I’m not writing the history, just passing it along. As I come across interesting documents in my files I’m scanning them for safe keeping as sharing the info with you, the reader.
One such document is the history of Urban Renewal in St. Louis. It was published by the City Plan Commission in the early 1970s.
Click cover image above to download the 4.2MB PDF file.
The document gives a detailed look at Urban Renewal projects in St. Louis like Plaza Square, Mill Creek Valley and Desoto-Carr (these last two have been razed & replaced).
January 1, 2009DowntownComments Off on Huge Traffic Increases in 2008
Last year saw huge increases in traffic. Not auto traffic, web traffic here at UrbanReviewSTL.
The number of pages viewed in 2007 was just over 3.5 million. Not bad and certainly a healthy increase over 2006’s 1.2 million page views and 2005’s 334,000 views. For 2008 the number of pages was around 9.5 million! This is a year to year growth rate of over 167%!
Web traffic 2005-2008
Considering there were only two posts in February, the numbers are remarkable. I know from my survey that just over 15% of you began reading in 2008. In a weird way my stroke was good for traffic. People went to the site when they heard about my stroke and many stayed around to follow my recovery.
In 2008 I had a total of 305 posts – an average of 25.4 posts per month. Take out February and I had an average of 27.5 posts per month. In 2007 I had a total of 370 posts for the year (30.8/month). I don’t have a good summary on word count but my posts are noticeably shorter thanks to one handed typing – and likely more read as a result of their brevity. The stroke was sort of that editor I never had.
2009 will be a good year on many levels. I expect growth in page views but it is hard to predict at what rate. Since starting this site in October 2004 the growth & popularity has been so far beyond my wildest expectations.
Thank you to all of you. May you have a joyous 2009!
Since at least the 1930s the planners and traffic engineers that successfully destroyed much of St Louis in the name of progress have envisioned yet another highway in downtown St Louis. It was known as the 22nd Street Parkway and it was to connect hwy 40 on the South and I-70 on the North. The only part that got built was the connection to I-64/Hwy 40.
Thankfully none of the rest got built and the plans to build it have been scrapped.
For a while now MoDOT has been looking at simplifying the interchange to reduce the amount of land consumed — freeing up land to be redeveloped (see MoDOT’s page the interchange). The problem has been a lack of priority in funding the project of reclaiming this wasteland.
The interchange and much around it are the driver’s paradise and the pedestrian’s hell:
2006 Aerial showing Union Station in the lower right corner and the wasted space of the 22nd Street Interchange to the left of Union Station.
A half century ago the area looked and functioned quite differently:
1958 aerial image of exact same area as shown above.
Both images were purchased from Historic Aerials. To see larger images click either one to view them in Flikr where you can select a larger size.
We need to use this as a model for the future — not to replicate the buildings, but the finely woven street grid.
The 22nd Street Interchange, part of an abandoned highway concept from a few decades ago, needs to be ripped out with the land returned to active tax-paying use. The Missouri Dept of Transportation (MoDOT) should rework the interchange at Jefferson Ave to allow for on/off ramps in both directions and therefore eliminating the need for the current ramps at 22nd. MoDot could sell the land to fund the revisions to the highway ramps.
I picture a new bridge at I-64/40 and Jefferson Ave — one with a single point urban interchange (SPUI) and both East & West on/off ramps. Build that and then remove the 22nd interchange completely. Bring in form-based zoning codes to require a denser urban environment. Make a strong connection through the back of Union Station (between the shed & highway) so that pedestrians from this newly developable land have the opportunity to walk to Metrolink and the 14th street transit station beyond that. The fact that much of this area is already excavated and free of utility lines would simplify the construction of underground parking in new buildings.
If Missouri is asking the new Obama administration to help fund infrastructure this should be near the top of the list. I’m going to suggest that Ald Kacie Triplett (D-6th Ward) put this on the front burner as a way to kickstart the redevelopment of this area.
Such a project could be a huge boon for the city. The impact would certainly be felt beyond the immediate area. For example, Chestnut & Pine could both be returned to two-way traffic. Union Station could once again have an adjacent neighborhood.
