Cortex District Needs A Pedestrian Circulation Plan Before IKEA Is Built

Cortex is a district created by a collaboration of numerous research institutions, self-described as:

Founded in 2002, Cortex is mid-America’s premiere hub for bioscience and technology research, development and commercialization, anchoring St. Louis’ growing ecosystem of innovative startups and established companies. Providing state-of-the-art facilities to support the nation’s most promising technological advances, Cortex offers custom lab and office space, proximity to world-class research institutions, a highly-trained tech workforce, access to venture capital…all surrounded by amenity-rich urban neighborhoods.

They describe the location like this:

Cortex is conveniently located next to I-64 and easily accessible via private or public transportation. The area is home to some of St. Louis’ most exciting attractions and neighborhoods. In addition to being neighbors with other leading science and technology companies, you are within easy reach of Forest Park, which is larger than New York’s Central Park, the St. Louis Science Center, the St. Louis Zoo, The Muny and many other cultural and entertainment centers. Midtown is also home to charming sidewalk cafes, galleries, antique shops, boutiques and pubs. The area has been described as a little European, a little New York, and totally St. Louis.

For a while now Cortex has been working to add a new transit station along the existing MetroLink light rail line. I don’t know if it has been given the green light, but it has been studied at great length. Here are some quotes from a June 2013 ULI Technical Assistance Panel Report:

By placing the station as close to Boyle as possible, riders would be welcomed to the District by the Commons, thereby creating an impressive and distinctive park-like ‘front door’ to the District. The station would be also easily visible from Boyle, making way-finding easier and promoting future ridership by virtue of its visibility to auto traffic.

While the station should be placed close to Boyle, the Panel still felt strongly that the station should be accessible to pedestrians and bicyclists via entrances at Boyle and Sarah, providing riders with two options for ingress/egress. Directional signage should also be placed on and highly visible from both streets to assist passengers with finding the station entrance. (p5)

Of immediate note was the current state of the streets and pedestrian experience in the District. There is a significant amount of overgrowth in the area, particularly along sidewalks, which leaves visitors with a sense that the area is largely ignored or abandoned. To truly operate as a District, care should be taken to maintain the sidewalks and streetscapes throughout the area, not just those in the immediate vicinity of current or complete development. (p10)

With the station nearing reality and additional businesses planning to bring innovation and employees to the District, the members of Cortex are faced with another opportunity to come together once again to solve a need. In this instance, the challenge is parking in the District. By creating a parking district or ownership/management entity consisting of the five Cortex members, a more thoughtful and comprehensive strategy can be put in place which will address future parking needs, create a unified parking solution that is in keeping with the design and operational principles of the District, and help determine the most advantageous pricing strategy that will meet the needs of the consumer, fund the parking entity, and ultimately provide for a system of parking that is successful and sustainable. (p12)

The report also talks about Cortex’s plan to make Duncan Ave a pedestrian-oriented street. I know from personal experience it’ll need a lot of work to get to that point. Cutting off Duncan before it reaches Vandeventer isn’t a good idea, though IKEA could be used a nice terminus.

However, St. Louis has more than two decades of experience with light rail stations surrounded by anything but good transit-oriented development (TOD). Now’s the opportunity to change. I’ve yet to see any evidence, ULI study included, that anyone has looked at the route(s) pedestrians would take to get to/from this proposed station and all the building sites within the district.

What needs to happen immediately is the development of a pedestrian plan for the district and just beyond its borders. This would be similar to a traffic circulation study, but for people. See Seattle’s Pedestrian Master Plan (h/t to Exploring St. Louis).

Some of the questions that need to be asked are:

1. Are there barriers to pedestrian circulation within the district? (hint, yes)
2. Is the pedestrian network sized and designed to handle expected foot traffic at build out?  (no)
3. Does the existing pedestrian network have ADA-compliance issues? (Big YES)
4. Does the existing pedestrian network encourage transit use and/or walking? (no)
5. How will pedestrians get from the proposed MetroLink station to the proposed Midtown Station retail development across Vandeventer? (see below)

With these asked and identified new work can be built to reduce problems, not create new ones, and gradually improve the area. Let’s take a look at some specifics:

IKEA’s Reed Lyons told me they tried different configurations, including pushing the building out to the corner so it would be more urban. I believe him, but this is the “show-me” state so I’d like to see these rejected configurations. It’s like in school when you had complicated math problems — you had to show your work.

I also want to explore the width of Forest Park and Vandeventer. Both have a parking lane, roughly 10ft wide, that will become useless since there isn’t a reason to park on the street. Will this lane but used to direct traffic into the IKEA or can we do curb bulbs or other treatments to reduce the width of the roadway? There’s no reason to leave unused paving.

