Parking on 14th Street Sidewalk Continues
The sidewalk along 14th Street, just north of Clark Ave, has pedestrians throughout the day & night because of the Civic Center MetroBus Transit Center, Civic Center MetroLink station, and the Gateway Transportation Center (Amtrak & Greyhound), so the south. The sidewalks aren’r packed, but the pedestrian traffic is steady. When events are held at the Scottrade Center or Peabody Opera House the pedestrian level increases dramatically as people make their way to these venues. Sidewalk space becomes scarce, especially if you’re going again the flow.
The other day, as I returned downtown on MetroLink, and I headed north on 14th to go home, people were headed into the Scottrade Center en mass. This isn’t the first time I’ve posted about these sidewalks being used for vehicles rather pedestrians:
- January 2007 Sidewalk Reserved for Circuit Attorney’s Office
- December 2011 Parking on 14th Street Sidewalk…Again.
- April 2012 Peabody Opera House Valets Caught Driving On 14th Street Sidewalk
The examples above were on the east side of 14th, the other day it was the west side of 14th getting squeezed:
The remaining sidewalk was tight as I met people heading to the event at the Scottrade. I find this unacceptable, I’m just not sure how to get it to stop.
— Steve Patterson
Two choices – vandalism/anarchy or new leadership/enforce the existing ordinances!
Does anybody have a hoody and a skeleton key I could borrow? Wait, I have the skeleton key, so just the hoody then…
vandalism and anarchy sound good to me!!!
Did you call the police? Is this valet parking or just asshats? I would feel a strong urge to walk atop these automobiles.
No, I had a bag full of groceries including frozen items. After I put the groceries away I tweeted a pic to Chief Sam Dotson.
I’ve now emailed this post to 10 people with the city, downtown St. Louis, Convention & Visitors Commission. Looking for contacts with Scottrade to email next.
I just emailed the two addresses I have for contacts at Scottrade Center, both returned as undeliverable.
My name is Chris Rodriguez. I run Clayton Valet, the valet company that provides valet service for the Peabody Opera House. I’m glad this was brought up. I’d like to assure everyone that the parking you see in these photos has absolutely nothing to do with the Peabody Opera House or Clayton Valet. We have been witness to these parking situations first-hand and even tried to ask people to NOT park this way. Every time we tried, the culprit would flash a badge at us; then there really isn’t much we can do at that point but work around them. These vehicles are in our way too, when there are events at both venues. ! We actually provide additional staffing on days where Scottrade and Peabody both have events at the same time, in order to assist with any traffic situations and the safety of our valets and pedestrians. I believe these were taken on March 21st, which would have been a result from the NCAA game. There was no event at Peabody that day, nor were there any of our employees providing service in that area.
The older post, regarding valet service at the Peabody back in April 2012, showing valets parking on the sidewalks, was a different company. That is actually the reason, among a few others, that the Peabody has since contracted us. We have been providing service for them for well over a year and have had no incidents similar to either of these situations that were listed in the articles.
Please feel free to email me at: Chris@claytonvalet.com if there ever is an issue with valet and I will be happy to take care of it immediately.
I would be curious to know if these are all police personal cars. While recently walking by the firehouse during a blues game I noticed a truck parked next to the fire hydrant on the corner with a fire hat on the dash. Apparently rules apply only to you an me and not our public servants.
If they flash a badge, you can ask to see the badge and record the name/number on it. Do that next time.
Then you have a license plate, name AND badge number as evidence!
Are you saying then that these are off-duty #STL officers doing secondary for ScottTrade events?
Great info, thanks Chris.
These are valet. I see them every time there is a hockey game and a Peabody event on the same night. I hawk a lugi on them every time I pass one.
Drivers have major issues at Forest Park, for example parking along clearly painted and marked no parking areas by stop signs and fire hydrants. But at least they are very likely to get a ticket (and probably be mad about how unfair the city is). Not sure how heavily enforced ticketing is downtown there, but if its the same people doing it, it may help…. if its different people presumably like in FP where its just part of a seemingly large group of revolving idiots then maybe ticket enforcement won’t be enough.
