Food, Clothing and Shelter

The basics of life.  We need food for nutrition to keep our bodies going.  We need clothing to cover our bodies for a sense of modesty and in the winter warmth.  We need shelter as a place to rest our fed and clothed bodies.  Everything else is a luxury.  Cable, Cars, and even my iPhone – all luxuries.  For many in our society they don’t have the three basics, most notably shelter.

My first class back at SLU this Fall is a law class called Housing & Community Development.  Our reading for today was on the right to housing.  Do we have a right to be provided shelter if we are outside the margins for private housing?

The goal of the Federal Housing Act of 1949 was a “decent home…for every American family.”  That is a tall order.  Since that act became law government has had many programs designed to accomplish that goal.  Everything from building housing to rent vouchers have been tried.  Yet we still have Americans that are homeless and others with less than decent shelter.

Clearly the private market doesn’t work for everyone. Was the goal of a decent home for every American family simply too ambitious?  Well, I have reading to finish – discuss.

Preservation Board Says ‘No’ To Demolition Request in Old North

One of the duties of the city’s cultural resources office and the Preservation Board is to consider requests for demolition permits in much of the city. Some wards are excluded and are free to destroy our history. Other parts of the city are covered by local and national historic districts. Such districts don’t automatically save individual buildings from demolition anymore than individual listing does (see the fugly parking garage where the Century Building stood for decades). Still the Preservation Board has strict criteria used to determine if it should allow a building to be razed. Criteria includes the rehab potential of the structure among other things. It doesn’t mean the current owner has the means to do the rehab or that it fits into their plans but that it is feasible for someone to rehab the building.

Some members naturally lean toward saving buildings while others almost have a perverse pleasure in voting in favor of demolition. The majority sticks to the criteria spelled out in the applicable ordinance in each case.

Last night’s meeting included a controversial demolition request for a rather typical vernacular structure on Hadley St in Old North St Louis. Much of Old North is in the Murphy-Blair National Register Historic District. The very future of the district was potentially at stake according to Cultural Resources director Kathleen Shea and Michael Allen from Landmark’s Association and the excellent Ecology of Absence blog. At the district’s inception in the early 80’s it included some 600 “contributing” structures. By some estimates as much as a third of those have been razed in the years since. The Missouri state historic preservation office has the ability to review districts and de-certify them if they’ve lost enough of what made it a district in the first place. Much of the individual rehabs and the current $35 million dollar project around the former 14th Street Pedestrian Mall were possible thanks to state historic preservation tax credits. If the district were to be de-certified it would be hard to make the numbers work to renovate more buildings in the neighborhood.

At issue last night was a building on the SW corner of Hadley St and Montgomery St., numbered 2619-21 Hadley St (map). While I tend to side with property owners in cases of eminent domain when it comes to demolition the common good of the whole neighborhood must be considered. As is the case in many parts of North St Louis, if you raze enough structures you cease to have a neighborhood.

This is the second time The Haven of Grace, a shelter for pregnant homeless women, has requested permission to raze this structure. In February 2007 they asked the board to consider demolition of this and another building on the same block (agenda item). At that time the Cultural Resources staff recommended the board approve the demolition of one structure but not this one. I was there that night a year and a half ago when The Haven of Grace agreed to save this building if they could demolish the other. Doing so would clear the way for the non-profit to construct three new 4-family buildings. The board then approved the demolition of one structure but not this one.

So last night this building was on the agenda again. This time Haven of Grace was primarily represented by their board President, Harold R Burroughs. Burroughs is an attorney with the firm Brian Cave. Knowing the next step, if the Preservation Board followed the staff recommendation and denied the demo request, would be court he spent a lot of time making his case. Kate Shea spent time making her case too. When the court looks at these cases they simply review the record of evidence presented to the Board to see if they followed the applicable ordinance(s).

Burroughs indicated they could not build their third building on the vacant land as planned because their contractor wouldn’t work next to the existing structure. A non-structural back wall has collapsed since the February 2007 meeting. Another of the criteria used is the redevelopment plan for the site. This time the plan is landscaping, not as compelling as a replacement building. After a good two hours the Preservation Board voted 4-1 to uphold the staff denial of the demolition permit. It was the right decision based on the evidence presented and the criteria they must follow.

Interco Plaza, An Ugly Reminder of Past Mistakes

St. Louis, like many other older industrial cities, has made numerous mistakes in the past decades. One of those is a city park, known as Interco Plaza, located at Tucker and Dr. Martin Luther King. The city’s lists of parks simply indicates it is 0.71 acres and has a single fountain. However, the fountain no longer exists. From the City Journal on May 14, 2002 I see the Board of Public voted to approve “Demolition of the High Wall of Interco Plaza Fountain, Tucker Street & Dr. Martin Luther King.”

