2010 Highlights

What a year 2010 has been! I started the year with a list of Regional goals/strategies.  Only one came to be — the April passage of the transit tax in St. Louis County.  That vote triggered a previously approved tax in the city.  Metro has restored & improved transit service, keeping the region mobile.

We saw the Obama Administration announce high speed rail with improvements from St. Louis to Kansas City and to Chicago.  It will be some time before this pays off but when it does St. Louis will benefit.

The City to River concept of a tree-lined boulevard replace 1.5 miles of soon to be former I-70 gained momentum, including acknowledgment from all five finalists in the City + Arch + River Competition.

We did see some construction projects get completed in 2010, such as the offices of Paradowski Creative at 20th & Locust.  The St. Louis Centre bridges over Washington Ave & Locust were removed and the former indoor mall is being turned inside out with retail facing the sidewalks on all four sides.

Just down the street, the long-annoying taxi stand on the sidewalk in front of the convention center has been relocated to 8th Street.

Work has started on the adaptive reuse of the Clemens Mansion on Cass.  Other small projects have been completed or started in the city.

The St. Louis Rams were sold and the team seems to be trying to impress their new owner.  All in all, not a bad year.

On a personal note, August 2010 marked 20 years of living in St. Louis, in 2013 I will have lived half my life here.  To the natives, it doesn’t matter.  I wasn’t born here, I can’t stand St. Louis-style pizza, and I didn’t go to high school here. For me, St. Louis is home.

Celebrate safely tonight.

– Steve Patterson

Car Blocked Hydrant On 9th At Olive

Recently I posted about an illegally parked city vehicle (City Employee Parks City Vehicle Next To Fire Hydrant) but many of you felt it was a non-issue.  The car wasn’t that close to the hydrant and the curb wasn’t painted yellow.  The other night I saw a clear example.

No question this car is blocking the fire hydrant. But no, the red Mazda RX8 isn’t a city-owned vehicle.  This illegally parked car belongs to an on-duty police officer!

Yes, I called the police non-emergency number to report the vehicle. I also reported this to Charles Bryson, Director of Public Safety. I doubt the officer got a ticket.

– Steve Patterson

Readers: Missouri Shouldn’t Lower Cap On Historic Tax Credits

In July of this year Gov Nixon created the Missouri Tax Credit Review Commission, co-chaired by Steve Stogel & Senator Chuck Gross, to review the various state tax credit programs, including the successful historic preservation tax credit.  From the detailed historic preservation subcommittee report:

“A well-thought-out and skillfully drafted tax incentive for historic preservation cannot achieve its objectives if the total amount of credits that can be awarded annually is subject to a statutory limit, particularly if the limit is fixed at a low figure…

…Where demand for credits exceeds the amount permitted by law, applicants either must compete for credits or participate in a lottery or other arbitrary allocation system. Projects that truly require the state credit to be financially feasible have tended to be discouraged from participating because of the lack of certainty as to the outcome, the cost of preparing a competitive application that nonetheless may be unsuccessful, and the difficulties of keeping financing commitments in place during the evaluation process.”

Still it is possible Missouri will lower the cap on our historic preservation tax credit, thus prompting my poll question & post last week:

Q: Missouri is considering lowering the cap on the Historic Rehab Tax Credit from $140 mil to $75 mil. Reaction?Bad idea, this credit pays for itself 75 70.75%

1. Bad idea, this credit pays for itself 75 [70.75%]
2. Good idea to lower the limit 11 [10.38%]
3. I’d set the cap even lower 6 [5.66%]
4. Other answer… 6 [5.66%]
5. We should eliminate this tax credit entirely. 4 [3.77%]
6. Unsure/no opinion 4 [3.77%]

The six “other” answers were:

1. