Recovery Act high-speed rail announcement in St. Louis

Yesterday, across the country, announcements were being made regarding $8 billion in federal grants from the Recovery Act.  One of those announcements took place in St. Louis.   I was there for the announcement and captured the entire press conference on video so you can view the entire event.

#1 – Opening with Missouri Governor Jay Nixon and Dept Admin Karen Rae (Dept Admin Transportation Dept):

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bv-_Ol3yVtA

#2 – Dr. Ed Montgomery (White House Exec Dir for Auto Communities and Workers):

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6nPtfGJw9hg

#3 – U.S. Congressman Russ Carnahan (D-3rd):

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v4Pml8wxnmo

#4 – Question  & Answer:

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w_lqGfRz0RM

#5 – Missouri Senator Joan Bray (D-24):

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HqdKuMR8BPI

Another press conference will be held today (Friday 1/29/2010) at the Amtrak station in Alton IL.  It will be years before the St. Louis-Chicago connection is complete but as was said this $8 billion is only a down payment.  The federal government subsidized the interstate highway system for decades while ignoring passenger rail. Chicago will be the center of a network of high-speed rail lines, our proximity is good.

“A White House official visited St. Louis today to announce $1.1 billion in stimulus money for high-speed rail between St. Louis and Chicago and another $31 million to upgrade passenger rail service between St. Louis and Kansas City.” (St. Louis-Chicago high-speed rail gets $1.1B in stimulus)

Improving city-to-city rail transit will increase the ability for someone living in the St. Louis region to go car-free.  Residents on both sides of the Mississippi River can take MetroLink to the St. Louis Amtrak station and travel to Chicago and beyond.  I look forward to taking a high-speed train to Chicago.

– Steve Patterson

Crown Food Mart on Jefferson has an ADA access route thanks to me

Like so many new buildings in the city/region, the new Crown Food Mart at Jefferson & Clark was being constructed without any connection to the public sidewalk network.  This was the construction site in late September 2009:

The lack of an ADA route is no different than most of their other recent stations. But rather than wait until complete to complain, I decided to see if I could make a difference to change the construction.  I contacted the city’s ADA commissioner and 6th ward Alderman Kacie Starr Triplett.  Ald. Triplett was the first to respond and it wasn’t long before she forwarded me a revised drawing the owner had sent her.

As I had suggested, the solution was to include a ramp at the end of the sidewalk at the front of the station and a bit of concrete between the parking lot and sidewalk.  None of the concrete work had been started so the change was minor.

Is this ideal? Hardly.  Ideally the building would be at the corner of the property so pedestrians could easily enter.  The gas islands would be located behind the building, rather than out front.

As you can the building has zero relationship to the street it faces, Jefferson.  The ADA route is to the left of the building connecting pedestrians along Clark.  But anyone approaching the building on foot from Jefferson will face this vast expanse of pavement between them and the business.  Those of foot might be employees at UPS or guests at the hotel across Jefferson & I-64.

I had suggested a sidewalk be run down this side of the parking area and then have it connected to the building’s front walk as done on the other side.  Clearly that didn’t happen.  I got the minimum — by asking beforehand.  I do think if the city asked developers to include a minimum ADA access route so those in wheelchairs have a way to access a business from the public sidewalk they’d do it.  Before the concrete is poured it is no big deal.

I want to have our city codes embrace walkability.  They should require such a route from each street the property borders.  In this case, they would be required to have a sidewalk connecting to Jefferson. Eventually they will realize if the building is closer to both streets the sidewalk is either much shorter or completely unnecessary because the building entrance is directly on the public sidewalk.

– Steve Patterson

Poll: Readers not keen on open enrollment in public schools

A majority of readers in the poll last week were not keen on the idea of open enrollment for Missouri schools (Post: State Senator pushing legislation for open enrollment in Missouri’s public schools).

Q: MO State Senator Jane Cunningham wants “open enrollment” for Missouri’s public schools. For St. Louis this would be

1. a bad idea: 41 [41%]
2. a good idea 35 [35%]
3. unsure 16 [16%]
4. a neutral idea: 6 [6%]
5. Other answer… 3 [3%] 1) Didnt this fail with deseg?  2) Something worth exploring.  3) A good idea IF school funding was only from the state. But its not.

The last “other” response may have hit on the key — the source of funding.  But many see open enrollment as removing students from the St. Louis Public Schools.  Parents chimed in via the comments:

• Wouldn’t such a thing help attract suburban families to city living, since their children could attend schools in the county?
• Having open enrollment will not get the right parents involved in their children’s education.
• The city is totally unsustainable without schools that middle class, educated people will send their kids to.
• Any changes should only include a regionally unified district not the ability to pick and chose districts.
• I doubt I am long for the city for the schooling reason.
• Children are not to be used for “social experiments”.
• My children attend a racially & economically balanced school with high academic achievement, and I live in the only neighborhood in the St. Louis area that offers the walkable, urbane lifestyle I want to have. I believe by virtue of this choice, my children will have a better understanding of the realities of the world than they would if I lived in a typical suburb.

I think the last comment is one of the best on the schools issue.  Middle-class white kids need to learn from an early age how to interact with non-white kids and those from different economic classes.  Their future is one where they will be a minority.  Those who grow up in diverse neighborhoods and attend diverse schools will be better prepared for the future.  I don’t know that open enrollment is the best solution but I know our region needs to have some serious discussions about how better educate all our children.

