Metered Parking Space Ends Unclear To Some Drivers

It’s been 30+ years since I took driver’s ed in high school so I don’t recall what we learned about parallel parking. My guess is it focused on the mechanics of backing into a space between two cars. I do remember having to parallel park for my driver’s exam, we had to go to Will Rogers World Airport because no where else in south Oklahoma City had parallel parking.

This driver managed to center their car on the meter, halfway in two parking spaces.

It seems to me it isn’t common knowledge that spaces exist from meter to meter. When I took the above picture there were no other cars in front of or behind. I’ve seen people drive up and park this way simply because they don’t know any better. Not sure what they do in places like the 12xx-17xx blocks of Washington Ave where two meters are grouped to reduce the number of poles.

The Missouri license exam also focuses on the mechanics, but not identification of what is a space:

2. Park parallel to the curb, in a space 25 feet long and 7 feet wide. You will be tested for:

• The position of your vehicle before backing.
• Whether or not you bump into the space markers.
• Moving into the space smoothly and at the right speed. • Parking no more than 18” from the curb.
• Parking near the center of the space.
• Ability to park the vehicle within two minutes.
• Turning the wheels in the correct direction for parking.
• Checking traffic and signaling before you leave the parking space.

Testing to make sure you get in the center of the space, the driver above may think they nailed it.

The obvious fix is to do what Clayton does, paint lines on the pavement to indicate the space start and end. But that would require lots of labor since the city has thousands of metered spaces. My preference is to remove the individual meters and go to a pay and display system:

Pay and display systems differ from road-side parking meters in that one machine can service multiple vehicle spaces, resulting in lower set up costs. In addition, this system theoretically prevents drivers from taking advantage of parking meters that have time remaining; this factor alone has doubled parking revenues in cities that have switched to pay and display.(A driver may occasionally take advantage of remaining time should a departing parker give away a ticket with remaining time, however.)

Message reads “This machine will calculate the correct parking period for whatever value of coins you insert subject to a minimum charge of 40p and a maximum of £9.60″

In addition, pay and display machines can also accept a wider variety of coins, and many even accept credit cards, making it unnecessary for drivers to carry large amounts of change. The use of credit cards has another advantage – the machines do not have to be emptied of coins as often, and the costs of counting coin and possible pilfering by employees who empty the parking meters also reduces their overall costs. (Wikipedia)

With pay and display you don’t have designated spaces, sometimes allowing for more cars to fit into a given area. However, you can still end up with drivers that park too far from another vehicle, reducing the number of cars that’ll fit.

In the meantime, I’d like to see these motorists get a warning along with an educational piece explaining how to park at parking meters.

– Steve Patterson

Old Big Box Stores Live On, Some Too Long

It has been 15 years since St. Louis-based Venture stores closed.

The chain was founded in 1968 when Target founder John F. Geisse went to work for May Department Stores. Under an antitrust settlement reached with the Department of Justice, May was unable to acquire any more retail chains at the time, and the department store company needed a way to compete against the emerging discount store chains. When May’s Executive Vice President Dave Babcock learned that Geisse had resigned from Target Stores, he spoke with Geisse about starting a new discount retailer, resulting in the founding of Venture.

The first Venture store opened in 1970 in the St. Louis suburb of Overland (after Venture closed, the location became a Kmart, which later closed & was demolished for the current Home Depot). In 1976, Geisse retired and left Venture Stores, which had by that time expanded to 20 units. (Wikipedia)

When I was a kid, following the failure of the Woolco discount chain, Venture expanded into Oklahoma City (source). A Woolco/Venture was very close to my parent’s house, I biked there often to buy 45s & later cassingles.

Last week, as I stepped into a former Venture store at 5401 Collinsville Rd in Fairmont City, IL, I recalled biking to Venture as a kid and even visiting a Venture after moving to St. Louis.

