The Best Urban Place In St. Louis – The Loop Market

Without question the best urban place in the St. Louis region is the “outdoor dining” space adjacent to the Loop Market. Many times over the years I’ve passed by and observed the best one can expect in an urban space — strangers interacting.

On Sunday, September 11th, I spent an hour hanging out in the little plaza area between the buildings. The view at right is taken from the sidewalk along Delmar. People just walking along the sidewalk have stopped to check out the scene, others play chess, kids play on and around the sculpture, a few people work on their juggling, a few others are playing hacky-sack and many are drumming. The majority of the people are simply hanging out enjoying this urban mix.

Nowhere else in the St. Louis area do people of all ages, races and economic class come together so naturally. This is not some “program” that artificially attempts to attract people for an event. Here people just come together.

But why here? Why this place? Looking at the space it is actually quite ordinary. No special paving patterns, no fancy graphics, not enough seating and on the West side – a rather blah building. To the North-West is a drab farmer’s market that from what I’ve seen isn’t the most popular. From this space you can also clearly see the large parking lot to the North.

Yet on Sunday evenings this simple square transforms into the best urban place in our region. No other place in our region brings together such a diverse group of people that doesn’t involve commerce or ticket sales.

Drummers and dancers always convene in the same corner of the square. I’m not sure why they picked this corner but for years this is where they gather. Could be acoustics? Perhaps just tradition at this point? The drummers bring their own chairs and stools while others stand the entire time. This is not some formal drumming group. If you hang out long enough you’ll see drummers come and go. The leadership is decidedly African-American but all races are welcomed into the circle. On Sunday a very young white guy was so moved by music he spent much of the time dancing in and around the circle.

A number of factors contribute to the success of this square. The proximity of students from nearby Washington University is a key factor but not the only one. The mix of stores and restaurants along the Loop bring together a good mix of people. If you want a $30 meal or a $3 slice of pizza on the go you are covered. But looking at the space when empty most people would have a hard time predicting its success. Many, including designers and planners, would likely suggest a makeover to “improve” the square.

The trellis, shown above, was added a year or two ago which changed the dynamic. During the summer it provides much needed shade. Since built the groups of people have adjusted to its presence. A complete makeover of the plaza would be a major mistake and would destroy the synergy seen here weekly. To my knowledge, nothing is pending for the square.

The real lesson here is for planners, architects, and civic leaders in the rest of the region. A subtle but main reason this square attracts people is that it doesn’t appear too done. Elected officials love pretty drawings and designers love to put together intricate brick paving patterns accented with color-coordinated benches, lamp posts and trash receptacles. When this happens everyone is excited and it makes for a great ribbon cutting but people just don’t continue to come. Downtown’s Kiener Plaza falls into this category.

Another factor is the feeling of enclosure. For all the cries for “open space” in cities it is actually enclosure that we are instinctively drawn to. Not inside spaces, but outdoor spaces that have definition. Excessively wide streets with large open green areas simply do not work in cities unless you have density of population on the scale of New York or San Francisco. St. Louis will never have the density of New York, nor should we. While the square on the Loop is open air it does have four sides of varying materials and scale.

The square at the Loop Market is the best urban place in the St. Louis region.

Leaving the Loop around 7pm on Sunday evening I scootered down Euclid in the West End. The four corners of Euclid and Maryland was full of sidewalk diners. While interesting and full of energy it relies on commerce. You can sit at a table as long as you are buying. The West End lacks an interesting no-commerce zone where people gather.

I then headed down Laclede on the South edge of Saint Louis University. Dead. Vito’s Pizza on Lindell was closed. For years SLU has been busy closing off streets, constructing parking garages and building fences. Through all of their “investment” in the city they have managed to kill chances for creating an excellent campus-city relationship. Instead they have created an academic office park campus that discourages interaction between citizens and students.

Grand Center was equally dead. With the exception of a few people waiting on the bus next to the beautiful Third Baptist Church, I saw nobody. Here the problem is not the urban fabric – the buildings and their relationships are stunning. The exception is the amount of surface parking — it is everywhere. Suburbanites attending events demand parking and it has taken its toll on the area during non-event times. You simply cannot have an area that is active during non-event times and easily accommodating during major events. The core problem here is what is being promoted – an arts district. Powell Hall, Grandel Square, The Fox, Sheldon, the Contemporary, and the Pulitzer. Too much in one place for anything else to survive seven days a week. Two blocks North of the SLU campus this should be the hangout for their students.

I made my way down Washington Avenue from Grand. Not until I got to 14th street did I start to see signs of life. All the on-street parking spaces were occupied and people were out on the sidewalks and cafe tables were being used. Approaching Tucker I ran upon traffic congestion from what I think was from a Cardinals game. The congestion was not on Washington Avenue going East where no parking is allowed but heading North on Tucker. Once past the Tucker I was in a ghost town with no cars parked along the street and nobody on the sidewalks.

Needing a few things I stopped at City Grocers at 10th and Olive. By now it is past 7:30pm but the store is busy with many customers. Busy not with baseball fans getting a quart of milk before heading back to O’Fallon but residents that walked from their lofts to the store. I’ve said before but it is worth repeating, City Grocers is the single most significant store in downtown.

With my purchases stored in the scooter’s under-seat storage area I begin heading home. Curious about one more area I turn off Broadway onto Cherokee. Not surprising, the antique row section East of Jefferson was completely dead. The one exception was some sort of special event at the Shangri-La Diner where I had biked that morning for brunch. West of Jefferson many of the stores were closed but the various Mexican restaurants and market were open for business. Not exactly the Loop but certainly genuine.

Ultimately it will take more people to enliven our neighborhoods and commercial districts. People are needed as tourists, shoppers, and workers but primarily as residents. Retail and other businesses will follow people back into the city. In some cases you’ll need the retail or transit in place to attract the people. Neighborhood building is what we need now but alas we are busy stadium building, bridge, big box and bridge building.

– Steve