As I drove along Edgewood Boulevard, I kept glancing to my left; there was street after street of tidy, well-maintained houses. It’s confusing up here with so many small towns.
It turns out those streets to my left were in Northwoods, but on my right is Pine Lawn.
It raises tough questions; as I noted yesterday, Northwoods is relatively stable, with beautiful homes and proud, well-kept lawns and an intact community.
But…just on the east side of Edgewood Boulevard, the housing stock gets much older (not necessarily like the one below), and the abandonment and deterioration becomes pronounced. Pine Lawn is in serious trouble; it has old, beaten up housing stock, its government is in the news constantly for the wrong reasons, and it will eventually spread its problems across the street to its neighbors.
“it will eventually spread its problems across the street to its neighbors.”
These areas are the cancers of our region. They need to be removed, if not by general treatment, then by forceful surgery.
I have long advocated for the disincorporation of fiscally insolvent municipalities throughout St. Louis County as a first step in reviving these economically depressed areas. So we are in agreement, Mr. Stenger.