Venture sign remains

This Venture store is now Gateway Classic Cars, click image for website

The old Venture name is covered by the current sign

The interior is very original, complete with the paint scheme of the walls.

When a building gets built we should assume it’ll be around for at least half a century. Often this longevity is a good thing, but not always. I took a picture of the men’s restroom but I decided to spare you that sight.

Older structures do provide good low-rent options for businesses, while not making a positive contribution to the area’s image. This is a good example of why we need to think beyond the original depreciation schedule when building.

– Steve Patterson

Readers Support Full Legalization of Marijuana in Missouri

In the poll last week nearly 82% favored some change in Missouri with respect to marijuana laws, with more than half supporting full legalization:

Q: How should Missouri treat marijuana?

1. Fully legalize 71 53.38% 53.38%
2. Legalize for medical / decriminalize for recreational use 32 24.06% 24.06%
3. Keep it illegal 21 15.79% 15.79%
4. Legalize for medical use only 6 [4.51%]
5. Unsure/no opinion 3 [2.26%]

Recently the St. Louis Board of Aldermen approved a bill (#275) that would give police the ability to issue a summons to people rather than arrest them for violating state law:

Right now, under that state law, first offenders who are caught with a small amount of marijuana — from a gram to 35 grams— is given a misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in jail and a $1,000 fine. A second offense for possession of more than 35 grams is considered a felony. (stltoday)

This action is a reflection of changing attitudes, and perhaps realization the federal “War on Drugs” has largely failed:

For decades, the politics of the drug war were straightforward: Being tough could help at the polls and came with no political downside; being open to reform had few advantages, but would be used against a candidate on the campaign trail. (Huffington Post)

Nationally support for full legalization has picked up speed, Colorado & Washington states even legalized marijuana in the November 2012 election.

From Pew, click image to view source

Seeing such a shift in Missouri will likely take a while.

– Steve Patterson

The Cotton Belt Building Isn’t Made of Cement

In architecture school I had two semesters of classes on materials, so when I read sentences like the following I get irritated:

Cement is a binder used to make concrete

Today, the 750-foot-long face of the old Cotton Belt Rail Depot is in pretty rough shape, a wall of cracked cement and busted-out windows, with a string of graffiti wherever the taggers could reach. (stltoday)

“Cracked cement?” First, what is cement?

The common name for Portland cement, the most important modern construction material, notably as a constituent of concrete. In the manufacturing process, limestone is ground into small pieces (about 2 cm). To provide the silica (25%) and alumina (10%) content required, various clays and crushed rocks are added, including iron ore (about 1%). This material is ground and finally burned in a rotary kiln at up to 1500°C, thus converting the mixture into clinker pellets. About 5% gypsum is then added to slow the hardening process, and the ground mixture is added to sand (for mortar), gravel and crushed rock (for concrete). When water is added, the cement solidifies gradually, undergoing many complex reactions. The name “Portland” cement arises from a resemblance to stone quarried at Portland, England. (click image at right for source)

Cement is an important ingredient used to manufacture concrete, which is what the Cotton Belt building is made of.

There are three basic ingredients in the concrete mix:

1. Portland Cement
2. Water
3. Aggregates (rock and sand)

Portland Cement – The cement and water form a paste that coats the aggregate and sand in the mix. The paste hardens and binds the aggregates and sand together.

Water- Water is needed to chemically react with the cement (hydration) and too provide workability with the concrete. The amount of water in the mix in pounds compared with the amount of cement is called the water/cement ratio. The lower the w/c ratio, the stronger the concrete. (higher strength, less permeability)

Aggregates- Sand is the fine aggregate. Gravel or crushed stone is the coarse aggregate in most mixes. (ConcreteNetwork.com)

Thus, none of the following exist:

• A cement sidewalk
• Cement blocks
• Cement silo

You get the idea…

The concrete Cotton Belt building

The Rally Saint Louis project is very interesting, click here for information.

