In Bella Vista

St. Mary Magdalen de Pazzi, located on the 700 block of Montrose Street, is a gorgeous church with a rich history. Per Philaplace, it was the first Italian national parish in America when it was formed in 1852, and served as a cultural center for the immigrant community. As the

Bella Vista is such a settled neighborhood, it hardly sees much development activity these days. When it does, most projects are one-off homes getting renovated or rebuilt after longtime owners move on, in one way or another. It's precisely because the neighborhood is so settled that any slightly underused property

We've been pretty direct in our complaints about surface parking lots over the years, lamenting that they never represent the highest and best use for a property. To be clear, this isn't just a matter of us spouting urbanist rhetoric, though most urbanists would surely agree that surface parking lots are

For whatever reason, Bella Vista seems to have more than its share of narrow little streets that are perfect for pedestrians but miserable for cars. We've explored some of these little blocks over the years, drawing your gaze to the hidden 600 block of Kenilworth Street, and showing off projects on

It's been a bit of a roller coaster year for the properties on the southeast corner of 7th & Christian, but the thrills are now over and the ride looks like it'll be fairly boring from here on out. In the spring, we drew your attention to this location, pointing

Last year, we directed your attention to the 800 block of Percy Street, an incredibly skinny block in Bella Vista with some hidden but significant storm water management infrastructure. We noted that most of the lots on the block only go back about 30 feet, making for shallow homes with tiny rear yards.

It's been a minute since our last visit to the 700 block of Carpenter Street, as it last caught our attention toward the end of 2016 when an older two-story home at 729 Carpenter St. got torn down. At the time, we didn't know what was going on with this property,

A few months back, we told you about plans to tear down some buildings at the corner of 7th & Christian in favor of new construction. To review, developers had 630-638 Christian St. under agreement, with plans to build seven homes with ten parking spaces in place of the existing buildings on the

We've always been intrigued by the 900 block of Carpenter Street, as it's one of the more unusual blocks in Bella Vista. One end of the block ends in the heart of the Italian Market, while the other end features a sweet local cafe, along with Bardascino Park and its

The southeast corner of 7th & Christian is home to a building that's clearly got some historic relevance, the Banca Calabrese building. We told you all about this building's history a few years back, noting that it was one of several banks established in the early 20th century that catered to