Citygarden opened one year ago today
The mature trees make it feel like Citygarden has been around for many years, but it was just one year ago today that the two-block sculpture garden opened.
The park has been an unquestionable hit with locals, as well as people from outside our region.
Lighting at Citygarden is outstanding.
I love Citygarden and I’ve probably visited at least once per week during the last year.
Still, I’m frustrated by a number of things:
- 9th Street is blocked to vehicles between the hours of 10am and 10pm. 9th was designed to narrow the road and slow the little bit of traffic it would get.
- The curb ramp at 10th & Chestnut was poorly executed so that I have to approach just right to get onto the sidewalk. Plus it holds water.
- Work was not done on 8th & 10th to make extending the “hallway” to the blocks to the east and west a simpler matter. Once again we will have to redo that which has just been done.
I’ll be there at noon today for a TweetUp (Twitter meet-up).
– Steve Patterson
Great post, Steve. I gotta say I really like 9th street being blocked off between 10 and 10. There are so many kids who play in Citygarden and they go back and forth across 9th street it would be like having an active street running right through a playground. It's a little inconvenient when you're looking for parking, but I think it's worth it.
Was there last night with my family. What a great addition to downtown!
As far as crossing the street kids need to learn how to do so. If someone takes their kid their often when the street is closed but goes back at 9am one morning the kid will be In greater danger because of not looking for cars.
Parks are for people, not cars. The real question is whether the Hallway defines one, long, linear park or connects a series of smaller parks. I'm assuming the goal is to increase activity to Citygarden levels in the other blocks. If so, conflicts between pedestrians and vehicles will inevitably increase. Given the apparent precedence of closing 9th (and 6th, 16th and 19th), it'll be interesting to see how future conflicts are resolved and how the park/parks are defined.
Personally, I'm conflicted / disconnected – I don't use the park very often, nor drive there very frequently, so I just deal with whatever barriers occur that day. Bigger picture, however, as a driver, I find most of downtown somewhat frustrating, with unsynchronized signals, disconnected streets and a random mix of one-way and two-way streets, and it may be one reason why I'm less inclined to go down there.
The car/pedestrian conflict issue has been used for decades to close streets and shift all traffic onto busier and wider main streets. Vehicles and pedestrians can share the same space!
I mostly agreee with your first statement – the only exception being the taking of parkland for freeways, during the '50's, '60's and '70's. I have mixed feelings about your second one – up to a point, yes. 9th Street here could likely be kept open, safely, but the powers that be are erring on the side of both safety and aesthetics. Go three blocks east, to Kiener Plaza, and that space would be entirely different if 6th were still there. Go two blocks further east and the dynamic changes entirely – there is absolutely no way a freeway and pedestrians can “share the same sapce”, they need to be separated.
Yes, maintaining and restoring the streetgrid is a laudable goal, but every decision needs to be looked at in the larger context. Even if 6th were restored between Market and Chestnut, it'd still be missing between Market and Walnut. But since BPV will be restoring 6th between Walnut and Clark, should we be pressuring to restore 6the between Chestnut and Walnut?!
A similar condition exists with 9th. It terminates 3 blocks south, at Spruce, and primarily serves as an access point into downtown from westbound I-64 (primarily commuters from Illinois). This is parochial, but I really don't care if people from across the river are inconvenienced so that our park can be made more enjoyable (and yes, no cars is more enjoyable)!
Extrapolating out, that fixing the grid and sharing the space is the ideal, then I guess we better get started redesigning Forest Park, Tower Grove Park, Francis Park and Lindenwood Park. Cars rule, bring back the streets, screw the ballfields and golf course . . .
Why not close that block of 9th St. and make the corresponding blocks of 8th St. and 10th St. two-way? Having to drive a half block 'out of the way' to circumvent the park hardly seems an inconvenience. Teaching kids to avoid cars driving through a pedestrian friendly park, while important and honorable, is probably not the reason why parents bring their children to Citygarden.
All the streets should be two-way, but they aren't. Businesses on 9th are struggling in part because they have fewer people driving by their establishments.
Steve, any input or word on the block next to City Garden. I still believe the best option is to move the sculpture as the context has changed dramatically in my mind. Instead, I would love to see some greenhouses or urban gardens tied to or connected to the Botanical Garden
Moving Twain is the same thing as cutting it up for scrap metal. Only two blocks surrounding Twain have changed — the one to the NW with a parking garage and the block to the East with Citygarden. The point is to be in the center and view the city through the openings — that can still be done. That said, the block is very sad and needs considerable work.
City Garden is good stuff. Been there a few times whilst downtown. Need more of this fanciness (waterfalls, lights, art) in the rest of the smaller city parks.