When proposed I’m sure the artist rendering showed many people conversing around the now-removed fountain. Politicos probably wax poetically about how this new investment in the city was going to do wonders for the area as nothing else had. It may have worked, for a while. Today it stands (barely) as a relic of the brutalist concrete movement.
Although I had been past it hundreds of times I had never stopped and taken a closer look. On a hot day this past August, I did stop and take in the beauty of all the broken up concrete:

So who is this Interco Incorporated? Their long standing name was the International Shoe Company and currently they are known as Furniture Brands. Furniture Brands is based in Clayton, in the Interco Tower which opened in 1985. Click here for a company history.

Interco Plaza is located at the SE corner of Tucker and Dr. Martin Luther King — between the St. Louis Post-Dispatch to the North, the St. Louis Public Schools HQ to the East and St. Patrick Center to the South. The balance of the area is parking. Hadley Street to the East was cut off to through traffic and Dr. King Drive between Hadley and 10th were also removed. Just as well, the Convention Center cuts off through access on Dr. King.

Getting in closer we see the Plaza before the removal of the fountain and the high wall near it. The green spaces (left & bottom) shown above are holes to the tunnel below. The balance of the green, basically the NE corner, are at grade. Still doing research but I guess that a building and basement were razed at this site and the plaza was the replacement.

A few images:

This park is such a horrible space, even the homeless will not use it! Well, at least not the top. Homeless do use the space underneath and the tunnel under Tucker for shelter. A Post-Dispatch article from October indicated the city estimates the cost to replace Tucker (either by filling in the tunnel or building a new tunnel) will cost $30 million, they are seeking federal assistance. Unclear to me is the future of Interco Plaza.

It really needs to go away.

Does Furniture Brands still own the land under the air rights? Can we re-open the closed streets in the area? What about building an SRO (Single Room Occupancy) on a portion of the land? What will become of those living underneath?
I just watched a documentary, about the homeless in an abandoned Amtrak tunnel, filmed in the late 1990s in NYC. The film, Dark Days, was very moving. The homeless themselves were the film crew. This documentary, the first for Marc Singer, received several awards, including a couple at the Sundance Film Festival in 2000.

Here is a brief intro:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UpXHCRYXP7s[/youtube]

Like the rest of our city, we have many forgotten areas between areas being revitalized. We need to learn what we can from past mistakes such as brutal concrete plazas and resolve to reconnect and heal the entire city.

I Scootered To A Working Farm Yesterday

Few people on small 49cc scooters make it out to rural farm country. While I did visit a farm yesterday, it wasn’t a long trip through the ring of sprawl to reach my destination . My Environmental Planning class at Saint Louis University visited the New Roots Urban Farm on St. Louis’ near north side.

New Roots is located on Hogan Street adjacent to the vacant but stunning St. Liborius church.

You can almost just pass right by — the quarter acre urban farm is very unassuming with the exception of the lively sign.

Rows of basil yet to be picked. Mmmmmm, pesto! Newer homes, set a suburban distance back from the street, complete the block and much of the street to the east.

Above, wire fencing guards the hen house.

Today was a day for members to pick up their weekly veggies. Above, a father and daughter make their way to the pickup area.

Co-founder/Farm & Program Manager Trish Grim was our instructor and guide. In the span of four years this cooperative group has gone from four vacant city lots to a working farm that feeds themselves and 25 shareholders per season. Their annual budget is now up to $50,000. Yes, a mere $50K annually. They have roughly 4 people that work full time as well as numerous volunteers and interns. Clearly they are not in this for the money.

Payments from members of the CSA (Community-Supported Agriculture) make up roughly 25% of the budget, the balance coming from various grants. These members get “10-15 pounds of produce” each week during the growing season. There is a waiting list to be a member. New Roots has teamed with the Old North St. Louis Restoration Group on the North City Farmers’ Market which opened this season on 14th Street across from Crown Candy Kitchen. Saturday is the final day for that market this season — they are ending with a big “Hoe Down” with BBQ, games and music (9am-1pm).

New Roots also teamed up with St. Patrick’s Center and Gateway Greening on the City Seeds project at 22st & Pine. Where you say? The leftover/wasted land at the old 22nd Street interchange. Here the homeless are hired at minimum wage to work 3 days per week on this 2-1/2 acre farm. New Roots provides the expert knowledge on the project and another grant funds the wages for the workers. A couple of years ago I argued with developer Kevin McGowen about this project — I wanted the land to be reused in the future when the excess roadway was removed. I am correct in that in the future it will be hard to take back the land for development but I think Kevin was right — this is really a good project. Produce grown on this urban farm is sold at the North City market and the Tower Grove Farmers’ Market.

