SLU’s New Pedestrian Mall to be an “Urban Oasis”

Saint Louis University is continuing its quest to completely screw up the city’s historic grid system of streets by closing yet another street. From the sound of it, the city could solve our crime problems simply by removing streets. Here is the full press release:

August 21, 2007

Matt McEuen
314.977.8370
hmceuen@slu.edu

Green Space, Flowers to be Added to Medical Center
Saint Louis University soon will increase beauty, safety and accessibility to the Medical Center with a new pedestrian mall.

The area along Vista Avenue between Grand Boulevard and Carr Lane Avenue will be transformed into an urban oasis that mimics green space near the Doisy College of Health Sciences building as well as parts of campus north of I-64/Hwy. 40. The section will be bordered by the School of Medicine complex on the north and the building that now houses the department of neurology and psychiatry on the south.

Pedestrians will be welcomed to the mall [by] one of SLU’s signature red brick monuments, and beautiful landscaping, trees and flowers will provide a parklike atmosphere. Safety also will be enhanced, as city streetlights will be replaced by upgraded lighting that will shine brightly on the mall.

In addition, SLU’s design and construction team is extending the “green” attributes of the Edward A. Doisy Research Center to the mall project. By removing heat-soaked pavement and adding more grass, the area will become more environmentally friendly.

Work on the new pedestrian mall is scheduled to begin soon and has been approved by both SLU and St. Louis City. In preparation, Vista Avenue between Grand Boulevard and Carr Lane Avenue will close permanently the morning of Friday, Aug. 24, and all parking meters will be removed. Parking still will be available along other city streets, and patients visiting the neurology and psychiatry department may park in the rear of that building.

I’m not sure where to start exactly. I know, let’s start on Vista Avenue a couple of blocks to the East.

While these blocks have had some demolition, most likely by SLU buying up properties and razing the buildings, the area is solid and enjoys lovely tree-lined streets. You don’t think you are in the CWE by any means but it is pleasant enough.

However, the institutions are invading the area. Rather than use the neglect tactic offered by Paul McKee, SLU and others use the cut of their street access method to de-value an area. Vista, the last remaining street between Park and Chouteau open to Grand, is the 5th such street to be closed. Earlier projects have eroded the grid and forced traffic onto other roads. With each closed street the power and control of a single institution grows and neighbors can see the writing on the wall — don’t bother investing in the home and neighborhood because we will be next. And so it goes…

Bicyclists and others that prefer low-speed side streets are increasingly forced onto bigger and bigger roads. Motorists too are forced onto the same streets as well, adding to congestion that at one time was mitigated by a variety of choices. So now cars that might be on seven east-west streets have only two. This is why suburbia doesn’t work well — all the traffic is forced onto big roads. With each street closing we make our city less and less bike friendly. The above cyclist, with his helmet tilted too far back and not protecting his forehead, is riding northbound on Carr Lane Ave (yes, Lane + Ave). The block of Vista to be closed is the background.

Above, this woman walked along Carr Ln as did many others — all heading to the above entrance where Carr Ln used to continue north.

Again, many are headed into this “front” entrance where Carr Ln once existed. As you can see, many arrive by bike.

Rather than remaking Vista into an “oasis” it would be nice to see somebody do something with Carr Ln. Above is looking southbound from Vista. This is one block east of and parallel with Grand. Carr Ln gets considerable bike & pedestrian traffic yet it is a horrible street — rough pavement and lacking sidewalks on both sides! It seems many SLU Medical school folks are parking on Park Ave for free rather than use SLU’s oversized parking garages.

OK, I lied. Carr Ln does have a sidewalk on the west side of the street, shown above. I’m sure as people continue to walk in the street, soon to have more traffic due to the closing of Vista, they will be comforted knowing that on Vista they will have flowers and a ubiquitous SLU brick marker.

They walk in the street because the debris from SLU’s retaining wall and overgrown weeks block what little remains of the one sidewalk.

Getting closer to the corner with Vista the plants are quite large and the sidewalk area is completely un-passable. No wonder people walk in the streets. But, I can’t see SLU or the city fixing this small section of street as it is likely next on their list to close. Like McKee they have a master plan kept hidden from public view.

Vista Ave, above, is an ordinary street. Nothing special about it really other than it serves its purpose of connecting people and places. Removing the street and adding in a wide sidewalk and some greenery is not going to make it special. Improved lighting is good but without people passing by on cars or bikes the pedestrian is vulnerable. Security would be enhanced by improving lighting and having actual building entrances onto the street. This block contains 19 short-term and convenient parking spaces.

The above building is on the south side of the upcoming oasis. This modern building is attractive enough but the side facing Vista is lifeless. The side facing Grand is lifeless too —- the entrance has been closed off.

Yes, in one of the classic ways to kill a street the entrance has been cut off. Both sides of Grand have seen entrances removed for years — gradually removing people from the sidewalks.

Signs, such as the one on the above entry, encourage you to use the parking lot entrance. Nice.  Yesterday, the day before the street closing, no signs were posted alerting the public about the planned change.  It will likely come as a complete surprise to many. 
Very deliberate actions have been and are being taken which reduce pedestrian friendliness, make cycling less accessible, force cars onto fewer and fewer through streets and signal to neighbors that they are next to be forced out. All this is done in the guise of improving an area and making it better. Over a long period of time this university’s “investment” is welcomed by everyone. Clever, very clever.