I do have one idea on how to get pedestrians from the proposed MetroLink to Vandeventer and the proposed Midtown Station retail project — a pedestrian route next to the tracks.

I’m excited about IKEA and realize it and Cortex have a lot of potential for St. Louis and the region. I also know just plopping in a light rail station doesn’t automatically create a vibrant & walkable neighborhood/district.  Planning today will pay off in the long run.

— Steve Patterson

Readers: Public Transit Takes Too Long, Doesn’t Go Where They Go

For years I had many reasons for not using public transit. In hindsight some were valid, but most weren’t. Last week’s poll asked why readers don’t use public transit, the results are interesting:

Q: Top 3 reasons why you don’t ride public transit as your primary mode?

1. takes too long 93 [22.85%]
2. Doesn’t go where I go 72 [17.69%]
3. I have a car 69 [16.95%]
4. I ride public transit! 50 [12.29%]
5. Confusing routes/schedules 21 [5.16%]
6. Other: 21 [5.16%]
7. It’s unsafe 20 [4.91%]
8. Having to walk to/from 19 [4.67%]
9. I’m white 17 [4.18%]
10. Other riders 11 [2.7%]
11. I’m not poor 7 [1.72%]
12. I have young children 7 [1.72%]

The top answer “takes too long” has a few variables: start and destination locations, and expectations. If you already have a car it’s hard to justify using transit except in special circumstances – like going to the airport or a Cardinals game. Depending upon locations, route, distance, etc public transit can be as fast as driving. Factoring in parking, I can get from my downtown loft to the Chase Park Plaza in about the same amount of time. For other destinations driving a car wins handily in terms of time.

Ok, it takes me 45 minutes to get to Target on Hampton, I make the time productive. At first it seemed like forever, especially when I still had a car. Over the last 20+  months  I’ve gotten used to the time — I’ve readjusted my expectations.

Here are the 21 “other” answers provided by readers:

1. too expensive
2. Bring a rail line S-SW and more access with mean more riders.
3. I really enjoy riding a bike, too!
4. I don’t live in the city.
5. other
6. Stop is in difficultLocation to get to – Grand Blvd. stop, terrible location!
7. I bicycle
8. Infrequent schedules
9. Walking is cheaper.
10. doesn’t run often enough
11. More Expensive than Driving
12. transit IS my primary mode.
13. Vehicles/Trains feel dirty
14. Poor frequency, operating hours
15. Must transport tools & equipment to work sites
16. I have a bike
17. Trains/buses run too infrequently
18. More expensive than driving due to opportunity cost of a longer commute.
19. Lack of Frequency (especially at night)
20. Having a car saves me time during the day going from one meeting to the next.
21. I ride a bicycle and supplement with metrolink when needed.

I should’ve included biking as a reason for not using transit — a very good reason! If you’re already paying for a car, it becomes very hard to justify letting it sit to use transit. In a region where car ownership isn’t outrageously expensive, as say, NYC, then transit use is it becomes transportation for the poor and/or environmentalists.

Until the equation changes (high fuel cost, for example) public transit use won’t increases. If we see fuel costing north of $4/gallon then you’ll hear about more people trying transit.

— Steve Patterson

IKEA St. Louis: The Good & Bad

I’ll never forget the first time I stepped into an IKEA store, in August 1990. At that time IKEA only had a handful of stores in the US, I visited the 2nd located in Woodbridge VA outside Washington D.C. All were on the east coast. Since then I’ve shopped at five more IKEA locations, including the two Chicago-area locations: Schaumburg (opened in 1998) and Bolingbrook (opened in 2005).

Today every room in our loft includes products from IKEA:

• Kitchen: Shelves, serving dishes, silverware, gadgets, bar stools, etc
• Dining Room: table, art
• Living Room: sofa, tv stand, wall shelves, end tables,
• Office: Wall of bookshelves, lighting
• Bedroom: bed, nightstands, chests, shelving, sheets, duvet, lighting
• Closet: wood hangers (no wire hangers!)
• Bathrooms: cart for toiletries, towels, art

We’re happy with the quality of all the items except the sofa — it was the cheapest one they sold about 8 years ago and it needs to be replaced. Was a good value though.

Some of the IKEA trips I’ve had over the years I bought very little — even their compact flat packages are too big for the overhead bins! I can, however, recall 4-5 trips to Schaumburg/Bolingbrook, either by myself or with a friend, where we left with our vehicle packed so tight we barely fit inside to drive back to St. Louis. The time I bought the sofa we were driving a Jeep Grand Cherokee — we tied the sofa to the roof rack because the inside was full. I’ve also made two purchases through a local company that brings back items for a fee. Why share all this? To show I’ve been a customer for many years.

