San Luis Apartments Not A Good Urban Building

The St. Louis Archdiocese wants to raze the San Luis Apartments next door to The New Cathedral for a 150-car surface parking lot. Local efforts to save the building from the wrecking ball give it more urban credit than it deserves. Yes, it is far more urban than any surface parking lot would ever hope to be.

From a recent West End Word article:

A statement issued by Landmarks’ Board of Directors argued that, “Through curvilinear forms and differentiation of wall materials, the hotel possesses a striking geometric presence. With covered parking placed in the rear away from Lindell Boulevard, the Hotel de Ville promotes the pedestrian-friendly quality of the Lindell streetscape.

This building does nothing to promote pedestrian anything. Parking is actually close to the sidewalk —- the fact the building hovers over the parking doesn’t improve the pedestrian experience in the least. Walk along the sidewalk in front of the building — as you would expect from a structure that started life as a 1960’s motor hotel, the pedestrian is not really considered. You look under the building at parking and the entry is set back behind an auto drive.

The best I can say is that the mass of the building does help anchor that corner — a surface parking lot would simply create a big hole in an area lacking holes in the urban fabric. The forms of the building are pleasant enough but I would not lose any sleep over its demolition.

Asked if the proposal on Lindell Boulevard is an example of the Central West End going backward, Thomas Richter, the archdiocese’s director of buildings and real estate, said, “We don’t think it is a step backward.”

The proposed parking lot “represents an investment in the Central West End” because it shows that Rosati-Kain intends to be in the CWE for the long haul, he said.

A surface parking lot is not an investment! To use such valuable real estate to store cars is such a waste. To spend the kind of dough it will take to buy out the HUD contract, raze and pave the land just for parking is shameful. Is this really the best use of the church’s resources?

There was a time not that long ago when churches were an important part of building the physical community and now all over this city we see church leaders worshiping the automobile by razing structures for parking. How much transportation could the church provide by not razing this structure and instead selling the land. If anything they should seek a developer to build low-income housing to help diversify the neighborhood and provided needed affordable housing.

Parking Nightmare on Halliday Continues!

It has been nearly a year now that residents of one block in the Tower Grove East neighborhood have been dealing with a paved front yard that just won’t go away. Sadly the saga continues. Yet another hearing is scheduled before the board of Adjustment on Wednesday afternoon at City Hall (1:30pm, room 200).

Initially the developer just paved the front yard of the property without proper permits. Since then numerous meetings have been held between residents that objected to having a neighbor’s front yard be nothing but parking. The compromise was to be angled on-street parking. The developer and alderman Conway were pushing for the city to vacate part of the street so that real estate could be deeded to each of the four condo units — a bad idea.  I think someone from the city this would br bad policy so that pu the developer back at trying to pave the front yard for parking — this time applying for a permit in advance.

Currently the space remains unplanted and filled with gravel — condo residents are parking on the gravel area.

This is what we gey when we allow aldermen to play development consultant.

Continued Progress in Rehab

For those just tuning in, I had a stoke on Feb 1st. Following a few weeks in ICU, I began the long rehab process. I started rehab at SSM REHAB/ST. Mary’s just days after coming out of sedation. The therapists there were able to get some limited movement on the left side of my body (see video done by my friend Antonio French). While there I was still very much a medical patient — feeding tube and all. On the 21st of March I switched to Missouri Rehabilitation Center in Mt. Vernon, MO for additional care.
Here they practice tough love — if the staff knows you can do something for yourself then they will not do it for you. For example, I am expected to dress myself each day — no small feat when you only have the use of one arm/hand. The trick is having the days clothes next to the bed. Now that I can move my left leg it makes putting on pants so much easier. In the last week I have one new article to put on — a custom made AFO (ankle-foot orthosis). This brace helps me in walking by keeping my left foot from dropping and dragging as I walk.

