Philly’s ‘South Street’ Offers Lessons for St. Louis’ Cherokee Street

Philadelphia’s eclectic South Street offers lessons – good and bad – that could be applied to St. Louis’ Cherokee Street. Actually, the lessons could be applied to nearly every street in St. Louis. But for now I am focusing on our own Cherokee Street – specifically the blocks West of Jefferson. You’ll note in the picture to the right that South Street has a similar scale to our own Cherokee Street.

The things I don’t care for are the one-way streets and lack of street trees. Philadelphia seems really fond of one-way streets but they seem to have enough pedestrians and auto congestion to overcome the negatives. One-way streets are typically designed to move traffic faster, not ideal when creating a friendly pedestrian environment. Same is true with the street trees, they have enough going on that their benefits (other than blocking the sun) are not needed.

Lesson #1 – South Street makes no pretense of being a suburban strip center. No uniform canvas awnings lining the street here. No consistent signage. Individuality is the name of the game here and it works well. The Starbucks (not pictured), a bastion of uniform design, actually makes good company among all the louder store fronts.

Lesson #2 – make bike racks available and spread them out. All along the street were bike racks so that no matter which block or side of street you were headed a bike rack was near. Smaller and more frequent is better than large but seldom. Visibility is key to making sure the bike is there when you return. Here they have so many bike riders some must use sign posts to secure their bikes. We will hopefully be so lucky as to have thousands of bike racks throughout the city and still be short.

Lesson #3 – let the storefronts take on unique looks. Storefront material, design and color should be as varied as the stores themselves. I yawn in most historic districts because the places are often so staid. I’m not advocating closed up storefronts – I think they need lots of glass and wide doors but they don’t need to all be the same cutsie historic look with the same detailing and proportions. Shopping streets are meant to be fun and interesting. The fronts should scream, “Come in here and max out that Visa!”

Lesson #4 – Capitalism can be great at the pedestrian level. In response to all the pedestrians on South Street many restaurants serve food from service windows. The first thing people in St. Louis will say against walk-up service windows is that it will contribute to more trash in the neighborhood. But, if an area is doing well and you’ve got tons of people around you are not likely to throw your wrapper on the sidewalk. Not only do you get safety in numbers but you also get a sense of pride in numbers. Sure, it is not free of trash but I’d say they have no more than many of our streets which is awesome considering the much greater number of daily users.

Lesson #5 – Allow for changing weather. Not that the fabric over the service window is part of an awning that can be opened if the weather requires it. This lets the place be responsive to changing weather while also providing a different look. Flexibility and variety.

Lesson #6 – Make sure the sidewalk is wide enough. South Street sidewalks were a perfect width, wide enough to allow folks to stand and talk (or eat) but not so wide that you felt alone. Determining the best width is a tough job.

Lesson #7 – light the way. Note how lighting is included to help light the sidewalk. This scale of lighting is so much more pleasant than relying simply on street lights. The down lights in this front are effective in that they produce little glare in the face of the pedestrian. I’ve seen some new down lighting on Cherokee Street but they are a bit on the chunky side (kind of the Kirstie Alley of light fixtures if you will).

Lesson #8 – mix old with the new but keep it urban. This Fresh Fields/Whole Foods store serves the neighborhood as both an employment center and as a grocer. The size of the building contrasts sharply with the width of the fronts on most of South Street. However, numerous entrances along the street keep up the rhythm. Cars are accommodated in the garage above.

I think many St. Louis natives see South Street as chaotic and inappropriate. I see it as vibrant and exciting. I also see it as a driving force behind increased commerce (read: sales tax revenue); increased property value (read: more property tax revenue) and greater demand for the area (read: more people paying more taxes).

The above pictures were taken on an overcast Saturday afternoon on 10/27/2001 – just over six weeks after September 11th. The whole East Coast was worrying about anthrax poisoning and other terrorist threats and still the street was busy. We need that kind of draw!

– Steve

The State of Real Estate

The April 2005 issue of St. Louis Magazine includes their annual ‘2005 Real Estate Guide.’ This magazine is mostly, in my view, a West County society magazine.

One agent is quoted as saying, “I am seeing people looking seriously at Lafayette Square. In one week, I did two sales down there.” In 2005 some people are just now waking up to Lafayette Square. Old St. Louis notion #1 – the city is “down there.”

