Placeless Sprawl With Names Evoking A Sense of Place

While vacationing in Seattle I visited Seattle’s oldest area, known as Pioneer Square.

The above is obviously not a late 19th Century historic area in downtown Seattle.  Instead it is a typical highway side auto-centric center located an hour or so North of Seattle near I-5  (map added on 3/27/09).  But the horse graphic on the sign gives you that pioneer feeling…

The real Pioneer Square has character and no gas pumps.  I always find it interesting the names given to characterless sprawl.  Does a familiar name on a cheap backlit sign make sprawl more ascceptable?

In the St. Louis region we see the Arch invoked all over .  Does that give these meaningless areas a sense of place?  Hardly.

One of my favorites is the Eureka Towne Center:

In the sense of pure commerce the above is the center of Eureka, MO with a Wal-Mart and a host of chain stores. Sad on so many levels.  Sad that Main Street is no longer valued.  Sad that sprawl like this exists from coast to coast.  Sad that the public has fully accepted this form of developmemt.  Sad that few see the folly of calling it the “towne center.”

We have real places in America but for the last half century we’ve become so accustomed to sprawl.  Those of us who abhore sprawl are then left to retreat to the remaining authentic places for living in sprawl is no life at all.

Midtown Sidewalk No Longer Blocked

On February 11, 2009 I highlighted an abandoned platform for a long-removed construction elevator blocking the sidewalk on Olive at Grand:

Last week, on the way to class at Saint Louis University, I stopped to take a picture of the now open sidewalk:

Two days ago reader John M. beat me to the punch with the following comment on the original post:

The eyesore has been removed and the sidewalk is back to the way it was. In addition, the one way  on the half of Olive down to Theresa will be reinstated back to a two way street in April after the signs are removed ( one way ) and the block re-striped yellow in the center line.

This is very good for FOX traffic congestion as they can take that right into ample parking.

Yes, Olive is back to two-way traffic.  The picture above was taken when it was still one-way Westbound.  I emailed everyone at City Hall I could think of as well as the bank that owns the property.  Clearly someone got the job done and removed the obstacle that had been left behind for roughly 9 months after the construction elevator was removed.

One day, hopefully soon, the building will sell and will undergo renovations.  The sidewalk may get blocked again when that time comes.  I’m more tolerant when work is ongoing.

Making Bike Lanes Visible & Useful

When visiting Portland, OR you notice a lot of bicyclists.  Then you notice why.

The city of Portland has bike parking everywhere and many connecting bike lanes to help the cyclist navigate through the city.  Above, the green on the pavement is to mark the spot where motorists can get over for a right turn.  It alerts the motorist they are crossing a bike lane.  The cyclist is alerted to be on the lookout for right turning cars.

Look further into the picture, the bike lane continues on the other side of the intersection.  Yesterday I was driving home across the new Jefferson Ave viaduct. On the South end was a sign indicating the start of a bike lane.  Sure enough, at the end of the bridge a sign indicated the end of the bike lane.  So cyclists are on their own to get to the bridge and to keep going after they cross.  Brilliant.

Portland has cyclists not due to great weather but due to great thought into bicycling as transportation.  In St. Louis bike lanes are simply a way to rope off exceess pavement.

Walkable Retail in Suburban Locations, Part 2

Yesterday I blogged Seattle’s updated Northgate Mall.  Today we head East to University Village, long known as U-Village.

Like Northgate Mall, University Village dates to the 1950s.  Unlike Northgate Mall, U-Village has remained an open air shopping center since opening in 1956 (view aerial) .

This shopping center is just East of the University of Washington. Although it is very auto-friendly it is also pedestrian friendly.  Students & others have the choice of this center or a more traditional gridded area on the West side of campus at The Ave.

Most of the buildings are original but remodeled to the point they look different than they did decades ago.

Kansas City’s Country Club Plaza came to mind as I was here, although I prefer the grid and public streets at the Plaza.

Above, this area with storefronts facing each other has existed since opening.  Such spaces often became the basis for an enclosed mall.

New structures have been woven throughout, helping break up the parking.

Bike racks are numerous and highly visible.  Pedestrians were everywhere as are signs to remind motorists.

Nice details give folks a pleasant place to sit and chat.  U Village succeeds where Northgate Mall fails.

Outside my mecca, the Apple Store, a woman walks her dog.

More Information:

• Wikipedia
• Official website

Right now U Village is not mixed use but that may change:

City to review car impacts from U. Village QFC project

A project to add 31,000 square feet of new retail space and 350 residences around the University Village QFC grocery story would likely have a significant impact on traffic and parking in the area, Seattle planners have determined.

The city has called for an environmental impact statement, which would include a detailed examination of such issues and how they could be addressed. While planners have preliminarily identified traffic and parking as significant issues, they will host a March 16 to allow people to comment on which issues should be part of the review. (source)

Parking is not excessive by typical suburban standards.  Hopefully they will be able to add residential to the site.

Walkable Retail in Suburban Locations, Part 1

While in Seattle my hosts and I ventured away from their walkable Capital Hill neighborhood to a more suburban environment in the northern part of the city.  We drove past an urban-ish project that I reviewed in April 2005 featuring a 2-level Target store, others stores and structured parking:

But the above was not our destination.  Northgate Mall across the street was (map).  According to Wikipedia, Northgate first opened in 1950 and was enclosed in 1974.  Eclipsed by newer retail options the owner, Simon Malls, had a few choices.  Raze the mall and start over like the Galleria or West County Center have done.  Change the focus to more mundane uses like back office operations.  They chose to create a more walkable experience.

The indoor mall still exits but along the West face (I-5 side) they attached new structures that in many places would be individual buildings on parcels in the vast parking lot.

The bottom row above (B&N through P are newly attached structures. In the parking lot (below) bioswales absorb water runoff and offer greenery to soften the harshness of the plantings.

The new structures present a more friendly face to both traffic on I-5 as well as approaching customers.

The backside, shown above, is very original and dated.

To the South a parking garage was built.  In the background you can also see new multi-story housing.

Throughout the property walkability became a focus with new sidewalks along the roads at the edge of the property as well as leading into the property.  Would I want to live/work/shop here?  No way! But for those who do this is a huge step over what has been here for nearly 60 years.

South of the parking garage and West of the new residential is a major bus stop.  To the East a hospital.  The North is a Target store.  One could live in a apartmet here and work downtown and do it all without owming a car.  The bus would take you to/from work and you could walk everywhere once you got home.  Couples could easily go to a one car lifestyle to save money.  Again, any form of suburbia is not for me personally but fore those who don’t want to live right in the midst of the old core of regions this solution is a good one.  More dense use of the land provides housing for more without having to go to the edges of the region. Transit & retailers are supported by the new residents. The old mall was updated without filling a landfill. A large suburban area is now much more walkable.  Tomorrow we’ll look at a walkable development on the site of an old big box hardware store.