A Look At Downtown Springfield Missouri

For many Springfield conjures up images of religious schools, Bass Pro Shops and a place to drive through on the way to Branson. For me I had never spent any time there other than passing through on I-44. I spent one night there several years ago when a major snow and ice storm made it unsafe to keep driving when returning to St. Louis from a visit to family in Oklahoma City.

But I spent June 10-12 in Springfield becoming a League Cycling Instructor. Although most time was spent in class or on the bike (including an 8am to 10:30pm Saturday) I did manage to find a little bit of time to look around downtown Springfield and take a few photos.

Regular readers know how I love street trees and Park Central East has plenty. Before anyone comments how the pictures lack people and activity I need to say that all of these were taken around 7am on Saturday June 11th. That having been said, the street with its 80s gentle curve and lack of on-street parking is apt to look empty regardless of the hour of the day. The fact the street is one-way going into their public square didn’t help.

Not surprising to me, the storefronts were not occupied by the most interesting of businesses. A blood bank was next door to the tattoo studio (I do find tattoo places interesting).

I can imagine they will eventually have to redo this entire street to align it, add at least one row of parking and to make it two-way.

Springfield’s public square is a bit dated looking in terms of the paving and overall design. Still, a square intersecting the grid is always interesting. See a map the street pattern.

The four corners facing the square all had a roof structure over the sidewalks, added likely in the 70s or 80s. The idea was to allow pedestrians to walk from store to store without getting wet. In reality it darkened the storefronts and make the square feel small. Three out of the four have been removed and I’m told the city is gather funds to move the fourth.

The square is still recovering from the ill-conceived sidewalk canopy treatment. But, new businesses are opening including a very attractive restaurant and bar with alfresco dining. The buildings facing the square are all interesting and varied.

The square has all the right elements — seating, sculpture, texture, and mature trees — yet it fails to be interesting or terribly useful. In the background you can see the columns for the one remaining roof structure over the public sidewalk.

The Heer’s building on the West side of the square is set for a major makeover into office lofts and ground level retail. I was hoping for residential lofts but I guess as long as the building it used I can’t complain. I didn’t get a sense they needed office space in Springfield.

The key is the ground level. This will be an important part of adding more street life to the square. A commenter on a prior post on Springfield had this to say:

For more detail on this project and to see a picture of the tragic 1950s remodel click here.

Moving away from the square the blocks just to the South are the most interesting. I noticed a number of solid brick buildings with interesting restaurants and businesses. This breakfast diner looked like a good source of grease. Down the street was a great urban neighborhood grocery store. I was blown away by the number of artisan bakeries.

Streets and sidewalks are narrow.

Construction abounds all over downtown Springfield, converting many buildings into residential lofts. Here the public right of way is wide but the sidewalks are still too narrow to create a great pedestrian area. The lack of trees is quite noticeable, especially when trying to escape the heat of the sun.

South Street is the dividing line between East and West in Springfield. It is also the most happening street in town from what I saw. Granted, based on this picture it doesn’t look very exciting. This picture is taken just South of the Square and is looking South. Got that? South of the Square on South Avenue looking South!

One of the few two-way streets in downtown Springfield South Avenue has a mix of angled parking and parallel parking. The West side of the street recently gained new sidewalks while the East side of the street are still very narrow. The angled parking can obviously get more cars than parallel but it does make it a bit more challenging for bicyclists trying to avoid cars backing out.

I would have like to see some street trees in the area, even one just to humor me.

One thing that shocked me was the number of bike racks in downtown Springfield. I think it is fair to say they have more public bike parking than we do in St. Louis! This is due to their Community Improvement District (CID). Sadly, picking the wrong rack and installing it in the wrong spot is not unique to Washington Avenue.

The ‘wave” rack used on South Avenue is designed to hold three bikes perpendicular to the rack. Two from one side and one, in the middle, from the opposite side. Look at the rack in the foreground. Just to this side of the rack is an entrance to a doorway. Even using the rack from the other side will have the front wheel intruding into the space for this doorway and be close to the other door just beyond the rack.

The racks also protrude into the walkway too much for my taste. I would have put simple inverted-U racks in-line with the lamp posts.

If you have the job of specifying a bike rack for a project please ask someone that actually bikes in town what type and location would work best. It is so obvious the people “planning” these things don’t have a clue.

Saturday night our group walked a block from our meeting location to South Avenue Pizza just up the street from where this photo was taken. Leaving around 9pm on a Saturday I was pleasantly shocked by the amount of activity on the street. It was quite busy. I was told by our Springfield hosts that during the school year it can get quite crowded downtown. Perhaps it was my low expectations but I was very impressed by what they had going on. And it was despite not having the best bike parking or street trees!

Also impressive were ordinances with strict regulations on smoking in public buildings (including restaurants) and a new ordinance requiring bike parking in new developments. We bike through adjacent residential neighborhoods which had some great craftsman bungalows in varying condition. We also biked to their Southern sprawl areas and past the massive Bass Pro Shops. Like most sprawl areas, it was boring and less friendly to cyclists.

As Missouri’s third largest region it is good example for review. Next time I’m passing through I’ll stop and spend some more time there.

– Steve