St Louis’ 200th Anniversary Just a Year Away

99 years ago St Louis was celebrating the one-hundredth anniversary of its incorporation.  At the time St Louis was the 4th largest U.S. city.  In 1900 the city had a population of 575,238 and by 1910 that had increased to 687,029 – nearly double our current population.

“St. Louis first became legally incorporated as a town on November 9, 1809″  (wiki).  The book, “St. Louis Day By Day” by Frances Hurd Stadler lists the week-long 100th anniversary celebration on October 3, 1909.

I’d say we’ve got some 200th anniversary planning to do – for October or November of next year.  Here is a possible slogan, “twice as old, half the population.”

Huge Van Consumes Disabled Parking Loading Zone

Last week I shared images of a vehicle parked in the loading zone next to a disabled parking space (see post). A couple of days ago I spotted another such offender, this time at Lindell & Sarah outside the strip center that contains an OfficeMax, a health center and other businesses.

As I walked out of the OfficeMax to my car parked in a disabled space across the drive I noticed this van poorly parked not in a disabled space but between two spaces.

In this case there was plenty of parking available about 10 or so cars further to the right. It was a nice day. This person felt like they could park as they liked.

Unlike last week I never saw or spoke to this driver. I did spot a police car in front of the OfficeMax I had just left. I circled around a couple of times hoping the officer would come out of the store but no such luck. I had somewhere to be so I couldn’t hang out here waiting for the owner and/or police.

One might argue the number of disabled spaces at this location far exceeds demand. That is the trick about parking mandates, they seldom have anything to do with actual demand. Even if the allocation of disabled spaces is high and most are not used you never know when someone is going to pull up and need one of the spaces. At one point all might be full and a half hour later all empty.

For those that use vans with a side ramp this extra space is a must. The space is not left just for the fun of it. I need the ability to open my driver’s door fully to get in/out of my car. For others they need the space on the passenger side to allow for transfer to a wheelchair or even using a walker.

After I took the above pictures I realized the windows were tinted — what if they had a disabled hang tag I wondered. Then I realized if they did they would have just parked legally in a space. No this person clearly felt like it was OK to park between disabled spaces but not in one. Interestingly, had this driver just parked in one of the disabled spaces it would would have left the other and the loading zone usable by someone permitted to park in disabled parking.

It is clear, most folks are respectful of disabled parking and the adjacent loading zone — a few are not.

Print Media In The Trash, Literally!

OK, not the trash, the recycling dumpster :

The above is a lot of unread papers.  The fact is more and more people don’t read the paper  — oh we stay informed just not via a daily, weekly or monthly print paper.  With the rise of the internet papers are struggling to retain readers and advertising revenue.

At SLU we can get a paper everyday for free – St Louis Post-Dispatch, USA Today & The New York Times.  Free!

No thanks.  Reading a paper takes too much room to open it up, you get ink on your hands, you have to recycle it when done and you can’t do easy searches or save PDF’s for future reference.  Many of my fellow students seem to agree.

I read stories in the Post-Dispatch & New York Times daily online along with the websites of other print media.  Of course I also read many web-only sites.  You can even get the funnies online these days.

The printed paper is making a slow exit.  The final edition will soon be the final edition.  The Post-Dispatch, our only daily paper since the Globe-Democrat ceased publication 22 years ago this month, recently laid off 20 more workers.  I’d link to their story but their links don’t last – so here is the news from the St Louis Business Journal.

It may take 20 years but in time I think many cities will not have a daily print paper.  Niche papers that are weekly or monthly will continue for some time but eventually they too will find the productions costs outweigh the advertising revenue.

The upshot may be a reduction in trash.  The sidewalks will be free of the various news stand boxes.  The downside is strangers in a cafe won’t be overheard saying, “Can you pass me the sports section when you done?”

Just as cities adopted to electric lighting instead of gas lamps & candles, they will adjust to lacking a daily print edition.  The transition will certainly be less destructive than going from horse & carriage to the private automobile.

