Sorry Rex, Readers Oppose Proposition A

The poll last week showed most readers disagree with Rex Sinquefield about Proposition A on the November  Missouri ballot.  What does he think of the municipal earnings tax in St. Louis & Kansas City?

“Instead of paying income and earnings taxes — in which the more you make, the more you’re taxed — Sinquefield wants to boost sales taxes.

In his mind, this is a more equitable way of taxing the public — a theory that makes lots o’ cents if you’re loaded but not so if you’re middle-class (or below) and forced to pay additional sales taxes to make up for the elimination of income taxes. (RFT: Hey St. Louis, About That Billionaire Knocking on Your Door…)”

The following was the results:

Q: Missouri Prop A would require votes in KC & STL to retain the 1% earnings tax. Thoughts?

1. Missouri voters should reject Prop A 135 [62.5%]
2. The earnings tax needs to go and passing Prop A is the first step 40 [18.52%]
3. Passing Prop A is OK, that allows local voters to decide to keep the tax or not 33 [15.28%]
4. Unsure/no opinion 5 [2.31%]
5. Other answer… 3 [1.39%]

And the “other” answers:

1. Keep it but eliminate it for people living in the city.
2. The whole thing is a charade perpetrated by a rich Tea Party jerk
3. For most of the state, this is voting on taxes for other people.

Vote no on Prop A November 2nd!

– Steve Patterson

PR: Bridge Rehabilitation of Compton Avenue between Chouteau and Spruce

The following is a press release:
—
Bridge Rehabilitation of Compton Avenue between Chouteau and Spruce
 
On Monday, October 4, 2010, Compton Avenue will be closed between Chouteau Avenue and Spruce Street in order to make repairs to the bridge substructure.  All repair work will be performed beneath the bridge deck and workers will generally not be visible from the adjacent roads.  It is anticipated that the closure will last 90 days.  The General Contractor is Kozeny-Wagner, Inc.
 
The signed detour will be on Chouteau Avenue to Jefferson Avenue to Market Street and vice versa.

The MVVA Team Won, Now What? Part II (Kiener Plaza) – Updated

Friday (9/24/2010) I attended the introduction of the winning team in the FRAMING A MODERN MASTERPIECE | The City + The Arch + The River | 2015 International Design Competition.  The event was held in the rotunda of the Old Courthouse. This is a continuation of my post on Friday when I began looking at the MVVA design in detail.

Over the next 90 days the MVVA team will listen to public feedback.  Michael Van Valkenburgh said he heard plenty about their idea to use cobblestones on the riverfront. Many seem disappointed in the design but I know from my own experience in architecture school back in the 80s that the flashier designs are not always the best from a functional perspective.  I’m looking at the winning design with a critical eye to see where it can be refined and improved, hopefully you will as well.

For this post I’m looking at the concept for Kiener Plaza, located just west of the Old Courthouse.

Page 126:

“Kiener Plaza becomes a simple bosque that gathers the playful energy of Citygarden and channels it around the Running Man fountain into a formal processional axis facing the Old Courthouse and the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial. “

Page 129:

“Our proposal unifies all of Kiener Plaza, creating a flat bosque that better connects the eastern end of Citygarden to the Old Courthouse and the Memorial beyond. The bosque features a smooth gradient between formally and informally organized space, and can accommodate everything from large sports rallies to intimate gatherings around a café table. Carefully placed trees frame views of the historic Wainwright Building, and new restrooms and visitor service facilities-including a remote ticketing location-make the Kiener Bosque a natural starting point for a visit to the Memorial.”

I had to start by looking up bosque in Wikipedia:

Bosque is the name for areas of gallery forest found along the flood plains of stream and river banks in the southwestern United States. It derives its name from the Spanish word for woodlands.

As an appointed member of the Gateway Mall Advisory Board it will be my obligation to see how the proposed Kiener Bosque fits with the Gateway Mall Master Plan, from page 33:

It is important that the redesigned Kiener Plaza consider a new performance pavilion that rises above grade, providing a unique architectural statement during the day and evening. This will help connect the space more intimately to the city.

In plan view the Master Plan envisioned something like this:

So how does MVVA’s Kiener Bosque fit with the above? It doesn’t –  in a good way.

The MVVA design continues the “hallway” that will eventually run the length of the Gateway Mall, to the north of Market Street. It includes a visitor’s center (top center), restrooms (bottom left), and a water feature (existing).  The space between the fountain and Broadway can be used for the “unstructured play & gatherings” of the Master Plan, but otherwise it is a complete departure.     I  would imagine we will need to formally amend the Master Plan before we can sign off on this design.

The Kiener Bosque unites the space as one, rather than being different on each side of the former 6th Street. I personally like the simplicity but I do have questions.

