St Louis Removes Josephine Baker

Well not the person, she is long dead. however, a block-long section of Josephine Baker Blvd between Washington and Locust is being removed (map link), presumably for an undisclosed parking plan for Saint Louis University:

In June of last year myself and others covered the razing of the historic Livery building at the NW corner of Locust & Josephine Baker. I’m sure now that vacating this street was part of the bigger plan that is slowly being revealed.

Architect Paul Hohmann over at Vanishing STL does an excellent job covering this topic in his piece called, “SLU Creates Superblock Between LBD & Grand Center, Hinders Development.” Here is a snip it of his piece:

The simplicity and flexibility of the urban street grid is what separates the City and its inner suburbs from post WWII suburbs which are more often than not defined by cul-de-sacs and overcrowded collector roads. Unfortunately, the City of St. Louis does not recognize the inherent value of it’s streets and often gives away, yes, gives away these assets to private hands.

This is the case in Midtown where SLU has persuaded the City to vacate Josephine Baker between Locust and Washington creating a superblock about 870 feet long. This is twice as long as today’s city planners recommend to create a walkable environment in an urban area. Longer blocks also increase vehicle travel speeds due to the distance between intersections.

Paul is right, of course, to raise alarm about the continual loss of streets and their sidewalks.

To the immediate South is the Drake Plaza apartments which were likely renovated in the 1980s. At that time the street grid in this vicinity was butchered to give the place gated parking. Both Josephine Baker and Leonard were cut off at Locust. Another street used to angle between the buildings.

But in an interesting bit of irony these closed streets around the Drake Plaza are causing problems of connectivity for SLU. The image above is looking North at what used to be Josephine Baker Blvd (anyone know the prior name of the street?) before being closed for Drake Plaza parking. So SLU buys the building next door and turns the side parking lot into basically a private street.

At least it is nice to see we are coming full circle and having to add back in connectivity in places.   I’m concerned about the accessibility in the area with all these changes.  This gives folks in wheelchairs fewer crosswalks.  We’ve been messing up the street grid for decades so this is just more of the same, and all for parking!

But good thing the arena is built — my academics experience at SLU this year should be so much better than before.

Missouri Primary on Tuesday

Primary season is now in full swing for Tuesday’s election. My mailbox has been flooded with slick postcards telling me how bad the other guy or gal is. I might just put them all in a big pile and then sort by each candidate — the one that sent me the fewest items for my recycling gets my vote.

With hundreds of municipalities in the St Louis region it is just to much work to summarize every election. Illinois is not holding elections on Tuesday. Thus I will focus only on the ballot in the city with one exception.

The exception is Proposition Y in the city and most of St Louis County. This is a bond issue for the Metropolitan Sewer District (MSD) which reads as:

To comply with federal and state clean water requirements, shall The Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District (MSD) issue its sewer system revenue bonds in the amount of Two Hundred Seventy-five Million Dollars ($275,000,000) for the purpose of designing, constructing, improving, renovating, repairing, replacing and equipping new and existing MSD sewer facilities and system, including sewer disposal and treatment plants, sanitary and combined sanitary and stormwater sewers, and acquisition of easements and real property related thereto, the cost of operation and maintenance of said sewer system and the principal of and interest on said revenue bonds to be payable solely from the revenues derived by MSD from the operation of its sanitary sewer system, including all future extensions and improvements thereto?

MSD, created in 1954, is one of the few regional governmental entities that we have. Still in a region of 16 counties (8 in Missouri and 8 in Illinois) its really hard to view MSD as regional as it only covers St Louis city and county — two of the 16 counties the city is both a city and county). Just over half the region’s residents live in MSD’s boundaries (1.5 million out of 2.7 million).

