The opposite of the big box store

Nothing defines “big box” more than Wal-Mart, take this recent bit from Iowa:  “the Wal-Mart Supercenter will cover 150,000 square feet of land — around 40,000 feet fewer than the company originally planned.” (source)  40,000 feet fewer?

In the earlier days of our city we had the small box store.  No, make that tiny box.

This tiny storefront was built in front of a single-family detached home just down the street from the streetcar commercial district at Meramec & Virginia (map).  Built in the time before zoning laws this storefront extended the established commercial district just a bit farther.  But head down Virginia or most city streets and storefronts dot the landscape.  Commercial activity was not limited to the strip/power center or mall.  Of course most customers were on foot back then.  Thanks to our progress we are forced to drive a car to make purchases.

I can see in the future adding such structures in the sprawling suburbs.  Attitudes and zoning laws will need to change before we will see these in suburbia but it is an option I think we will see explored to make sprawl more walkable in the next half century.

This storefront on Virginia Ave. was vacant for many years.  Finally a creative couple found the answer.

Last month I attended the opening of The Virginia House, a new art gallery.  I had seen the inside 4-5 years ago so I know they did a lot of work on this tiny space. So the space is no longer offering sundries, it is adding activity to the street.  It is a window to peek into even when closed.

I’m not the only one that likes these storefront.  Michael Allen has featured many on The Ecology of Absence.  Here is a recent post of a fine 3-story home that gained a storefront addition in 1912.

It makes a much more intimate space for a gathering than say a former Wal-Mart big big store.

– Steve Patterson

Access to the Coronado

The Coronado is known to many of you.  The building sat vacant for many years until it was renovated into residences, offices and restaurants.  Located across from Saint Louis University at Lindell and Spring (map) it is in the center of the action.

Last month I went to the Coronado to try the new Chuy Arzola’s.  I couldn’t find on-street parking close enough for me so I drove around back to the parking garage.

The walk wasn’t short but it was shorter than anything I could have found on the street.  Part of the garage is reserved for building residents (right).  Guests drive in on a lower level and take the elevator to reach the walkway you see here.  I was walking but to a wheelchair user it is completely accessible.  Well, at least this part is.

Hmm, that curb just blows the accessibility.   I’m able to set up/down curbs but I like accessible routes because not having a curb to deal with reduces my risk of falling.  People using wheelchairs & mobility scooters are out of luck.  People using a walker may have a hard time stepping up.  There may have been a ramp somewhere in the vicinity but I didn’t see it.

The lesson here is you can have many items that are compliant but if the end to end route has one curb all the other efforts don’t really matter.

– Steve Patterson

Readers embrace smartphones

Nearly 2/3 of the readers that voted in the poll last week have “smart” phones — small web-enabled computers that also send/received phone calls:

Q: What operating system does your mobile phone use?

• Basic mobile/no idea of the OS 48 (36%)
• iPhone OS (Apple) 35 (26%)
• Blackberry (Research in Motion) 17 (13%)
• Android (Google) 12 (9%)
• Windows Mobile 9 (7%)
• webOS (Palm) 6 (4%)
• Other answer… 3 ( 2%)
• I don’t have a mobile phone 3 (2%)
• Symbian (Nokia) 1 (1%)
• Hip Top (Danger’s Sidekick) 0 (0%)

Just as the increased usage of the original cell phone led to the near extinction of the pay phone, the increased use of smart phones will render obsolete the internet cafe where you pay by the hour to use a computer.  Public wi-fi will become more important.  Time marches on and technology will continue to change our lives and cities.

– Steve Patterson

Smoking ban can’t come soon enough for one St. Louis family

I often get emails from people wanting me to bring attention a problem/dispute they are having.    Such was the case on November 7th:

I live in the Jack Thompson Lofts on the top floor above Club Lure. I live with my girlfriend and her [9 year-old] daughter and the smoke from the bar engulfs us every weekend. The condo assc. meet with the bar a couple of times and request smoke eaters. They agree to install them months ago but it never happened. Now they just ignore us.