A downtown streetcar circulator loop could connect this new neighborhood to the other parts of downtown. With such a large open area it would be the perfect spot for an urban Target store — picture the Hampton & Chippewa store (underground parking) except without the surface parking out front. Retailers that would prefer new construction over squeezing in a historic building would love the location. Building heights of 3-5 floors would give a nice scale although I would not propose any maximum.
St Louis has much rebuilding to do. We’ve got to roll up our collective sleeves and get busy. The current economic situation will improve in a few years and when it does we need to have the new streets in the works and the zoning in place.
I just returned from the ribbon cutting of the long-awaited Gateway Transportation Center (aka the Multimodal Transportation Hub), the new home for Amtrak & Greyhound in St Louis. I’ll have a full review next week but I wanted to let you know that Greyhound and Amtrak are welcoming visitors to check out the new building as well as examples of the latest bus and trains today (11/21/08) until 4pm and tomorrow, Saturday 11/22 from 9am – 4pm.
Comptroller Darlene Green speaking at the opening
The following is the press release:
St. Louis City Opens New $26.4 Million Multimodal Transportation Hub
(Gateway Transportation Center)
ST. LOUIS – The City of St. Louis is pleased to announce the official grand opening of the Gateway Transportation Center (GTC), the city’s new $26.4 million multimodal transportation hub. Mayor Francis G. Slay, Comptroller Darlene Green, representatives from Amtrak, Greyhound, MoDOT, Citizens for Modern Transit and other local officials dedicated the facility on Friday, November 21 at 10:45 a.m. The GTC is located at 430 S. 15th street in downtown St. Louis, one block south of the Scottrade Center. The event is open to the public. Directions are available at the Gateway Transportation Center web page, www.stlouis.missouri.org/citygov/comptroller/gtc.
In conjunction with the Transportation Center’s grand opening, the city, Amtrak and Greyhound also invite the public to enjoy equipment displays and tours from 11:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Friday and from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday. The displays will offer the public tours of new Amtrak state-of-the-art passenger rail equipment and Greyhound bus equipment. Also, Amtrak and Greyhound will offer the public a chance to win free travel vouchers to destinations in the continental U.S. City Treasurer Larry Williams has offered free parking on Saturday during the display hours at the Gateway Transportation Center lot and at the lot south of the Scottrade Center. Both of these lots are owned and operated by the City Treasurer.
For nearly twenty years, a multimodal station to connect Amtrak, Greyhound, MetroLink and MetroBus service has been an important concept in the overall design of St. Louis City’s transportation systems, but until recently, it was only a concept. When he was first elected Mayor in 2001, Francis Slay joined with other city officials to make the completion of this facility a top priority. This vision has now become reality, thanks to the cooperation of a variety of wonderful partners.
Today, the Gateway Transportation Center is the City’s state-of-the-art multimodal transportation hub operated by the City of St. Louis Comptroller’s Office, led by Comptroller Darlene Green. It is conveniently located in the heart of downtown St. Louis where Amtrak, Greyhound, MetroLink and MetroBus service converge. This new facility provides passengers with a clean, safe and friendly transportation center featuring 24-hour operations staff, security and food service.
Since the March 2006 groundbreaking, the City of St. Louis worked in partnership with Bi-State/Metro, the Missouri Department of Transportation, the Federal Highway Administration, Amtrak, and Greyhound to complete the new Gateway Transportation Center. Construction was managed by the City’s Board of Public Service and built in three phases.
Jacobs Engineering and Kennedy Associates were the primary designers for this $26.4 million project. Development Programming Associates provided coordination and oversight. K & S Associates served as general contractor for the $14.2 million terminal and concourse linkage project. R.V. Wagner, Inc. was the general contractor for the $4.5 million track package. RQC Quality Constructors was the general contractor for the $2 million Bi-State/Metro bus facility. The total project cost also includes design and other pre-construction expenses. The MetroLink portion of the complex was previously constructed as part of the original MetroLink alignment.
Amtrak Service
At St. Louis, Amtrak offers five daily round trips to and from Chicago via Springfield and Bloomington-Normal, two daily round trips to and from Kansas City via Jefferson City, and one daily round trip to and from Arkansas and Texas, via Little Rock, Dallas-Fort Worth and San Antonio. Amtrak passengers also have access to a daily shuttle connecting St. Louis with Carbondale, Illinois, and a daily train to and from New Orleans, via Memphis.
