Metered Parking Space Ends Unclear To Some Drivers

It’s been 30+ years since I took driver’s ed in high school so I don’t recall what we learned about parallel parking. My guess is it focused on the mechanics of backing into a space between two cars. I do remember having to parallel park for my driver’s exam, we had to go to Will Rogers World Airport because no where else in south Oklahoma City had parallel parking.

It seems to me it isn’t common knowledge that spaces exist from meter to meter. When I took the above picture there were no other cars in front of or behind. I’ve seen people drive up and park this way simply because they don’t know any better. Not sure what they do in places like the 12xx-17xx blocks of Washington Ave where two meters are grouped to reduce the number of poles.

The Missouri license exam also focuses on the mechanics, but not identification of what is a space:

2. Park parallel to the curb, in a space 25 feet long and 7 feet wide. You will be tested for:

• The position of your vehicle before backing.
• Whether or not you bump into the space markers.
• Moving into the space smoothly and at the right speed. • Parking no more than 18” from the curb.
• Parking near the center of the space.
• Ability to park the vehicle within two minutes.
• Turning the wheels in the correct direction for parking.
• Checking traffic and signaling before you leave the parking space.

Testing to make sure you get in the center of the space, the driver above may think they nailed it.

The obvious fix is to do what Clayton does, paint lines on the pavement to indicate the space start and end. But that would require lots of labor since the city has thousands of metered spaces. My preference is to remove the individual meters and go to a pay and display system:

Pay and display systems differ from road-side parking meters in that one machine can service multiple vehicle spaces, resulting in lower set up costs. In addition, this system theoretically prevents drivers from taking advantage of parking meters that have time remaining; this factor alone has doubled parking revenues in cities that have switched to pay and display.(A driver may occasionally take advantage of remaining time should a departing parker give away a ticket with remaining time, however.)

Message reads “This machine will calculate the correct parking period for whatever value of coins you insert subject to a minimum charge of 40p and a maximum of £9.60”

In addition, pay and display machines can also accept a wider variety of coins, and many even accept credit cards, making it unnecessary for drivers to carry large amounts of change. The use of credit cards has another advantage – the machines do not have to be emptied of coins as often, and the costs of counting coin and possible pilfering by employees who empty the parking meters also reduces their overall costs. (Wikipedia)

With pay and display you don’t have designated spaces, sometimes allowing for more cars to fit into a given area. However, you can still end up with drivers that park too far from another vehicle, reducing the number of cars that’ll fit.

In the meantime, I’d like to see these motorists get a warning along with an educational piece explaining how to park at parking meters.

— Steve Patterson

Old Big Box Stores Live On, Some Too Long

It has been 15 years since St. Louis-based Venture stores closed.

The chain was founded in 1968 when Target founder John F. Geisse went to work for May Department Stores. Under an antitrust settlement reached with the Department of Justice, May was unable to acquire any more retail chains at the time, and the department store company needed a way to compete against the emerging discount store chains. When May’s Executive Vice President Dave Babcock learned that Geisse had resigned from Target Stores, he spoke with Geisse about starting a new discount retailer, resulting in the founding of Venture.

The first Venture store opened in 1970 in the St. Louis suburb of Overland (after Venture closed, the location became a Kmart, which later closed & was demolished for the current Home Depot). In 1976, Geisse retired and left Venture Stores, which had by that time expanded to 20 units. (Wikipedia)

When I was a kid, following the failure of the Woolco discount chain, Venture expanded into Oklahoma City (source). A Woolco/Venture was very close to my parent’s house, I biked there often to buy 45s & later cassingles.

Last week, as I stepped into a former Venture store at 5401 Collinsville Rd in Fairmont City, IL, I recalled biking to Venture as a kid and even visiting a Venture after moving to St. Louis.

When a building gets built we should assume it’ll be around for at least half a century. Often this longevity is a good thing, but not always. I took a picture of the men’s restroom but I decided to spare you that sight.

Older structures do provide good low-rent options for businesses, while not making a positive contribution to the area’s image. This is a good example of why we need to think beyond the original depreciation schedule when building.

— Steve Patterson

Readers Support Full Legalization of Marijuana in Missouri

In the poll last week nearly 82% favored some change in Missouri with respect to marijuana laws, with more than half supporting full legalization:

Q: How should Missouri treat marijuana?

1. Fully legalize 71 53.38% 53.38%
2. Legalize for medical / decriminalize for recreational use 32 24.06% 24.06%
3. Keep it illegal 21 15.79% 15.79%
4. Legalize for medical use only 6 [4.51%]
5. Unsure/no opinion 3 [2.26%]

Recently the St. Louis Board of Aldermen approved a bill (#275) that would give police the ability to issue a summons to people rather than arrest them for violating state law:

Right now, under that state law, first offenders who are caught with a small amount of marijuana — from a gram to 35 grams— is given a misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in jail and a $1,000 fine. A second offense for possession of more than 35 grams is considered a felony. (stltoday)

This action is a reflection of changing attitudes, and perhaps realization the federal “War on Drugs” has largely failed:

For decades, the politics of the drug war were straightforward: Being tough could help at the polls and came with no political downside; being open to reform had few advantages, but would be used against a candidate on the campaign trail. (Huffington Post)

Nationally support for full legalization has picked up speed, Colorado & Washington states even legalized marijuana in the November 2012 election.