“Engulfs?”Many people tend to exaggerate or twist facts to get the media on their side.  I ended up emailing with both of them, learning more about their situation.  I emailed some smoke-free friends that suggested they look here and here (pdf) for help.  I was interested in sharing their story and I could have shared it just based on their accounts.From their descriptions I could tell their situation was real and they were not just playing me.  But I knew it was best if I visited them in person to see for myself.  Before I get to my visit let me explain the building.

The Jack Thompson Square building is located at the Southwest corner of Tucker & Washington Ave (map).

The ground floor is Lure Nightclub.  Floors 2-4 are offices, mostly for Kwame Building Group, the developer of the building.  You may recognize the name Kwame — they were part of the Cross County Collaborative that won a lawsuit with Metro over the extension of our MetroLink system.  The club and the offices share the Washington Ave entrance.

The 5th floor contains four condos while the 6th floor has four 2-story units.  The 8 residential condos have a separate entrance at the rear of the building facing narrow St. Charles St.

That first weekend we couldn’t find a time to meet.  The problem, they explained, was worst between 1am and 8am.  I knew I’d need to alter my schedule to verify their claim.

So last Friday night I went to their condo located at Tucker & Washington Ave at 1am (technically Saturday morning).  I had never been in the residential part of this building.  Like most, the lobby contains a mail center and an elevator.  But this resident lobby contained something I’ve seen in no other: massive amounts of cigarette smoke.

This is basically the size of the lobby.  The elevator is to the left and the mailboxes are just beyond that.  Behind me to the right is a door to a hallway which leads to the back emergency exit for Lure Nightclub.

Typically in these buildings the commercial spaces are kept separate from the resident spaces.  However, it is common to permit emergency egress through an otherwise resident-only space.  The club’s exit door is at the end on the left in the above image.

We took the elevator up to the top — the 6th floor.  I was so bothered by the lobby smoke their hall seemed refreshing.  We peaked into the emergency staircase.

The stair leads up to the roof.  The bedrooms/bathrooms for the four 6th floor units are located on the 7th floor.  A former opening from the stairwell is adjacent to her daughter’s bathroom.  Each Friday & Saturday night the smoke makes its way up the stairwell forcing them to run the exhaust fan in her bathroom.

This couple’s unit is in the middle of the floor.  They said the neighbor with the entrance opposite the elevator (above) gets smoke through the elevator shaft.

From the shared hall I could see the intersection of Tucker (12th) and Washington Ave.

Their loft was very nice.  I didn’t even attempt the spiral stair but we talked for about 15 minutes.  Their windows which face West were closed but I could hear the music from the club below — we are on the 6th floor!

Heading back down the hall to the elevator I could now smell the smoke on their floor. Coming off the elevator into the lobby I was again confronted by the visible smoke.  Just then a young man exited the club into the resident lobby to talk on his phone.  I can’t imagine putting up with 1) this smoke and 2) having strangers in what should be secured space.

I emailed both Lure and Kwame Sunday morning requesting a response to the claim they are ignoring requests from loft owner’s to remedy the situation.  This couple and her daughter moved in a year ago after she bought the condo.   Their first night in  their new home a fight broke out in the club that spilled out into their lobby.  I’vc never been to Lure but here is how they describe themselves:

Located in the heart of downtown, Lure nightclub is one of the most popular places in Saint Louis. Lure nightclub has become the place where the “A” list crowd goes to unwind, to dance, or just have a drink. Every night Lure attracts beautiful crowds by the sweet smell of sophistication, class and style. The beauty of this magnificent ultra lounge is supplemented by the house groves, European bottle service and party people. This chic ultra lounge keeps finger on the pulse of socialite demands with modern decor, sexy lighting, and DJs spinning the best in hip hop, top 40 and house.

As of January 2, 2011 Lure will be smoke-free but that is more than 13 months away.  When the weather is warm the problem is not as bad because the club runs the air conditioning system.  The couple tried a petition to revoke the club’s liquor license but they couldn’t even sign it themselves:

The Excise Division has a procedure wherein the property owners, registered voters and business owners within a 350 feet circular radius of the proposed premises can protest the issuance, renewal or continuation of a liquor license and seek administrative review.

