Happy First Birthday Downtown Bicycle Station

One year ago today the Downtown Bicycle Station opened on Locust between 10th and 11th.

ABOVE: A large crowd of supporters gathered for the ribbon cutting on Thursday April 28, 2011

The Downtown Bicycle Station describes itself as:

The Downtown Bicycle Station is located at 1011 Locust Street between 10th and 11th streets, in Downtown St. Louis. Housed in a LEED certified building, it will feature storage options for more than 120 bikes, as well as provide cyclists with the opportunity to use showers, lockers and other bike commuter amenities. The Downtown Bicycle Station will occupy approximately 1400 square feet. The Downtown Bicycle Station has been designed to encourage the use of alternate modes of transportation by reducing some of the traditional impediments to bike commuting. Downtown St. Louis will now offer a full service bike facility easily accessible to the City’s central business district and Metrolink stations.

The Downtown Bicycle Station is an initiative of the City of St. Louis, Missouri, done in collaboration with key partners and supporters. The project is funded in part by funds allocated by the US Department of Energy through the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant Program under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. With these funds, the Downtown St. Louis Community Improvement District (CID) has the initial contract to manage the Downtown Bicycle Station; the CID has contracted with Trailnet for marketing and membership and Urban Shark for facilities and operations services. The project would not have been possible without several additional generous contributions.

Earlier in the week I requested information on usage but I received no reply. I have no idea how well it’s doing.

- Steve Patterson

Readers Support Proposed Bike Parking Ordinance

ABOVE: Bike parking on the campus of Washington University

Readers overwhelmingly support a bill before the St. Louis Board of Aldermen to require bike parking for some projects:

A proposed law would require bike parking for new construction or renovations in access excess of $1 million dollars. Auto parking requirements would be reduced.

1. Great, more bike parking is needed 44 [50%]
2. A good start, but it doesn’t go far enough 18 [20.45%]
3. Ugh, more government regulation 16 [18.18%]
4. Other: 9 [10.23%]
5. Unsure/No Opinion 1 [1.14%]

I had a stupid mistake in the poll, corrected above, and a few of the other votes pointed that out:

1. A good first step; besides handicapped parking there should be no reqirements
2. don’t you mean “in excess?”
3. What comes first demand or supply?
4. need more bike lanes and paths first…
5. Like the bike part, but no reduction for cars
6. excess =/= access. We need more accessible and safe biking paths first.
7. How about an option for not a good idea?????
8. excess, not access
9. Security is a MAJOR concern of those who use bike racks. Theft is a conern.

The 20% that said this bill is a good start but it doesn’t go far enough are correct, the number of projects in excess of $1 million dollars are few.The amount of verbiage to describe what is required in the context of our tired & old use-based zoning code is a nightmare to read and understand. Take a few minutes and read any section of Title 26 (Zoning) and you will quickly realize it’s easy to get lost in the cross references and lists of prohibitions all the while you don’t get an image of what’s actually desired.

Instead of trying to improve the city by amending our 1947 zoning code to current standards we need to toss it out completely and start over with a form-bsased code that is easy to read and understand.

- Steve Patterson

Poll: Thoughts on Bill That Would Require Bike Parking In Some Cases

St. Louis alderman Scott Olgilvie (I-24) has introduced a new bill that, if passed, would modify our zoning code to require bike parking for some major new construction or renovations:

ABOVE: Bike parking on the campus of Washington University

BOARD BILL NO. 258 INTRODUCED BY ALDERMAN SCOTT OGILVIE, ALDERMAN SHANE COHN, PRESIDENT LEWIS REED, ALDERWOMAN JENNIFER FLORIDA An Ordinance recommended by the City of St. Louis Planning Commission, requiring residential and commercial bicycle parking under the Zoning Code for all new construction or renovations equal to or in excess of one million dollars ($1,000,000);ontaining definitions; bicycle rack construction requirement, bicycle rack site requirements, bicycle parking requirements, exemptions, off-street parking reduction, an administrative waiver provision and a severability clause. (BB258)

From Olgilvie’s blog:

On Wednesday the Planning Commission approved an ordinance that will require bike parking be included in new commercial construction and certain renovations. The bill is a collaborative effort between myself and members of the Mayor’s staff. A lot of assistance was provided by the city’s legal and zoning teams to craft an ordinance that will be effective, yet flexible for existing structures. The idea follows the lead of other cities like Cleveland, Minneapolis, and Portland, to provide secure and convenient bike parking where people will use it: at their work and the stores they visit. The specific amount of parking is determined by the size of the structure, or the number of employees for warehouse, hotel, and industrial uses. The goal is to provide adequate bike parking facilities to accommodate up to 5% of trips – a goal which some other cities have already achieved and surpassed. The rules build upon the bike infrastructure progress made in St. Louis over the last decade, including GRG trails and bike St. Louis on-street routes. (ward24stl.com)

Section Two E of the bill:

The total number of vehicle off-street parking spaces required under the Zoning Code shall be reduced at the ratio of one (1) automobile off-street parking space for each one (1) bicycle space provided. The total number of required automobile off-street parking spaces, however, shall not be reduced by more than ten (10) percent for any newly developed or rehabilitated structure.