– Steve Patterson

Former River Roads Mall Site Vacant, the Few New Buildings Aren’t Pedestrian Friendly

River Roads Mall was located in the north St. Louis County municipality of Jennings, MO:

Opened in 1962, the mall originally featured St. Louis-based Stix, Baer & Fuller as its main anchor store, as well as a Kroger supermarket and a Woolworth dime store. Walgreens operated a store in the mall as well. A 1970s expansion brought JCPenney as a second anchor store. Dillard’s bought the Stix, Baer & Fuller chain in 1984, converting all Stix, Baer & Fuller stores to the Dillard’s name. However, the River Roads Mall store was closed not long afterward in 1986 at the end of the lease. JCPenney converted its store to a JCPenney outlet in 1984. Woolworth closed the River Roads location (along with locations at West County Mall and in South St. Louis City) in early 1991 during one of the chain’s earliest rounds of store closures. By the early 1990s, the mall was briefly renamed St. Louis Consumer Center. (Wikipedia)

Two decades after opening it was already in decline. The surrounding residential neighborhoods remain a decent place to grow up.

Homes facing the former mall remained tidy in 2007

I love that sidewalks were provided, those didn’t exist in the 1960s subdivision where I grew up, but they’re meaningless because the sidewalks didn’t lead anyone to nearby retail. You see in the 1960s America thought driving everywhere was the future. Cart the kids around until they get a license then they can drive themselves.

A March 2007 view looking south to Jennings Station Rd from River Roads Mall showed no consideration for pedestrians.

When I visited the site in March 2007 the mall had been closed for over a decade but the attached grocery store remained open during the demolition process.

They had to place signs to make it clear they were open

A corner of the former mall

The mall was located far from Jennings Station & Halls Ferry, not designed to welcome pedestrian shoppers

But we know better now, right? We need to design places to accommodate multiple modes of mobility: car, bike and foot. So you’d think the few new buildings that have been constructed in the last 5-6 years on the edge of the site have improved things for area residents. Well, you may not think so but I expected to see an improvement.

Boy was I disappointed on my first visit in 6+ years.

Pedestrians heading to McDonald’s (customers & employees) must go over curbs, through grass and navigate cars. Wheelchair users must use the auto entrances/exits, bicyclists must improvise to secure their bikes.

Neighbors wanting to visit Neighbors Credit Union shouldn’t walk since they’ve made no provisions for customers to arrive on foot.

Surely senior apartments with accessible units will have a good connection to the sidewalk

The River Roads Manor website lists being near public transit as an amenity, too bad residents can’t get to it without walking in/out auto driveways.

River Roads Manor was a Pyramid Properties project, completed prior to the collapse of the company on April 18, 2008 (see Five Years Since Pyramid Properties Ceased Operations). The McDonald’s & Neighbors Credit Union were started.  So John Steffen’s Pyramid Properties is to blame for not raising the bar in this area.

I just hope  Stacy Hastie of Environmental Operations, the entity that now owns the mall site, will take pedestrian access into consideration in the future. I also hope Jennings will realize their residents do walk places and that new construction should include provisions for them as well as for motorists.

Some of you will say nobody walks, everyone drives. Why then is the area serviced by MetroBus is everyone drives?  All we have to do is take a look at Google Street View to spot pedestrians.

Pedestrian in front of Neighbors Credit Union

Pedestrian in front of McDonald’s

Many pedestrians waiting to catch the #16 MetroBus

Massive efforts go into accommodating motorists, from municipal codes to vast amounts of paving and land. I just want a pedestrian connection to adjacent streets, I think that’s fair.

– Steve Patterson

Poll: How Do You Feel About Jury Duty?

Most likely you’ve been called to the courthouse to participate in a jury pool.

Jury pool waiting room for the 22nd Circuit Court in St. Louis

The poll question this week is how do you feel about this? Do you look forward to participating in our justice system or do you try to get out of it? The poll is located in the right sidebar.

