Nineteen year ago I started this blog as a distraction from my father’s heart attack and slow recovery. It was late 2004 and social media & video streaming apps didn’t exist yet — or at least not widely available to the general public. Blogs were the newest means of …
The new NGA West campus , Jefferson & Cass, has been under construction for a few years now. Next NGA West is a large-scale construction project that will build a new facility for the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency in St. Louis, Missouri.This $1.7B project is managed by the U.S. Army …
Book publisher Island Press always impresses me with thoughtful new books written by people working to solve current problems — the subjects are important ones for urbanists and policy makers to be familiar and actively discussing. These four books are presented in the order I received them. ‘Justice and …
This post is about two indirectly related topics: the new Siteman Cancer Center building under construction on the Washington University School of Medicine/BJC campus and an update on my stage 4 kidney cancer. Let’s deal with the latter first. You may have noticed I’ve not posted in three months, …
As I’ve done for the last month, this is another post on potential development sites along the proposed initial route of the St. Louis Streetcar. The sections already reviewed are as follows:
This post continues west to the end of the first phase of the route, starting at Lindell & Vandeventer to Lindell & Taylor, south on Taylor to Children’s place at the BJC hospital complex and next to the Central West End MetoBus Transit Center & MetroLink station (map).
Longtime readers know I’ve advocated a modern streetcar line for years connecting Downtown, Midtown/Grand Center, Central West End, and the Loop. My preferred route was to go north on Vandeventer then west on Delmar. I’d still like to see a streetcar on Delmar. Other options to go north from the current proposed route are at Sarah and/or Taylor. I’d like to see a decision made about future expansion so the track can be added onto without disrupting the Lindell route.
Anyway, here’s a look going west from Vandeventer:
This Rally’s was built in 1993 on nearly a third of an acre site with streets on three sides (Lindell, Vandeventer, & McPherson. The land & building are owned by a firm in San Diego, CA. Given the short life expectancy of such a structure I’d expect a more urban building on this site in the first 5 years of the streetcar line.
Next door the American Automobile Association of Missouri is renovating their iconic former headquarters building. CVS is building a drugstore on the west end of the site.
The apartments at 3949 Lindell are being rebuilt after a 2012 fire, this is an August 2008 photo. More development of this scale will become the norm along the route, it’ll be a 10-20 year process, not overnight.
A number of buildings occupy smaller lots on the south side of Lindell, these do a poor job of connecting with the sidewalk
This McDonald’s was built in 2008 on a site that is nearly an acre. McDonald’s owns the site so I wouldn’t expect to see a change for 20-30 years unless the land value increases dramatically and drive-thru sales collapse
This building, The Continental, was built in 1965. City records indicate it has 49 apartments. Density is good but it isn’t welcoming. New facade? Raze & replace?
The Arby’s on Lindell, built in 2007, is also on nearly an acre site
This American Red Cross building has good mass & density, but a poor relationship with the public sidewalk, typical for 1966.
The former mansion at 4054 Lindell was built in 1896. It appears to be in decent condition so perhaps it’ll get a new owner or be razed for something more urban.
The apartment building at 4066 Lindell, built in 1927, has 68 apartments. As is it provides affordable units, but renovation to go upmarket is possible, displacing low-income tenants in the process.
The part of Lindell Marketplace on the east side of Sarah sits on 4.8 acres. The will get razed & redeveloped into a dense mixed-use site before the larger site to the west due to fewer tenants to inconvenience.
With three outlots included, Lindell Marketplace on the west side of Sarah has 9.3 acres. It is bounded on all sides by public streets, built in 1986. Multiple ownership, anchor tenant Schnucks, and many small tenants complicate redevelopment.
This Jack-In-The-Box at 4111 Lindell, built in 2011, occupies one of the three outlets.
CVS wanted to raze the former Public Housing Authority building at 4100 Lindell but there was opposition. Hopefully it’ll get a nice renovation that respects the original 1957 design. I picture a ground floor restaurant with a lush patio out front, offices or apartments 0n upper floors.
The 1948 building next door is more likely to get replaced than renovated.
4158 Lindell is from 1948 but I see no reason why a developer shouldn’t raze it and build a mixed-use building. The Leonardo Apartments to the west is on a smaller lot and contains 34 apartments.
The Walgreens at 4200 Lindell was built in 2002 on a massive 1.8 acre site. I see this as being a perfect location for Walgreens’ new upscale urban flagship format, complete with a fresh sushi bar, in a multi-story mixed-use building. Click photo for article about this new format.
