PR: APA Names Wydown Boulevard A 2010 Great Street

The following is a press release:

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WASHINGTON, DC – The American Planning Association (APA) today announced the country’s 10 Great Neighborhoods, 10 Great Streets, and 10 Great Public Spaces for 2010 through the organization’s national program, Great Places in America.

Launched in 2007, Great Places in America celebrates places of exemplary character, quality, and planning. Places are selected annually and represent the gold standard in terms of having a true sense of place, noteworthy social, cultural or historical character, community involvement, resilience, and a vision for the future. To date, 110 places have been designated in 47 states and the District of Columbia.

“This year’s designations represent American communities of all sizes, from New York City, Boston and San Francisco to Wallace, Idaho, Red Lodge, Montana, and Middleburg, Virginia,” said APA Chief Executive Officer W. Paul Farmer, FAICP. “Places of distinction and unique character are found not only in big cities or selected states, but everywhere. We hope these examples inspire other communities to envision, plan and realize their own great places of lasting value.”

“These American Planning Association Great Places demonstrate the benefits of good planning and plan implementation, often over generations,” Farmer said, adding “Great Places show what helps make communities attractive and able to offer residents better choices for where and how they work and live.”

APA Great Places are enjoyable, safe and desirable — places that attract users every day. America’s truly great streets, neighborhoods and public spaces are defined by many characteristics, including architectural features, accessibility, functionality, and community involvement. The 2010 designees are not ranked, but are listed here alphabetically by state. Additional details about each designee are available at www.planning.org/greatplaces.

2010 Great Neighborhoods
Lower Downtown, Denver, CO; Riverside Avondale, Jacksonville, FL;
Frank Lloyd Wright Historic District, Village of Oak Park, IL;
John S. Park Neighborhood, Las Vegas, NV; The Paseo, Oklahoma City, OK;
Historic Ninth Street Hill Neighborhood, Lafayette, IN;
Back Bay, Boston, MA; Downtown Frederick, Frederick MD;
Hyde Park, Cincinnati, OH; The Cathedral Historic District, Sioux Falls, SD

2010 Great Streets
Spring Street, Eureka Springs, AR; 5th Avenue, San Diego, CA;
Bank Street, Wallace, ID; Massachusetts Street, Lawrence, KS;
Wydown Boulevard, Clayton, MO; Broadway Avenue, Red Lodge, MT;
Washington Street, Hoboken, NJ; Middle Street, New Bern, NC;
Liberty Street, Franklin, PA; Washington Street, Middleburg, VA

2010 Great Public Spaces
Charles W. Ireland Sculpture Garden, Birmingham, AL;
Ferry Building, San Francisco, CA; Plaza Real, Boca Raton, FL;
Fountain Square, Bowling Green, KY; The Emerald Necklace, Boston, MA;
Campus Martius Park, Detroit, MI; Bryant Park, New York City, NY;
Rittenhouse Square, Philadelphia, PA; Main Plaza, San Antonio, TX;
Percival Landing Boardwalk and Park, Olympia, WA

Great Places in America is just one of the ways APA recognizes and celebrates National Community Planning Month each October. The special month is designed to recognize and celebrate the many residents, leaders, officials, and professionals who contribute to making great communities. For more about National Community Planning Month, visit www.planning.org/ncpm.

The American Planning Association is an independent, not-for-profit educational organization that provides leadership in the development of vital communities. APA and its professional institute, the American Institute of Certified Planners, are dedicated to advancing the art, science and profession of good planning — physical, economic and social — so as to create communities that offer better choices for where and how people work and live. Members of APA help create communities of lasting value and encourage civic leaders, business interests and citizens to play a meaningful role in creating communities that enrich people’s lives. APA has offices in Washington, D.C., and Chicago, Ill. For more information, visit www.planning.org.
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Reaching The Galleria Not Easy For Pedestrians

In May 1988 a small mall in the St. Louis suburb of Richmond Heights began planning to expand, from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch on May 15, 1988:

“Earlier this month, Hycel Properties Co. announced an ambitious plan to quadruple the size of the Saint Louis Galleria. The Richmond Heights shopping mall will add four department stores, 100 new specialty stores, a 300-room luxury hotel, two covered parking garages and up to three office buildings.”

