Raising Urban Kids

One of the great things about downtown’s Citygarden is I almost always seen someone I know when I pass through.

Last Sunday was no exception, I stopped to talk to two friends and the young son of one friend. It seems like just last week when his son was in a tiny infant, now he’s playing ball. How’d that happen so quick? Downtown has a growing number of young kids being raised in the region’s most urban area. As you might expect schools and education is a concern for these parents. Rather than immediately flee the suburbs or exurbs a growing number of urban parents expect they can continue the walkable urban lifestyle they love while ensuring their kids get a good education as well as being exposed to a broad range of people.

These kids won’t be sheltered, they’ll know how to walk to the store alone when their older, they won’t be shocked when their out with friends in college and they spot a homeless person. The idea of a cleanup project won’t be a foreign concept either.

– Steve Patterson

St. Louis to Study Removal of Elevated Highway

Some potentially good news reported in the Post-Dispatch on Wednesday:

“…now the city is poised to fund a study of how knocking down the elevated section of 70 might work. Last week, the St. Louis Development Corp. issued a request for proposals for a $90,000 “downtown multi-modal access study.” It focuses on ways to improve connections between downtown and the riverfront.” (STLtoday.com) 

This is encouraging to see the city taking this step to study the issue. While I want to see easier connections to the Arch grounds at multiple points it’s the elevated highway between Laclede’s Landing and the Edward Jones Dome and the area billed as The Bottle District that’s a bigger block to development and connectedness.

Way back in August 2005, in a post about the then-proposed Mississippi River Bridge, I ended with a somewhat radical idea — replace the highway through downtown with a boulevard:

So imagine the existing I-70 removed from the PSB to the new bridge (North of Laclede’s Landing & the proposed Bottle District). In its place a wide and grand boulevard lined with trees and shops. The adjacent street grid is reconnected at every block. Pedestrians can easily cross the boulevard not only at the Arch but anywhere along the distance between the bridges. Eads Bridge and the King Bridge both land cars onto the boulevard and into then dispersed into the street grid. The money it would take to cover I-70 for 3 blocks in front of the Arch can go much further not trying to cover an interstate highway. Joining the riverfront and Laclede’s Landing to the rest of downtown will naturally draw people down Washington Avenue to the riverfront. In one bold decision we can take back our connection to the river that shaped our city. The decision must be made now. The interchange for the new bridge is being designed now — we’ve only got one chance to get it right. Similarly, the lid project in front of the Arch could shift to a removed I-70 and connecting boulevard design before we are too far along the current path. (view full post)

Of course the bridge is under construction and the lid is proposed to cover part of the highway west of the Arch. Still there is a way to remove the elevated highway and have a boulevard go under the lid once finished. How many people want to walk directly from Busch Stadium to the south end of the Arch grounds? Just a fraction of the number that currently navigate under I-70 going from our convention center to Laclede’s Landing.

I’ve spent quite a bit of my time around the elevated highway and it’s miserable space. A high volume roadway/boulevard can move the traffic but also be much more hospitable to pedestrians. For more information on the subject see the grassroots group City to River.

– Steve Patterson

New Driveway Makes Sidewalk Non-ADA Compliant (Updated)

The former Burger King restaurant at 7th/Park/Broadway is gone, nobody fights to save an old suburban prototype fast food chain.

Hardly a pedestrian paradise but sidewalks were continuous around the property boundaries. I’ve been watching the site since the Burger King closed. Last year work began on the site, passing by on the #30 MetroBus I’ve snapped pictures.

Beautiful it isn’t but something else caught my eye as the bus went south on Broadway.

Really? I’d like to slap the person(s) that poured those concrete curbs without making provisions for wheelchairs. The inspectors also deserve a slap since this work is in the public right-of-way.

I’m sending this post to Clean the Uniform and people at city hall.

Update 3/1/2012 @ 11am:

This will get fixed as part of a project titled 8496 BROADWAY & 7TH STREET IMPROVEMENTS (PARK AVENUE TO I-55 OVERPASSS),FEDERAL PROJECT STP-5422(612), ST. LOUIS, MO : that will have a pre-construction conference on March 7th. Still, this shows clear lack of oversight on the part of inspectors to allow something like this to get built in the first place.

 – Steve Patterson

Readers: Komen St. Louis Will Suffer From Recent National Controversy

Last week readers weighed in on a question about Komen St. Louis:

Q: Will Komen St. Louis Suffer From Recent National Controversy?

1. Yes, but not enough to notice 34 [45.95%]
2. Yes, participation/fundraising will be down significantly 22 [29.73%]
3. It’ll remain unchanged 8 [10.81%]
4. No, will see a slight increase in participation/fundraising 6 [8.11%]
5. Other: 3 [4.05%]
6. No, will see significant increases in participation 1 [1.35%]

Nearly half say fundraising will be down significantly but more than half picked the other answers that go from down but not enough to notice to an increase.  The “other” answers added by readers were:

1. Yes, they should have not caved to Planned Parenthood strong arm tactics.
2. i hope so! but i have little faith that all the catholics will agree with me.
3. I don’t know, but I hope not!

We’ll just have to wait and see how it goes to know the answer. I know you won’t see me or many of my friends out there this year. The question is how many feel like we do?

– Steve Patterson

The Future of 18th & Washington Ave

Last week I went to the MetroBus stop on the NE corner of 18th & Washington Ave to catch the #97 Delmar bus westbound. The normally full parking lot behind the bus shelter was empty except for a for lease/sale sign.

The lot is owned by a couple in Glencoe Missouri but had been leased by Consumers Program Inc, aka CPI, located across the street.

Presumably CPI didn’t renew the lease to save money, having employees use one of the three parking lots they own. One is city block #831 bounded by Washington, 16th, St. Charles St and 17th — this is the block directly east of their building. This block once was occupied fully by a building that was part of Brown Shoe.

CPI’s other two lots occupy two more corners at 18th & Washington — the SE & NW.

Three of the four corners are surface parking, the fourth corner (SW) is occupied by Mulligan Printing.

Mulligan Printing’s 5-story building was built in 1928. The closed up windows at the street level are unfortunate but at least the building massing is good — far better than a surface parking lot.

What is the future of this intersection? Will it always be mostly surface parking lots? The planner in me would like to see form based codes to replace our old use-based codes. Instead of detailed regulations depending upon the original intended use of any new construction, a form-based code would require a minimum height, the building pushed out to the property line, windows and doors at sidewalk level, etc. The architectural style, just like the use inside, of any new construction is of little concern me.

In the future I’d like to see the current situation reversed with buildings on three corners and only one corner with surface parking. It might take 40 years to happen but it’ll never happen under our current zoning.

– Steve Patterson