Seeing such a shift in Missouri will likely take a while.

— Steve Patterson

The Cotton Belt Building Isn’t Made of Cement

In architecture school I had two semesters of classes on materials, so when I read sentences like the following I get irritated:

Today, the 750-foot-long face of the old Cotton Belt Rail Depot is in pretty rough shape, a wall of cracked cement and busted-out windows, with a string of graffiti wherever the taggers could reach. (stltoday)

“Cracked cement?” First, what is cement?

The common name for Portland cement, the most important modern construction material, notably as a constituent of concrete. In the manufacturing process, limestone is ground into small pieces (about 2 cm). To provide the silica (25%) and alumina (10%) content required, various clays and crushed rocks are added, including iron ore (about 1%). This material is ground and finally burned in a rotary kiln at up to 1500°C, thus converting the mixture into clinker pellets. About 5% gypsum is then added to slow the hardening process, and the ground mixture is added to sand (for mortar), gravel and crushed rock (for concrete). When water is added, the cement solidifies gradually, undergoing many complex reactions. The name “Portland” cement arises from a resemblance to stone quarried at Portland, England. (click image at right for source)

Cement is an important ingredient used to manufacture concrete, which is what the Cotton Belt building is made of.

There are three basic ingredients in the concrete mix:

1. Portland Cement
2. Water
3. Aggregates (rock and sand)

Portland Cement – The cement and water form a paste that coats the aggregate and sand in the mix. The paste hardens and binds the aggregates and sand together.

Water- Water is needed to chemically react with the cement (hydration) and too provide workability with the concrete. The amount of water in the mix in pounds compared with the amount of cement is called the water/cement ratio. The lower the w/c ratio, the stronger the concrete. (higher strength, less permeability)

Aggregates- Sand is the fine aggregate. Gravel or crushed stone is the coarse aggregate in most mixes. (ConcreteNetwork.com)

Thus, none of the following exist:

• A cement sidewalk
• Cement blocks
• Cement silo

You get the idea…

The Rally Saint Louis project is very interesting, click here for information.

— Steve Patterson

Former River Roads Mall Site Vacant, the Few New Buildings Aren’t Pedestrian Friendly

River Roads Mall was located in the north St. Louis County municipality of Jennings, MO:

Opened in 1962, the mall originally featured St. Louis-based Stix, Baer & Fuller as its main anchor store, as well as a Kroger supermarket and a Woolworth dime store. Walgreens operated a store in the mall as well. A 1970s expansion brought JCPenney as a second anchor store. Dillard’s bought the Stix, Baer & Fuller chain in 1984, converting all Stix, Baer & Fuller stores to the Dillard’s name. However, the River Roads Mall store was closed not long afterward in 1986 at the end of the lease. JCPenney converted its store to a JCPenney outlet in 1984. Woolworth closed the River Roads location (along with locations at West County Mall and in South St. Louis City) in early 1991 during one of the chain’s earliest rounds of store closures. By the early 1990s, the mall was briefly renamed St. Louis Consumer Center. (Wikipedia)

Two decades after opening it was already in decline. The surrounding residential neighborhoods remain a decent place to grow up.

I love that sidewalks were provided, those didn’t exist in the 1960s subdivision where I grew up, but they’re meaningless because the sidewalks didn’t lead anyone to nearby retail. You see in the 1960s America thought driving everywhere was the future. Cart the kids around until they get a license then they can drive themselves.

But we know better now, right? We need to design places to accommodate multiple modes of mobility: car, bike and foot. So you’d think the few new buildings that have been constructed in the last 5-6 years on the edge of the site have improved things for area residents. Well, you may not think so but I expected to see an improvement.

Boy was I disappointed on my first visit in 6+ years.

River Roads Manor was a Pyramid Properties project, completed prior to the collapse of the company on April 18, 2008 (see Five Years Since Pyramid Properties Ceased Operations). The McDonald’s & Neighbors Credit Union were started.  So John Steffen’s Pyramid Properties is to blame for not raising the bar in this area.

I just hope  Stacy Hastie of Environmental Operations, the entity that now owns the mall site, will take pedestrian access into consideration in the future. I also hope Jennings will realize their residents do walk places and that new construction should include provisions for them as well as for motorists.

Some of you will say nobody walks, everyone drives. Why then is the area serviced by MetroBus is everyone drives?  All we have to do is take a look at Google Street View to spot pedestrians.

Massive efforts go into accommodating motorists, from municipal codes to vast amounts of paving and land. I just want a pedestrian connection to adjacent streets, I think that’s fair.

— Steve Patterson