MSD needs these bonds to raise money to keep our aging sewer infrastructure working and to bring it into compliance with federal and state standards. Interestingly MSD says our system is about the same size as the system serving Los Angeles:

Formed in 1954, MSD is the combination of 79 separate sewer systems that have been incorporated into one entity over the last several decades. The sewer system MSD manages today is one of the largest and most complex systems in the United States. In terms of wastewater sewers alone, MSD manages the 4th largest system in the nation. To give some perspective on what “4th largest” means for our community, consider that MSD’s wastewater system is approximately the same size as the wastewater system in Los Angeles, California. Although the two systems are approximately the same size –as measured in miles of wastewater sewer pipe –system upgrades and operational costs in Los Angeles are shared by over 5 million residents versus approximately 1.4 million in St. Louis.

The cost of unchecked sprawl is we have fewer people to share the burden of funding the system . Vote yes on Prop Y.

Governor

Both Democrats & Republicans have primary challenges to determine who faces each other in November. I’m for Attorney General Jay Nixon, a Democrat. I haven’t paid much attention to the field on the Republican side.

Lieutenant Governor

Both Democrats and Republicans have several choices. I endorse Democrat Sam Page — a state Rep from Creve Coeur. I’ve had the chance to talk to him a couple of times and I think he is genuinely concerned about the environment. It will be Lt Gov Peter Kinder vs. Sam Page in November.

State Treasurer

Only one Republican and four Democrats in this primary. The Dems are Mark Powell, Clint Zweifel, Andria Danine Simckes and Charles B. Wheeler. I haven’t a clue yet.

Attorney General

With Jay Nixon running for Governor that leaves the race wide open. Only a single Republican in this primary, state Sen. Mike Gibbons. On the Democratic ballot we have four candidates; Chris Koster, Margaret Donnelly, Jeff Harris and Molly Williams. Like the state treasurer race I’ve got to do some last minute research.

State Senate District 5

This race to succeed term limited Maida Coleman has gotten lots of ink. The ballot has only two candidate — state reps Rodney R. Hubbard and Robin Wright-Jones. A third candidate, State Rep Connie Johnson, had filed but a judge determined she didn’t live in the district! I know Hubbard and campaign staffer Antonio French but that is not reason enough to vote/endorse him. More research to be done before stepping in front of the voting machine on Tuesday.

State Representative District 57

Joseph Palm is challenging incumbent Tailbdin El-Amin. Haven’t really followed this race.

State Representative District 60

Kimberly Gardner is challenging incumbent Jamilah Nasheed. I’m in a different district so I haven’t watched the campaigns of these two.

State Representative District 61

Chris Carter, Curtis Royston III and Anthony Bell are going for the seat being vacated by Connie Johnson

State Representative District 63

Two candidates are seeking the seat currently held by Robin Wright-Jones who as noted above is running for the state Senate.

State Representative District 64

Michael Roberts Jr. is running against incumbent Rachel Storch. We’ve got to watch that Roberts — if he is like his dad he’ll want to rename the Missouri capital capitol building the Roberts’ Capital Capitol Building.

State Representative District 65

Two political names face off in this district — incumbent Michele Kratky is challenged by Michael Favazza.

State Representative District 67

Mike Daus has served as the state rep for the 67th for 8 years. Thus he is out based on term limits. In 2001 he narrowly lost to Jennifer Florida for the 15th ward Aldermanic seat. So he went to Jefferson City instead. Five Democrats are seeking to replace him; Mike Colona, Chad Beffa, Joan Landmann and Emily Jo Pierce. I’ve met Colona before — he seems alright. If you live in this district do some research.

State Representative District 108

Like Mike Daus, Tom Villa is term limited out of office. Two candidates are seeking to replace him, Jacob Hummel and Art Gansner. With no Republican running one of these two will soon be elected.

Sheriff

This is another of those county positions since the city is also a county. Ken Griffey is seeking, once again, to displace incumbent James Murphy. Murphy campaigned against me when I ran for Alderman in 2005 . That and he has had the job for a while are two reasons to support Griffey.

