Blogging from a Panel About Blogging

So I am in Miami at the annual Rail~Volution conference. This afternoon I am on a panel with Kathy Albert, Sound Transit; Effie Stallsmith, Federal Transportation Administration; Phillip Jacques, URS Corporation; Jeff Wood, Reconnecting America & The Overhead Wire.

I’ve set up wireless in the room for this event. We are getting set up right now. Come back at 2pm St. Louis time for more. The following items are in reverse order, the latest is right below here.

5:30pm – I’m back.  Had to close up shop at the end of our presentation.  Had a good veggie burger over on Washington Ave @ 14th Street.  I’m back in my hotel room about to head over to the beach.  There are a few clouds out but everyone is headed to the beach.  So, I’m grabbing the lawn chair out of room closet and heading across the street.

2:46pm – Showing YouTube video on RSS Feeds, highly recommended.

2:45pm – Jeff also has a transit aggregator, called City Transit Advocates.

2:43pm – Jeff talking about his blog, The Overhead Wire.

2:40pm – Video he created added to YouTube. Funny part, they can’t see it from work.

2:35pm – Showing image of a proposed train station added to Google Earth.

2:33pm – Great visuals, give the public a great perspective on what the completed project might look like.

2:30pm – Phillip Jacques showing great slide show, created mostly from Sketch-Up.

2:28pm – MySpace.com is a great option for transit agencies. San Antonio has a great site on MySpace.

2:25pm – PlaceMatters.com is a website mentioned by Effie. Very interesting site.

2:18pm – Effie is showing different transit sites from all over the country, with some of the options for showing basic information. Many are using video and real time data relative to “boring” stats.

2:10pm – Effie is talking about visualization, a requirement of federal law. Basically this is a way of talking about visual communication — being able to see what is proposed. Obviously, it would be hard to communicate without visual clues.

2:00pm – Kathy Albert is getting the event started. Kathy is introducing the topic and the panelists.

1:25pm – We’ve gone through our roles and we are ready to go. Effie will be first.

Miami’s The Place to Be

After an uneventful flight to Miami International Airport I have made it to Miami Beach via two bus routes.  Other than the rain between buses it wasn’t bad.  The city, like most others, has lots of sprawl and lots of cars.  It looks like so many other cities I’ve visited, espcially Southern California.

The fashionable South Beach area is quite urban in its physical form, although geared toward the tourist rather than acting as a cohesive neighborhood — as least the blocks I’ve seen so far.  Cabs are everywhere and are able to pick up passengers from off the street rather than at designated stands only. 

Scooters are everywhere — I stopped into one little scooter rental store.  Fifty bucks for 24 hours with a $300 refundable deposit.  Hmmmm…  Had a good lunch at a little hole in the wall latino place — a fish taco did the trick.

I’m staying two blocks from the hotel where the conference is being held, this gives me a chance to see things along the way as I walk back and forth.  Unfortunately the hotel wifi system is not working as normal so my access may be limited. 

Unfortuantley it is overcast with the occassional rain shower but I think I might head back to the beach (just across from the hotel).  The water is cold but the wet sand feels good under the feet.   

Third Anniversary of UrbanReviewSTL.com

Today is the 3rd anniversary of this site. Started on Halloween 2004, it has turned out to be scary for our so-called leaders that cling to our 60-year old zoning code so they get a chance to play auto-centric developer.

When I started I had no plan for where this would go. The beginning was actually due to a tragic event. My father, at then age 75, had a major heart attack on October 1st of 2004. He had blacked out while driving due to the heart attack, two off-duty paramedics saw him drive over a curb and come to a rest — they gave him CPR until an ambulance arrived. Initially he was not expected to survive. I got the call from my brother late on a Friday evening — I was downtown for the gallery tour. Very early the next morning I was driving back to Oklahoma with my black suit — just in case. It is a long drive to Oklahoma City but as you can imagine it was very long that day. My dad is a tough man and he pulled through after several weeks in the hospital. That entire month I was, to put it mildly, a complete basket case.

So it was on that Sunday, Halloween 2004, that I decided to begin writing as a means of gaining some clarity in my life. Rather than write about my personal life, I chose to express my frustration about the urban environment in the St. Louis region. My first post that night was on the Kirkwood Plaza Station project on the old site of the Kirkwood Target.

So much has changed since that first day three years ago. My father is doing well but my mother passed away in June 2006 (see post). A few months after starting the blog I ran for public office, losing two months later (see post). In these three years I’ve done over 1,300 posts and you’ve responded with well over 11,000 comments. I’ve received some good press along the way as well as my share of detractors (Ald Florida called me a “zealot” in St. Louis magazine). At one time I was rather anonymous — able to attend public meetings and be noticed only because of my size, shaved head and tattoos (those things don’t really “blend” in most places). Today, however, seldom is there a meeting where I’m not known.

Being recognized certainly has some benefits but it also has drawbacks, it was certainly never a goal. In fact, I had no goal other than to share my thoughts. Since then I’ve certainly struck a nerve with many equally frustrated by St. Louis’ political structure and auto-centric development patterns. Others are frustrated with all the talk and want to see more action. Many want me to host meetings and gather the troops troupes to fight various battles. First, however, I need to finish my masters in Urban Planning and Real Estate Development at St. Louis University.