The following shows bike rack styles, half allowed and half not allowed:

ABOVE: Ald Scott Olgilvie provided this image showing types of racks allowed and not allowed

I have some strong opinions on this bill but I’ll reserve those until I post the poll results on Wednesday February 8th.

- Steve Patterson

Seventh Anniversary of UrbanReviewSTL.com!

To my knowledge, UrbanReviewSTL.com is the oldest urban blog in St. Louis, with the first blog posts appearing on Sunday October 31st, 2004 – seven years ago today!

ABOVE: The "about me" section created on Oct 31, 2004

At 12:50pm on October 31, 2004 I created the “about me” section, shown above.  Here is the text, sans my real estate pitch:

WHAT IS IT ABOUT ME THAT WANTED TO BLOG ON ST. LOUIS?

I’m often involved trying to save buildings from being demolished all the while stating I am not a preservationist. How can I put so much effort into saving old buildings and not be a preservationist?

I view myself as an urbanist first and foremost. Dynamic urban life is more important than any individual building, sports team, business or mayor. Great neighborhoods, by nature, incorporate existing urban-friendly buildings – especially those that are historic by virtue of architect, design or simply age.

[snip]

As an urbanist I see many mistakes being made in our urban environment. My intention with this blog is to highlight the positive and decidedly pro-urban parts of our city and region as well as show the mistakes. I hope that by showing the mistakes (and explaining why it is a mistake) we will begin to rebuild St. Louis into one of the countries [country's] great cities.

My first post was a short while later at 2:30pm that day:

ABOVE: My first pic was a bike locked to a bike rack on Washington Ave

A BEAUTIFUL SIGHT

A month ago I was having lunch at Wasabi on Washington Avenue and I captured the essence of urbanity emerging in St. Louis.

Four more posts would follow later that same Sunday! Thousands of posts later, I’m still having fun. Hard to believe the eighth year begins tomorrow…

Tune in to KDHX 88.1FM tonight at 8:30pm to hear me on DJ Wilson’s show Collateral Damage. Thank you for reading!

- Steve Patterson

New Boutique Hotel in Midtown Has Bicycles for Guest Use

I was excited to see the two Electra Townie bikes on a recent visit to check out the new 49-room Hotel Ignacio in midtown St. Louis. Registered guests can check out the bikes at no additional charge.

I will take a look at the pedestrian connections around the hotel next week but I couldn’t hold my excitement about the guest bikes.

- Steve Patterson

Bike To Work Day Friday May 20th

As part of National Bike Month this week is Bike to Work Week and tomorrow is Bike to Work Day. Consider getting out that bike and riding to work tomorrow:

To celebrate National Bike to Work Day on Friday, May 20, join Trailnet for a free continental breakfast for bike commuters at various Refueling Stations around St. Louis. Breakfast will be served 6:30 – 9:00 a.m.

TRAILNET REFUELING STATION LOCATIONS INCLUDE:

Missouri History Museum: 5700 Lindell Boulevard

Creve Coeur: 12166 Conway Road

Missouri Botanical Gardens: 4344 Shaw Boulevard

Downtown St. Louis:1011 Locust

Delmar Loop: 6133 Delmar Boulevard

Central West End Station: West Pine at Euclid

Downtown Clayton: 7711 Bonhomme Avenue

Children’s Hospital: 1 Children’s Place

DeMun: 700 DeMun Avenue

Presented by: Great Rivers Greenway

In Partnership With: Bike St. Louis, Big Shark Bicycle Co., City of Creve Coeur, CIty of St. Louis, Companion Baking, Downtown Bicycle Station, Missouri Botanical Garden, Missouri History Museum, Moonrise Hotel, Pedal the Cause, and Urban Shark.

Being the critic I can’t help but notice the western bias of the fueling stations. The persons living in the Baden (north) or Carondelet (south) areas and heading to say midtown or downtown are basically out of luck.  When I lived in Dutchtown (south) I commuted by bike three days a week to I-70 & Union (north) in 1999. Come on, Children’s Hospital and Pine @ Euclid just blocks apart but nothing north and only the Botanical Gardens south.  Hopefully 2012 will see better coverage for these refueling stations.

- Steve Patterson

Readers Glad To See Bike Station & Shop Downtown

ABOVE: Downtown St. Louis Bike Station in use on Tuesday April 26, 2011

The poll (& post) last week was about downtown’s newest businesses – a bike station and bike shop:

Q: Will you use the new downtown bike station & shop?

1. I won’t use either, but I’m glad to see they are opening 49 [32.03%]
2. I’ll use the bike shop, but not the bike station 24 [15.69%]
3. I’ll use both the station and shop 20 [13.07%]
4. I won’t use either 14 [9.15%]
5. I don’t live in St. Louis 14 [9.15%]
6. I might use one or both 13 [8.5%]
7. Other answer… 11 [7.19%]
8. Unsure at this time 6 [3.92%]
9. I’ll use the bike station, but not the bike shop 2 [1.31%]

The bike station & shop are clearly appealing to many readers, but the numbers of users is limited due to the niche nature.

