Sustaining the Diversity of our Wonderful Neighborhoods

Please join us for a conversation on Wednesday, February 25th at 6:30 p.m. in which we will begin a community conversation about how we might work collectively to preserve the economic and racial diversity of the neighborhoods surrounding City Garden.

City Garden is a public neighborhood charter school serving Forest Park Southeast, Botanical Heights, Shaw and portions of the Tiffany and Southwest Garden neighborhoods. The charter school was founded by a set of parents who wanted their children to grow up in a diverse urban area and to attend a diverse community school. We strategically situated our school amidst these neighborhoods because this part of the city makes up one of the most racially and economically diverse areas within the St. Louis region and even within the Midwest. This has enabled City Garden to create one of the most integrated school communities in our city.

Over the past few years, these neighborhoods have seen incredible growth and redevelopment. Much of this growth trend is quite positive, as families and businesses are reinvesting in central city neighborhoods that have struggled over the last few decades. 

City Garden and many of its supporters have begun to worry, however, that this redevelopment is also having the effect of driving out working class and lower-income residents. Some City Garden families have already begun to move out of these neighborhoods to find more affordable housing. This trend is a real threat to City Garden, both in terms of our mission to serve an economically diverse student population, and in terms of the stability of our school. We also believe that it is a real threat to these neighborhoods and the city.

Just as we celebrate the fact that investments are returning to this part of the region, we invite parents, neighbors and community partners to join us in thinking about what we want the future of this area to be. Particularly during this time when many people across our region and our country are asking whether it is even possible for people of very different backgrounds to understand one another and to live, work and play together, we have an incredible opportunity to model how this can be done. However, this diversity is fragile and will take concerted efforts to preserve and sustain. 

Our conversation will begin with a look at some of the current data about the neighborhoods, how things have changed, what affordable housing options exist and are being developed. We will also give community members an opportunity to share experiences and input about how changes in the neighborhood have impacted residents, and what your vision for this area might be.