• Is seating anticipated in the two block area? If so, what type? Fixed benches? Movable tables & chairs?
• What is the vision for the lighting? Up lighting in the trees? Subtle bollards?
• What about the materials used?
• Will the restrooms be self-cleaning?

The next quarterly meeting of the Gateway Mall Advisory Board is Wednesday October 20, 2010 at 5pm.  The location is the conference room at the Partnership for Downtown St. Louis, 720 Olive Suite 450.  MVVA has been asked to have a representative address the board. I don’t know yet if this will be on our agenda but the meeting is open to the public. Update 9/30/2010 — MVVA will not be able to attend the 10/20 meeting.

– Steve Patterson

Poll On The Decision To Not Have Bike-N-Ride In St. Clair County IL

Monday I posted about how the Chair of the St. Clair County Transit board, Delores Lysakowski, doesn’t allow bike racks on the buses serving 15 municipalities in that county.  On Thursday the St. Louis Beacon looked into the story with more, although somewhat conflicting, reasons why an entire county in our region doesn’t have bike bike racks on the front of their buses:

Delores Lysakowski, chairwoman of the St. Clair County Transit District, says the racks damage the buses when they go through the bus wash.

“When they go through the wash rack, they tear the heck out of the bus,” she said.

But Bill Grogan, managing director of St. Clair County Transit District, has a slightly different tack. He says the racks damage the bus wash brushes. “The washers don’t damage the racks, but the racks can damage the washers,” he said. “They get stuck in those spinning brushes.” (full story: Want to bike and ride on Metro buses in St. Clair County? Forget it)

So which is it? Do the racks damage the buses or the brushes? Both? Neither?

Neighboring Madison County, like Metro in Missouri, sees the benefits:

Madison County Transit (MCT) has equipped all of its buses with bike racks to provide accessible connections between the MCT bikeway and bus systems. Now people throughout Madison County can simply BIKE AND BUS for transportation and recreation. In fact, MCT carries an average of 800 bikes each month, which equal more than 12,000 bike and bus participants and growing since 2003. (source)

In the full story, linked above, writer Kathie Sutin goes to Metro to ask them about their experience with washing buses with bike racks. In short it takes some extra labor to wash around the racks, but it is worth it.  Back in St. Clair County the attitude is they made the decision in the past not to have bike racks so it is not open for discussion.  This whole thing doesn’t sit well with me but I want to get a sense on your thoughts so the poll this week (right sidebar) is on this subject.

Thanks to the St. Louis Beacon and writer Kathie Sutin for digging into this issue!

– Steve Patterson

Citizens For Modern Transit’s Tom Shrout Has Retired

Earlier in the week Tom Shrout retired after 22 years as the head of the transit advocacy organization Citizens for Modern Transit (CMT). I always knew Tom had done a lot to get MetroLink light rail going but I learned in greater detail from the CMT board members (past & present) who spoke. Tom is a true transit user and advocate.

The follow are comments CMT’s Grace Corbin made at the annual meeting on 9/17/2010:

“For the last 22 years, Executive Director Tom Shrout has served at the helm of CMT – helping to make great strides in public transit for the region. When Tom took over the organization in 1988, the public transit system in St. Louis was very different. St. Louis had no light rail, no car sharing, low transit ridership, no real Amtrak station, and not much belief in the need for a good transit system for the region. Through his quiet steadfast leadership at the helm, the membership of CMT has helped to build the political and public will to change the landscape of public transit.

During his tenure, the region has seen the opening of not one but three light rail lines – spanning more than 40 miles, between 2 states and a river. There have been significant increases in bus and train ridership gaining national recognition. A car sharing program, WeCAR by Enterprise was inaugurated. With the passage of Prop. A., now there is the commitment on the part of the region to ensure a good public transit system to build livable communities with light rail. All the while, Tom led by example, taking MetroLink to work everyday, going to a one-car family, zipping around in WeCar. . . Tom believed that if we built transit, people would ride it and they did in droves.

Tom had the foresight for CMT to bank more than 8 miles of right-of-way for future expansion. This proved critical for the Cross county line. It was through his foresight and guidance, the CMT Board took a major financial risk this year to subsidize the educational campaign – “Some of us Ride it, All of us Need it” even though many said the campaign was naïve. The campaign was a huge success with people quoting it on the streets, in speeches, Facebook and everywhere we turned. Prop. A passed with 63 percent of the votes – all with Tom leading the public education charge.

Time and time again, Tom has proven that public transit, and in particular light rail is the way to build livable, sustainable communities – truly living and leading the mission of CMT.”

Fortunately Tom, and his wife Debbie, will continue living in the Central West End and Tom will sit on the CMT board. CMT has established the Tom Shrout Endowment Fund for educational purposes to move transit forward in the region. The goal is to raise $22,000.

Thank you Tom Shrout, you’ve made a lasting contribution to our region, each time I swipe my monthly pass on the bus or board a light rail train I will think of you!

– Steve Patterson