Street Layout and Blight

For much of the 20th Century the street pattern of existing cities was under constant attack by Traffic Engineers, Architects and Urban Planners. Cities typically had one of two types of layout – a strict grid or a more random pattern such as that of the downtown in Boston or Manhattan, or a combination of both. The planners, architects and engineers of the 20th century viewed both the random layout and the compact grid as “obsolete.” With exceptions like Broadway running North & South, St Louis was a standard grid city.

The term ‘gridlock’ originated out of the idea that cars would clog intersections to the point where they’d get boxed in – thus gridlock. Since this time that term is used anywhere traffic congestion exists — ironically often where a grid is absent so all traffic is forced through a single arterial.

The textbook in my Housing & Community Development law class at SLU indicates the federal housing agency (presumably HUD) had model laws for states to adopt with respect to defining blight and a slum. The Missouri definition for blight is very similar to the one in the text:

99.805.

(1) “Blighted area”, an area which, by reason of the predominance of defective or inadequate street layout, unsanitary or unsafe conditions, deterioration of site improvements, improper subdivision or obsolete platting, or the existence of conditions which endanger life or property by fire and other causes, or any combination of such factors, retards the provision of housing accommodations or constitutes an economic or social liability or a menace to the public health, safety, morals, or welfare in its present condition and use;

Note that “predominance of defective or inadequate street layout,” is first, before unsanitary or unsafe. Of course the statute doesn’t clue us in on what is an adequate street layout. Followed close behind is “improper subdivision or obsolete platting.” Obsolete platting is as subjective as inadequate street layout. Unsanitary is probably easier to pin down as is the deterioration of improvements. But the bias against a compact street grid and narrow deep building lots with alleys is well documented. This bias led to state statutes like this that made it easier to label areas as slums or blighted.

Many areas razed during Urban Renewal had the compact & walkable grid being created today in New Urbanist projects like New Town at St Charles. Overcoming this old anti-grid bias is a challenge in new “greenfield” projects, however. Zoning codes & development standards call for too wide of streets, high parking requirements and large setbacks.

Building setbacks had a couple of early uses.  First in private residential streets the setback was used to create a lawn area and a more open feel.  The other use was to help ensure that when the city wanted to widen the roadway that they’d not have to demolish the front portion of buildings as was the case in St Louis when early planners began remaking our city for cars, not people.

A major thrust for planning in the 21st Century will end up being undoing 20th Century experiments that failed to serve people.  The definition of blight as written may help in that regard.  I can see future planners indicating  the cul-de-sac layout of much of suburbia as inadequate.  Similarly, I can see the typical wide but shallow suburban lot shape being called obsolete.  In time we’ll be razing much of the crap from the last 60+ years.  Suburban Renewal.

Dinner At Centenary Church of St Louis

Last night I joined the homeless at the dinner service at Centenary Church located a block south of my place. This was an unplanned visit.

My homeless friend, that I met 3 weeks ago at Lucas Park, stores his extra clothes at the Horizon Club at 23rd & Olive. However last night the facility was going to be closed for 24 hours for cleaning so all stored possessions had to be removed or they would be tossed. Several days ago I had agreed to store his items in the trunk of my car until Wednesday when he could return the items to his locker.

The Horizon Club opened last year as a “safe haven” drop-in center for 25 people at a time. It is open 24/7 except for this one day per month when it is closed for cleaning. Upon meeting my friend outside I asked if he could get me inside so I could see the facility. Several guys were waiting outside for a spot to open up inside. We got buzzed into a small lobby area where 5-6 more people were waiting. He got buzzed into the main space and then he went and checked with the staff to get permission to let me in.

The place has a large room to the left of the front door. Next to the staff desk is two computers connected to the internet – both were in use. There are various chairs, more computers with games and a TV area. Back near the entry are two bathrooms, each with a shower. To the far right is the locker room. A staff person must be present to let someone into that area. Again, the place was at capacity around 3:45pm with another 10 waiting to get in.