Most of the service to Chicago is sponsored by the Illinois Department of Transportation. Both Kansas City round trips are sponsored by the Missouri Department of Transportation, which recently announced plans to rename the service. More information about the “Name the Trains” contest will be available at the new St. Louis Gateway Station.
Amtrak has relocated its trains and ticketing from a building at 551 South 16th Street, which has served as an interim station since 2004. Designed as part of this project, that facility will be converted into an operations base for Amtrak train, engine and maintenance crews.
Greyhound Service
From the Gateway Transportation Center, Greyhound offers 35 daily scheduled trips to destinations across the United States, including Chicago, Memphis, Nashville, New York, Kansas City, Denver, Springfield and Los Angeles. Greyhound also provides Greyhound PackageXpress (GPX) shipping from the St. Louis Transportation Center location.
Greyhound has been serving the St. Louis area for nearly 80 years. Greyhound is the largest North American provider of intercity bus transportation, serving more than 2,300 destinations with more than 10,500 daily departures across the continent. The company also provides GPX, as well as charters and shore services. For fare and schedule information and to buy tickets call 1-800-231-2222 or visit the Greyhound’s website at www.greyhound.com.
MetroLink and MetroBus Service
The MetroLink Civic Center station (located immediately adjacent to the Gateway Transportation Center) offers daily arrivals and departures to destinations like Lambert Airport, Scott Air Force Base and Clayton. The MetroBus terminal (located just east of the GTC) offers daily routes to destinations throughout the St. Louis metro area. For a complete listing of all MetroLink and MetroBus routes, visit www.metrostlouis.org or call 314-231-2345 from Missouri or 618-271-2345 from Illinois.
In August a couple of friends told me about an episode of ‘Car 54 Where Are You?’ dealing with Urban Renewal. The episode, ‘Occupancy August 1st’, of the police sitcom set in the Bronx, first Aired on October 21, 1962 – forty six years ago tonight. This was five years prior to my birth and although I had heard of the show I don’t recall ever seeing an episode from its 2-season run. Thanks to YouTube I was able to find and watch this episode — what a gem!
The show opens on the construction site of a new public housing project with workers spotting a woman on the 14th floor. The workers thinking she is going to jump call the police. The job foreman calls the Building Commissioner to explain about the woman on the construction site. The Commissioner responds, “Oh no, another delay?”
Officers Toody & Muldoon from Car 54 arrive. When they make their way to the 14th floor (via a beam hoisted by a crane) they find a sweet Jewish woman, Mrs Bronson, setting up home in the unfinished building still lacking walls. They explain to her “you can’t stay here.” She rebuts, “For two years I’ve been waiting to move in and now ‘You can’t stay here.’ In my own apartment I can’t stay?”
She produces a lease which begins on August 1st. In the exchange with the officer she asks what the sign out front says. He responds, “Occupancy August 1st.” What is the date? August 1st.
“In the old tenement when they tore it down for six months they kept nagging with papers and eviction notices. A new apartment they promised me. Now I’m in the new apartment and it’s ‘Get Out, Get Out.”
“I’m back in the Bronx. For two years I lived with my daughter in Brooklyn. She’s a lovely girl but who can live with her.”
Lots of great lines. At one point Mrs Bronson asks the Architect, Hilton Hartford Harlow (played by Charles Nelson Riley), to make sure the electric & gas meters are above the icebox. He indicates the building will have refrigerators and the meters will be in the basement.
“You mean there won’t be electric or gas men to come here to check the meters and their won’t be an ice man to sit and talk with me for a half hour? What are you building for me here a jail? Apartments are for people to visit.”
“But this is progress!” replies the Architect.
“You are making so much progress I could drop dead and nobody would find me in 10 years.”
The 22-minute episode is on YouTube in four segments (Note @ 12:40pm – the embedded video is not working correctly, please use the links to watch the video segments)
All the characters are in place, the sweet woman that loved her old tenement, the uncaring building commissioner, the architect that cares more about his reputation than building a good space for people. An interesting step back in time indeed.
AARP Livibility Index
The Livability Index scores neighborhoods and communities across the U.S. for the services and amenities that impact your life the most
Built St. Louis
historic architecture of St. Louis, Missouri – mourning the losses, celebrating the survivors.
Geo St. Louis
a guide to geospatial data about the City of St. Louis
