West Florissant Ave Part 1: Ferguson Market To QuikTrip

For 3+ weeks now I’ve been thinking about the physical environment of West Florissant from the burnt out QuikTrip location south to the elevated train tracks, just under half a mile. Let’s take a look:

The area looks & feels tired. Ferguson, Jennings, Dellwood, St. Louis County, Emerson, etc. all need to look at updating the public streetscape along W. Florissant. The use of rain gardens on both sides would visually improve the look as well as absorbing considerable water runoff. Walk Score gives the area a low 36 (Car Dependent) rating, embarrassing for an area with so many pedestrians and frequent transit users.

In Part 2 I’ll look at similar issues a little further North, in Dellwood.

— Steve Patterson

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Many Readers Correctly Guessed St. George, Lemay, Affton, & Spanish Lake Are Unincorporated Areas Within St. Louis County

Up to seventy readers last week correctly guessed the fours areas in St. Louis County that are unincorporated, not a separate village, town, or city: St. George, Lemay, Affton, and Spanish Lake. With 90 incorporated it’s hard to keep track of all the areas of the county.

Here are the four that are not incorporated:

1. St. George: In November 2011 residents voted to disincorporate so they could return to being part of unincorporated, lack of money to repair roads was the stated reason.  St. Louis County had 91 separate municipal governments prior to St. George’s disincorporation. See St. George may close up shop at year’s end
2. Lemay: An area in unincorporated south county, see the Wikipedia entry.
3. Affton: Another unincorporated area in south county, see the Wikipedia entry.
4. Spanish Lake: I’m surprised more people didn’t get this right, it is famously unincorporated.

Three of the four were never incorporated.

Here are the results from last week’s voting, the correct four were the top vote getters:

Q: TRIVIA: Which FOUR (4) of the following are part of unincorporated St. Louis County, NOT a separate village/town/city:

1. St. George 81 [16.4%]
2. Lemay 78 [15.79%]
3. Affton 72 [14.57%]
4. Spanish Lake 70 [1417%]
5. Tie 25 [5.06%]
   1. Crystal Lake Park
   2. Green Park
6. Country Life Acres 23 [4.66%]
7. Greendale 18 [3.64%]
8. Tie 17 [3.44%]
   1. Oakland
   2. Wilbur Park
9. Tie 15 [3.04%]
   1. Bella Villa
   2. Winchester
10. Kinloch 14 [2.83%]
11. Uplands Park 10 [2.02%]
12. Pasadena Park 9 [1.82%]
13. Pasadena Hills 5 [1.01%]

Here is more about each of the areas some thought were unincorporated, in the same order as the poll results. All links are to Wikipedia entries:

• Crystal Lake Park: Tiny class 4 city in west county with an area of 0.11 square miles, and 470 residents as of the 2010 census. Adjacent to Frontenac, off Bopp Rd.
• Green Park: Small city in south county with area of 1.35 square miles, and 2,622 residents as of the 2010 census. Tesson Ferry Branch of the St. Louis County Library is within Green Park.
• Country Life Acres: a village in west county with an area of 0.11 square miles, and 74 residents as of the 2010 census. Adjacent to the city of Town & Country. 
• Greendale: a city in north county with an area of 0.21 square miles, and 651 residents as of the 2010 census. Adjacent to Normandy. 
• Oakland: a city in west county with an area of 0.61 square miles, and 1,381 residents as of the 2010 census. 
• Wilbur Park: a village in south county with an area of .06 square miles, and 471 residents as of the 2010 census. Off Gravois Rd just outside St. Louis. 
• Bella Villa: a city in south county with an area of 0.13 square miles, and 729 residents as of the 2010 census. I-55 & Bayless. 
• Winchester: a city in west county with an area of 0.25 square miles, and 1,547 residents as of the 2010 census. Near Manchester & Woods Mill (141)
• Kinloch: a city in north county with an area of 0.73 square miles, and 299 residents as of the 2010 census. Northeast of I-170 & I-70. 
• Uplands Park: a village in north county with an area of 0.07 square miles, and 445 residents as of the 2010 census. South of Natural Bridge west of Kienlen Ave.
• Pasadena Park: a village in north county with an area of 0.1 square miles, and 470 residents as of the 2010 census. East of the UMSL campus. 
• Pasadena Hills: a city in north county with an area of 0.22 square miles, and 930 residents as of the 2010 census. Southwest from I-70 @ Lucas & Hunt. 

The total area of these 12 is 3.95 square miles, less than 1% of the county. The total population in 2010 was 10,089, roughly 1% of the 2010 population of the county.

This is just twelve of the ninety municipalities in St. Louis County. Many contract with a neighboring municipality or St. Louis County to provide some services. Clear fragmentation when 1% of your land & population are divided into 12 separate governments.

— Steve Patterson

St. Louis Union Station Opened 120 Years Ago Today

The labor of many built the building that opened 120 tears ago today: St. Louis Union Station. This 1894 station replaced the original St. Louis Union Station, which was located six blocks east, at 12th & Poplar. The original had opened 19 years earlier, on June 1, 1875

After millions passed through this station over 80+ years it closed. In ruins it was the location of the fight scene from Escape from New York (1981).  Last Friday, August 29th, marked 29 years since Union Station reopened as a festival marketplace. Basically a mall under the train shed. New owner are replacing the failed mall with convention/meeting space to support the hotel. See StLouisUnionStation.com for more information.

Happy Labor Day!

— Steve Patterson

Poll: Which Vehicle Technology Will Become Mainstream Within Two Decades?

Toyota first began selling the Prius hybrid in Japan in December 1997 — nearly 20 years ago. This form of hybrid is now mainstream, cars from many manufacturers offer some form of hybrid. In all these an internal combustion engine (ICE) comes on the drive the wheels, as needed. Batteries are recharged primarily through regenerative braking. Millions of such hybrid vehicles have been sold worldwide.

What’s next?

Below are four technologies that might become mainstream in the next two decades, listed alphabetically:

• Electric vehicles (plugs into grid, no ICE)
• Fuel cell vehicles (uses oxygen & hydrogen to generate electricity used to power electric motors)
• Plug-in hybrid vehicles (plugs into grid, ICE charges batteries to extend range)
• Self-driving vehicles (the autonomous self-driving vehicle wouldn’t need input from a human)

For the poll this week I want to see which of the above, if any, will become mainstream within 20 years. The poll includes those four plus options for ‘none’ and ‘unsure’, all will be presented randomly. The poll is at the top of the right sidebar, you can select up to four answers.

— Steve Patterson

Ferguson’s Neighbors Dellwood & Jennings Also Impacted

For nearly three weeks the focus has been on Ferguson, but residents & businesses in neighboring Jennings & Dellwood have also been impacted.

So if you’re trying to help out by patronizing businesses be sure to include businesses up and down W. Florissant and Chambers, in Jennings, Dellwood, and Ferguson.  The locally owned businesses were the hardest hit by a decrease in sales due to rerouted traffic/buses.

— Steve Patterson