Reflections on a Very Urban Day

Benton Park

Just before the election the Mayor presided over a special ribbon cutting ceremony. This afternoon the ribbon was cut on a rebuilt home at 2201 Arsenal in Benton Park.

This house sat vacant for 20 years while it was in legal limbo. It was in tragic shape. Luckily Millennium Restoration and Development came along to renovate the building. During construction came a buyer that loaded the place with some major upgrades. Sales price is reportedly in excess of $700K.

The home owners spoke at the ceremony talking about how they built a new home in Chesterfield (a new money suburb) about 6 years ago. None of their neighbors there seemed to care. They expressed their thrill at being a part of a real neighborhood rather than just a subdivision.

Polish Falcons

After touring all three floors of the house I ventured up to the Polish Falcons for their fish fry supporting St. Stanislaus Kostka. The place was packed! For only $6.50 they had a choice of Jack Salmon, Catfish or Cod; choice of two sides, desert and drinks. I ran into many friends – young and old. The Polish Falcons are located at 2013 St. Louis Avenue. Only 3 more Fridays remain!

Left Bank Books

I finished up the evening at the artist’s reception for a new show of Alan Brunettin. From the exhibit:

Check it out at Left Bank Books, 399 N. Euclid, through April 3, 2005.

– Steve

An Argument Against Architectural Cloning

Hampton Village (Hampton & Chippewa) is like an old friend – not perfect but familiar. Below is the main corner building that houses the JC Penny store. A little predictable but reasonably well proportioned. Large cupola and weathervain – not exactly my style but OK.

Then you’ve got the other old section to the North of the JC Penny. Oh look, another cupola.

In the last 10 years ago the Schnuck’s grocery store was built (started as a National). Here they have a modern take on the cupola. Getting a bit tired of the theme. As an aside, as soon as Schnuck’s took over the location they put up a huge “Double Coupons” sign in the front window. I’ve yet to see such signage in their West County stores. Perhaps municipalities out West have better signage ordinances? Perhaps Schuck’s just doesn’t want to clutter their stores in the county?

Back over to an older part we see another cupola on the section over the current Walgreen’s. Well, this is all on the same corner so I guess that wanted a consistent look.

But now we are getting new construction across Chippewa that is picking up the theme. The Dobb’s thankfully left off a cupola but picked up the gable and partial roof theme seen at Hampton Village. Not ground breaking but not overly offensive.

But now we have the new Walgreen’s under construction. Simply the sheer number of Walgreen’s stores is offensive to my eye. Recent Walgreen’s stores have this annoying 2nd floor window. It is interesting how most new stores try to look taller – as if they had real second floors. Most don’t have the cupola which seems required on this corner.

Please shoot me if the new Target store gets a cupola.

– Steve

Fountain Park is Fabulous

Too many folks ignore the treasures that can be found North of Delmar. This a shame because some of the most compelling urban neighborhoods in the entire city are found on the North side. One of the best is Fountain Park.

Located on Euclid just a couple of blocks North of Delmar is this simple yet elegantly designed neighborhood around a park. You regular readers know I hate breaks in the street grid. But, every rule is meant to be broken — if done right. The oval shaped Fountain Park interrupts Euclid – drivers must go around the park to continue on Euclid. Pedestrians and bicyclists — as should be the case — are allowed to cut through the center. Fountain Park breaks the grid and in doing so it creates one of the most appealing spaces in the city. Seriously folks, if you have not seen this little gem just North of the West End you are indeed missing out.

As I said the park is oval shaped. The houses facing the park follow the oval so the facades are nicely stepped back from one to the next. These homes are quite grand without being too big. I saw only one vacant lot – an opportunity for a nice appropriately scaled modern infill. I took some pictures but I’m not sharing — I want you to see this in person.

People get all excited about buildings such as the Moolah (yes, I love it) but what I really love are neighborhood commercial buildings. At the East end of Fountain Park is one of the most spectacular:

First, the building curves to follow the street pattern. This is a lost art — most people just build square buildings these days. The composition of this building is one of the finest I’ve ever seen — anywhere. Seattle has nothing like it. Vancouver has great buildings downtown but their residential neighborhoods are a bit dull architecturally. Same for San Francisco, D.C., and most others. Scale, proportion, materials. All come together in a way that most newer buildings just don’t. This building just belongs – feeling perfectly at home with the adjacent houses. Rarely is a commercial building such a fit in a residential area.

Obviously I can see past the current condition. Hopefully you can too. The surrounding residences are being rehabbed and if someone is smart they’ll snap up this building and do a coffee house/deli/cafe/market on the ground floor. The sidewalk facing Fountain Park is just begging for outdoor dining. The old upstairs apartments would make great condos.

Only after we see past old racial lines and boards on windows will we fully realize the potential of our city. Good urbanity is colorblind.

– Steve

When Good Tools Go Bad: Eminent Domain & TIF

Eminent Domain & TIF (Tax Increment Financing) are supposed to be good things – mechanisms for serving the greater good. However, both have been abused. From a recent Post-Dispatch story:

The City of St. Peters blighted cornfields. Since when is open land blight? Hopefully we will see the courts narrow the definition to prevent such broad application of the term. It was bad enough when affluent suburban shopping mall West County Center was blighted because it wasn’t as new as competitive malls.

Related to this is the abuse of eminent domain. We’ve seen eminent domain used mainly to take people’s homes, businesses, churches and schools for highways, housing projects, and big box developments. Where is the public good? Please tell me when eminent domain was used to take deteriorating properties away from speculators that were sitting on properties simply for profit. I can’t think of any examples.

St. Louis will join other communities in protesting this abuse with a rally from 11:00am to 1:00pm – St. Louis City Hall (north side of building) on Tucker and Market. I hope to see you there.

– Steve

When Good Tools Go Bad: Eminent Domain & TIF

Eminent Domain & TIF (Tax Increment Financing) are supposed to be good things – mechanisms for serving the greater good. However, both have been abused. From a recent Post-Dispatch story:

The City of St. Peters blighted cornfields. Since when is open land blight? Hopefully we will see the courts narrow the definition to prevent such broad application of the term. It was bad enough when affluent suburban shopping mall West County Center was blighted because it wasn’t as new as competitive malls.

Related to this is the abuse of eminent domain. We’ve seen eminent domain used mainly to take people’s homes, businesses, churches and schools for highways, housing projects, and big box developments. Where is the public good? Please tell me when eminent domain was used to take deteriorating properties away from speculators that were sitting on properties simply for profit. I can’t think of any examples.

St. Louis will join other communities in protesting this abuse with a rally from 11:00am to 1:00pm – St. Louis City Hall (north side of building) on Tucker and Market. I hope to see you there.

– Steve