At the time both sides of Brentwood Blvd was lined with buildings.  The developer needed help from the Richmond Heights:

“The St. Louis Galleria said Monday that it would seek eminent domain power from the city of Richmond Heights to acquire 94 of the 113 commercial buildings and houses in the Clay North neighborhood.” – P-D Aug 30 1988

Richmond Heights granted the power of eminent domain but did nothing to ensure pedestrians could also reach the expanded Galleria.  The mall has five entrances to the outdoors and a few more connecting to the parking garage along the west side of the mall. The expansion was built in the early 1990s, after the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 became law.

The expanded Galleria would be open for nearly 15 years before the MetroLink light rail line would open nearby but since the mall is surrounded by housing & businesses they should have planned for customers to arrive on foot rather than behind the wheel. In a minimal way, they did but I’ll get to that in a bit.

I did “drive” my wheelchair through the parking lot to reach the nearest entrance – once. On my next visit I followed the perimeter sidewalk trying to access an entrance without risking my life wheeling through the parking lot.

That’s right, the other four entrances have sliding door that open automatically but this entry has standard doors! The door on the right has a wheelchair sticker at the bottom but no opener so I don’t get why.  But I was able to get past the doors and the set of doors right behind but it involved considerably more work than wide sliding doors.

On my next visit I will see if I can go around the former Mark Shale space to reach the entry by Restoration Hardware. A lot of work to reach the mall, someone working at the office building just across I-64 would never travel this far on foot to the mall on their lunch break or after work.  Nor would they walk through the parking lot from the public sidewalk along Brentwood.  The Galleria at Clayton & Brentwood could have easily been designed with pedestrian routes to five entrances.  Very little effort, very little cost — but lasting benefits.

– Steve Patterson

Readers Weigh In On Clayton’s Outdoor Smoking Ban

In the poll last week readers supported Clayton’s effort to ensure park visitors in their city parks can breathe fresh air:

Q: Effective January 2011 smoking in city parks will not be allowed in the St. Louis suburb of Clayton. Reaction:

1. Good 65 [58.56%]
2. Indifferent 23 [20.72%]
3. Bad 19 [17.12%]
4. Other answer… 4 [3.6%]

The four other answers were:

1. not good but GREAT
2. good idea, nearly impossible to enforce
3. Bizarre; though I understand the litter issue.
4. BULLSHIT- GOV. tell people what they can and can’t

I’m pleased to see such measures.

– Steve Patterson

Improving The Walk From Transit To Mall

Recently I went to the St. Louis Galleria, two days in a row.  Both days I took MetroLink light rail to arrive, the mall is only a short distance from the station.

But the short distance seems long because of the physical design of the space along Galleria Parkway.  The sidewalk needs to be 2-3 times as wide to handle the steady flow of people coming and going.  I snapped the above in one of the moments between an arriving train full of shoppers.

The solution I propose is for the property owner on the right to create a 2-story structure with street-level storefronts facing a new tree-lined sidewalk.   Add on-street parking to serve the storefronts and to narrow the excessive width of the roadway. The new structure would create a better feel on the now-isolated sidewalk.

Later this month I will look specifically at access to the Galleria.

– Steve Patterson

New shopping center in Des Peres not reachable by pedestrians, many to blame

I don’t get out to suburbia often but when I do I stop to photograph the new construction that I see. Recently I visited The Shoppes at Tallbrooke in Des Peres MO (11698 Manchester Rd): 

Pretty ordinary wouldn’t you say? These are a dime a dozen in auto-centric areas of our region.  What is consistent is the new sidewalk along the major road, in this case, Manchester Rd:

Projects that “we’re walkable” image.  But this sidewalk is only about image and not about actually being walkable.

You see the sidewalk runs along the side of the road but a pedestrian on the sidewalk doesn’t have a walk to use to enter the development to patronize the retailers.  The blame falls to several: the developer, the architect, the civil engineer and the City of Des Peres.

The site plan clearly shows the walk in front of the businesses but nothing connecting to the main road or either side road leading to the residential neighborhood to the south.  I expect the architects and civil engineers to include an ADA Access Route from the public sidewalk to the business entrances but all too often they don’t.

I am most angry with the City of Des Peres. I looked up their most recent Comprehensive Plan, from the 2003 document you get a sense that walkability was important but it is such a weak document it is no wonder all they got was the useless window dressing sidewalk that doesn’t connect to anything.  The following is selected text under the section “Planning Goals:”  (Bold added for emphasis)

Land Use
1. Attain the highest quality development for all land use classifications.
2. Enhance the value of residential properties.
3. Enhance community identity in the existing areas of Des Peres and develop that identity in newly annexed areas.
4. Guide urbanization consistent with the ecological capabilities of the land.
12. Limit commercial uses exclusively to the Manchester Road Corridor.

