- Private place
A private place is a self-governing enclave whose common areas (e.g. streets) are owned by the residents, and whose services are provided by the private sector.
The urban history of
St. Louis ,Missouri is significant in the development of private places. Most were laid out by Prussian-born surveyor and plannerJulius Pitzman , who conceived the idea around 1868 as a way for residential landowners to control real estate speculation and maintain property standards, in an era before the protections of zoning. Pitzman designed 47 of these developments over a 50-year period.The first of these, Lucas Place, dates from 1851 and no longer exists as such. But the growth of these developments began in earnest with Benton Place, in 1868, a 12-house development adjacent to
Lafayette Square, St. Louis and in more-or-less original condition today. The most elaborate, Vandeventer Place, opened in 1870 and included a house design byH.H. Richardson . Vandeventer Place has been completely obliterated, with the exception of the east gate, which was removed to Forest Park.Many of these developments are well-preserved and still gated, patrolled, and functioning as private enclaves.
Other private places include:
* Clifton Heights (1885)
* Westmoreland Place and adjacent Portland Place (both 1888), with Portland Place gates designed by architectTheodore Link
* Compton Heights (1889)
* Lewis Place (1890)
* Washington Terrace (1892)
* Hortense Place (1900)
* Kingsbury Place (1902)
* Lenox Place (1903)
* the extensive Parkview Place (1905), Pitzman's final developmentThese single-family housing units in the midst of the city are legally organized somewhat similarly to
condominium s, co-ops orhomeowners association s. As of 1982, the St. Louis metropolitan area had more than 427street association s administering private places. [citation|author=Parks, Roger B., and Ronald J. Oakerson|year=1988|title=Metropolitan Organization: The St. Louis Case|publisher=Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations|pagse=9, 84] Both rich and poor neighborhoods have had streets deeded back to them in this way; for instance,Waterman Place , a "lower-class" neighborhood, obtained permission to privatize its street in 1974.References
External Links
* [http://stlouis.missouri.org/501c/chm/lucas.htm Online history of Lucas Place]
* [http://kingsburyplace.org/index.html Online site for Kingsbury Place]
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
