A trip to Belleville Illinois

On Monday I was on our MetroLink light rail system heading eastbound into downtown St. Louis to return home.  I had bought a 2-hour pass to give me the freedom to stop along the way to explore, as a I done the week before when I stopped at Grand. But then it hit me, I should visit Belleville, IL.

I’d been to Belleville only a few times in the last 20 years, always as a motorist. I’d only gone into the downtown once and that was probably 15 years ago.  It was a nice day and I knew from others that the light rail station was close to their downtown.  When I arrived it was unclear which way I should head so I boarded the “Main Street” bus after confirming with the driver it would get me to their Public Square. Fares paid on the Metro system are good in St. Clair County where Belleville is located. Metro East cities like Granite City, Collinsville and Edwardsville are served by Madison Country Transit and require additional fees.

The sidewalks along Main Street and around the large traffic circle in the center of the Public Square have been redone recently. Folks from other municipalities in our region should visit Belleville to see first hand.  Even better, visit in a wheelchair to see how the ramps and crosswalks work compared to most — which don’t work well.

Aligning ramps opposite each other seems obvious but to often engineers miss this.  The width of the ramp is nice too because it prevents a conflict when meeting others that need the ramp (wheelchair, stroller, etc).

In the City of St. Louis, for example, ramps are often placed at the apex of the corner.  In the above picture that would be the area between the two black bollards.   The problem with that is pedestrian traffic in both directions are squeezed into the apex.  Often when I cross a street I must go outside the crosswalk area to line up with the ramp and then ask people who are waiting to go the other direction to move aside. I’ve found the able-bodied like to use the ramps rather than stepping down from a curb.

Belleville’s solution solves those issues. Not every intersection had the above full corner ramp — others had a ramp for each crosswalk. Navigating the sidewalks of Beleville was much easier as a result.

I didn’t see any spectacular individual buildings but that was fine with me, the sum of the ordinary buildings along Main Street was greater than the parts.  The scale was pleasing and I saw many pedestrians — I was there at lunchtime.  I stopped in a Quizno’s and there was a neighbor of mine from two floors down.  Small world.

Like every Main Street Belleville has some bad buildings from the second half of the last century as well as a gap or two. Hopefully the corner spot shown above will get new construction soon.

One of the best things they did was bring out the curb at some corners to block the end of the on-street parking.  This reduces the length of crosswalks and slows down motorists.

In other cases this extra sidewalk was put to good use as a place for outdoor seating for the adjacent restaurant.

From my short bus ride to downtown I knew Charles Street would take me directly to the station. On the bus ride I was looking to see if I thought it would be accessible for me — it was indeed.

The above ramp is a type that St. Louis should have in many places. I was able to stay in line with the crosswalk and just continue on my path.  In St. Louis the ramp would have been directed at a 45° angle to the curb/crosswalk, requiring me to leave the crosswalk to get onto the ramp.  St. Louis does ramps that way because those can serve two directions at once.  But in the above case there is no where to cross the street in the other direction — there is only one way anyone would approach this ramp.  Belleville made sure the ramp faced that one direction, St. Louis has had a habit of doing the same treatment for ramps regardless of different conditions.

Approaching the station, a little less than a mile later, the pedestrian sidewalk continues.

Pedestrians don’t have to walk through a parking lot behind cars.  Crossing drive areas are minimized and marked.  Even those who drive to this station can use the central sidewalk to walk into the station rather than just in the parking area.

I bought enough bus & MetroLink passes in May & June that I went ahead and bought a monthly pass for July. So look for more posts from throughout the region as I explore via transit.

– Steve Patterson

1917: Race riot erupts in East St. Louis

Ninety-three years ago today was a horrible day in our region:

The city of East St. Louis was the scene of one of the bloodiest race riots in the 20th century. Racial tensions began to increase in February, 1917 when 470 African American workers were hired to replace white workers who had gone on strike against the Aluminum Ore Company.

The violence started on May 28th, 1917, shortly after a city council meeting was called. Angry white workers lodged formal complaints against black migrations to the Mayor of East St. Louis. After the meeting had ended, news of an attempted robbery of a white man by an armed black man began to circulate through the city. As a result of this news, white mobs formed and rampaged through downtown, beating all African Americans who were found. The mobs also stopped trolleys and streetcars, pulling black passengers out and beating them on the streets and sidewalks. Illinois Governor Frank O. Lowden eventually called in the National Guard to quell the violence, and the mobs slowly dispersed. The May 28th disturbances were only a prelude to the violence that erupted on July 2, 1917.

After the May 28th riots, little was done to prevent any further problems. No precautions were taken to ensure white job security or to grant union recognition. This further increased the already-high level of hostilities towards African Americans. No reforms were made in police force which did little to quell the violence in May. Governor Lowden ordered the National Guard out of the city on June 10th, leaving residents of East St. Louis in an uneasy state of high racial tension.