I’d like to see the American Cancer Society lease part of their ground floor to activate the NW corner of Lindell & Whittier St
This one-story branch bank was built in 1995 when SLU bought & razed the branch at Lindell & Grand. The site is 0.75 acres.
In 2009 the San Luis Hotel was razed for a parking lot. Hopefully we’ll eventually see a new building on this site
The Boatman’s Bank on Lindell in 1990-91, now a Bank of America, is very disconnected to Lindell.
The NE corner of Lindell & Euclid was built in 1968. A high-rise was planned for this site when the economy crashed.
The SW corner of Lindell & Euclid has been a parking lot for 20+ years
The parking lots on the east side of Kingshighway should also be considered for development
The west end of phase 1 would be next to the open air CWE MetroBus Transit Center
This street would be the initial west end point, nearly zero development potential unless you’re willing to raze a garage built in 1994
There’s much more development potential here than I originally thought, but with mixed-use projects like 3949 Lindell and the planned City Walk (with a Whole Foods) it could be argued the streetcar is needed in other areas to get development rolling.
Future installments in this series will look at:
Development potential in the downtown central business district
Some challenge/changes the streetcar will create
And a poll(s) on routes for future expansion
Still, I’m excited by the transit the streetcar could provide as well as the level of development it could spur.
Map source: Explore St. Louis, click to view original
Lately I’ve been posting about the St. Louis Streetcar, a proposed modern streetcar line that’d primarily serve the central corridor from Downtown west to the Central West End. Though the proposed streetcar route includes a spur into North St. Louis, I believe north & south sides of the city have tended to get the short end of the transit infrastructure stick. Our Metrolink light rail opened 20 years ago serving the central part of the city, and the streetcar will double-down on this area.
I’ll personally benefit since I live downtown, but I’d like better transit options for reaching destinations in north & south city. I recognize many people might live say in north city but work in south city, or vice versa. Existing bus routes like the #70 (Grand) only partially fills the transit needs of the city.
Improvement options I’ve listed in the poll are:
Nothing, doesn’t need improving
Run existing buses more frequently
Reduce/eliminate fares
Bigger articulated buses for the busiest routes
Buses that go from diesel in the county to electric via overhead wires in the city
Bus rapid transit (BRT) lines serving city neighborhoods
In-street modern streetcar lines serving city neighborhoods
In-street light rail lines running through the city to connect to the county
These answers will be presented in random order in the poll (right sidebar), you can select up to 3 choices. You’ll have the option to provide your own answer as well.
A number of years ago East-West Gateway Council of Governments studied light rail lines through North & South St. Louis to reach North & South St. Louis County, respectively, but it went no further.
So please vote in the poll, located to the right, and share your thoughts in the comments below. I’ll share my views when I post the poll results on Wednesday July 3rd.
Q: Ald Bosley sent a letter to supporters asking for help paying the remaining $14,276 private college tuition for his daughter he couldn’t cover. Reaction:
Bosley has lost the public trust, he should resign 58 [42.03%]
Missouri legislature should tighten ethics laws 43 [31.16%]
If constituents are upset, they should start a recall campaign 23 [16.67%]
Meh, no big deal 11 [7.97%]
Unsure/no opinion 3 [2.17%]
Ok, “only” 42% said he should resign, not a majority. But I’m pretty sure many of the 31% who picked the answer about state ethics laws wouldn’t mind if Bosley resigned.
But he’s not going to do so. Why? He has no clue how out of touch he really is, the original letter is proof of that. Unfortunately, he’ll be in office until he’s dead or physically incapacitated.
Last month I posted how the St. Louis Hills Medical Center violates the ADA. In short, the building’s original design predated the ADA by a few decades and the 2008 renovations didn’t fix the problem. Here are a few photos from that post:
The original 1950s entrance wasn’t accessible to all.
The route to a new entrance contains a flight of stairs, also not accessible to all.
Since that post I met with a representative of the building owner as well as Eddie Roth, Director of Operations in the mayor’s office.
A drawing on the building website shows what should’ve been built, the private sidewalk from the space next door was supposed to be continue in front of the original entry, eliminating the steps.
Here’s the original entry again with the new sidewalk next door circled in red, the walk to the original entry is also newish concrete.
Here’s the view next door looking toward the old entrance.
During the construction work a few years ago someone made a decision to not follow the architect’s design, resulting in lack of ADA-compliance.