Speaking of walking, earlier today I handed my camera to my physical therapist so he could take video of me as I walked down the hall with student intern Barry right next to me holding onto the “gait” belt they have around my upper body. At SSM I was just starting to move my leg so the therapist had to push my left leg forward for each step.
This video is just at a minute in length. I’m doing pretty well during most of it but I get tripped up a bit near the end. The voice you hear is my physical therapist Geoff who is always working hard challenging me to push myself.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ouWOykyKzgw[/youtube]

Before the video was taken I had walked the short distance from my room to breakfast & lunch. I had also had a morning PT session in which they exercised my left leg to increase movement and build strength. We had also just completed another walk in the hallway where Geoff was timing me — I was just short of 1mph. By this point my muscles were a bit fatigued. After we did this walk I did a short flight of stairs (3 risers) and a couple of curbs of different heights. I’ve now walked on all sorts of surfaces including grass, wood chips, gravel and foam.

Over the last two weekends I left the facility four times for meals with a friend and one of my brothers. Transferring from a wheelchair to a vehicle and back is relatively easy now. Everything is getting easier although a lot is learning how to work around physical limitations. A good seat cushion on the wheelchair helps too!

The old saying, ‘That which does not kill you makes you stronger’ is so true. Only a strong person can endure the reality of recovering from a stroke. If you would have told me on January 31st what I would face in the following three months I would have told you I could not handle it at all. But I have found the drive to move forward and do what it takes to get my life back.
So while my full recovery will be measured in years I am pleased with my progress these last five+ weeks. Thank you to everyone for your thoughts and prayers.

Make note:  I will be a guest on KDHX again on the 28th (7pm) and I will be back at home downtown before May.   In the meantime I still have a lot more walking to do.

City Policy on Street Vendors Counter to Desire for Vibrant Streets

Bustling sidewalks and numerous food vendors are hallmarks of great urban streets. Food vendors sell everything from hot dogs, pretzels, nuts, ice cream, water/soda, kabobs and all sorts of other street food. In St. Louis our laws severely limit food & other street vendors leaving our sidewalks less than lively than they could or should be.
By design food vendors are limited to the CBD with a maximum number of 10 permits being issued. Yes only 10 permits are issued for the entire city. When I was in Toronto in 2006, for example, I could often see 10 vendors up and down streets from a single position. All cities place limitations on the use of the public sidewalk — that is reasonable. But there is a point where you can get so restrictive then you don’t achieve the type of environment that you want. More pedestrians would certainly attract more retailers, residents and businesses.

The argument against an increased number of food vendor permits is that they compete with established restaurants that have greater investments in their location and such. I don’t personally buy into this argument.

The person seeking a nice sit-down lunch isn’t going to grab a $3 hot dog just because they pass a vendor. Similarly, the person that wants a veggie dog with sauerkraut isn’t necessarily going to eat out an a restaurant if said dog is not available from a vendor.

We never have all 10 vendors out at one time. The hot dog vendors we do have lack a veggie dog option — very frustrating to this fan of street food. Every vendor I encountered in both Toronto and Vancouver, for example, offered veggie dogs. I see a potential void in the market here but these vendors have a lock on all the permits — new competition offering more choice is not an option.

Street vending is a

great way to start a small business. Although the carts are not cheap, they certainly require less upfront capital investment than many other businesses.

Vending in the city is limited to a few small districts such as Soulard Market, a section of South Broadway just South of Meramec and a portion of downtown:

A. “Downtown Vending District” shall mean (1) the area bounded by the Mississippi River on the east, Cole Street on the north, Tucker Boulevard on the west and Interstate Highway 64/U.S. Highway 40 on the south; and (2) the area bounded by Fourth Street on the east, Interstate Highway 64/U.S. Highway 40 on the north, the former Ninth Street (vacated by Ordinance 9191) on the west and Gratiot Street on the south.

So while our leaders talk about creating a 24/7 downtown it is clear that is all hot air — they are not doing the things necessary such as totally revising our vendor laws. Currently vending is only allowed from 6am to 11pm. Hardly 24/7. For more information on the city’s vending laws see Revised Code Chapter 8.108A.