– Steve Patterson

Why I Use Washington Avenue Rather Than A More Direct Route

When I leave my loft at 16th & Locust to go east into our downtown central business district I often go north to Washington Ave to head eastbound even if I plan to end up on Locust, Olive, Pine, etc. Why go out of my way rather than a more direct path? Why not just stay on Locust or go down to Olive? Here’s why…

Besides accessibility problems, the city has closed Locust sidewalks between 14th-15th.

Olive has many accessibility issues as well, like this one between 11th & Tucker.
This photo was taken two years ago today at 6:19pm on April 20, 2011

I’ve reported the above problem but like so many others downtown it remains an obstacle.  There are blocks I avoid completely because of a lack of a curb ramp (such as SE corner of 11th & St. Charles, SE corner of 9th & St. Charles).

I’m surprised these have remained for so long.

– Steve Patterson

McKee’s Northside Regeneration Moving Forward

As you’ve likely heard by now, last week the Missouri Supreme Court overturned a 2010 ruling that Paul McKee’s Northside Regeneration development plans were too vague for TIF financing:

After over 3 years of litigation, developer Paul McKee’s controversial Northside Regeneration Project is being allowed to proceed.  On Tuesday the Missouri Supreme Court reversed a lower court decision blocking McKee’s use of so-called “Tax Increment Financing,” (TIF) for the development. (St. Louis Public Radio)

I’ve never been thrilled about how McKee handled property acquisition and maintenance, but I recognize the city’s total absence of planning and working toward a common vision left an opening for private interests without public input.

Original outline of McKee’s Northside Regeneration project

The project area is large but it’s a fraction of the city as a whole. There are many other parts of the city, north & south, dealing with continued population decline, increases in vacant buildings, and other signs of decay. Where’s the people upset the city isn’t doing anything to solicit public input in the rest of the city? Transportation, housing, jobs, education, etc are all being ignored.

The Jaco report just had Paul & Midge McKee on taking about their project, see the video here.

One of the biggest issues is the massive TIF (tax increment financing) package for the project. What needs to be understood is the pros and cons of the TIF tool. When a municipality invests in new infrastructure in stable and up & coming areas few tend to object since people see the value of improving desirable locations. Conversely, this means declining areas don’t see improvements in public infrastructure (sidewalks, roads, sewers, lighting, etc).  Both are self-fulfilling in that rebuilding public infrastructure in the sable/improving areas further helps these areas while the lack of infrastructure investment in others accelerates decline in others.

Begin replacing sidewalks & lighting in sparsely populated declining neighborhoods and people will quickly question the return on that investment.  This is where the TIF tool come in, a private developer agrees to invest in a blighted area and pay much more in property taxes than the municipality currently collects but only in part of that tazx is used to pay off bonds used to rebuild the public infrastructure the municipality can’t afford to rebuild otherwise.

The developer needs the new infrastructure to attract investors/buyers/tenants but the municipality can’t rebuild the infrastructure without a way to pay for it. The municipality can’t risk existing revenues to pay off bonds to rebuild the infrastructure so that means new revenue must be used.  Sales taxes are a bad source for these revenues

• Residential & office development don’t pay sales taxes
• Sales taxes would take too long to accrue
• Our sales tax rate is already sky high

This leaves property taxes as a source of revenue. To simplify things say the property is paying $100/year in property taxes but after redevelopment the property taxes will now be $200/year. With the TIF the municipality/school district would still collect the $100 it always did, $5o (increment) would go to pay off infrastructure bonds and the remaining $50 would go to the municipality/school district. Do nothing get $100/year or do the project and get $150/year.

The actual numbers will be different but you get the point: public infrastructure gets rebuilt, building happens, more taxes are collected than if nothing happened. This is a simplified view and there are cons such as favoritism for the developer(s), risk of pushing out good people, etc.

My concern is St. Louis won’t require good urbanism such as strong pedestrian connections. The infrastructure needs to be rebuilt and TIF is the best way to do that, but we need to have a say on characteristics of the final development.