So after we filled my trunk with my friend’s worldly goods I asked if he needed a ride anywhere. He was headed to Centenary Church, down the street between 16th & 17th. When I pulled into the parking lot my first thought was just to drop him off and head back home for dinner. But then I thought what better time than the present to expand my understanding of homeless services.

No getting buzzed in here but the guard did “wand” us. Last year I spent a Saturday morning with my friend Robert Lipscomb serving breakfast at Christ Church Cathedral at 13th & Locust. Centenary’s space is substantially bigger, perhaps 10 times as much. I talked to a woman I had met at Lucas Park, she was at a table drawing. My friend and I sat and started chatting. Dinner service was to start at 5pm. About 4:30pm a volunteer began passing out numbers to those that are seated. I didn’t take one because it just didn’t seem right for me to eat their food.

A few rows over I spotted a guy that looked new. My friend confirmed as much. He was young, maybe early 20s. His white sneakers were still white. He wasn’t socializing with others and he had a sorta scared look on his face.

A guy joined us at our table. He looked familiar. He recognized me from the Lucas Park cleanups. Hard to blend in with a shaved head and a bright orange wheelchair I guess. We three talked about the petition circulated by Andy Mortello to shut down Larry Rice’s New Life Evangelistic Center. Andy is among the group of neighbors that has been working in the park. The new guy, Keith, indicated the guys staying up late and drinking in the park were not guests at Rice’s NLEC. Makes sense since those staying in the shelter must check-in by 5pm. I explained that I understood that not all homeless are the same. I also had to explain that not all residents were the same — we don’t all call the police or the health dept about drinking in the park or mass feedings. He had misconceptions about us and lumped us all together as the same. We do the same by lumping all the homeless into one big group. He works but just doesn’t make enough to get off the street yet.

We just want to cut down on things like public urination. Sunday I was coming home from the Taste of St Louis event. I was in the wheelchair on Locust at 15th — a block from my place. I was in front of the Campbell House Museum. Looking West toward the YMCA I could not believe my eyes – – a buck naked man on the sidewalk in the middle of the day! As a gay man I’m not adverse to such a sight but just not on the sidewalk mid-day. The man was changing clothes and I spotted him mid process. It wasn’t like he was trying to hide his business.

Back to Centenary.

At 5pm they began calling numbers in groups of 10 to get in line. My friends number was 62. Looked like a good meal, certainly better than a few I had in the hospital earlier this year. I indicated I’d have a tough time since I’m vegetarian. He said one woman who was often there was a vegan and they usually tried to accommodate her. He had a big slice of ham — not my thing. But the potatoes & green beans looked good! Hmmm, perhaps I should have taken a number….

I learned that numerous groups, often church groups, help Centenary with the meals which are served during the week (breakfast M-F, lunch M-F, dinner Sunday-Thursday). Last night they served dinner to about 150 individuals. Same is true for the other places that serve hot meals like St Peter & Paul in Soulard. I love that people donate their time & money to help feed others but it would be great if more of them would work in concert with churches like Centenary or St Peter & Paul.

I think one of the problems might be knowing where or how to help. Most people in the region know they’ll find homeless at Lucas Park so that is where they come trying to help. The problem with that is the park is my neighborhood park. Food debris attracts rodents. By all means I don’t want to discourage those that want to help.

While at Centenary my friend grabbed a resource sheet that is used to help the homeless know where to get a meal, clothes, a bunk for the night and so on. Even though I was in a Methodist Church they were gladly handing out this brochure created by Catholic Charities. Cooperation.

So in that spirit I scanned the brochure for all to view.

For more information on how to contribute to the solution:

• Centenary CARES (you can even donate via PayPal)
• Catholic Charities Housing Resource Center / St Patrick Center

So while I didn’t get a tray of food at Centenary, I did get something that will last much longer, new friends and a better understanding of their current situation.

Update 9/30/08 @ 11am – uploaded more clear version of the services brochure.