"Honoring the Character and History of St Johns"
By Chloe Frisella Kunst
St. Johns is a valuable neighborhood. One of the things that attracts people to this city is its small town feel and its historic neighborhoods, its access to nature and its natural spaces within the city. These are all key elements of St. Johns. On the edge of Forest Park, St. Johns is an historic neighborhood that still maintains a small town feel and a sense of community.
We are living in the age of gentrification and it is more crucial now than ever to maintain and foster our communities. Development and progress is important and necessary, but equally important is developing in a way that supports and enhances the neighborhoods and the people who have made this city what it is.
From the moment a person enters down town St. Johns, whether traveling over the historic St. Johns bridge or ushered in by the welcome sign and the foliage of Ivy island, one feels that they are entering a community and a little piece of history. Ivy Island highlights the small town feel of the St. Johns Business district and provides easy access. Ivy Island is a signature gateway into St. Johns. This new intersection that would go in place of Ivy Island would be getting rid of one of our valued green spaces and it would obstruct the view of and easy access to the St. Johns Business District.
This development would be a detriment to the current feel of St. Johns and has the interest of out-of- town developers in mind more so than that of the people who made this neighborhood what it is. Please save this historic green space for the good of the neighborhood and its people. Developers might provide people with new places to live for the time being, but it is the character and history of this place that brought them here and that is what will make them want to stay. Please save Ivy Island.
By Chloe Frisella Kunst
St. Johns is a valuable neighborhood. One of the things that attracts people to this city is its small town feel and its historic neighborhoods, its access to nature and its natural spaces within the city. These are all key elements of St. Johns. On the edge of Forest Park, St. Johns is an historic neighborhood that still maintains a small town feel and a sense of community.
We are living in the age of gentrification and it is more crucial now than ever to maintain and foster our communities. Development and progress is important and necessary, but equally important is developing in a way that supports and enhances the neighborhoods and the people who have made this city what it is.
From the moment a person enters down town St. Johns, whether traveling over the historic St. Johns bridge or ushered in by the welcome sign and the foliage of Ivy island, one feels that they are entering a community and a little piece of history. Ivy Island highlights the small town feel of the St. Johns Business district and provides easy access. Ivy Island is a signature gateway into St. Johns. This new intersection that would go in place of Ivy Island would be getting rid of one of our valued green spaces and it would obstruct the view of and easy access to the St. Johns Business District.
This development would be a detriment to the current feel of St. Johns and has the interest of out-of- town developers in mind more so than that of the people who made this neighborhood what it is. Please save this historic green space for the good of the neighborhood and its people. Developers might provide people with new places to live for the time being, but it is the character and history of this place that brought them here and that is what will make them want to stay. Please save Ivy Island.