National Train Day Saturday May 7th, 40 Years of Amtrak

Saturday May 7th is National Train Day:

This year, Amtrak celebrates four decades of providing the nation with vital intercity and high-speed passenger rail service. After 40 years dedicated to serving communities across the country, Amtrak is proud of its role in America’s history, but even more excited about what’s to come. Here, you can learn what’s coming down the tracks, from the future of high-speed rail service to Amtrak’s energy-saving initiatives. And, of course, you can also take a look back at train travel through the years.

I love rail travel, it gets you into city centers. Sometimes it gets you back home.

Last month I took the train to Jefferson City to visit legislators at the Missouri capital. It was a good day until the train broke down in Hermann MO. After a couple of hours two motor coaches showed up to drive us into Kirkwood & St. Louis.  We arrived about 4 hours after we were supposed to arrive.

I sent an email to Mid-American Coaches praising their driver Hank for taking me to my street after dropping off the others.We arrived after local bus & MetroLink service ended and didn’t want to “walk” home alone in my power chair.

Despite the delay returning from Jefferson City last month I’m taking the train to Kansas City today. Hopefully the trip today and the return Sunday will be problem free.

– Steve Patterson

Travel By Train Good For Urban Centers

Recently I took a weekend trip to Kansas City.  I’d driven there many times and I’ve flown there once.  But have you been to the Kansas City airport? It is located more than 20 miles north of downtown Kansas City and the bus ride takes more than an hour!  For this trip I took Amtrak.

The train trip was longer than if I had driven my car (6 hours vs 4 hours 15 min), but the convenience was worth it.  First, I could read, stay current on email, watch music videos, take pictures and arrive at my destination refreshed.  Apparently, I’m not alone:

In the fiscal year ending Sept. 30, Amtrak served more than 28.7 million riders, an increase of 5.7% from 2009, according to a company statement. Ticket revenue grew 9%, to $1.7 billion. Ridership on the Acela, Amtrak’s higher-speed train, was up 6.6%. Manieri says the ability to stay connected by phone and Internet while traveling is just one reason she prefers the train over flying or driving.

“You can make phone calls, and you don’t have to turn your laptop on and off,” says Manieri, adding she also avoids the airport’s long security lines and the highway’s congestion.

Amtrak has benefited from the “remarkable lifestyle shift” caused by smartphones, laptops and iPads that let travelers work and communicate almost everywhere, says Joseph Schwieterman, a transportation professor at DePaul University in Chicago. “It’s kind of a have-iPhone-will-travel kind of thing.”

Young adults especially view trains and intercity buses as extensions of the public transportation system, he says. They can hop on without ever disconnecting from the rest of the world, he says. (Amtrak chugs along nicely to record ridership)

My last train trip was to Chicago, nearly a decade earlier.  That trip was a disaster, arriving about 6-7 hours late. But this trip was punctual to the minute.  By taking my train I was able to have my power wheelchair with me, saving the hassle of parking and of my limited walking distance.

Future trips will be by planes, trains & automobiles. Once Amtrak service in Missouri & Illinois gets wi-fi like trains on the east coast I think we will see more and more opting for train travel.  More people traveling from urban center to urban center will only help those  cities, without hurting the suburban edge.  Next week I will look at Kansas City’s BRT (Bus Rapid Transit) line.

– Steve Patterson

Downtown Grocery Stores: St. Louis vs. Kansas City

On a recent visit to Kansas City I visited the downtown Cosentino’s Market in the Power & Light District.   I was impressed., I left thinking the store had to be twice as big as St. Louis’ downtown market, Culinaria.   It is bigger, but only 22% (27,000sf vs 33,000sf).

Both stores are operated by local family chains.

The older & larger chain is the St. Louis-based Schnucks:

“Associates of Schnuck Markets Inc., have been serving customers a unique combination of quality food, variety and value for nearly seven decades. Founded in north St. Louis in 1939, the family-owned grocery company has grown to include more than 100 stores in seven states: Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin, Iowa, Tennessee and Mississippi.”

But the Cosentino chain is only a quarter the size of Schnucks:

The Cosentino family opened their first market in 1948, located on Blue Ridge Boulevard in Kansas City. Since that time the local family owned grocer has aspired to provide excellent customer service in an exceptionally clean environment. It was with immense pride that Cosentino’s Market grew from a dream into a reality. The first Cosentino’s Market was opened in Brookside in 2004 followed by the location in the Kansas City Power & Light District in 2009. “We were so honored to be chosen as part of this historical project and to have the chance to develop such an innovative store.” John Cosentino says of the Downtown project.

Cosentino’s Food Stores currently operates 25 stores in the Kansas City area. The first generation is proud to watch the third generation of Cosentino’s Family members now taking part in the day to day operations and management of the company.

So the newer, smaller chain built a larger downtown market.

The Cosentino’s didn’t receive any direct subsidies.  However, it is part of the Power & Light District, which was financed in part through the state MODESA program.  Culinaria, on the other hand, got plenty of incentives.  First the parking garage it is located in is owned by  the Missouri Development Finance Board.  The structure was developed by DESCO, the Schnucks’ development company.  But they also got specific help:

Schnucks will pay $3.42 million necessary for tenant improvements, inventory and other opening expenses at the downtown location, at Ninth and Olive streets, according to state finance board documents. The remaining money will come from a combination of state, federal and city subsidies. (St. Louis Business Journal)

To my knowledge no criteria was put in place to have Schnucks repay the taxpayers if the store exceeded a certain threshold.