One of their goals is to be sustainable — environmentally and fiscally. So far, they are quite environmentally sustainable given their practices which includes transporting goods to the North Side Market via bicycle carts. Fiscally, however, they are not so sustainable yet. Trish referenced groups in other parts of the country —- one getting as much as 70% of their funding from sales of product.

Lest you think this is all some hippie festival, I happen to know at least one self proclaimed Republican that is a member.  In fact, the supporters tend to be more affluent types which allows New Roots to sell their produce at very fair prices to lower income folks at the local market (all are welcomed regardless of income).  To me there is something really neat about seeing our food being grown on a real working farm so close to downtown.

Be sure to check out their website at www.newrootsurbanfarm.org and especially their unique newsletter.

Preservation Board to Consider Plans for 2-Block “Urban Garden”

Today at 4pm the city’s Preservation Board, chaired by Slay’s PR man Richard Callow, will consider the plans for the Gateway Foundation’s gift of funding a sculpture park. The rubber stamps are being cleaned and distributed. Issues I have are larger issues for the entire Gateway Mall area.

First, I’m opposed to the removal of off-street [on-street] parking from both Market Street, Chestnut and cross streets such as 8th, 9th and 10th. These spaces provide convenient parking for the space — meters should be set for 90 minutes to 2 hours maximum and actually be enforced. Chalk the tires and ticket those that simply run out of their glass office to feed the meter. If they don’t like it they can use transit or car pool with a co-worker. On-street parking also provides a nice barrier between pedestrians and passing cars. People parking and getting in and our of their vehicles creates urban activity. And finally, these on-street spaces lessen the need for more massive and costly parking garages. I know that if I were to bring my elderly father here we’d need very close parking as he is physically unable to walk too far. On-street scooter/motorcycle parking would be nice as well.

The other thing I’d like to see are numerous bike racks. Not one rack that holds 20 bikes off in some hidden corner but the perimeter dotted with simple inverted-U racks. This would give cyclists safe and secure places to lock up their bikes so they can then enjoy walking around the various planned paths of the new sculpture garden without having to leave their bike unattended or push it around. I’d like to see 2 of these racks, each capable of holding two bikes, per side. Two blocks means eight sides so a total of 16 racks that can hold 32 bikes. Really this should be the standard throughout downtown. On either side of 9th, between the two garden blocks, you could probably have only one per side for a total of 14 racks and 28 spaces. Given the budget in the millions paying for and installing 14 racks might cost all of $5,000-$7,000 total. Given the extent and budget of this project good bicycle parking should not be overlooked.
I’m disappointed the block between 10th and 11th, containing “Twain” by Richard Serra, isn’t included in this project. It will remain, for now, disconnected from the surroundings. It will continue to serve as an unofficial dog park.

I have noticed a food vendor that sets up his shop on the corner of 10th & Chestnut to sell BBQ to AT&T employees and any others in the area (jurors?). Most likely he will get the boot which is unfortunate. He picks a spot in the shade of the existing trees so even if AT&T were agreeable to having him on their side of the street it might be too unbearable. Hopefully he can use a corner of the block containing twain or be allowed to use a tiny bit of the real estate on the north edge of the urban garden. Like bike racks, I want to see food & beverage vendors all over downtown (hopefully with some selling vegetarian hot dogs).

Another thing I’d like to see all over downtown are rickshaws — old fashioned bike taxis (aka pedicabs). Even if subsidized through say the Downtown Partnership this would be a great way to ferry people throughout downtown — from Union Station, to Washington Ave, to the Old Post Office Square, to Ballpark Village, to the Convention Center to the riverfront — there are a lot of places and often the distances are farther than people are willing to walk. One of my favorite memories of New York City is taking a bike taxi. The Partnership could purchase the pedicabs and lease them at nearly nothing to those that want the work or exercise. Advertising could be sold to offset the purchase and maintenance of the pedicabs. Let the drivers set their own fee and collect the tips — and not require a business license. This might even prove a good vocation for the homeless or near homeless. Furthermore, a downtown loft dweller might just enjoy a saturday shift as a pedicab driver as a way to contribute to the city and meet new people. A portion of the street around the urban garden could provide space for people to catch a pedicab, auto taxi or a horse drawn carriage.

With the Danforth Foundation calling for local control of the riverfront area, the new open space north of the Old Post Office and the linear Gateway Mall I still don’t think we have the population or the surrounding urban fabric to make all these spaces useful. Even after this urban garden opens in 2009 the surrounding buildings will continue to be the dreadful anonymous boxes they are today.