Metro’s Disconnect With Riders, Pedestrians

On Monday August 20, 2012 the Grand MetroBus stop and Grand MetroLink stations reopened. On the overhead speakers in all stations Metro, speaking in transit jargon, announced the Grand station was open for “revenue service.” Really Metro, revenue service?

From dictionary.com:

jar·gon [jahr-guhn, -gon] noun

1. the language, especially the vocabulary, peculiar to a particular trade, profession, or group: medical jargon.

2. unintelligible or meaningless talk or writing; gibberish.

3. any talk or writing that one does not understand.

4. pidgin.

5. language that is characterized by uncommon or pretentious vocabulary and convoluted syntax and is often vague in meaning.

What’s the big deal, so they used transit agency speak? The use of technical jargon by any business shows it doesn’t know how to communicate with its customers. If they announcement had been that Grand was “open for service” nobody would’ve  thought they didn’t have to pay since they didn’t say “revenue” before service. Metro has problems relating to those of us that use transit, largely because Metro employes drive instead of use transit.

From the joint City/Metro press release:

On Saturday the ribbon cutting was held for the Grand viaduct (bridge). 

WHERE: South end (Chouteau side) of Grand Bridge.

(VIP and media parking will be available off Papin Street.)

The public is encouraged to take the #70 Grand MetroBus or MetroLink to the Grand Station. Parking at the new Grand MetroLink Station Park-Ride lot is also an option. The lot is located at Scott Avenue and Theresa Avenue at the northeast end of the bridge.

At least they mentioned transit after parking. I took transit to the event, but not the #70 MetroBus or MetroLink. I caught the #32 just two blocks east of my loft downtown and it dropped my off right at Grand & Chouteau, much closer than the MetroLink or rerouted #70.

But the real problem is how Metro didn’t connect their new work to the city. I’ve already shared this concern with folks from Metro, some who were in agreement with me and others with the attitude that created the disconnect. Let me show you what I’m talking about.

What is there to connect to east of here? Lots actually, including a Metro facility. I doubt those who designed the station, parking lot and sidewalk ever bothered to walk around the area before starting the design. Designers must literally put themselves in the shoes of those that’ll use what they design.

I continued on Spruce to Compton. This would be a good route for people going to the Chaifetz Arena, Harris-Stowe and Sigma-Aldrich.

I took lots of pictures and some video at the Grand viaduct/bridge ribbon cutting but I’m not going to show you those. The speakers  all talked about how great it’ll be for pedestrians. True, it’s a massive improvement as I acknowledged here. I’m just furious the most basic/obvious pedestrian connection wasn’t planned for yet again.

To Metro engineers/planners/designers: Transit users are pedestrians when arriving & leaving transit stations. We come from and go in all directions. Able bodied pedestrians take the shortest route — a straight line. This isn’t complicated stuff.

— Steve Patterson

Union Station “Festival Marketplace” Opened In 1985

St. Louis Union Station reopened 27 years ago today as a “festival marketplace.” Roughly translated that means cheesy mall in an old space built for some other purpose, in this case an old train shed. Actually part of the train shed is used for hotel rooms and meeting space, under the south end is parking and part is used for retail shops and food court.

In the poll last week I was pleasantly surprised by often readers had been to Union Station in the last year, I thought many more would pick “0”.

Q: How many times have you been to St. Louis Union Station in the last 12 months?

• 0 116: [54.21%]
• 1-3: 78 [36.45%]
• 4-6: 12 [5.61%]
• 7-10: 4 [1.87%]
• 13+: 3 [1.4%]
• 10-12: 1 [0.47%]

Still more than half did indicate they hadn’t been to Union Station in the last year. To my knowledge the hotel does well so hopefully someone will buy the place and rethink  it once again.

— Steve Patterson

A Front Yard Vegetable Garden In Ferguson Missouri

In July one modest house in the St. Louis suburb of Ferguson got the attention of many:

A Ferguson resident has won a battle with city officials that could be considered a matter of taste.

The resident, Karl Tricamo, had been feuding with the city for months over the vegetable garden he had planted in front of his house in the 300 block of Louisa Avenue.

