We Need More Walk-Up ATM Machines
Finding a walk-up ATM machine is hard even in some of our more walkable areas. I can think of a few — in the Central West End and the Loop come to mind. For the most part ATM machines are in set up for the motorist but not the pedestrian.
I took the above image while in my own car waiting for the ATM. They each used this ATM. I don’t think they were together, just both on foot and needing cash. I was in my car but I would have preferred a walk-up ATM. Downtown we do have a few ATM machines in lobby’s but I try to avoid doors when using my wheelchair.
Safety is always a concern around ATMs, but how safe is it to have pedestrians getting into lines are cars? To have a vibrant walkable 24/7 downtown we’ve got to work on amenities toward that goal and increasing the number of walk-up ATM machines would be a good start.
They cannot be in out of the way places though. Walk-up ATM machines need to be in areas with the heaviest foot traffic because that is where the need is the greatest and where safety is the best.
If we want folks to support retailers we need to make it easier for them to get their cash. Often historic facades present issues with a street-facing ATM. This is why they need to be incorporated into facades of non-historic structures as they are being renovated. Put them adjacent to a restaurant entrance or other well traveled location.
It still amazes me that Commerce built an entirely new structure at Grand & Hartford yet failed to include a walk-up ATM. They have two for cars but none for pedestrians.
Make the ATM machines accessible by foot and you’ll find you’ve got more pedestrians than you thought.
A lot of stores now have ATM’s inside (although you usually get stuck with an extra fee, since they’re not “your” banks’). Or get extra cash at Walgreens or any grocery store when you make a purchase – no extra fees. Walk-up ATM’s are driven like much else in business – supply and demand. If there aren’t enough pedestrians to justify the initial investment or the ongoing maintenance, it won’t be installed and it will be removed. And yes, (fear of) crime is a very real part of the equation – getting cash standing on the street at noon with people around is one thing; doing so when things are quieter “encourages” people to either use the drive-thru or to go inside a store where someone, anyone else is around . . .
I’ve actually seen a sign at one drive-up bank that says “no walk ups allowed.”
Agreeing with Jim Z. Walk-up ATMs are hard to get installed because of the security involved (i work for a financial institution and have seen the issues many execs take with them). There is at least one walk-up ATM that I know of downtown that is great and I use it often. It’s at the Gateway Metro CU on 10th&Olive. ATMs are very expensive to install and maintain and there are less cost involved if the machine is in a lobby – not saying that’s the right way to do it, but business plans aren’t always guided by the ‘right way’.
All of the US Bank branches that I go to have a walk-up ATM in the storm lobby, just inside the doors. I know this because those are the ones I have to use on those FREQUENT occasions when the drive-thru ATM is “temporarily unable to dispense cash.”
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But I still see people walk through the drive-thru, even though the walk-up ATM is just steps away.
It would also be nice if Commerce moved their Metropolitan Square ATM outside.
Amazingly enough, there are two walk-ups on the Landing, both of which have been around for a long time. One is the free-standing one over at Morgan and 2nd (not sure what bank/credit union) and there is a very frequently used Bank of America one on the front of my office’s building (the Witte Hardware building) at 2nd and Lucas. There might be another on 1st, too. So downtown-proper might not have many, but the Landing is set…this no-doubt is a very helpful asset to the restaurants and bars down there.
Homeless in St. Louis
Homeless population. Most of the homeless are smart people that got a bad break and there are some that let drugs and alcohol rule their life’s, so any way the ones who are trying to get back on their feet to be good citizens are running into obstacles that make it hard to do or get what they need to bring their self’s out of the homeless position, one shelter where they can store their property , semi long term shelter until they get their own home, for the working homeless that may work odd hour places to eat , I know quit a few that can use a place that will serve food at the hours of 6 pm to 9 pm , And I know the economy Is tight but we need better job opportunities to help us to get out of our situation I know it will be hard to almost imposable to get employers to change their hiring policies
But if you put in a application and don’t get a call back what can you do? I have Ben to
A lot of work reentry programs and they send you out to look for work but it’s a slim chance you will get a good paying job that get you of the streets you my get a job that pays you just enough to get a meal and for some a meal and a pack of cigarettes, So we need to get rid of the good oh boy hiring practice and stop the you over qualified to work here saying and give a man a chance to make a honest living
Shelter: Is a problem most homeless have to bounce around for shelter to shelter cause they only get a limited time to stay, like for example larry rice shelter you only get 14 days to stay and then you have to spend a month out so you have to find another place for shelter henceforth the bounce from shelter to shelter for and you have to carry your belongings with you. So how in the hell are you going to look for work when you are loaded down ? note when trying to get a job who will hire you when you walk in with a backpack and a trash bag of close to fill out a application thus the need for places to store you belonging that they will be safe cause in most cases it all that we own. I was in a shelter in another state where you could stay until you got on your feet .
Let me say that I’m a very religious but we have a lot of churches that give to the homeless witch I ‘m very very very thankful but some need alittle more help like in my own situation I needed financial help with a bill out of state to get my driver’s license back so I can get the work I’m qualified for but there no help tried to staffing service to work for it but at the time no work was coming in and I don’t have time to sit in staffing office all day and waste and I’m use to working not sitting with my thumb up my behind
And these staffing offices make you take test to get work you have to take a trigonometry test just to sweep floors
So don’t look down on the homeless we’re people to that have feelings and trying to survive like everyone else most of us just need a more better chance to get our life together
Not having walk-up ATMs just irritates me. The problem also applies to after hours bank windows and ATMs don’t work for all business deposits. If I don’t get to the bank before 5:00, I need to use the after hours window which is open til 6:00. However, a few months ago, when I walked up to the Commerce Bank window on Delmar, I was told that you had to be in a vehicle to use that window and that they could not provide service to people walking up to the window. She agreed to let me use the window that one time, even though I had walked up to the window.
This is ridiculous! If there is a safety issue, then the bank needs to provide some kind of ramp for walkers to use to avoid standing in line with a car.
Anybody who walks needs to be encouraged and congratulated for not idling an engine and causing more St. Louis smog, not discouraged. At least with ATMs, there is nobody present at the drive up ATM to tell you that you can’t use it unless you are sitting in a car.
The lack of a walk-up ATM at the Commerce on Grand drives me crazy. They don’t even have a walk-up one inside the lobby. I feel incredibly vulnerable using the drive-up ATM on foot after dark since it is behind the building and I don’t have the safety of the pedestrian traffic on Grand around me. Because of this I have to plan my ATM visits carefully and remember to go during the daytime or I go without cash that evening.