– Steve Patterson

Five Years Since Pyramid Properties Ceased Operations

Five years ago today major St. Louis developer Pyramid Properties, led by John Steffens, collapsed, leaving a long trail of unfinished properties.  From May 2010:

City leaders and Pyramid’s former partners say the transfer of properties is remarkable given the size and scope of the properties involved and the timing of the deals in the midst of the Great Recession.

“It has worked out far better than I expected,” said Jeff Rainford, Mayor Francis Slay’s chief of staff. “The fact that people were willing to not race to the courthouse steps is the only reason this didn’t end up a total disaster.”

Instead of filing lawsuits or filing for foreclosure, many of Steffen’s lenders, investors and former partners suspended disbelief and instead participated in a workout process that began days after Pyramid closed its doors. (St. Louis Business Journal)

With the properties untangled many have since been completed by others, including, but not limited to:

Leather Trades, building completed as artists apartments, shown above: art display windows facing 16th Street

The Metropolitan, now artists lofts

South Grand Senior Apartments finished and occupied

Former Dillard’s became The Laurel Apts, Embassy Suites Hotel and Robust Wine Bar

St. Louis Centre became the MX. Pi Pizzeria was the first to open.  MX Movies, Snarf’s Sandwiches, The Collective, and Takaya New Asian have since opened for business.

One City Centre got a new entrance and a new name reflecting the address change to 600 Washington

The former Carter Carburetor Company headquarters building is now the Grand Center Arts Academy.

The above properties show that even in a down economy projects can happen. Still, the future of a few other former Pyramid projects remains unclear or just getting started:

The Jefferson Arms remains vacant although different developers are trying to put together a deal to rehab the property.

Dominium Development, the Minneapolis-based company behind the Leather Trades & Metropolitan artists loft apartments hopes to repeat the formula in the attached Arcade-Wright buildings

The Mercantile Library collection is now at UMSL, the former building downtown remains vacant.

River Roads Mall was razed before Pyramid collapsed, the site remains vacant. This former bank, adjacent to the mall site, also remains vacant. More on River Roads next week.

Considering how much property Pyramid had tied up in complicated financial transactions it’s remarkable what has been accomplished in the last five years. Hopefully the  remaining projects will be completed in the new few years.

– Steve Patterson

Readers Favorite St. Louis Brewery: Schlafly

The three breweries came out ahead of Anheuser-Busch InBev together received nearly 80% of the votes in the poll last week:

Visual of the results from the poll of readers

Here’s the detailed results of the non-scientific poll:

Q: What is your favorite St. Louis brewery?

1. Saint Louis Brewery (aka Schlafly) 51 [31.1%]
2. Urban Chestnut Brewing Company 47 [28.66%]
3. 4 Hands Brewing Company 32 [19.51%]
4. Anheuser-Busch 24 [14.63%]
5. Unsure/No Answer 5 [3.05%]
6. O’Fallon Brewery 3 [1.83%]
7. Exit 6 Brewery 2 [1.22%]

Remarkable given the short history of smaller brewers in the US.

The battle between craft breweries and big beer stretches back to the 1990s, when the idea of buying a beer brewed by a small, independent brewery first took off. In 1991, annual volume growth of microbrewing was 35 percent. Four years later, it had leapt to nearly 60, according to the Brewers Association. (US News — Hopslam: How Big Beer Is Trying to Stop a Craft Beer Revolution) 

Indeed, Tom Schlafly later recalled the start of Schlafly beer after the son of a former law partner convinced him a market existed:

It was Dan who finally convinced me that a microbrewery would be viable in St. Louis. For a number of reasons, we concluded that the best plan would be to start with a brewpub.

In 1990, the Missouri General Assembly passed a law that allowed microbreweries (defined as breweries that produced no more than 2,500 barrels per year) to hold retail liquor licenses for the brewery premises. They were not allowed to sell beer anywhere else. In 1991, we were issued the first microbrewery license in the state of Missouri and opened The Schlafly Tap Room on December 26 of that year.