On July 2, 1917, the violence resumed. Men, women, and children were beaten and shot to death. Around six o’ clock that evening, white mobs began to set fire to the homes of black residents. Residents had to choose between burning alive in their homes, or run out of the burning houses, only to be met by gunfire. In other parts of the city, white mobs began to lynch African Americans against the backdrop of burning buildings. As darkness came and the National Guard returned, the violence began to wane, but did not come to a complete stop….

…A year after the riot, a Special Committee formed by the United States House of Representatives launched an investigation into police actions during the East St. Louis Riot.  Investigators found that the National Guard and also the East St. Louis police force had not acted adequately during the riots, revealing that the police often fled from the scenes of murder and arson.  Some even fled from stationhouses and refused to answer calls for help.  The investigation resulted in the indictment of several members of the East St. Louis police force. (Source: BlackPast.com)

In the decades since the riot, East St. Louis has gone from having a white population of nearly 100% (1920) to 50% (1960) to  5-10% (1980) to less than 5% (2000).  The 1920 population was 66,585 with a 1950 peak of 82,366.  In 2000 the population totaled only 31,542.

The devastation from the loss of population (and work) can be seen throughout most of East St. Louis.

When I moved to St. Louis from Oklahoma I was shocked when I heard their garbage collection had ended.  The Casino Queen has helped provide some revenue to the city for basic services. But efforts have been underway to improve conditions.

Parsons Place has been a positive addition to East St. Louis:

Parsons Place is a multi-family rental mixed income community in the City of East St. Louis’ Emerson Park neighborhood. This important project has been embraced by the regional efforts of St. Louis 2004 and represents a key initiative in the redevelopment of this distressed community. It is sited just blocks from the new 15th Street Emerson Park MetroLink Station and the Jackie Joyner-Kersee Boys and Girls Club. Phase I consists of 174 units of affordable rental apartments. Phase II was completed in summer 2005 and consists of 102 units. (Source: McCormack Barron Salazar)

Much work remains to be done to improve the city.  Like St. Louis, getting past the issue of race will be key.

– Steve Patterson

New Wendy’s on Gravois includes ADA accessible route and bike parking

A newly built Wendy’s has opened on Gravois next to the non-walkable Gravois Plaza shopping center (Dec 2004: Gravois Plaza Less Pedestrian-Friendly than previous center).  The Wendy’s replaces a former Shoney’s restaurant most recently used as a daycare facility (map)

Naturally the Wendy’s is your typical cheap suburban (auto centric) design — far from the street, surrounded by too much parking, etc.  Something you’d expect off a freeway exit ramp but not what I’d want in an urban context.  Although as we keep building more of this crap our once walkable urban neighborhoods will look just like the ugly ring around the outside of our region and most regions in America.

I watched the build the location and I fully expected them to not include an accessible route from the public sidewalk on Gravois. I got a pleasant surprise when they did do the minimum required by the ADA.  I’ve seen too many fast food joints pop up that completely ignore the requirement.

A bonus is a bike rack that can hold three bikes.  Although the rack design is not my favorite because it is hard to secure a bike in two places, it was installed right out front where it is easily seen and used.

– Steve Patterson

Citygarden opened one year ago today

The mature trees make it feel like Citygarden has been around for many years, but it was just one year ago today that the two-block sculpture garden opened.

The park has been an unquestionable hit with locals, as well as people from outside our region.

Lighting at Citygarden is outstanding.

I love Citygarden and I’ve probably visited at least once per week during the last year.

Still, I’m frustrated by a number of things:

• 9th Street is blocked to vehicles between the hours of 10am and 10pm.  9th was designed to narrow the road and slow the little bit of traffic it would get.
• The curb ramp at 10th & Chestnut was poorly executed so that I have to approach just right to get onto the sidewalk.  Plus it holds water.
• Work was not done on 8th & 10th to make extending the “hallway”  to the blocks to the east and west a simpler matter.  Once again we will have to redo that which has just been done.

I’ll be there at noon today for a TweetUp (Twitter meet-up).

– Steve Patterson

Readers: public bodies should stick to business at hand, skip opening prayers

I was pleasantly surprised by the results of the poll last week with more than twice as many saying prayer should be private as opposed to those that want to encourage prayer in public (government) meetings.  Add in those that don’t care and those that are OK with a moment of silence and it is clear this small sample would prefer to have public meetings without prayer on the agenda.

1. Prayer should be private, public meetings is not the right place 79 [43.17%]
2. Prayer at public meetings should be encouraged, not restricted 38 [20.77%]
3. Don’t care either way 29 [15.85%]
4. A moment of silence is ok but anything else is going too far 24 [13.11%]
5. Mentioning God is ok, but not Jesus 10 [5.46%]
6. Other answer… 3 [1.64%]

The three “other” answers submitted were:

1. Religion and politics should never mix…NEVER
2. Prayer at public meetings should be neither encouraged or restricted
3. replace prayer with the pledge of allegiance, like other places do

As I said last week I will strongly defend your right to believe as you wish but to have that forced upon everyone attending a public meeting is anti-American.  Do the government business in one building and your personal religion of choice in your office, church, hallway, restroom or quietly by yourself — just keep it off the official agenda.

– Steve Patterson