The Significance of November 11th

November 11, 1918 was the end of World War I.

Eighteen years later, November 11, 1936, the cornerstone for St. Louis’ Soldier’s Memorial was laid.

President Franklin Delano Roosevelt came to St. Louis to dedicate the site for the Soldiers Memorial building on October 14, 1936.(Source)

But in 1936, November 11th wasn’t yet a holiday:

An Act (52 Stat. 351; 5 U. S. Code, Sec. 87a) approved May 13, 1938, made the 11th of November in each year a legal holiday-a day to be dedicated to the cause of world peace and to be thereafter celebrated and known as “Armistice Day.” Armistice Day was primarily a day set aside to honor veterans of World War I, but in 1954, after World War II had required the greatest mobilization of soldiers, sailors, Marines and airmen in the Nation’s history; after American forces had fought aggression in Korea, the 83rd Congress, at the urging of the veterans service organizations, amended the Act of 1938 by striking out the word “Armistice” and inserting in its place the word “Veterans.” With the approval of this legislation (Public Law 380) on June 1, 1954, November 11th became a day to honor American veterans of all wars. (Source)

Word War I seems so long ago, the 100th anniversary is just eight years away.

Thank you to all who have served in our armed forces.

– Steve Patterson

Readers See Our Walkable Origins, Building Stock & Compact Street Grid As Helpful To Future Growth

Not everyone got the poll question last week. The question, What do we have that will help the City of St. Louis to grow & prosper in the next 20-30 years is? (pick up to two), was about the attributes that we currently have — not those we need. The standard answers picked by readers were:

1. The walkable city origins with great building stock and a compact street grid 117 [37.26%]
2. Our cultural institutions 52 [16.56%]
3. Our urban parks & trails 33 [10.51%]
4. General demographic changes 32 [10.19%]
5. The people 24 [7.64%]
6. Other answer… 18 [5.73%]
7. Sports teams: Cardinals, Blues and Rams 13 [4.14%]
8. Nothing, the city isn’t going to grow & prosper 13 [4.14%]
9. The city isn’t within St. Louis County 7 [2.23%]
10. That we only elect Democrats to local office 3 [0.96%]
11. The weather 2 [0.64%]

Other answers is where it becomes clear some readers focused on what we need, rather than what we have:

1. Pride.
2. investment by the city to attract/retain businesses downtown, midtown
3. Vastly reduce the crime rate
4. merge city
5. public schools
6. The bones left over from previous prosperity (e.g. walkable, parks, culture).
7. nothing
8. Safe public schools
9. we have plenty of great things that we need to emphasize, like our LOCATION
10. This is a strange and badly worded poll question. I have no idea what to choose.
11. Relatively few “urbanists” with big ideas about my property / no $ of
12. Have you have businesses to bring people.
13. pretty limited on answers, how about increasing jobs
14. Steady supply of water
15. Restructure local government to give mayor more control
16. Great universities
17. Accessible, extensive public transit
18. Better schools and a better city crime image

Some good other answers include transit, water, and location. A future poll will deal with the “what we need” question.

– Steve Patterson

Poorly Executed Pedestrian Access Around St. Louis Federal Reserve

Yesterday I posted about the challenges crossing 4th Street at Locust (Crosswalks & Curb Ramps Needed at 4th & Locust) to get to the Federal Reserve.  Today I want to share problems with crossing Broadway (5th) at Locust and St. Charles at Broadway to reach the Federal Reserve.

The situation, above, differs from 4th in that here a crosswalk exists on the pavement.  However, there is no curb ramp on the far side. Like 4th, this was done when the Federal Reserve took over this block of Locust for their pedestrian plaza.

From the Post-Dispatch on December 11, 2003:

A $13 MILLION PLAN to restore the Security Building took an important step forward — and so it seems did a proposed $90 million investment by the 500-pound gorilla next door, the Federal Reserve. … The designs for the Security Building, by the way, revealed another interesting transformation: a Fed plan to replace Locust Street between Fourth and Broadway with a pedestrian plaza.

So the Federal Reserve spent $90 million but they couldn’t include a couple of curb ramps in newly poured concrete?  Unacceptable!  But in November 2005 the Downtown St. Louis Partnership (now Partnership for Downtown St. Louis) gave the Federal Reserve an award for the plaza.

There is one spot where both ends of the crosswalk have curb ramps, shown above.  Recently the Federal Reserve completed their expansion, which included a new sidewalk along St. Charles St.

On the right you will see a curb ramp at the corner of the new work by the Federal Reserve.  Not sure where someone is supposed to go from there.  The detectable warnings direct the blind into the middle of the intersection.  I suppose someone could cross Broadway since an exit from a parking garage could serve as a dangerous curb ramp on this side of Broadway.

When trying to cross St. Charles there is a curb ramp on this side of the street, between the building corner and the traffic signal.  However, the ramp for the other side is way out at the corner, hidden from view by the blue & yellow boxes.  Brilliant!  I guess for only $90 million you can’t expect much?

Keep in mind that others, such as parents with strollers, use curb ramps.  These issues are personally frustrating to me but they make St. Louis less than ideal for all pedestrians.

– Steve Patterson

PR: City Residents Offered Free Firewood

The following is a press release:

—

The City of St. Louis Department of Parks, Recreation and Forestry will offer free firewood to City residents starting Monday, November 8, 2010 on the Lower Muny Opera parking lot in Forest Park.

The wood is available most days after 3 p.m. Monday-Friday.

All wood comes from the removal of dead or damaged trees from City streets and parks. Daily wood supply is not guaranteed and the wood will vary with size and species when left on parking lot for citizens. It is offered on a first come, first served basis. This process ends during the first week in March.

Due to park restrictions, no commercial vehicles or trailers are permitted.

“This is an excellent cost-saving opportunity for both the City and City residents,” said Commissioner of Forestry Greg Hayes. “The City avoids having to dispose of the wood and City residents have a chance to pick up free firewood.”

For more information or questions, please call the Forestry Division at 613-7200.

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Crosswalks & Curb Ramps Needed at 4th & Locust

Pedestrians trying to cross 4th Street at Locust face an interesting combination of ramps and signals.  Neither side has a marked crosswalk.  On the north side of Locust there is an older ramp on the east side of 4th but when the St. Louis Federal Reserve didn’t bother to include a ramp on the west side.

The south side of Locust has the opposite problem, a ramp on the west side but not one on the east.  This side, however, does include a pedestrian signal.  However, a crosswalk is badly  needed here because motorists on the one-way street don’t know where to stop when they get a red light.  This is a dangerous intersection for the able-bodied pedestrian and impossible for the disabled pedestrian.

St. Louis vacated Locust between 4th & Broadway (5th) but nobody ensured that pedestrians could get to/from this one-block pedestrianized street.

– Steve Patterson