Cordish & Cardinals Failed To Plan for Pedestrians at Ballpark Village

Last month Alderman Scott Ogilvie called Ballpark Village a “total failure”:

“Taxpayers have earned a better project than they have delivered,” Ogilvie tells us. “The city of St. Louis has been a great home for the Cardinals…and this is a place downtown where we could use a great project…. It’s just maddening to see what I would call the total failure of this project. It is completely unacceptable that the citizens of St. Louis have been asked to subsidize two themed bars [and a parking lot].” (Riverfront Times)

It’s too soon to call it a total failure, large undeveloped areas used for parking is par for the course with a multi-phase development. They should’ve planned the site as a phased project from the start, they’d be further along by now. But it is what it is, we must wait to see about the success of the total project.

In the meantime, I can already say the pedestrian access & circulation is a failure. I got a sense of this back in February when the Phase 1 site plan was released:

No internal pedestrian was shown on the drawing, but I knew the final might be more detailed. Might, but it quickly became clear the released site plan was pretty accurate.  In fact, what’s built so far isn’t even as good.  Let me show you what I mean:

Looking at the above images it may not be obvious to you, but to the various city staff that I emailed in July they quickly knew Cordish would need to redo this corner of BPV. Upon site inspection, one city staffer said; “Everything they’ve done so far is questionable. Many areas are extremely tight. ”

Expect to see these mistakes busted out and corrected. If only Cordish & the Cardinals had taken pedestrian access seriously…

— Steve Patterson

Poll: Should St. Louis City & St. Louis County Reconcile? If So, How?

For decades now there have been efforts to nullify the “Great Divorce of 1876“, when the City of St. Louis removed itself from St. Louis County, becoming an independent city with municipal & county offices. All have failed.

Past failure, however, doesn’t deter some from pushing the idea again. An editorial from last month: Time to go public on mediation talks for the Great Reconciliation. A perfect subject for a poll.

Here are the  options, in order from no change to big change:

1. St. Louis City & St. Louis County should remain completely separate (no change)
2. St. Louis City & St. Louis County should remain separate, but partner more
3. St. Louis City should rejoin St. Louis County as the 91st municipally
4. St. Louis City & St. Louis County (and all its municipalities) should become one government body
5. St. Louis City & St. Louis County (and all its municipalities, schools districts, fire districts, etc) should become one government body

The answers will be presented in random order in the poll, located in the right sidebar. Interestingly, any change would require a statewide vote since the state constitution would need to be amended.

— Steve Patterson

A Sign That Was Worth Saving

Sometimes a sign is worth saving, in Tulsa just such a sign was worth the trouble & expense. Plus the building it sat on too!

In the 1930’s, Meadow Gold put it up atop a small building at 11th and Lewis. It was a beacon along Route 66 until sometime in the 1970’s. “It’s more than just a sign, it lives in people’s hearts and memories it truly is a landmark,” said Lee Anne Ziegler. A few years ago the owner of the building on which the sign rested decided to tear the building down. The Tulsa Foundation for Architecture and others mounted a sign rescue project. They got a grant from the National Parks Service Route 66 Corridor Preservation Program. They were able to take the sign down and begin restoration. Other grants and donations helped finish the project. (source)

I took these images in September 2009, about 5 months after this opened. I had decided to drive Route 66 from the Oklahoma border to Oklahoma City, much more interesting than I-44.

The new location is 9/10th of a mile west of the original. I like the sign and the windowless building, makes an interesting stop for those seeing Route 66 sites.

— Steve Patterson

My First Wikipedia Edit

Wikipedia is a crowd-sourced encyclopedia. Better than peer reviewed, it’s peer-edited! This post is a story about how I made my first edit and uploaded my first image.

The other day I wanted to find the address of the Page Warehouse in Tulsa designed by architect Bruce Goff (1904-1982), but the Wikipedia page List of Art Deco buildings in Tulsa, Oklahoma listed an address on East 13th, rather than East 11th. It also said it had been demolished.

The listed address was 408 East 13th, which is surrounded by highway off ramps. Someone must’ve assumed it was demolished because there are no buildings remaining at that address anymore. But I knew it was on East 11th, which was Route 66 in Tulsa. I drove past the building last on September 4, 2009.

Knowing the address in Wikipedia was wrong I looked up Page Moving & Storage instead of Page Warehouse. Ah yes, 2036 East 11th, the building still stands and the company is still in existence at that address.

But Wikipedia was still wrong…I couldn’t just leave it that way. I had to create a profile and correct the information, I might as well add one of the 6 images I took 4 years ago too. The registration process & editing were fairly simple. Wikipedia tracks who edits each page.

According to Wikipedia, it has over 19 million accounts (Wikipedians) with only a fraction as regular contributors. I’ve not looked at the results of their 2011 editor survey, except that 90% are male. Not sure what conclusions, if any, to draw from that.

Are you a Wikipedian?

— Steve Patterson

Downtown Trolley Ignored By Metro, CVC, & Downtown Community Improvement District

In July 2010 the #99 downtown circulator became the #99 downtown trolley, a bus wrapped in a cartoonish look.

“We are pleased to introduce this new trolley service, which will not only benefit downtown residents and workers, but also the millions of visitors St. Louis welcomes annually,” said Kitty Ratcliffe, president of the St. Louis Convention and Visitors Commission (CVC). “Just in time for the Fourth of July holiday weekend, this new service will enable tourists to experience more of the world-class attractions, sports venues, culture, retail and dining that St. Louis offers.” (Partnership)

Many laughed three years ago, but based on observations during my use, I’d say it has been a resounding success. I regularly see other downtown residents, workers, & tourists on the trolley bus. It does the job Metro, The Downtown Community Improvement District, and the Convention & Visitors Commission intended.

Unfortunately, it is all too often ignored by these three entities. I’ve got two examples:

First, I overheard a Metro employee helping tourists who wanted to go from the Crowne Plaza hotel to Sweetie Pies’ Upper Crust the next day.  The Crowne Plaza is located downtown at 200 N 4th St (@ Pine St) and Sweetie Pies’ Upper Crust at 3643 Delmar in Midtown/Grand Center.

The Metro employee suggested walking to the Convention Center MetroLink station to catch the train to Civic Center MetroLink station to catch the #97 (Delmar) MetroBus to Sweetie Pies. Really?

I’d have suggested catching the #99 trolley across Pine St, taking it to the City Museum stop on 16th between Delmar & Washington Ave, walking half a block to 16th & Washington Ave to catch the #97 to Sweetie Pies. Google Maps agrees, though it would make the transfer at 14th & Washington.

The order of suggested routes does vary based on departure or arrival times. The MetroLink option it suggests is to go to Grand and take the #70 bus north to Delmar. This may have been what the Metro employee told them to do, but I’m pretty sure I heard her suggest the Civic Center. The point is people get needlessly directed to MetroLink, having them walk more or go way out of their way.  I’d never want a tourist to try to find the #97 bus after leaving the train, it is confusing to me and I know the area well.

The other example is one of omission.

Yes, the pedestrian directories to help tourists navigate downtown doesn’t the trolley route & stops. It’s as if the trolley doesn’t exist at all.

Trolley info doesn’t appear on the downtown directories! Such a huge omission, but not surprising given the anti-bus attitude of so many. The trolley route could easily be shown on the directories.

The directory listings are just printed, easily updated. I’ll be notifying all three entities (Metro, Downtown CID, CVC) about the omission. We’ll see how long it takes to get them updated.

— Steve Patterson