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.
ABOVE: The view to the west of the Sunnen MetroLink station in Maplewood is radically different now, the equipment used to clear the area was parked close on my visit last month.
Before I get into what’s happening let’s take a quick look at what it looked like before the bulldozers started working.
Nearly everything between Hanley Rd and the MetroLink line has been razed.ABOVE: Older well-maintained apartments next to the station were great for those who liked to live near transit. June 2011ABOVE: Another apartment complex, this one between Laclede Station Rd and MetroLink, was also razed. June 2011
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.
ABOVE: You can now see the Sunnen station from Hanley Rd.ABOVE: Turning to the right we see the first new building going up in the redevelopment area. What could it be?ABOVE: A new Mini auto dealership next to a light rail station! Seriously!?!
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.
It’s now been six months since I sold my car. Once before I didn’t have a car (2007) but I had a 49cc Honda scooter, so I got around pretty well on my own schedule. Now I have a power wheelchair and a bus pass, not as convenient.
ABOVE: The 30-day pass is different than the monthly pass in that it can span into two months, just depends on start date.
Don’t get me wrong, I love public transit (bus & rail) but I also love cars. I have numerous books on European cars, auto magazines from the early 1970s, etc. I read articles on the Motor Trend iPhone app daily. I’m a car guy without a car!
What I’ve noticed over these last six months is I think differently about time than I ever have since I got my driver’s license nearly 30 years ago (gulp). Just a couple of years ago I would compare how long a trip would take me on the bus to how long it would take me to drive. It doesn’t take long to get most places driving in the St. Louis region and the car was always faster, much faster just a few more miles away. A week ago I visited friends living near Loughborhough and Hampton and it took an hour to get there from downtown. Yes, an hour!
But that’s my new normal, surprisingly so it didn’t seem long. A trip to the Target at Hampton & Chippewa takes 40-45 minutes just on the bus, plus additional time getting to the stop and back home. Same for my doctor’s office, also on Hampton.
I’ve learned to make productive use of my time, often taking pics out the bus window, returning emails, making notes, keeping up on Facebook, etc. I feel I’m just as productive as with a car, I just schedule things differently. Granted, I’m single and on disability so I’m not dropping kids off at school before going to work. I’m not trying to convince you to give up your vehicle, just note that.
In July I went on an 8-day vacation that included Dallas, Ft. Worth, and Oklahoma City. Amtrak got me to my destinations and Greyhound got me home, I was able to see so much more on the trip because I wasn’t driving.
I’ve gotten a couple of rides with friends these last six months but I’ve not had to get a taxi to get somewhere, as I thought I’d have to.
Once you don’t have a car for a while your view of time and mobility changes.
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.
ABOVE: Sign posted on westbound Lafayette Ave just before Jefferson Ave. Click image to view the Bike St. Louis website.
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.
By the late 1980s many architects & planners began to realize a desire to include exterior retail spaces to enliven new buildings that would otherwise be lifeless at the sidewalk. They were right, but their early execution left a lot to be desired. Case in point: AT&T’s data center from 1990.
ABOVE: 801 Chestnut
The building occupies the entire city block bounded by Chestnut on the south, 9th on the west, Pine on the north and 8th on the east (map). The building, built for Southwestern Bell, was designed to accommodate the planned westbound 8th & Pine MetroLink station that opened a few years later in 1993. Good coordination among different parties at least!
Let’s take a walk around so you can see all four sides.
ABOVE: The NW corner at 9th & PineABOVE: The SW corner at 9th & ChestnutABOVE: The SE corner at 8th & ChestnutABOVE: The NE corner at 8th & Pine, the MetroLink sign is visible
Did you see the three small retail spaces accessible by the general public? You didn’t? Only one is occupied, to my knowledge the other two have never had a tenant. The problem is they don’t face the sidewalks, they are hidden back in the dark recesses.
The occupied retail space is in the corner of the building pictured above, it just isn’t visible from motorists or pedestrians.
ABOVE: The space at the NE corner of the building, near the westbound 8th & Pine MetroLink station, is the only one that’s occupied. The entrance faces west, not the top of the escalators to the south. Even during the day it is dark in the area.ABOVE: A customers enters the small convenience store while another exits MetroLink
The size of the space is appropriate, we do need more spaces like this adjacent to our light rail stations — but with the windows and door facing the transit users coming & going as well as visibility from adjacent sidewalks. This is not too bad, if you exit the station here you will see the side window and investigate if you are thirsty.
ABOVE: The vacant space at the NW corner, again not facing 9th or PineABOVE: The third space in the SW corner near the main street entrance on Chestnut. But data center employes use the walkway over the 9th street to come and go.
I can just hear people downtown saying retail doesn’t work, using these as their examples. That these are still vacant more than two decades later would have been easy to predict.
ABOVE: The MetroLink platform is located on the east side of 18th Street, totally exposed to the elements.ABOVE: Looking west toward the Union Station MetroLink Station from 16th & Clark Ave.
It’s been a white but I’ve written before (link) that I want to see the tracks from 16th to 18th street built over with a new building(s). With the platform moved under the train shed the new building(s) in this two-block stretch wouldn’t have to deal with space for an entrance to the station, making it more straightforward.
ABOVE: Looking east toward the Civic Center station from 16th & Clark Ave.
Another building could be built over the tracks for a block, before the track curves. This is basically from 16th to where the former 15th Street used to be. A walkway along the east edge could connect Clark Ave to the Gateway Transportation Center (Amtrak & Greyhound).
Back at 16th new buildings would be on each side to help frame the entrance into that area, now largely a jumble of surface parking. The area isn’t very big and has defined edges. Formerly this was an eight block area but the street grid has been dismantled to the point actual blocks are no longer recognizable. It can become more connected so when someone arrives in St. Louis they can easily walk to Union Station or the Drury Inn on 20th facing the train shed.
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