Video in Rehab

A few days ago Antonio French of Pubdef paid me a visit and I asked him to bring his video Camera along. Check out the video below. The therapist helping me walk is Debbie — she works miracles. My first day I worked with Debbie and Sh’voyne — it took both of them to walk me at first.

Steve Patterson Recovering from His Stroke from PubDef on Vimeo.

Leaving St. Louis

Friday morning I head to my next stage —-   a long-term rehab facility in outstate Missouri.   When I return it should be back home.  I will post and return email as I can.  Keep The guest posts coming.  Thanks to Marcia, Dustin and so many others for their help.

The Developer Strikes Back

– guest editorial by Richard Kenney, AIA

As Jim Zavist noted in his guest editorial, the building known as the Ballard Denny’s in Seattle, WA (formerly Manning’s Cafeteria, constructed in 1964) was recently declared a Landmark by the Seattle Landmark Preservation Board (in a 6 to 3 vote) and saved from the bulldozer in its last moments. This was a surprise as the property had been recently owned by the Seattle Monorail Authority (before its unfortunate voter-declared demise) and would have been torn down to make way for a monorail station to serve the Ballard neighborhood. When Seattle voters made the unfortunate decision to kill the expansion of the monorail, the properties that had been acquired by the monorail authority were sold off, including this one which was sold to the Benaroya Company. It was fair for Benaroya to assume that demolition would not be an issue when they purchased the property for $12.5 million last May. They partnered with another company for a proposed 8-story mixed-use development which would include 260 living units.

As reported by the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, ironically it was Benaroya who nominated the building for Landmark status. They did so only to head off what they felt was an inevitable discussion and would result in a delay to the project. Assuming it would be declined, they wanted to get that obstacle out of the way. But unfortunately for them it gained momentum and backfired, as Landmark status was obtained after the local community got involved.

The Developer struck back on March 12th and filed a lawsuit in Superior Court against the City for improperly declaring the Ballard Denny’s Building a landmark. According to the Seattle Times, the Developer stated, “The [Landmark] Board’s decision … was sentimental and capricious, but not legal”, and with the burden of this building now being a landmark, that it is essentially impossible to create any sort of feasible development for the property. They are claiming that the criteria for Landmark designation is unconstitutionally vague.
It does seem true that the saving of this building has more to do with local sentimentality than with actual Landmark’s criteria. One often-mentioned requirement for landmark status is that the building must be of a defined architectural style. Most people have used the general term “Googie” architecture, which is the catch-all bucket into which some very unique styles of the 1950’s and ‘60’s are relegated. Larry Johnson, the architect who was responsible for preparing the paperwork for this building’s Landmark designation, called it “Scandigooginesian”, short for Scandinavian and Polynesian with the obligatory word Googie thrown in for good measure. This new word is ten times more irritating than the original term Googie, so I suggest we simply refer to it as “mid-century architecture” (and forever dispose of those other terms please).
Another often-discussed criteria for landmark status is age. Most people feel that the 44-year-old Ballard Denny’s is simply too young for such an important status. But age should not be an absolute determinant. Seattle’s beloved Space Needle received its designation as a Historic Landmark in 1999 when it was only 37 years of age. The Space Needle was constructed for the 1962 Seattle Worlds Fair, and when you look at it, there’s no denying that it’s a product of its time. When I first moved to Seattle in 1993, I was not a fan of the Space Needle. It seemed so dated to me, and whenever I looked up at it, the lyrics to the Jetson’s would enter my head (…”daughter Judy….Jane, his wife….”). But after a few years I grew to love it, and now I can’t imagine Seattle without it. I see it every day, and I no longer think of it as a dusty dated mid-century relic. I think of it as a unique work of art. Granted, the Space Needle and the Ballard Denny’s are two very different creatures: one is a destination, and the other one is where you stop for pancakes before driving to that destination. But perhaps small scale and daily use is not a detriment to the Denny’s importance. It’s probably safe to say that a long-time Ballard neighborhood resident has been to the Denny’s much more frequently through the decades than to the Space Needle.

