empower wellston community plan

Client: City of Wellston, MO & the Housing Authority of St. Louis County
Category: Land Use Planning, Economic Analysis, Community Engagement

In 2021, PGAV was engaged by the Housing Authority of St. Louis County to assist with a planning process for the City of Wellston. With a recent commitment to rehab the public housing in Wellston, a new plan was needed for the community to address the many other pieces of Wellston that provide important support and resources to residents in the City. PGAV conducted intensive data collection including an on-the-ground field survey of every parcel in Wellston. This provided the baseline information necessary to begin to understand where the community needs additional support and investment.

To develop a strategy for housing redevelopment in Wellston, we created several models using GIS to layer different conditions related to infill scale development, large scale or block development, and existing housing support. Each model then shows which areas of the city should be prioritized for the different scales and types of investment. The overall goal of the project is to promote investment in housing to increase access to quality housing for existing residents and new residents. The models are used to support this goal in a way that addresses a lack of existing catalyst projects, attempts to reduce potential gentrification or displacement impacts, and outlines a plan for use of funding as is becomes available.

Each model uses the same data inputs, but looks for different patterns or conditions to prioritize. The inputs consist of data or indicators that fall into three general categories. The first is existing conditions, which evaluates existing development patterns, uses, and conditions of property and structures. The second category is socio-economic factors, which incorporates demographics and economic characteristics of the city and population. The third category is community benefit factors, which looks for existing physical assets or programs in the community that could also see benefits from the investment or act as catalysts when combined with the investment. Overall, each model seeks to support incremental gains in quality and accessibility of housing to reduce potential displacement by comparing areas of the city against each other rather than comparing areas of the city to the larger St. Louis County area.

The plan was completed in May of 2021 and the City and St. Louis County LCRA are going through the process of plan adoption.