City Treasurer

Daniel Schesch is challenging incumbent Larry C. Williams. By some weird twist of things the city treasurer is in charge of parking in the city. Williams has had the job long enough — it is time for some fresh blood in the office. Vote for Schesch.

Ward Committee Positions

Each party elects a Committeeman and Committeewoman for each of the 28 wards. The problem is we are such a one party city you seldom see any Greens, Libertarians or Republicans running at this level. While I want to remove party affiliation at the municipal level I’d like to see more folks from other parties getting involved.

Most of these 56 positions on the Democratic ballot are uncontested. You can write in a name if you want a choice other than the one person running. Remember there is nothing obligating you to voting for a candidate when they are the only one running. If any of you in the 6th ward are so inclined, go ahead and write in my name for Committeeman.

In the 15th ward you’ve got candidates from two ward organizations running against each other.

In the 21st Ward Incumbent Arthur “Chink” Washington is being challenged by Pubdef’s Antonio French. French’s late grandmother was the committeewoman for many years. Good luck Antonio.

In the 27th ward Royston & Carter from the 61st Dist house race are facing off again for Committeeman.

I’m kind of disappointed that more candidates from the 20th ward didn’t seek to replace the current committee persons as that would make it a bit easier to unseat Craig Schmid come 2011.

Further Reading

• St Louis Election Commissioners
• St Louis County Board of Election Commissioners
• St Charles County Election Authority
• SmartVoter from the League of Women Voters

If you’ve got thoughts on these races and the bond issue use the comment form below. I’m personally more interested to hear why we should support someone rather than why we shouldn’t support the other guy.

Six Months Ago Today

Regular readers know that six months ago today I suffered a massive stroke while at home in the afternoon on Friday February 1st, 2008. It was a good 14 hours later before a friend used her spare key to my place and found me on the floor.

After three weeks in ICU I spent the balance of February and all of March & April in two different hospitals getting intense physical rehab. When I returned home I was able to walk a bit but only when wearing a brace on my left leg to keep my ankle in the right position and only through the use of a cane.

Over the last three months I’ve begun to put my life back together. I’m still wearing the leg brace and using the cane but my distance and speed have increased. I’m back at work as a REALTOR® at Circa Properties. I have several listings and will have more next week.

Later this month I resume work on a Masters of Arts in Urban Planning and Real Estate Development at Saint Louis University.  My first class this semester is on land-use law and is taught in the law school.  For us it is required.  For law students it is an elective.  Real Estate Finance and a Graduate Reading course rounds out the semester.

Late next week I am driving back to Oklahoma to visit family.  Taking a lower carbon option would be nice but the train does not go directly to Oklahoma (goes via Dallas) and the bus is painfully slow.  Besides when I got there I couldn’t rent a car because of the modifications I need to safely operate an automobile.  Halfway there I will stop in Mt Vernon to visit the Missouri Rehabilitation Center where I spent all of April and a week of March.  While I’m back in Oklahoma I will stop to visit my parent’s grave site. If there were both still alive this month would have been their 59th anniversary.  They had 56+ years together.  My Dad’s older brother and his bride are celebrating their 60th anniversary on the weekend of my visit.  I’ll see lots of aunts & uncles and cousins as well as all there kids and grandkids.  Many of my aunts & uncles are close to twice my age  (41)— but I’ll be the one with the cane!

And finally I’m looking into three wheeled scooters to see if I can get back to scootering before I gain full mobility in my left arm/hand.  We’ll see.

For now I’m just glad to have made it six months.  After six years you won’t even know I had a stroke.

Eleventh Gets Curb Ramps, Problems Still Exist

Many of the city’s intersections have curb cuts to aid those of us that use wheelchairs and mobility scooters. Unfortunately many intersections have the cuts only on a single side of the street. When streets are improved using federal funds the accessibility is to be upgraded — those sides of the street missing ramps are to get them.