Apparently the Excise Division has an unwritten rule limiting protesters to the first few floors of a building.  Second floor residents of The Meridian building across Tucker can protest Lure’s license but none of the residents in the same structure can.  That just doesn’t seem right.

Lure needs to contain the smoke within it’s space.  The developer of the building,  which owns the space Lure leases, needs to correct any deficiencies that allow the smoke from one space to enter another.  The emergency exit at Lure needs a panic alarm so the door is used only in actual emergency situations.  Club patrons should not have access to the resident portion of the building unless they are exiting the club in a true emergency.

Hopefully these parties can resolve this awful situation prior to the start of the indoor smoke-free law on January 2, 2011.

Addendum: as I wrote this piece over the weekend I sent out many emails.  Monday morning at 9:15am I got a call from Kwame’s President/CEO Tony Thompson.  He indicated he was unaware of the problem and would get his building management staff on the issue right away.  But within the last year the condo association met with Lure’s manager and Tony’s brother Ty. We’ll see, hopefully a resolution is coming soon.

I also learned that 7th Ward Alderman Phyllis Young introduced BB240 on 11/13/09 that would revise the city’s excise ordinance. Language in this bill would still mean these residents have no say:

No portion of a building shall be considered to be within the petition circle other than the main or surface floor of such building, the two floors immediately above the main or surface floor, and the floor immediately below the main or surface floor.

That is fine for adjacent buildings within the 350ft radius, but not for the subject building.

UPDATE: 11/17/09 @ 12:15pm – I just received a phone call from Lure’s manager, Tony Tribiani. He said he and Kwame’s Ty Thompson have met with the association he says he can’t afford the equipment to eat the smoke.  He says the couple shouldn’t have bought a condo located over a nightclub.  Furthermore, what I saw, smelled and coughed on was not smoke — it was fog created by hazers that weekend.  Yeah right I can tell the difference between fog and cigarette smoke..

– Steve Patterson

Lisi’s Route: Saturday November 21, 2009 at 10am

Two weeks ago today I posted about incomplete sidewalks on Delmar in the two blocks West of Jefferson (map).

In late 2005, due to these incomplete sidewalks, Elizabeth “Lisi” Bansen was using her manual wheelchair in the road to travel the two blocks from the store to her apartment.  She was struck by a vehicle on Wednesday November 2, 2005.  She died a few days later.  In December 2007 I posted about the incomplete route after the City of St. Louis was found negligent in her death.  Nothing happened after the 2007 post.

But two weeks ago I emailed a number of city officials a link to my post.  That got the ball rolling.  Later that week I did an interview with Mike Owens of NBC-affiliate KSDK (see Owens’ report).  He spoke with Director of Streets Todd Waelterman who indicated the missing sidewalk and two needed curb ramps would be done by the end of the month.

I was glad to see last week the work finally getting done.

So Saturday November 21, 2009 at 10am I’m going to walk the two blocks from the store to the apartments where Lisi lived – Lisi’s Route. I’d like you to join me.  The walk has two purposes; 1) remember a citizen who’s life was cut short at 40 years of age and 2) to show the community cares about complete sidewalk networks (incomplete networks don’t function).  I want to celebrate the route that she never had but current residents of the same apartments can now enjoy.

New readers might be asking what the big deal is to walk a couple of blocks.  For them: at age 40, I had a stroke a little less than two years ago so two blocks is a good walk for me.  As a disabled person I want to fight for others who are also disabled and need sidewalks to lead an independent life.  But I’m also fighting to create a walkable city for everyone — disabled or able bodied.  The exurbs might be fully auto centric but I expect the core to be walkable.

If you’d like to join me as I slowly walk from the gas station at Jefferson & Delmar (map) to the apartments where she lived please meet me on the public sidewalk on Delmar next to their car wash at 10am this coming Saturday.  After a few words I will start walking at 10:15am promptly. If you drive please park on Delmar — not at the gas station/market.

If you haven’t been before I suggest afterward stopping to visit the Scott Joplin House state historic site.

– Steve Patterson