The magazine promotes downtown lofts but from a different perspective than I am accustomed:

To affluent county folks with 5,000sf McMansions I guess a downtown loft is both a downsize and affordable. Despite the number of lofts built in the last few years it doesn’t seem like demand can be met. But what is with the “not a guaranteed investment” comment? No real estate purchase is a guaranteed investment. Old St. Louis notion #2 – buying in the city is risky. If you want a risky investment buy a vinyl clad ranch in a subdivision 45 minutes from downtown St. Louis. The magazine quoted a real estate appraiser as a backup of this view:

Old St. Louis notion #3 – people with kids leave the city if they can afford to. I know of people with school age children moving to downtown and midtown. Many families live in the city – sending their children to public, magnet, private, and parochial. Still others home school. The choices are many. For some city couples the lower property taxes in the city plus not necessarily having two cars more than pays for private schooling. Other parents find not spending hours driving to and from work or from subdivision to mall to industrial park gives them more time to spend with their kids and at their kid’s school. There is no substitute for parental participation.

First, Maplewood is a municipality – not a neighborhood. People need to stop throwing the word neighborhood around so indiscriminately. Municipalities and subdivisions are not neighborhoods. Old St. Louis notion #4 – anyplace is a neighborhood. New Urbanists have developed a list of 13 elements that most neighborhoods have. Click here and scroll down to see the elements of a neighborhood. That having been said, Maplewood does contain some great neighborhoods.

“There are great deals to be had in neighborhoods such as Forest Park Southeast and Old North St. Louis”, states the article. Wow, finally something good. Oh wait, “but buying in these areas is risky, because while some neighborhoods, such as Lafayette Square, can safely be called revitalized, others have a more uncertain future.” Old St. Louis notion #5 – anything not mostly white is risky. Buying real estate involves risk. I’ll agree that FPSE and ONSL involve greater risk than say Lafayette Square. I don’t think it is necessary to keep reinforcing this idea. If we continue calling an area risky guess what, it will remain risky!

In their buy or rent section you are advised to rent if, “Your job requires a substantial amount of travel.” Again, I disagree. Many downtown loft owners travel. They enjoy being able to get to the airport via MetroLink. The connectedness offered by loft living and Washington Avenue gives loft owning travelers a sense of belonging when they are in town and excellent tax benefits. The two-page spread of sale stats includes median days on market. At 188 days downtown looks like things don’t move. Since many lofts go on the market as soon as the developer buys the building and establishes a unit price this is a bit misleading.

One of the biggest challenges in St. Louis is simply one of perception. This article does very little to change perceptions about the city. In fact, it reinforces the conventional thinking that has kept many suburbanites from considering the city.

– Steve

Knights of Columbus Building For Sale

Yesterday the Knights of Columbus building located at 3133 Meramec was listed for sale at $275K. The MLS# is 518045 and is listed with the South County office of Coldwell Banker Gundaker.

I’m not sure if they are moving or closing. If you know, please use the comments below to pass along the information.

I’d like to see a new owner open up the storefront that was closed with concrete blocks.

– Steve

Mt. Pleasant Neighborhood Association & Mayor Slay

Last week was the monthly meeting of the Mt. Pleasant Neighborhood Association but it was anything but ordinary. Mayor Slay was the guest speaker before a full house. The meeting had to take place in the Chapel of the Charless Home rather than our usual meeting space downstairs.

Now that the primary is over Slay is sounding less like a candidate and more like a second term mayor. His civic boosterism is exactly what is needed at this time.

– Steve

Final Four Window Display Important to Street Life

Keeping things fresh is important in existing shopping areas and a must in emerging areas. I can think of a few South City window displays that haven’t changed in at least a decade. Lack of foot traffic in areas can partially be attributed to stagnant window displays. Conversely, interesting new displays is a contributing factor to increased foot traffic – even after hours.

For many years the St. Louis Chapter of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) was on an upper floor of a Washington Avenue building. A couple of years ago they moved to a ground level space right on the sidewalk and greatly expanded their book selection.

Rather than depend upon a staid display the AIA staff is constantly changing the window. This week the window recognizes the Final Four with a clever display on the origins of basketball. The store is closed but careful lighting draws you to the display. Passersby were stopping to look at the basketball display as well as some of the book titles.

Apparently basketball had origins with peach baskets. The AIA’s display has nothing to do with architecture but everything to do with good design. The two are not always related.

The AIA window is very important. The other window of the same size on this building contains a classroom for Webster University. The blinds are usually closed – adding nothing to street life. So much for Webster helping downtown.

Across the street is Niche furniture & accessories but their after hours presentation leaves something to be desired. The remainder of the block is convention hotel stuff which is to say immanently boring. Until lofts open in the building adjacent to the AIA office/bookstore this is the one bright hope on this entire block.

– Steve