Transit-Ignored Development (TID) At Sunnen MetroLink Station

Since it opened in August 2006 I’ve only been to the Sunnen MetroLink Station a few times. If you haven’t been you are not going to recognize it.

Before I get into what’s happening let’s take a quick look at what it looked like before the bulldozers started working.

You are thinking such older structures have to go in order to build a more dense transit-oriented development. True, but that is not what is being built.

We should not built expensive rail transit infrastructure, light rail or streetcars, through municipalities until they adopt zoning requiring new development nearby to be dense and walkable.

Can we publicly flog the Maplewood mayor and city council for this?

— Steve Patterson

Poll: Would You Support Or Oppose Walmart Express Stores In The City Of St. Louis?

Retail giant Walmart is looking to reverse declining sales by opening smaller, more convenient, stores:

Express stores are less than one-tenth the size of Wal-Mart supercenters and offer groceries, general merchandise like tools, and pharmacies. Neighborhood Markets are more than twice the size of Express stores and offer perishable food, household supplies and beauty aids as well as a pharmacy. (USAtoday.com)

The new Walmart Express format is just under 15,000 square feet in size, a fraction of Walmart’s other formats:

•  Supercenter: 185,000 square feet
• Discount stores: 108,000 square feet
• Neighborhood Markets: 42,000 square feet (source) 

Their Neighborhood Markets format is a grocery store, not seen in St. Louis but already dominant in some markets, like Oklahoma City. The Walmart Express will give other retailers strong competition:

Dollar-store chains have expanded quickly in recent years and pose intense competition to Walmart. They open stores closer to customers’ homes, a big advantage in times of high gas prices. According to a Credit Suisse analyst, the average round-trip to a dollar store is six miles vs. 30 miles for a typical Walmart trip. These stores have enjoyed strong revenue growth as they’ve lured more shoppers with bargain prices and wider selections. (source)

My concern is these national retailers with generic store designs will continue buying up every corner they can, making our city less urban every year, rather than more urban.

The poll this week wants your reaction to the idea of Walmart Express stores popping up in our neighborhoods near Family Dollar and Walgreens locations. The poll is the right sidebar, mobile users switch to the full site to vote.

— Steve Patterson

Please Keep Sidewalks Clear Of Foliage

There are many sidewalks that I am unable to use. The reasons vary: no curb cut, broken/rough, etc. But I often encounter another problem: foliage.

I was able to get past the above just by pushing my way through but a senior walking with a cane, for example, might not be able to get by. Stepping onto the lawn increases the risk of a fall.  This is an odd area since the public sidewalk is so far away from the curb and so close to the houses, but those overgrown shrubs need to go.

Keeping tree canopies high enough the average person can walk on the sidewalk without ducking is a good thing. Imagine if roads were similarly blocked with foliage, crews would be dispatched immediately to clear them.

— Steve Patterson

Bike Lane Ends…Start Sharing The Road

Each year more and more bike lanes are added to roads in St. Louis. Unfortunately, they are often disconnected from each other because they are placed where the road is excessively wide and/or where an alderman was willing to fund the paint and signs.

For years I biked, even commuted 10+ miles to work, without bike lanes. But some like the designated space, I get that. What do they do when the lane ends, turn around? If someone is biking westbound on Lafayette Ave and wants to turn left onto southbound Jefferson Ave will they know how to do so properly? Probably not.

— Steve Patterson

Pedestrian Access To Council Plaza Residential Towers Marginally Improved

Last year I wrote about pedestrian access to the two high rise towers at the Council Plaza complex on Grand (see: Pros & Cons of Saving the 1960s Flying Saucer at Grand & Forest Park).  With the renovation of the saucer the pedestrian access for residents of the two towers has improved…somewhat.

The problem noted last year was the developer fenced off an area around the lower building between the first tower and Grand. This forced residents, many seniors and disabled, to use the long auto driveway. This change reduced access — a clear violation of the ADA.

Hopefully the developer plans to continue this sidewalk as part of a future project. Unfortunately it is not as wide as the sidewalk that got fenced off — two wheelchair users going in the opposite direction couldn’t pass each other.  At this site, that might happen several times a day.

Access was fine until the fence was installed a year or two ago, and now a narrow sidewalk that doesn’t go far enough is s marginal attempt to fix the problem they created. We need local regulation so seniors and disabled do not have to walk in auto driveways to get home.

— Steve Patterson