Initial Thoughts on CBD Traffic Study

I attended the presentation today on the downtown traffic study. Here are my initial thoughts:

– Steve

Clang, clang, clang went the trolley

Twenty years from now December 5th, 2005, will be regarded as a significant date in the history of the St. Louis region. Why you ask? Today the ribbon was cut to open two restored trolley cars to the public. We are still a long way from the ridding the trolley cars from the History Museum to the U-City City Hall but this was an important next step.

Cutting the ribbon from left to right is Kim Tucci, Joe Edwards, Desmond Lee, St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay, St. Louis County Executive Charles Dooley, and University City Mayor Joseph Adams.

Earlier today, generous St. Louisan Desmond Lee contributed $25,000 toward the $32 million dollar project.

I’m not going to go into all the details of the project here. You can read more from Citizens for Modern Transit, Trolleys To Go, and Heritage Trolley.

What I will say is this cannot come soon enough!

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Mississippi Bluffs Project To Destroy More Than the Doering Mansion

Before I attended last Monday’s Preservation Board meeting my main problem with this develop was that it called for razing the derelict, but salvageable, Doering Mansion. During the meeting I got a closer look at the details of the final project and I didn’t like what I saw.

From the marketing literature:

“Compromising fifty-six townhouses on eight acres, Mississippi Bluffs is offered by Mississippi Bluffs, L.L.C. On the east lies the Mississippi River; to the west, a beautifully landscaped park. The townhouses have been thoughtfully designed, using the colors of nature with respect to this unique site. Two tiers of homes allow for the greatest embrace of the spectacular view, one built on the natural bluff, the other on a massive bluff extension.”

This glosses over a couple of problems, the “beautifully landscaped park” and the “massive bluff extension.” The open green we are used to seeing along the site will basically be reduced in half as the 32 “Hilltop” units will be much closer to Broadway. The new “bluff”, better known as a pile of fill dirt, will raise the grade substantially. This will necessitate the removal of many existing trees.

At left is the proposed site plan with the river along the top and Broadway along the bottom. The gray roofs shown in the middle are the “Hilltop” units built on top of artificial fill. A drive runs along the West side of these buildings to serve all 32 garages. Guest parking is provided along this drive.

Alderman Villa testified at the meeting that other developers such as Balke-Brown had proposed “affordable” apartments for the site while retaining the Doering Mansion. But Villa didn’t want apartments. A few neighbors & some folks buying into the project spoke that having townhouses was better than more apartments. Some noted problems down the street with current section 8 housing. They all spoke as though the only alternatives to the current proposal was going to be apartments. Hardly true but effective.

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Festivus vs. Rams

I was downtown yesterday and today. Both days had lots of people but the feeling was totally different. Saturday was the “Festivus” celebration with lots of stores and restaurants open and people milling about on the sidewalk. It was thrilling to see so many people spending time shopping downtown.

Today was different. It was a Rams football game. I had already committed to be downtown so I couldn’t back out. Normally you couldn’t get me close to downtown during a major event such as a Rams game. Tons of suburbanites clogging our streets all headed for one destination, all at roughly the same time. When they are done they are all leaving at the same time. It is completely unnatural and the total opposite of the joy I experienced on Saturday. The Rams games only happens downtown 10 times per year but it seems like we went through a lot to make it happen. The saga and expense is hardly over.

For 2005 we had to ensure the dome was in the “first tier” of NFL stadiums or the Rams could have exercised a clause in their lease to give us a year’s notice to leave. With the stadium only 10 years old that wasn’t such a big deal. But what about in 2015 when the same clause comes up again? Will we will be in the top 25% of stadiums? Doubtful. How much will it cost us at that time to keep the Rams around? Since we are 10 years into a 30-year lease this means we are only 15 years away from starting to discuss replacing the dome because it is outdated and no longer competitive with the stadiums of other teams.

The state and city still have 20 years to pay for the building. St. Louis County uses hotel taxes to pay their share, assuming tourism holds out. With updates to keep the Rams happy we will have likely spent a billion dollars over a 30-year period. That works out to just over $3 million for each regular season home game. When paid for we will most likely have an antiquated and obsolete structure on our hands. Old Wal-Mart stores become thrift stores, indoor paint ball centers and such but what do you do with an old football stadium?

If we didn’t have to keep paying the $6 million per year to pay for the stadium I’d say let the Rams leave in 2015. But we can’t afford to let that happen, we are too much in debt. We need them more than they need us. I can just see myself selling someone a house and saying that after paying for it for 30 years and maintaining it along the way that when they finally own it they’ll likely need to junk it and start over. Somehow what doesn’t work for a $200K house will work on a sports stadium costing hundreds of millions of dollars. The irony is that investment firm Edward Jones has the naming rights to the building. I wonder how they’d advise their clients about investing in sports stadiums?

But the dome wasn’t necessarily supposed to pay for itself. It was seen as a way to rejuvenate downtown. Translated that means clearing away old properties, building a massive building to help out the buddies that own contracting companies to house a team owned by other rich buddies — all of whom give generously to political campaigns. The sad reality is the dome and convention center are major detractors of the urban environment in St. Louis.

This massive building presents a blank face on all sides except Washington Avenue. But even the Washington Avenue face contributes little to the life of the city with the row of taxi cabs blocking the sidewalk. You see people coming and going during conventions but even then it is not part of the urban experience even for a downtown resident. Well, it is part of the experience in that huge events are something to avoid. Residents in lofts further West such as the Sporting News Building at 2020 Washington should be thankful they are far removed from the “benefits” of major events.

The year after the football Cardinals left for Arizona we began this costly road to get football back in St. Louis. It has cost us a pretty penny and will continue to do so for the next 20 years. I say if it will cost us more than $30 million to stay in the “first tier” in 2015 then don’t even bother. Let the Rams leave. Tear the place down along with the rest of the convention center. Put back the street grid and sell of fthe individual blocks to developers to pay off the debt. Let the developers build new buildings to bring life to the area. But no superblocks, I want a start grid. And no massive buildings taking up the entire blocks, I want at least 3 separate buildings per block. It will be a great place. We’ll call it Frontiere Village.

[UPDATE 12/5 8:30AM – It has been suggested in the comments section that I’m being overly negative and stereotypical in my views. Let me clarify a couple of things. Sports fan have no choice but to clog the streets to get to the dome — that was the poor choice that was made not by the Rams or the sports fans but by anti-urban leadership that believes such events are a positive addition to a downtown. They are not. I don’t blame the fans, or the Rams, or the NFL. In fact, with the debt we need them to come and help pay for the thing. I just don’t want to be around. On the other hand, on Saturday it was many suburbanites that came for Festivus but they were there to enjoy city life. Again, no value judgement but it was just a much better fit. I’m a strong believer that huge single purpose venues just don’t belong in a place where you want a lively city life. Some rare exceptions do exist in the country but those are older examples. New stadiums and domes seldom fit in to the fabric, even when faced with red brick. So all you Rams fans keep coming down for the games, I’m make sure I’m off the road so you’ll be able to get through.]

– Steve

Observations of ‘Guns-N-Hoses’ Charity Event

Last Wednesday evening I attended the annual Guns-N-Hoses boxing event which raises money for Backstoppers, a highly worthwhile organization. Unlike previous years, I was seated in a luxury box. Wow, what a difference. All the luxury and social isolation of suburbia.

Walking around the regular folks I saw an interesting shirt on what I presumed was a police officer. On the back were big letters BDRT and in small letters the explanation — Baby’s Daddy Removal Team. Nice, huh?

[update 11/29 @ 10pm. For more explanation on the meaning read this.]

– Steve