– Steve Patterson

Updating Non-ADA Compliant Properties

Returning from Oklahoma City last week I booked a room in St. Robert MO (along I-44)

When I arrived the first thing I noticed was the lack of a curb ramp onto the sidewalk from the loading zone between the disabled parking spaces. As soon as I got into my “accessible” room I knew I couldn’t stay — a tub/shower is impossible for me to use.  Two grab bars does not make a tub/shower accessible.

The staff was helpful, they called the Holiday Inn Express next door and got me a room there.

It turns out the Quality Inn was the old Holiday Inn.  It was renovated but that didn’t include ADA requirements such as a roll-in shower or curb ramps. The useful life of the property has been extended through renovation so it will continue for years to be non-compliant.

The Holiday Inn Express, opened in April 2010, was as close to perfect as I could expect.  The ramps, above, are not the recommended design as someone walking past one has to deal with the cross slope.  The better was is to have the sidewalk drop down to create the access point and then rise on the other side.  Better still, just don’t have a curb and use bollards.

The shower in the new Holiday Inn Express was ideal for me.  I wasn’t traveling with my manual or my motorized wheelchair but the lack of a raised curb, a seat and grab bars ensured a safe shower. Half the hotels I’ve stayed in recently that had seats had padded vinyl seats which can be dangerously slippery when soapy & wet.  The Quality Inn should have updated one bathroom to have a roll-in shower.

Closer to home we have the case of the restaurant space at 711 Olive.

When the Downtown Cantina occupied this space the above door was their main door. After they closed a new place, Slay’s on Zaytoon opened after remodeling the space.  In their remodel they made the above accessible entrance a secondary doorway and the other door their main door.

This entrance, as you can see, is not accessible. At the time the person from Slay’s said just come in and they’d unlock the accessible door.  That works if you are with someone but not when alone.  Slay’s wasn’t open long and on November 11, 2009 I sent an email to David Newburger, St. Louis’ Commissioner on the Disabled, about  the situation. Here is part of his response:

From the point of view of the law, the City cannot deny an occupancy permit to new operators of a facility who are not doing significant rehab if that facility has previously had an occupancy permit for the same use. So, as I think you understand, from the City’s point of view and unless the new occupant will need a building permit, this is a matter for moral persuasion rather than legal imperative.

If I can get the owners attention, I will try to impress the new owners. Likewise, it is possible Alderman Young or others in City Hall can have some say in this.

As a last resort, of course, if the owners do not set the situation up to use that accessible entrance, both you and any other person with a disability who might patronize the restaurant can file a discrimination charge with the City’s Civil Rights Enforcement Agency, the Missouri Commission on Human Rights, and/or the US Department of Justice.

When Everest opened in this space they didn’t make any significant changes from the previous tenant.  The main door is not accessible and the accessible door says “use other door.”

Someone issued a permit to renovate the space for Slay’s on the Zaytoon.  Who would that have been that OK’d making the non-accessible doorway the main door?  The City of St. Louis!  The city cannot keep passing the buck when they fail to ensure that spaces that are being remodeled do not end up less accessible than before.

I think I will begin filing complaints with the above agencies  — complaints against the municipal agency that should ensure compliance when issuing permit. For them to knowingly allow a tenant to remodel a space so that it became less accessible is discriminatory action in my view.

– Steve Patterson

The Modern Strip Shopping Center

We all know the strip shopping center: a line of storefronts set behind a massive, usually tree-less, parking lot.  Oklahoma City’s newest shopping area, Classen Curve, is not like any strip center you’ve ever seen before – at least not in St. Louis.

• The architecture of the buildings is crisp & modern.
• It is situated on a odd shaped site adjacent to a residential neighborhood.
• Once inside the boundaries you get a sense of place.

Classen Curve is on clearly on the high end. I had lunch at 105degrees — a vegan/raw restaurant.  If you are unfamiliar with raw food it is a growing niche market. You are not likely to find such a place in your typical strip mall next door to a Subway.  Classen Curve is located near the City of Nichols Hills, Oklahoma City’s equal to out Ladue (old money).

The developer is not your typical real estate developer, but one of the largest US producers of natural gas, Chesapeake Energy. Chesapeake’s corporate campus is a block away. The campus has changed dramatically since I first saw it in 2003.  With over 1,500 employees on campus there is a built-in market for close shopping and restaurants. Between Chesapeake & Classen Curve construction has begun on Oklahoma City’s first Whole Foods.

You can see more on the aerial view in Google Maps.

The attempt was to create a pleasant experience, and to a large degree they succeeded. But despite good intentions they failed to create a good experience for pedestrians.

Like nearly every strip center built in the last 50 years, Classen Curve fails to make a strong pedestrian connection to the public sidewalk along the adjacent road. In getting from one building to the next you have curb ramps in some places, but not others.

The architect was Elliott & Associates Architects.  I met Rand Elliott in the Fall of 1985 as a freshman in the architecture program at the University of Oklahoma.  I was assigned him on a student + professional project in a 6th grade class. Elliott’s professional portfolio is outstanding which is why the poor walkability/accessibility of Classen Curve is so disappointing.

Care was given to make the back of the buildings attractive, dumpsters are cleverly concealed in steel structures that hold the tenant names.

While I have issues with the poor walkability/accessibility I’m very pleased with the effort to use the small/odd site and to rethink what a strip mall should be like.  I just wish people knew how to make new construction walkable & accessible.

– Steve Patterson