Soon thereafter, owners of other bars and restaurants began asking us how they could offer Schlafly Beer and were amazed to be told that the Missouri General Assembly wouldn’t allow us to sell to them. Responding to these requests, in 1993, I successfully lobbied the General Assembly to amend the Missouri microbrewery law to allow us to brew up to 10,000 barrels per year and to sell our beer to licensed wholesalers. In August of that year, several bars and restaurants in St. Louis began serving Schlafly.

In 2003, we opened Schlafly Bottleworks where we now brew most of our beer including almost all of our packaged beer. In 2008, we brewed approximately 25,000 barrels of beer and owned two restaurants, The Schlafly Tap Room and Schlafly Bottleworks. In 2009, we brewed over 30,000 barrels. We reached this point without amending the law that restricted microbreweries to 10,000 barrels of annual production. How did we do this? Easy. We’re now licensed as a winery. That’s right. In the eyes of the law, Schlafly Brewery is a winery.

Like microbreweries, Missouri wineries are allowed to hold retail liquor licenses on their premises. Unlike microbreweries, however, wineries are not subject to an annual production limit. Because we make cider, we can qualify as a winery (cider being considered wine because it’s made from fruit juice). As bizarre as it might seem that a brewery could be licensed as a winery, it’s even more bizarre that Schlafly is now the largest American-owned brewery in St. Louis (Anheuser-Busch is now owned by a Brazilian-Belgian conglomerate) (CraftBeer.com)

Dan Kopman became Tom Schlafly’s partner in St. Louis Brewery. Recently they sold a majority stake (60%) in the company to a group of local investors, Kopman still runs the operation. Interesting they started with a Brewpub, the Tap Room.

Many comments on the original post focused on the fact I only included breweries as listed by stlhops.com so brewpubs like Civil Life and Perennial were not choices. I did this to avoid controversy….

I’ve learned there as many terms in the beer business: microbrewery, brewpub, craft brewery, etc…

That last one is defined as:

An American craft brewer is small, independent and traditional.

Small: Annual production of 6 million barrels of beer or less. Beer production is attributed to a brewer according to the rules of alternating proprietorships. Flavored malt beverages are not considered beer for purposes of this definition.

Independent: Less than 25% of the craft brewery is owned or controlled (or equivalent economic interest) by an alcoholic beverage industry member who is not themselves a craft brewer.

Traditional: A brewer who has either an all malt flagship (the beer which represents the greatest volume among that brewers brands) or has at least 50% of its volume in either all malt beers or in beers which use adjuncts to enhance rather than lighten flavor. (Brewers Association)

And craft beer sales continue to climb, taking away sales from the big guys:

Source: Craft Brewers Association, click to view

Note how the Craft Brewers Association distinguishes between:

• Regional craft brewers
• Contract brewing companies
• Microbreweries
• Brewpubs

I still have a lot to learn.

A close second on the list was the 2-year old Urban Chestnut Brewery which just announced a second location that will be larger than the Schlafly Bottleworks:

Once the new brewery is open, Urban Chestnut initially will be able to boost its annual production by about 15,000 barrels of beer. The new facility will eventually have capacity for 100,000 barrels a year. (One barrel equals 31 gallons, or about 330 regular-size bottles.) (stltoday) 

Another brewer not on the list was William K. Busch Brewing Co.:

Brentwood-based William K. Busch Brewing Co., founded by Billy Busch, a son of former Anheuser-Busch leader August A. “Gussie” Busch, introduced Kräftig lager and Kräftig light in November 2011.

“We did the first year without TV, and we want to take the company to the next level,” Busch said.(stltoday)

Currently Busch’s new company is smaller than Schlafly, but it wants to brew a couple million barrels a year, still a small sum compared to the brewery founded by his ancestors.

– Steve Patterson