The city saw the garden as a blot on the landscape and issued Tricamo a citation demanding he uproot the corn, tomatoes, sorghum, peppers and other crops sprouting there and, instead, seed the yard for grass. The garden measures 35 feet by 25 feet. (stltoday.com)

Other resources:

• Treehugger.com: Stay-at-Home Dad Wins Right to Front Yard Vegetable Garden
• Riverfront Times: Ferguson Man Fights to Grow Veggies in Front Yard
• Owner’s blog: VegetableYarden in Ferguson, Mo.

Numerous pictures were circulated on Facebook & Twitter as front yard gardening advocates celebrated this victory. But all the pictures concentrated tightly on the garden, I wanted to understand the context. I went to Google Maps but no streetview was available just an aerial.

I knew I wanted to see the garden and street in person but it’s a 12+ mile drive — and I don’t have a car. So I caught a bus at the North Hanley MetroLink station and I was within blocks.

In an older neighborhood with mature trees locations for a vegetable garden are often limited, most vegetables need full sun.  I applaud Tricamo for fighting the City of Ferguson so he could grow food for his family.

— Steve Patterson

A Look At South Broadway Through The Marine Villa Neighborhood

Every city probably has a Broadway; I grew up on Broadway Ave in Oklahoma City, I’ve been to Broadway in NYC and I’ve seen traveled all of Broadway in St. Louis. Correct me if I’m wrong, but Broadway is the only road in the City of St. Louis that crosses the city limits in opposite ends, north and south.

Broadway in St. Louis varies in feel as it curves along following bends in the Mississippi River. To my eye one the mile stretch through the Marine Villa neighborhood is the most interesting. I’d driven, scootered and bicycled this mile stretch of Broadway from Keokuk St. on the south to Cherokee St on the north numerous times in my 22 years in St. Louis but recently I “walked” both sides using my power wheelchair.

Naturally my mind started thinking of ways to revitalize this corridor so this post is a look at the good, the bad, and some of what’s needed. I’ll share some of the 250+ pictures I took on Sunday August 19, 2012.

So what’s my take away? Lots of potential, lots of obstacles. Here are my recommendations, in no particular order:

1. Undertake a corridor study to take an in-depth look to inform future policy decisions (aka zoning, infill, etc).
2. Issue an RFP to replace the Schmid fountain and vacant Blockbuster Hollywood Video with a 2-3 story mixed-use structure with urban form, unless #1 above says a park at the intersection of three major streets is a good idea. I can’t imagine that being the case.
3. In the meantime remove overgrown plantings around the fountain and islands in the area. Replant with low maintenance plants that don’t get so massive.
4. Create a marketing campaign (brand identity)  for the commercial area where Broadway, Jefferson & Chippewa meet.   Get the name for this area circulated so it becomes recognizable.
5. Look at curb bulb outs or other treatments to visually narrow the roadway. Alternatively, this might be a good area to place the bike lane between the on-street parking and curb. Perhaps literally narrowing the road is a good idea, it was likely widened in the early 20th century.
6. Develop a form-based code to guide infill in vacant areas, in particular Lemp & Broadway. A free-standing McDonald’s with double drive-thru wouldn’t be desirable at that corner. But a CVS in a new multi-strory mixed-use urban building would be a nice addition in my view.
7. Look at the sidewalks, fix areas where broken or missing. Clean off other areas where grass has grown over the sidewalk in other areas. Organize monthly walks up and down the street.
8. Find a more positive use for the firehouse. Work with the Brewers & Maltster’s Union hall to the south on developing their vacant land between their hall and the firehouse.

I’m sure I’ll have many more thoughts the more I think about it. What are your thoughts? Generally negative (“location, location, location”) don’t offer any value to the dialog, constructive ways to improve the location do.

— Steve Patterson

Poll: Which Candidate Do You Want To Be Elected The Next U.S. Senator From Missouri?

It’s been a crazy week with national media focusing on comments made by Republican Todd Akin during a local television interview:

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fdisTOKom5I

Prior to Akin’s comments he held a comfortable lead over incumbent Sen. Claire McCaskill. Just weeks earlier Akin won the GOP primary, defeating Sarah Steelman and John Brunner. Despite calls for him to withdraw. Akin decided to remain in the race and his campaign released a new ad asking for forgiveness:

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R57E3S8RO7A

The poll question this week is which of these two candidates do you want to see elected on November 6th. The poll is in the right sidebar.

 — Steve Patterson