Here are the eleven other answers provided by readers:

1. Would use it if I worked Downtown
2. the city sucks and steals ideas from young people
3. Bike lanes are a waste of good driving lanes.
4. I’ll drive my car and arrive to work clean and on time.
5. I don’t live in downtown STL anymore so I no longer need a bike to commute.
6. Already signed up as a member!
7. I no longer live in STL, but I’ll promote both to family/friends as always.
8. don’t use downtown
9. nope
10. I’d use it every day if I worked in the area.
11. Wish there were one near Barnes

The bike station had a soft opening on the 21st.  At 10am tomorrow both the station and Urban Shark bike shop will hold their grand openings.

ABOVE: Downtown Bike Station entry is off a dead-end alley

From a September 8, 2010 press release:

The City of St. Louis applied for a Federal Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant from the Department of Energy to specifically fund this project. These funds were designated for energy-saving projects, and had to be approved by the Department of Energy. From the grant the City received, $181,600 will cover the costs to buy the lockers, interior bike racks, and fund the operational costs of the Downtown Bike Center’s first two years. The Downtown Community Improvement District and other partners will provide additional funding.

“We are building a City that provides an attractive way of life. After World War II, the car was a symbol of freedom. For some people today, it is just the opposite,” said Mayor Slay. “We look forward to working with the Downtown St. Louis CID and Loftworks to ensure the long-term success of this public bike center and the City’s cycling initiative.”

“This project will help cement Downtown as a walkable, livable neighborhood where you can rely on alternatives to the car,” said Maggie Campbell, Partnership President and CEO. “We are thrilled to be working with the community to realize this sustainable investment.”

“Since vehicle emissions contribute about a third of the Greenhouse Gasses into the environment, we wanted to use these ARRA Stimulus funds to promote an alternative mode of transportation,” said Catherine Werner, the City’s Sustainability Director. “By enabling St. Louis commuters to choose cycling as an affordable and attractive option, the City is demonstrating its commitment to being a healthy and sustainable community.”

Additional information:

• http://www.downtownbicyclestation.com
• Twitter.com/STLBicycleSTA
• Facebook.com/pages/Downtown-Bicycle-Station/197561216927270
• Urban Shark 1009 Locust St.

- Steve Patterson

Poll: Will You Use the New Downtown Bike Station & Shop?

Very soon downtown will have a commuter bike station and shop.

The station provides a place for cyclists who commute to shower and change clothes, leaving their bike securely parked indoors while they go off to work.  The shop will provide sales & service.

The Downtown Bicycle Station will be 1,450 square feet, offering secure 24-hour access and featuring more than 100 bike racks, showers and locker rooms, ideal for those cyclists commuting to work. This new Downtown Bicycle Station will be next to a new 3,500 square foot full service bike shop that will offer all necessary bike equipment, repairs and bike rentals. Big Shark Bicycle Co., presently located in the Delmar Loop, plans to open this 2nd location, named Urban Shark, in Downtown St. Louis before the end of the year. (source)

But the location on Locust St between 10th & 11th has me concerned it is too far west of most downtown office workers, hopefully I will be proven wrong.

ABOVE: interior of the shop nearly complete on 4/14/2011

So the poll question this week is “Will you use the new downtown bike station & shop?” As always the poll is in the upper right corner of the blog.

- Steve Patterson

Railings on ADA Ramps Aren’t Bike Racks

ABOVE: Bike locked to railing on ADA ramp at the Chase Park Plaza

I’m not upset with the owner of this bike, they had nowhere else to safely secure their vehicle.  It is the lack of bike parking at the Chase Park Plaza that upsets me.

Most likely a “dish drainer” bike rack is stuffed in a dark corner of the parking garage, completely out of sight to the transportation cyclist. I was able to get past this bike in my power chair, but I’ve encountered times where I had less room.  But the continuous railings are there for a reason, so someone can make their way along the ramp while always holding the railing.  Break the railing with a bike and suddenly you can present a major problem for someone that needs to hold the railing.

- Steve Patterson

Delmar Loop Lacks Proper Bike Parking

ABOVE:poorly supported & secured bike on Delmar in the East Loop

I’m a huge fan of on-street parking for automobiles, the stationary cars provide a nice barrier between passing cars and pedestrians. But in addition to providing parking for cars in the public right-of-way we should also provide parking for bicycles.  The person who cycles for transportation purposes (vs recreational rides) will find a way to secure their bikes, but often in less than ideal conditions.

A parking meter is a poor bike rack because it is too easy for a thief to lift the bike over the top.  Also meters do a lousy job of supporting the frame. Sign posts can work but often thieves will pull up the post to steal the bike.  Yesterday a friend came over to my loft and he brought his bike up rather than risk theft on the street due to a lack of bike racks.

The Delmar Loop is one of our best areas but the lack of bike parking is noticeable. It has only been 4-5 years since the stretch of Delmar East of Skinker was narrowed from four to two travel lanes to allow widened sidewalks.  There is plenty of room for bike racks, they just weren’t  a priority.

- Steve Patterson