I remember a trip to St. Louis where Steve Patterson and I went to LaClede’s Landing (which is something we rarely do). He explained to me that LaClede’s is virtually a tiny remnant of what used to be there, and one that surely would have also been demolished had the budget allowed. He explained that some 40 city blocks – truly the original city of St. Louis – were demolished to make way for the Jefferson Expansion Memorial. This will always be a staggering loss for the city of St. Louis, but certainly at the time, the buildings they demolished were considered obsolete, outdated and unwanted. Urban renewal and grand ideas for a park and a shiny steel arch took precedence over the classic old buildings that many people considered to be a barrier to that progress. In a microscopic way, isn’t the Ballard Denny’s in a similar predicament? While many people consider it to be useless and disposable architecture, will we perceive it the same way in another 50 years?

Nostalgia is a funny thing. Our world promises to be so very different in another 50 years. When our cheap oil supply is substantially gone and the great American automobile society is a faded memory, won’t the mid-20th century architecture be a stunning reminder of that culture we once had where you could park your big car a mere 20 feet from the booth where you ate your Grand Slam breakfast? I’ll be 90 years old by then, but I personally hope to still see great examples of mid-20th century architecture here and there, lovingly preserved as part of the urban fabric.
The City of Seattle has 20 days from March 12th to respond to the new lawsuit. Stay tuned.

Richard is a Seattle architect.  rich took yhe image of the space needle  — his stunning balcony view.

THE DEMOGRAPHIC ST. LOUIS SHOULD BE PITCHING

Guest editorial from Dan Icolari
We’re not the only people in places like Boston or New York or D.C. or maybe even Chicago who’ve stopped being wage slaves, or would like to, and need a cheaper place to live that’s still a real city, warts ‘n all.

I think St. Louis boosters need to broaden their target audience to include people like us. I don’t mean just well-heeled empty nesters who can afford lofts downtown. I’m talking about middle-class people like the ones my wife and I know–financially secure but not rich, educated, involved in the arts and in civic life and politics. People who want an urban way of life in a dynamic, diverse community. A community that’s affordable now and, in relative terms, is likely to stay that way.

With child-rearing behind them, such people have the disposable income to help preserve cultural institutions, patronize local specialty businesses, and support local artists in a variety of media. They have the time to devote to civic activism that most full-time working people don’t. They’re big on university-level continuing education. They’re exactly the kinds of people, in short, that St. Louis boosters are already pitching, only older.

And nobody except marketers of retirement communities–which are the last places the people I’m talking about would want to go–are reaching out to this particular segment of older adults. They are, after all, sophisticated people with many of the same interests and tastes as the 20- and 30-somethings that every city is working overtime to attract.

I think going after a segment of sophisticated people 50+ could be a very productive strategy for St. Louis. But it won’t be an easy sell. I can hear the naysayers already:

“Oh, great: Blue-Hair Central.”

“St. Louis’s reputation for crime will scare them off.”

“We’ll become The Nursing Home on the Mississippi.”

I’m not proposing that St. Louis boosters target older potential relocaters exclusively. Rather, I’m suggesting this over-50 segment has potential that should be recognized and developed.

The fact is, for people of any age who want an urban way of life they can afford, St. Louis has a pretty compelling story to tell. It’s not a story that will interest all or even most older people considering relocating. But I think it’s a story that will interest enough older people–the kinds of community-oriented urbanites St. Louis needs–to make telling that story to this segment worth a try.

[Dan Icolari is a native of NYC and lives with his lovely wife in a stunning home on Staten Island.   Dan is retired and writes Walking is Transportation.]

Up & Eating

Afew days ago I shared A horrible picture of myself when I was in ICU (view post).  Well below is a much better time.

Saturday night my good friend Marcia and I shared a pizza from Piazza della Pizzeria – in the lounge on my floor at St. Mary’s.  Unlike when I first arrived at rehab, I was able to sit upright and maintain my own balance- not an easy task. the excellent staff assisted me into the chair, but I can now stand on my own rather than having to be lifted to get vertical.

I know that in time people will again see me walking around taking pictures of bad development practices.