Its past time for the city to re-think many of it’s parking issues. First is the fine which ay $10 is not a deterrent nor does it cover the cost f enforcement. The fine should be at least $80 for the first violation. Second is not enforcing meters all of the time. Metered parking is meant to be temporary short term, and allow for traffic movement. Not enforcing meters at night and on Sunday allows people to camp out at no expense and restricts that amount of parking available for those who are making a short term visit. There is an abundance of inexpensive parking lots available for longer term parking and its time that people started using them and not rely on free parking. Third is allowing meter parking during events. Often parking close to the game or concert is $25 or more, but those who are lucky enough to find an open meter, parking is often free. Why? Again the city loses needed revenue and our short term parking gets taken up. Now with the new electronic meters its is possible to restrict parking to a two hour period and start charging a much higher rate for parking during events so that it is not economical to park at a meter during a ball game.
It should not be the city’s practice to encourage driving in from surrounding areas to attend a concert or ball game. People should pay for the privilege of driving a private car or be encouraged to use public transportation. Currently, the cities parking system discourages the use of public transportation and encourages people to drive because it is less expensive. The city has gotten into the habit of wanting to be liked so much that it freely gives away many of it’s popular destinations such as the zoo and Forest Park. Lets changes that so surrounding communities pay for the privilege of enjoying the city’s resources.
$80?!? Ha, ha, ha
Public transportation is not a viable alternative for most persons in this city as travel times are WAY too long to compete with private vehicles.
I heard on the radio this morning that 40% of Cardinals attendance resides 100+ from St. Louis. These customers will never use public transportation.
You’re wrong, tourists visiting other cities are very likely to use public transit. http://www.metro.us/newyork/news/2013/05/23/survey-70-million-tourists-will-use-public-transportation-when-visiting-u-s-cities-this-summer/
steve, I am curios about your walk/roll down 14th from civic center. most specifically the intersection of clark and 14th, which is a pedestrian nightmare. the eastside of 14th and clark is especially atrocious for peds, do you have any problems there? i know i do.
Yes, very problematic. If I need to reach the Sheraton Hotel I use the west side and cross 14th at Spruce because of the SE corner of Clark & 14th.
thats really what I dont get. I understand most city government types think only crackheads walk anywhere, but this is the location of a major sports area, a large hotel, a transit center and amtrak/bus station. if they care about anyone downtown you think it would be tourists, yet they do nothing to mediate the fact that the sidewalk crosses a HIGHWAY ONRAMP with no signage or even real sidewalk at all. just a few weeks ago I saw many people walking from the sheraton to scottrade for the MVC basketball tournament (also many walking from the metro station, they didnt have it nearly as bad) and about 6 people, that I saw, were almost killed trying to figure out how to get from the southeast side of 14th and clark to scottrade, it was just sad. not being familiar with the area they didnt realize they needed to cross at spruce, its not the first time this has happened, and it wont be the last. if you complain to the city, if its anywhere near a highway, they say “oh, thats modots problem”, if you complain to the city about anything near a metro stop they say “oh, thats metros problem”. if you actual contact either organization they say “oh, thats the cities problem”. I am seriously ready to move back to chicago. the city needs some kind of sidewalk czar, I know I know, no money for that, find the fucking money. get a damn federal grant like south grand did with great streets initiative. even if someone drivea the all mighty car downtown they have to WALK after they park, sidewalks are not just for crackheads. end of rant, sorry.
St. Louis’ leadership is just now learning we need to be more considerate of pedestrians, because tourists here spending money are frequently pedestrians.
Making the environment good for local & visiting pedestrians is an example of low hanging fruit that can pay dividends. Ignoring it can lead to bad reviews from visitors and continued loss of population.
I’m guessing (yes, with no real knowledge) that this practice may date back to the days before the Scottrade parking garage (1960’s? 1970’s? 1980’s?), when parking WAS a real challenge around the Kiel Auditorium, and that just because “we’ve always done things this way”, it continues today . . . .
did you tweet the license plates as well? i hope so.