Last month (June 08) several downtown streets were resurfaced but missing ramps were not done prior. I don’t know the source of the funds so its possible that it was Kosher to ignore them. On June 26th I wrote:

One of the streets that was resurfaced was 11th. A few corners along 11th still lack an ADA ramp. For example the city has the top two floors at the building at 1015 Locust which is on the NE corner of 11th & Locust. The same corner lacks an ADA curb cut. The other three corners have cuts but that doesn’t help when the direction you want to go doesn’t.

Today the above is no longer the case.

Today I spotted new curb cuts at both 11th & Locust and 11th & Olive — both locations that were missing such ramps.

At Olive (above) the SE corner gets a ramp that will serve well for crossing Olive. For crossing 11th, however, the location forces the user into moving traffic. Certainly less than ideal. To be safer another ramp should be located to the left of the sewer inlet.

The block of Olive seen in the background above is between 11th & Tucker. It is one-way Eastbound in two travel lanes with the two outer lanes for on-street parking. With ramps like this one having the outside lane for parking rather than through traffic can be very helpful. In the above example, when the light changes and I’m crossing 11th I have to enter the outside lane to get where I can get across the street. Interestingly this is one of those odd blocks where Olive West of 11th has parking on both sides but East of 11th (to 10th) it has parking primarily on one side only.

The curb cut shown above at 11th & Olive is just out of view to the right in the image above. Two lanes of traffic suddenly opens to three for a single block between 11th and 10th, except for two on-street spaces just prior to 10th. This block could easily accommodate another 4-5 on-street spaces that would help generate much needed revenue for the city. Parked cars in this right lane would also serve as a buffer for pedestrians on the sidewalk as well as those of us entering the lane to cross with the flow of traffic.

But back to accessibility issues. Besides missing curb cuts the other problem I find is not with sidewalks but with crossing alleys:

The above is just one the numerous problems I encounter downtown. Besides the sitting water we have the steep slope up to the sidewalk on the opposite side. On the near side there is a hefty drop. So behind me is the new ramp at Olive and up ahead is another new ramp at Locust. With these conditions, however, I don’t know that I’ll go this way often.

Budgets are limited.  The city can’t make the ideal route for me.  I do know of two other downtown residents that also use these streets in wheelchairs.  I know of two more that don’t get out in the chairs the way some of us do.  It needs to be about connecting the dots not just a corner here and a corner there.

Gas Seems Downright Cheap at $3.689/gallon

What a bargain, only $3.689/gallon.  As I’ve made clear before I think the gas prices we’ve seen are a good thing in the long-term although painful in the short term. The $4+ prices have managed to push consumers away from gas guzzling SUVs and toward more fuel thrifty choices.  Total miles driven has also dropped markedly.

I don’t think we’ll see sub-$3 prices again but we will see fluctuations in the $3-$4 range.  We are all adaptive and I wonder if once people adjust to $4/gal if something less than that will seem like a bargain and return to old wasteful habits?  I hope not.

The drop in gas use is having an impact on the federal highway fund.  From MSNBC:

But the drop was not unforeseen. In February, the Bush administration forecast a $3.2 billion shortfall in the trust fund for fiscal year 2009.

On Monday, transportation officials revised that number to $3.1 billion, despite logging a $1.5 billion decline in receipts.

“We’ve been spending more slowly than we contemplated when we put the budget together,” explained Secretary of Transportation Mary Peters.

Peters said in a statement Monday that the drop in driving miles demonstrates that the federal gas tax is no longer sufficient to finance the nation’s transportation infrastructure.

She plans on Tuesday to propose policies that will include a “more focused federal role” and a movement away from the gas tax.

“We must embrace more sustainable funding sources for highways and bridges through more sustainable and effective ways such as congestion pricing and private activity bonds,” Peters said.

Since the inception of the federal gas tax and the highway trust fund we’ve almost consistently increased our total gas usage.  We must decide what infrastructure is important to us and how we are going to pay for it.  I personally like tolls.  Perhaps highway 40 should have been rebuilt as a toll road?