Transportation
4. Expand facilities for pedestrians and bicyclists.

Urban Design
1. Increase landscaping on both public and private properties along the Manchester Road streetscape.
2. Enhance the pedestrian facilities along the Manchester Road corridor.
4. Improve the quality of signage along Manchester Road.
5. Enhance architectural standards for buildings along the Manchester Road corridor.
6. Provide more human scale elements to the Manchester Road streetscape such as street furniture, art, lighting and signage.

Economic Development
4. Retain the retail sales and service identity of shopping centers in the City.
5. Increase employment within the City’s business district.
6. Promote the development of business establishments that service the needs of the local population.

Good stuff, they want pedestrian & bicycle facilities and they want to serve the local population — the folks that might actually walk to the businesses.  They want to expand sidewalks:

Residential area:

Objective 1: Expand the network of pedestrian sidewalks in the area.

You might think the document is very general and not that specific — until you read further:

When redevelopment or rehabilitation of commercial properties takes place, it is important that they follow architectural guidelines established for all buildings in the commercial area. The purpose of such guidelines is not to impose a certain architectural style on the area but to ensure that the varying styles of buildings in the area will be architecturally harmonious and pleasing. There should be a mixture of styles, colors and materials for each commercial building in the district. However the diversity among buildings should blend well throughout the district. The whole should be greater than the sum of its parts.

When either a new building is developed or an old building redeveloped, their design should be reviewed in the context of surrounding buildings and the area in general.

Architectural guidelines should focus on eliminating two areas of the architectural spectrum. They must eliminate designs on the extremes and designs in the center. The extremes represent cheap or unusual building materials, wide use of bright colors and odd design schemes. These buildings draw so much attention to themselves that the rest of the commercial district recedes into obscurity. The center of the spectrum represents the conformist, cookie-cutter building found in any suburban community. These buildings draw little attention to themselves because they can be found anywhere. They don’t add character or identity to a commercial district.

A lot of attention to architecture but nothing about being able to get anywhere on the expanded sidewalks.  I kept reading:

Ground signs are a separate structure located in the front yard of a site along Manchester Road. They primarily relate to the streetscape and not the building. The critical element in the design of these signs is ensuring that they are human scale and do not dominate the streetscape. These signs should be at the eye level of the motorist or the pedestrian. They should also be easy to read and understand. Excessive messages, font styles, small-scale lettering and colors unnecessarily clutter the appearance of a sign and make it confusing to motorists.

Oh I see, pedestrians get human scaled signs at eye level.  That is so much better than being able to walk to businesses on a sidewalk.  It gets better:

There should be some improvements to both the hardscape and landscaping along Manchester Road. More human scale elements need to be inserted into the area to make it more inviting for pedestrians. Although there is a sidewalk along both sides of Manchester Road, some segments are missing. The sidewalk needs to be extended in these areas. There should be a continuous sidewalk along both sides of Manchester Road throughout the planning area. The sidewalks along the roadway should be accented with pedestrian plazas at strategic intersections along the corridor. These small congregating areas would be approximately 500 sq. ft. in size. The area would be hard surfaced with a decorative material such as paving stones or stamped concrete. It would contain benches, trash receptacles and street art. The hard surface area would be ringed by plant material and accented with decorative street lamps. It is important for all of these plazas to be similar in design and materials to create continuity throughout the corridor.

Are they serious? Decorative lamps and “inserted” elements?  Some planners got paid good money to write this useless phrasing.

Paving stones of a consistent style and color should be inserted in the area of the streetscape between the sidewalk and the street curb. These areas vary in width along the corridor from 2-10 ft. They usually contain either asphalt or sod. The asphalt is unattractive and lacks flexibility as a material. These strips usually contain underground utilities where excavations are necessary. Asphalt does not lend itself well to surface patching, as it tends to fade over time. Sod is more attractive but not hearty enough to survive the difficult conditions present along a major arterial roadway. Salt, exhaust, debris and other materials destroy the sod over time.

They can go into this level of detail but the idea of suggesting that developments along Manchester Rd actually connect to the sidewalk isn’t mentioned.  Instead they’ve covered all those things that help create the appearance of walkability without, you know, actually being walkable.  It is no wonder this new strip center is so disconnected.

– Steve Patterson