– Steve Patterson

Building from 1987 as blighted than those from 1887

The term “blight” is often used when referring to old buildings, generally applied to the kind many of us see revitalized as part of a repopulated inner city.  Most would consider the area at Page & Goodfellow (map) blighted.  To me the source of the blight is not the earth 20th century buildings on a 19th century street grid.  No, the blight comes from late 20th century failures:

This gas station is from 1987.  Someone probably argued a shiny new gas station would revitalize the neighborhood. It didn’t and now it is bringing down the neighborhood.

City records show applications to construct a new station on the site: one in February 2008 and one in October 2009.  Both applications are listed as “canceled.”  Cheap auto-centric development in the city is about short-term profit, not a long term revitalization strategy.  Gas station, strip shopping center, drive-thru restaurant, etc. are not going to help in the long term.  In the short term they provide a way for politicians to talk about all the investment happening.

Cheap structures such as this can’t sustain themselves for more than two decades.  They are quickly dated and there is almost always a newer version down the street.

– Steve Patterson

Non-profit runs out of money, boards building

I recently received an email from a reader asking if I knew why the Pillar Place Apartment building was now boarded.   I didn’t know the name but once I looked up the address provided to me (3407 Lafayette) I knew the building.  In August 1990, when I first moved to St. Louis, the building was vacant, just waiting to be reused.  By February 1993 I was delighted the building was renovated into apartments.

From the St. Louis Post-Dispatch February 27, 1993:

“On Wednesday, they [the Brown family] became one of the first six families to move into Pillar Place, a newly renovated apartment building for 19 low-income families at 3407 Lafayette Avenue, St. Louis.
“This is one of the happiest days of my life since I moved to St. Louis,” said Brown, 29, who came here from Mississippi 11 years ago.
The 19 Roman Catholic religious orders and a nonprofit corporation that came together to make Pillar Place will celebrate with a grand opening there at 1 p.m. Sunday.
They have taken a four-story building listed on the National Register of Historic Places and converted it into two- , three- and four-bedroom apartments for people “stuck in the funnel” of temporary housing.
“We realized the real need is for permanent, affordable housing,” said Sister Mary Louise Denny, a Sister of Loretto and a board member of the Intercommunity Housing Association, which helped start the project. “This will be a drop in the bucket – we could have found 10 times the number of people who need this. But it’s a start.”
The building opened in 1907 as the Loretto Academy, a posh school for girls and a residence for the Sisters of Loretto. The school moved to Nerinx Hall in Webster Groves in the 1950s, and the retired nuns who then made the building their home moved to the suburbs in 1988.
About that time, the St. Louis Equity Fund was started. Through the fund, area companies invest in partnerships that provide low-income housing. In return, the companies can earn tax credits. The Intercommunity Housing Association – made up of 13 religious organizations – joined with the Equity Fund and six other religious groups to raise the $1.5 million needed for renovation and organization of Pillar Place.”

From the  Intercommunity Housing Association website:

“Formerly Loretto Academy high school for girls converted into 19 two, three and four bedroom apartments. Pillar Place serves about 22 adults and approximately 70 children. The complex has a large parking lot, two playground areas, a picnic area, and vegetable gardens for the tenants to use.”

Also from their website is an overview of who they are and what they do — uh, did:

“IHA is a not-for-profit organization with 501(c)3 tax exempt status.

Our support services are paid for through generous donations of individuals, families, churches and religious groups, civic organizations, corporations, foundations, and special events.

The operating expenses of our buildings including mortgage, insurance, maintenance, and repairs are partially paid for out of tenant rents which are subsidized by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Tenants at Pillar Place and Compton Place pay rent based on their income. They also pay their own utilities. The apartments at both locations offer ample space, providing residents with feelings of comfort, dignity and self-worth they may not have experienced before.

The families of IHA have come from various backgrounds. Some come from shelters, often a family may live in one room at a shelter while they wait for an opening. Some have lived in another family member’s basement, some have lived in hallways of buildings, some have lived in their car. Some of our families are immigrants who have fled oppression and abuse. Others are referred from agencies and organizations in the area. All must meet our guidelines for admission, including police checks and credit checks. A home visit prior to their admission is required for all tenants before acceptance.

Intercommunity Housing Association’s staff, board members and volunteers are constantly working to provide for the 33 families and over 100 children in need. However, they cannot do this alone. Individual and corporate donations are the driving force behind our success. The programs offered make a significant impact on their lives by bringing security and stability. This is accomplished by moving beyond the fundamental needs of a roof over their heads. IHA supplies our residents with the tools necessary to help improve their life circumstances and move them to independence.

History of IHA and What we offer

IHA was created through the collaboration of 19 religious congregations of women who saw the need to provide more than affordable housing for the poor of St. Louis. They saw the need to help the families that came to live at the two apartment complexes to become independent through social, economic and educational supports. Our families are primarily African American, single parent families with an average of 4 children. For the past sixteen years, IHA has provided life skills training, after school tutoring, summer children’s programs, camps for the children, bridges to work and financial assistance with furthering their education.”

Many had to find new homes.  Attempts to reach someone from the IHA were unsuccessful.  I contacted 19th ward alderman Marlene Davis who indicated the non-profit ran out of money for their operations and needed building improvements.  The future of the building is uncertain.  Hopefully someone can take over the property.

I was concerned about the other properties the IHA owns, a row of six buildings near Bates at 5300 – 5328 South Compton:

“Four-family flats converted into fourteen one-bedroom and three-bedroom townhouse style apartments to provide permanent housing. The complex has a playground area, picnic area and fenced yard. Each townhome has its own parking pad in the rear. Compton Place serves about 16 adults and approximately 30 children.”

IHA has worked with their investors to ensure these occupied buildings remain occupied.

– Steve Patterson