Western Downtown Could Be More Pedestrian Friendly

This past week I worked with a couple looking to relocate from NYC to St. Louis. Being natives of Manhattan and life-long residents of the NYC area they are used to getting around by public transportation. As such, they took MetroLink from Lambert Airport to Union Station. They walked the short distance West along Market Street to the Courtyard by Marriott located just before Jefferson.

During the week they were in St. Louis I picked them up and dropped them off at the hotel numerous times. But they also walked back to Union Station often to get on MetroLink to transfer to the Grand bus. They also walked to dinner at Syberg’s in the Hampton Inn across the street and a bit to the East as well as places in Union Station.

Despite having a public sidewalk along both sides of Market the area is far from pedestrian friendly. Pedestrians are treated no differently than they are in the sprawl of suburbia. If you want to get from the public sidewalk to the front door of your destination you are expected to clime over shrubs, walk through planter beds or walk in the driveways for cars. Pedestrians are given no consideration.

Approaching the Marriott from Union Station to the East you can see the building behind an AG Edwards parking lot. If you ignore the “No Trespassing” sign and are willing to cross through the shrubs that divide this private parking lot from the hotel parking lot you’ve got a direct shot. Not ideal so we continue West on the sidewalk.



As we get in front of the hotel we encounter more intense plantings and no clear pedestrian entrance. The entrance sign, however, is visible.

Turning toward the hotel we can see the main entrance over a sea of cars. Once again no provisions have been made for pedestrians and our only choice is to clime through the landscaping. Dragging luggage this isn’t really an option.

So we are left with the auto entrance. No sidewalk along the drive. Just the drive itself. This auto drive is shared with the office building next door and is quite busy. It is also narrow with no room for pedestrians plus cars coming and going.

On a positive note the Marriott parking lot has more trees than most.

It is not hard to imagine a number of guests at the Marriott walk to Union Station and other downtown destinations even if they drove to the hotel. Even the most ardent suburbanite would see the folly of driving to Union Station from the Marriott.

With Harry’s restaurant a block away and Syberg’s in the Hampton Inn across the street guests are likely to walk to these places. The Metro Bus stop in front of the hotel likely brings hotel staff to and from work in addition to giving hotel guests a ride to other parts of the city.

The NYC couple said trying to cross Market Street to get to the Syberg’s was difficult. With six traffic lanes and a center turn lane it is one of the widest streets in the city and especially downtown. Unlike Tucker, no center median is provided as a place to help pedestrians make their way across the full distance. Pedestrian crossings are located West of the hotel at Jefferson and just before Union Station. A pedestrian crossing is needed at 23rd (West of the Hampton Inn) or 22nd (street to Harry’s & FBI).

We should expect better of developments. If not, we should demand better through our ordinances. If downtown isn’t friendly to pedestrians how do we expect to compete with cities such as Portland, OR which take such concerns more seriously?

– Steve

Patterson Won East of Grand

Over on my 25th Ward News & Events blog I take a detailed look at the results from the election two weeks ago. As you will see, I carried the vote total for the two precincts East of Grand while my opponent, Dorothy Kirner, won the total of the two precincts West of Grand by a much greater margin – giving her the overall win. Click here to see the numbers.

– Steve

Patterson Won East of Grand

Detail election results by precinct and regular vs. absentee ballots show that I received 278 votes from the 1st & 4th Precincts (East of Grand) compared to Dorothy Kirner’s 262 (52% to 48%). Looking at ballots cast on election day I had 268 while Dorothy Kirner had 228 (54% to 46%). Her 34 absentee ballots to my 10 closed the gap East of Grand but it was still in my favor by 16 votes. On election day the two precincts East of Grand had 704 more registered voters than the two precincts West of Grand (3,577 to 2,873).

It was West of Grand where I lost the election. As this is Kirner’s backyard I don’t think anyone was surprised. Including absentee ballots Kirner received 292 votes to my 159 votes (65% to 35%). Of those totals 27 were absentee ballots for Kirner while I only had one (thank you, whomever you were).

Final vote count was 554 for Kirner and 437 for me (55.9% to 44.1%). Ballots cast on election day were 493 for Kirner and 426 for me. Kirner had 61 absentee votes to my 11 absentee votes.

The best turnout in the 25th Ward was in the 1st precinct, which happens to be my precinct, at 15.46%. Close behind was the 3rd precinct at 15.36%, the 2nd precinct at 15.34% and finally the 4th precinct at 13.11%. Overall the 25th Ward had a 15.92% turnout (including absentee).

The 25th Ward was second to last in turnout in Wards where the Aldermanic seat was contested. The 19th Ward had a turnout of 14.16% compared to our 15.92%. In that Ward incumbent Mike McMillan received 89.05% of the vote over challenger Mwenyeji Mtu. Lowest turnout was the 9th Ward with 12.17% while the highest was Slay’s own 23rd Ward where 29.42% of the registered voters exercised their civic duty.

In the Mayoral race the 25th Ward results were as follows:
Slay – 783 (78.3%)
Haas – 47 (4.7%)
Smith – 170 (17%)

Comptroller Darlene Green was unchallenged but received 831 votes out of 1,027 ballots cast. We had 196 people that decided not to vote in favor of an unopposed candidate. In contested races 27 people didn’t make any selection for Mayor and 36 people made no selection for Alderman.

The Green Party in the 25th Ward cast 5 ballots with sole candidate Willie Marshall only getting 3 votes (not quite sure what the other two people were thinking if they didn’t vote for Marshall).

I’m quite pleased with the final results and knowing the people East of Grand recognized a need for a change. Hopefully the results will send a clear message.

– Steve

25th Ward Club Endorses Three Candidates for School Board

Tonight the 25th Ward Regular Democratic Club held its March meeting on a special night. The Club endorsed Veronica O’Brien, William (Bill) Purdy, and Peter Downs.

Nine members of the 25th Ward Club cast ballots as well as State Rep. Jeanette Mott Oxford and State Senator Maida Coleman. One of the eleven ballots cast was only for a single candidate while the other ten ballots were for three candidates. The results were as follows (in the order listed on the ballot):

Veronica O’Brien – 7
William (Bill) Purdy – 5
Frank W. Kriegel, Jr. – 3
Nancy Galvin – 1
Joe Moramarco – 1
Flint W. Fowler – 4
Joseph Keaveny – 3
Peter Downs – 7

Healthy Streets Conference – April 1-2

The Chicagoland Bicycle Federation is offering a two-day conference April 1-2 for transportation professionals, public officials, and advocates discussing ways to improve bicycling and walking conditions in Chicagoland. Here’s just some of what this year’s conference has to offer:

Inspiring keynote speakers – Marta Lucy Barriga Hernandez, director of Via RecreActiva Sunday Parkways in Guadalajara, Mexico, and Michael King, New York City’s former Director of Traffic Calming

Dynamic educational sessions – Learn new bicycle and pedestrian advocacy strategies

Networking and social events – Meet new people, make new contacts and share ideas

Healthy Streets Campaign – Hear details of the Chicagoland Bicycle Federation’s new campaign for a balanced transportation environment

For more details and conference registration, visit www.biketraffic.org, or call (312) 427-3325. Register today!