In March I posted that distribution was key to IKEA’s midwest expansion, that we’d see a store only after the Joliet IL distribution center, announced in 2007, was actually open. When it became clear recently that IKEA was going to announce plans for a St. Louis location I wondered if I was off in my assessment so before the press conference last week I asked Joseph Roth about the long-stalled Joliet distribution center. Turns out the St. Louis location is the “tipping point” to justify the new distribution center! When the Kansas City-area IKEA opens next fall it’ll be stocked from an east coast distribution center like the two Chicago area stores have been. Roth said they’re not sure which will open open first: the new distribution center or the St. Louis store. If the St. Louis location opens before the distribution center, it won’t be far behind.   

Last week IKEA officials announced plans to seek approval for a store at Forest Park & Vandeventer:

IKEA, the world’s leading home furnishings retailer, today announced it is submitting plans to the City of St. Louis, Missouri for a store that would increase the Swedish retailer’s presence in the Midwestern United States. The application marks the beginning of the governmental approval process. Until the store opens in Fall 2015, customers can shop at the closest IKEA stores: the Chicago-area IKEA Bolingbrook and IKEA Schaumburg; or online at IKEA-USA.com. Additionally, a Kansas City-area store is under construction and on track to open Fall 2014 in Merriam, KS.

Located in the heart of Midtown St. Louis, the 380,000-square-foot proposed IKEA store would be built along the northern side of Interstate-64 near the Vandeventer Avenue exit. It would sit on nearly 21 acres purchased in the Cortex Innovation District, a vibrant technology community created to commercialize the benefits of university and regional corporate research in St. Louis. One level of parking below the store and spaces accessible at-grade would provide approximately 1,250 parking spaces on-site. Store plans reflect the same unique architectural design for which IKEA stores are known worldwide. IKEA also will evaluate potential on-site power generation to complement its current U.S. renewable energy presence at nearly 90% of its U.S. locations. (IKEA)

IKEA doesn’t own the land yet, that’ll happen if they get approvals to proceed.

The good news:

1. A lackluster corner will have lots of activity
2. Adjacent to light rail (MetroLink) and on the #42 MetroBus route.
3. The store will draw customers from over 100 miles away
4. Tax revenue generated for the city will be substantial.
5. 300 permanent jobs will be created
6. Will likely spur adjacent development consisting of more retail, hotel(s), and restaurants.

The bad news:

1. Most of the activity generated on Vandeventer & Forest Park will be motorists coming and going.  Traffic will be a nightmare if signals aren’t well timed.
2. Despite being near public transit, many customers and some employees will drive.
3. Getting out of town visitors to stay and spend more money will be a challenge.
4. What will be the sales tax rate we’ll have to pay? Bolingbrook IL is 8%, Schaumburg is 10%.
5. Many of the jobs will be low paying.
6.  Adjacent development, such as the proposed Midtown Station, will be low-density sprawl.

On Thursday I’ll look at design issues that need to be addressed by IKEA, CORTEX, and the city.

— Steve Patterson

The Central Library Reopened One Year Ago

One  year ago our central library reopened after receiving a much-needed renovation:

The library closed almost three years ago for a $70-million renovation. The results of that work are now open to the public, and the 190,000-square-foot building is the most gorgeous — and usable — library I have ever seen.

The 1912 Beaux Arts building, which takes a full city block, was originally designed by Cass Gilbert, who also designed the U.S. Supreme Court. Andrew Carnegie provided the seed money — part of his campaign to build 1,600 libraries in America — and taxpayers provided the rest. (Washington Post)

The results were impressive, readers thought the library renovation was a good investment.

I haven’t spent as much time in the library as I thought I would, but I’m still impressed by the exterior lighting as I pass by it several nights per week. I need to see if anyone is operating the cafe inside, that would get me in the door more often. My fiancee is an avid reader, he’s used the library far more than I have.  In June I posted how the Central Library after hours book return is for motorists, not pedestrians.

What has been your experience over the last year?

— Steve Patterson

Poll: Thoughts on Bike Lanes

Few aspects of the public right-of-way are as controversial as bike lanes. This may surprise you: bicyclists are deeply divided on them. One side argues bike lanes make riders feel for comfortable biking near traffic. The other side argues trained cyclists don’t need bike lanes. Both are correct.

For the poll this week I’ve listed diverse statements about bike lanes, I’d like you to pick which most closely matches your views. You may agree with more than one so pick the one that’s a better match or that you feel more strongly about. The poll is in the right sidebar.

Results and more on the subject on Wednesday December 18th.

— Steve Patterson