The development timelines to this point are different. Stapleton: site control, public planning, public planning, adoption of the “Green Book” development plan, selection of developer, TIF. NorthSide: site control, development plan, TIF. There are realities involved with each project that may have dictating that the same course followed for Stapleton could not have been followed for NorthSide. Most significantly, site control wasn’t an issue in Stapleton as the entire 4,700 development site had a single controlling entity, the city. For NorthSide there was the large hurdle of land acquisition and site control to address before a development plan and public planning could be considered – at least that appears to have been what Paul McKee concluded (he’s likely right).
In another respect the projects have followed the same process. Stapleton: site control, development plan, TIF. NorthSide: site control, development plan, TIF. None of this means it’s too late for NorthSide and the City of St. Louis to develop a “Green Book”. In fact, the City and other stakeholders should be offering to assist in the creation of such a document. the Stapleton “Green Book” hasn’t been followed to a “T”, but a decade later it remains that development’s guiding document. The site plan image at the bottom of this post shows Stapleton’s adherence to a more suburban or “New Urbanism” plan than shorter, more urban blocks adjacent to the site (and obviously, the more urban existing landscape in North St. Louis).
If you haven’t seen it, take a look at the Stapleton Green Book:
GreenBook 2of4 Section Vpages138
GreenBook 3of4 Section Vpages3988
{site plan for Stapleton shows a disconnect with the established urban street grid nearby}