Oversized Vinyl Signs Back on Washington Ave

The morning of August 13th I posted about large banners for a new business on Washington Ave in the loft district, The Fitness Factory.  I had written it the evening of the 12th and had it set to go live early the next morning.  During the night, however, we had a pretty strong storm come through the region and the banners in question didn’t survive.

Above, the banners pre-storm.

Well, last night I met a friend downtown for dinner and noticed the banners were back — same size and location.  This time with more wires and cables to keep them in place.  Too bad, I think Mother Nature was right to take these things down.  While I’m not some prude when it comes to signs I also think there needs to be some sense of proportion.  Big is OK as long as you are not more than say half as wide as the sidewalk.  For me, vinyl banners are best left to the pre-opening sort of thing when a space is being finished along with a quality permanent sign.  Given what I’ve seen others go through, I can’t image how this got approved.

Patterson’s Political Commentary in New Magazine Geared Toward CEOs

A new magazine has come on the scene, St. Louis CEO, and yours truly shares the political commentary space with three others on a rotating basis. My first column appears in the current issue, August 2007. I wrote about the need for better regional leadership so that we can see the big picture — important for business interests in my view. But hey, I’m not a big time CEO.

The other three writing in the political commentary page are former U.S. Senator and current co-chairman of Fleishman-Hillard, Jim Talent; State Rep and attorney Connie Johnson; and former chief of staff to the late Gov Mel Carnahan; Brad Ketcher, also an attorney. The other three must be wondering who this Patterson guy is. My next column will be in the December 2007 issue.

The magazine is geared, as the title indicates, to the CEO. This is not to be confused with a business owner. Last month, the premier issue, had a very nice review of small jet planes and a run down of what local CEOs were flying in these days. This month, in the ‘cars’ section, is a review of the new Bentley Continental GT which is priced at a mere $180,000. My house isn’t even worth that!

If you are an important CEO you already have the magazine in your mail. If you didn’t receive a copy in the mail, you are not an important CEO. Anthem Publishing is still working on distribution agreements for local newsstands. Your best bet is World News in Clayton although Left Bank in the CWE might carry it as well.

Also in the August 2007 issue is an article about blogging called, Blogging Distraction. The point is that businesses need to understand blogging and perhaps join in. Writer Robert Amberg indicates it is important for companies to pay attention to their brand and identity online, “marketing through blogs is an evolution of communication.” Amberg continues, “Your customers are moving online and so too must the businesses that market to them.”

I’ll take that a step further and suggest that government is a business with customer and needs to be mindful as well of the need for customer services being online. Being able to pay parking tickets online, for example, has been quite helpful to me in the past. Just as the business CEO might have a blog to help control a company message so too much local elected officials. In this day of free blogs there is really no excuse for local politicians not communicating via a blog.

Bus Tour of Dilapitated McKee-owned Properties Ignored Other Issues

This past Thursday morning I attended, as did many others, the press conference and bus tour relating to 500+ properties owned by Paul McKee through various companies in his control. For those of you living under a rock for the last year, McKee had quietly bought hundreds of properties mostly in the city’s 5th ward through companies with names like “Blairmont Associates, LLC” and “Dodier Investors LLC” (see list). Blair and Dodier are both street names in the area. In the last Missouri State legislative session McKee’s attorney Steve Stone wrote a tax credit bill worth $100 million for anyone that assembled large acres of land in distressed areas. All sounds good so far, right?

… Continue Reading

In New York, Walking is Transportation

Over the weekend I brought you the story of Jimmy Justice, a loud man with a video camera on a mission to give NYC law enforcement officials a piece of their own medicine. Today I want to share the story of a friend of mine, a lifelong New Yorker, Dan Icolari.

Dan, now in his mid 60s, grew up in Manhattan during the time you’d see folks like Jane Jacobs and Mary Travers (of Peter, Paul & Mary) out on the street in Greenwich Village. In fact, Dan saw both!

He and his lovely wife Ellen, also born in Manhattan, now live in a wonderful home in the borough of Staten Island, a not too far walk from the ferry. They raised their sons in Brooklyn.

The image of Dan, at right, is of course on the Brooklyn Bridge. I didn’t take this shot as I am the one in the orange shirt seen in the background. Having walked with Dan around New York, across one of the most famous bridges and through the neighborhoods of Brooklyn I can tell you he is one experienced walker. And fast!

Dan has been a reader of my blog for sometime now, and has written for NYC’s StreetsBlog so it was no surprise to me when Dan decided to begin writing about walking in his new blog, Walking is Transportation:

The goal of this weblog is to get people to think of walking as more than exercise–as, in addition, an alternative form of transport, one that merits a place in any discussion of transportation policy and planning. Like bicycling.

Like most in NYC, Dan doesn’t drive or own a car. But Staten Island isn’t exactly SoHo when it comes to an urban lifestyle. But after a good walk you are at the Staten Island Ferry terminal and headed to Manhattan. While many others take transit or bicycle, Dan enjoys a good brisk walk — for miles. Sure, Dan takes transit at times, and depending upon distance, but his main mode of transit is himself.

It wasn’t always this way for Dan, a semi-retired advertising executive. From an entry on his site:

I used to drive. I actually owned a car–even though I live in New York, said to be the most walkable of American cities and one blessed with great public transit. Despite all that, like most American drivers, I was convinced my personal mobility–my Freedom, for heaven’s sake–depended on the pathetic hunk of steel, plastic and rubber parked outside my door.

Exactly. The freedom of getting from A to B under your own power is a wonderful feeling. Granted, it takes the right shoes or the feeling may not be so great! If you want to learn more about walking as a form of transportation I suggest you follow the writings of Dan Icolari.