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Tuesday, December 8, 2009

Is the Tiffany Neighborhood Nothing Special, Architecturally Speaking?

Daniel J. Monti, author of "Race, Redevelopment, and the New Company Town" (1990) stated as much.

Here is the clip from Google Books:



Monti's work is about late urban renewal projects (circa 1970s) in St. Louis, including LaSalle Park and the Midtown Medical Center Redevelopment project, which ultimately saw many homes in the Tiffany neighborhood renovated.

This isn't news by any means: that an author would find the neighborhood's Foursquares with Victorian ornament ultimately unexciting. Still, I though it worthwhile to disagree. Even compared to more ornate neighborhoods, tree-lined Tiffany is, I feel, attractive. The author's sentence that is cut off at the end reads something to the effect of "Tiffany's housing stock was apparently classic enough, in its own democratic way, to qualify for inclusion on the National Register of Historic Places." The author clearly sounds unsure that Tiffany deserved this designation. He says basically the same of the "Ranken" neighborhood, a sliver of Forest Park Southeast whose central spine is Taylor Avenue.

Well, what do you think: is Tiffany anything special? Here's a Streetview capture of the 3600 block of Blaine Avenue.


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I find it very attractive and highly urban.

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