This is not to say that I’m closed to the idea of starting something new.

At this point I do have some very tangible goals, my wish list if you will (in no particular order and by no means complete):

• See the complete replacement of our old zoning codes in the city, to be replaced by form-based codes which reflect the community’s vision for neighborhoods and commercial districts. This is a compliment to the city’s 2005 Strategic Land Use Plan that is basically useless without new zoning. Similarly, I’d like to see form-based codes throughout the region with urban nodes where logical (around major transportation hubs, for example).
• See the establishment of a permanent program to establish bike parking along commercial streets. In parking lots for retail properties I’d like to see a bike/scooter/motorcycle parking requirement.
• Break through the leadership vacuum in the city and region, get progressive urbanists into decision making roles.
• See a charter change to eliminate partisan elections within the City of St. Louis. Term limits of 2-3 terms might be a part of this as well.
• See the population of the City of St. Louis reach 500,000 people — an increase of nearly 45% above today’s figure.
• See the return of a frequent localized transit system serving the city and inner-ring suburbs. This would most resemble a return to numerous streetcar lines designed for local users — not a system designed to get the suburbanite to downtown as fast as possible. This would system would include a variety of systems, including bus and light rail.
• See the urbanization of sites such as Loughborough Commons, Gravois Plaza and so many others that are currently acres of asphalt.
• And so much more. Suggestions?

The how and when of the above and others isn’t exactly clear. While I am working on being somewhat more patient I don’t want to become too patient so that I’m willing to wait 20-30 years for these things. Unfortunately I think it may take something drastic to bring about the level of change I think we need. It may well take the fallout from peak oil and global warming to wake up the populous to the need to change our ways. When gas is $6/gallon and coastal cities are wiped out from rising ocean levels then we’ll then see a call for better transit and more pedestrian friendly retail. Hopefully we will not be too far behind the curve.

I had hoped to plan a big splash party for this 3rd anniversary of the blog but I’m really not a flashy party type of person. Besides, those always seem to call for valet parking! So how am I celebrating this milestone moment? Well, I’m on a plane this morning to Miami. I’m also not a beach person but that is where the annual Rail~Volution conference is being held and this year I am a panelist. I think being in Miami Beach on Halloween, staying in a nice hotel along the beach and checking out a new city is celebration enough. I will be blogging from Miami, including some posts from the panel on Thursday afternoon. Sadly the forecast calls for scattered showers all weekend.

Upon my return next week I will be preparing for a panel at the Missouri state American Planning Association conference. That same week I will also be moving into my new place. Yes, I am staying within the city but moving out of Dutchtown and the 25th ward. Where? I will give you a hint — I’ll let you know who the alderwoman is as part of my post next week with all the details — that narrows it down to 10 possible wards. A new location in the city will certainly give me a different perspective as well as new material to write about. I’m sure I can find plenty to write about for at least another three years.

Thanks to all of you for helping make UrbanReviewSTL.com part of the dialog about the future of our city and region!

BPS Denies Larry Rice’s Request for a Conditional-Use Zoning Permit

This afternoon St. Louis’ Board of Public Service met to hear numerous issues related to zoning. One of the items was an application from Larry Rice’s New Life Evangelistic Center to open an energy center in an old commercial building located in the middle of residential block in South city.
Numerous neighbors came out strong in opposition earlier this month. Ald. Kirner, who initially supported the project, changed her mind once her constituents began to speak out against the proposal.

Rice may appeal today’s decision to the Board of Adjustment.

Larry Rice’s Conditional-Use Zoning Request to be Decided by BPS Today

This afternoon staff of the Board of Public Service will give their recommendation to the Board of Public Service regarding the request by Larry Rice of the New Life Evangelistic Center for a conditional use permit to operate an Energy Center in an otherwise residential block.  Earlier this month a hearing was held where Rice and others spoke for or against the zoning request.  Today’s meeting is just that — a meeting.  No new testimony will be hear.  The staff will present their recommendation and a decision will be made.

Above, Rice held another fair on this past Saturday.  The public was invited to this event but at this time Rice had not secured necessary approvals to hold such events.  This image was taken in the morning as they were setting up.

Rice had reinstalled his sign, also not yet approved, for the Saturday fair.

The white “sculpture” was actually a left over from a prior owner.  But the signs leaning against them are part of Rice’s instructional materials.

Later in the day, as they were closing up, I went by again on my way home.  Numerous vehicles were parked on the grass in the area where he wants to put an 18-car parking lot (original drawings submitted by Rice showed 38 cars).

I suppose out in the boondocks, where Rice has other energy centers, parking on fields is commonplace.  But not so much in residential neighborhoods.
The meeting is to begin at 1:45pm this afternoon in room 208 of City Hall.  I suspect the staff will recommend denial of the request and the Board of Public Service will agree.  If so, Larry Rice can appeal the decision to the Board of Adjustment.  Conversely, if NLEC gets their conditional use permit an aggrieved citizen can appeal to the Board of Adjustment.  I’m sure the citizens in the area will appeal if Rice prevails today, the big question is what will Rice do if he loses?