The owner’s representative indicated the building remains vacant, and they aren’t interested in making changes. If only they’d followed the architect’s plans there would be no problems gaining access into the building from the public sidewalk.
The free ride downtown will soon be over. Effective July 1st metered parking downtown will no longer be free, the Treasurer’s press release:
Effective July 1, 2013, the Parking Division will begin enforcing parking violations, including expired meters, in Downtown St. Louis on Saturdays. Accordingly, Downtown patrons will be required to pay for using parking meters on Saturdays from 8:00am-7:00pm. The Parking Commission of the City of St. Louis voted unanimously to change this policy during its monthly meeting held May 9, 2013. This change in policy is necessary in order to apply consistent enforcement policies across the city.
In order to adjust to the change, enforcement officers will issue warning notices during the first two weekends in July.
Downtown is currently the only area of the city without Saturday enforcement.
The facts got a bit twisted in the local media:
For decades, flashing “expired” signs went unenforced in downtown parking meters on Saturdays. But City Treasurer Tishaura Jones announced on Tuesday that the city will end the long-standing policy and start requiring people to pay for street parking on Saturdays.
Starting on July 1, Jones said, downtown motorists will be required to pay for using parking meters on Saturdays, from 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. To help ease the change, violators will be issued warnings on the first two weekends of July. (stltoday)
7am? Went unenforced? To be fair to the paper this “violations” view came from the treasurer website:
Effective July 1, 2013, the Parking Division will begin enforcing parking violations, including expired meters, in Downtown St. Louis on Saturdays.
Yesterday Jones replied to my email inquiry, indicating: “The previous policy was the first two hours were free.” However, Jones’ statement doesn’t jive with with the current meters:
For years downtown parking meters have indicated parking was free on Saturdays, Sundays, and Holidays. No mention of only 2 hours being free
Jones indicated these “tags will be updated shortly. They be replaced before July 1.” Over downtown 3,275 meters need changing with only 7 business days remain before July 1st. As indicated, this decision was made on May 9th so it is reasonable to expect all to be updated in 7 weeks time. Still, I’m bothered by the apparent confusion as to what the policy has been.
Cover of the most recent Downtown Parking Guide from the Partnership for Downtown St. Louis reinforces the common understanding of the existing free weekends policy.
Maggie Campbell, who recently resigned as President of the Partnership for Downtown St. Louis, was an advocate for free parking seven days a week. I sat on a downtown parking committee with her a few years ago and we disagreed on this issue. I agree with parking experts like The High Cost of Free Parking author Donald Shoup (video) and Parking Management Best Practices author Todd Litman that pricing should not be free, but set to create turnover.
I think Jones may be confusing the 2-hour limit with free saturday parking. In theory the limit for most downtown spaces is two hours, after which the enforcement officials would drive around putting a chalk mark on tires and ticketing vehicles that hadn’t moved in two hours — regardless if the meter had been paid. It is this time limit that has never been enforced anywhere in the city. Two very different issues a banker might get confused.
A puzzling part of this change is who has authority to set policy, her or the Board of Aldermen. Jones directed me to Missouri statute RsMO 82.485:
It shall be the duty of the supervisor of parking meters to install parking meters, collect all parking meter fees, supervise the expenditures for repairs and maintenance, establish and supervise a parking enforcement division and a parking meter division to enforce any statute or ordinances now or hereafter established pertaining to the parking of motor vehicles, including automated zone parking and all other parking functions, and to make all disbursements on any parking contracts, including employment, consulting, legal services, capital improvement and purchase of equipment and real property which may hereafter be made by such cities, subject to audit in the manner provided by state statute.
The treasurer’s website also references RsMO 82.487, relating to the duties of the parking commission. Who is this parking commission anyway?
The Parking Commission consists of the following:
Tishaura Jones (Treasurer)
Carl Phillips (Parking Administrator)
Todd Waeltermann (Director of Streets)
Ald. Freeman Bosley, Sr (Chair of Streets Committee)
Meetings of the CITY OF SAINT LOUIS PARKING COMMISSION are open to the general public and held every second Thursday of each month at 10:00 a.m. in Room 220 City Hall, 1200 Market Street, St. Louis, MO 63103. Please call 314-622-4700 for more information.
Yet the Board of Aldermen has passed numerous ordinances related to parking, such as Parking in the Third Ward or Parking Meter Division Employees relating to pay scale of employees. Hopefully Tishaura Jones will be successful in doing what she campaigned on, removing parking from the Treasurer’s office. Bankers should not determine parking policy.
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