Nothing prevents the selling of newspapers — freedom of the press and all — but many newsstand vendors in cities like New York also offer items like candy, water, books and perhaps item targeted to tourists like t-shirts and film. Under St Louis’ law, that would require being inside one of the few & limited vending districts and getting one of the very rare permits.

I’d like to see the sidewalks in our commercial districts teaming with vendors as well as have the storefronts of local businesses spilling out onto the sidewalk.

The sidewalk area in front of the convention center consumed by an ill-placed taxi stand should be packed with all sorts of vendors. Around Metrolink stops downtown we should also see concentrations of vendors. Vendors should also line the sidewalks leading to/from the arch. When people leave the Fox after a play there should be vendors offering street food as well as play-related merchandise.
If the city were to increase the number of permits and open up all the sidewalks to vending I think we’d see more vendors in the market. This would be a very good thing. And I’d be able to get a vegetarian hot dog with mustard and sauerkraut.

State & City Help fund competition for existing grocery store

Last month Mayor Slay made an announcement many had been expecting:

Schnucks will build downtown’s first full-service grocery store, a 20,800 sf urbanized version, in the Missouri Development Finance Board’s Ninth Street Garage at 9th and Olive Streets.

I guess I am not clear how mayor Slay defines “full-service.” City Grocers opened in October 2004 and offers this downtown resident everything I expect from a grocery store. Of course, I don’t expect to fill a prescription at a grocery store. Nor do I expect to get mylar balloons & florals from a grocery store. I expect groceries.
The Mayor continues:

This is an important step forward for downtown. I can’t tell you how many times people have asked me why downtown doesn’t have a supermarket, and where downtown residents shop. Now we have a great answer to both those questions — we will have a Schnucks downtown later this year or early next year, and downtown residents will shop at it.

And what exactly has the Mayor told all these many people asking about where to shop ? Hopefully City Grocers.

The business journal had more:

It will cost $7.56 million for Schnuck Markets Inc. to build out, stock and open downtown St. Louis’ first full-service grocery store. But the family-owned supermarket chain is getting help.

Lots of help — from tax payers of course.

Schnucks will pay $3.42 million necessary for tenant improvements, inventory and other opening expenses at the downtown location, at Ninth and Olive streets, according to state finance board documents. The remaining money will come from a combination of state, federal and city subsidies.

“If we didn’t have the public support, it wouldn’t be a viable project,” said Scott Schnuck, chief executive of Schnuck Markets. “We’re starting with a space that wasn’t designed for a grocery store.” The location will require a leveled floor, extensive wiring and other improvements, he said.

Not designed for a grocery store? Who’s fault is that? Schnuck’s development arm DESCO was involved in building the garage. And in razing the National register listed Century Building. And in suing two downtown property owners who believed a parking garage facing the Old Post Office would be a detriment to downtown.

Does this mean they could not lease the space to anyone else?

Back to the article:

The grocery chain will receive $1.1 million in state funds from the Missouri Development Finance Board (MDFB), $1.29 million in proceeds through the federal New Markets Tax Credits program and $1.75 million from the city of St. Louis through a development agreement that will operate like a tax increment finance (TIF) plan, according to a resolution approved March 18 by the state finance board. The city’s Board of Aldermen approved the development agreement March 14 and has sent its bill to Mayor Francis Slay for his signature.

So tax dollars are now being used to buy inventory??? Inventory that will be sold for profit! WTF?  Meanwhile we have a grocery store already — just not one that is heavily subsidized.  Granted prices will likely be less at this new Schnucks compared to City Grocers.  So we are helping buy food for downtown loft dwellers.

Do we really want the state and city government handing out favors to help one business at the risk of harming another?  What message does this send to someone looking to start a small business in the city?  That once you’ve taken a huge financial risk and proven the market does exist we will swoop in and give favors to our wealthy buddies so they can steal your customers!
From the same article on the new store; “it will have a pharmacy — something that’s been missing downtown since Walgreens left a few years back.“  Walgreens, ironically was located in the very same spot — on the ground level of the Century.  Walgreens was booted out so the building could be razed for a parking structure.

It will be nice to see a new Schnucks without a massive treeless surface parking lot out front.