborhood saying, 鈥榃ell, hey, we don鈥檛 have all the answers, but let鈥檚 start by trying to do something to take our own destiny into our hands,鈥� is a way to start,鈥� he said. 鈥淎t the end of the day, government isn鈥檛 going to solve our problems. At the end of the day it always has been people coming together to not only tax themselves, but to come up with what they want their community to be. This is just the first step.鈥�

Zuhdi Masri, who has operated Yeatman Market in the neighborhood for nearly 40 years, said the extra $200 or so he might pay in property taxes would be worth it. The city alone can鈥檛 keep up with street repaving and vacant property board-ups, Masri said.

鈥淭he city, they don鈥檛 have the manpower, the money to do these things,鈥� he said.

Other investments may be helping. The city is adding medians to Natural Bridge just south of Fairground Park, which will reduce to two lanes a thoroughfare known for speeding. The city and Missouri Department of Conservation have put $3 million into O鈥橣allon Park, rehabbing the historic boathouse and removing invasive plants as part of Collins-Muhammad鈥檚 efforts to clean up the neighborhood amenity.

Both of those projects are welcome, Abdullah said. But they鈥檙e only a start that, he hopes, the taxing district can supplement.

鈥淭hese are some drops in the bucket,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 still not enough, and the question is, how do you continue to set the stage to make people want to live in these neighborhoods?鈥