Finishing Ballpark Village…

Centene is out, no real surprise. What is the future of BPV?
Yes the economy is rocky but we are talking about prime real estate. This is an example of where good development standards for the larger area would guide future construction. Create a physical vision — mandate that through a zoning overlay – get streets in place to create parcels and then sell the parcels to others. Today’s mega projects make financing and such so complicated it takes forever to finish a project — if at all.  Costs get so high only big chains can afford the rents.  The entertainment district first described seemed geared to tourists — not really connected to the rest of the city.

We need to rethink the wisdom of the mega all or nothing project.

The Next Slums

A reader sent me an excellent article that I want to share.  The basic premise is that due to a number of factors the subdivisions with single family home may well become the next slums:

For 60 years, Americans have pushed steadily into the suburbs, transforming the landscape and (until recently) leaving cities behind. But today the pendulum is swinging back toward urban living, and there are many reasons to believe this swing will continue. As it does, many low-density suburbs and McMansion subdivisions, including some that are lovely and affluent today, may become what inner cities became in the 1960s and ’70s—slums characterized by poverty, crime, and decay. 

Read the full article

Guest on KDHX tonight

Tonight I will be a guest on Collateral Damage with host DJ Wilson. I will be on the phone, not in studio – duh. Tune into 88.1 at 7pm tonight.

Importance of the ADA

I’ve written numerous times about the importance of the Americans with Act and how it attempts to create environments that are accessible to all. I’d also said I didn’t want to be in a wheelchair while arguing for the rights of those in chairs. Except for time I was sedated and in ICU, I’ve spent nearly two months in a wheelchair. When you cannot walk, the chair represents freedom and mobility. I know that I will walk again — slowly and likely with a cane at first. Ramps, slopes, railings and such will all be important to me for my own personal mobility even when I return to walking.

Over the last month of rehab I’ve met many people who didn’t think they’d end up in wheelchairs, using a cane or walker. Fellow patients have included those injured in car accidents, diabetics, those who fell (causing brain damage leading to mobility issues), others that had strokes, people that got nerve/muscle-damaging infections and so on. While I hope not, please understand that each of you could end up in my same position. Seriously, nobody is immune.

This is why it is so important that we build environments accessible to all. While a person in a wheelchair is unlikely to go to Lowe’s for drywall they may need a new fridge that will be delivered. Or perhaps they just need a new light bulb or a new houseplant? Being regulated to a chair or other device doesn’t reduce the need to function in society.

I prefer to push my own chair rather than have someone else. Doing for myself is very important. Environments that allow me and others to be self-sufficient is a minimum we should provide — especially for tax subsidized projects. The ADA and accessibility should not be an after thought such as at Loughborough Commons. Every new project should start with a pedestrian plan just as you would plan for the circulation of cars.

Room with A View

Well, I’m no longer in St. Louis. One of my brothers picked me up Friday morning to drive me to Missouri Rehabilitation Center located in Mt. Vernon Missouri. It took us forever to get out of St Louis due to flooding related delays along I-44.

Mt. Vernon is a small town in SW Missouri — between Springfield & Joplin — pop. 4,000 in 2000. I wasn’t sure what to expect. The highway exit is like most — truck stops and fast food. I’ve stopped at the exit before on road trips back to Oklahoma.

We headed right through the small but cute downtown which is anchored by the Lawrence county courthouse — an impressive stone structure. Mo Rehab – is located at 600 N Main — from the 5th floor we’ve got great views of the courthouse. My room has two large widow — looking NE — toward St. louis — I’ve got a nice view of a park and can enjoy the sunrise each morning.

In my time here I will get out to see the town. They are getting new sidewalks at this time —- all with ramps. This facility is very important to the town and getting patients out in the real world is very important to the rehab process. Thus, ADA sidewalks are a must.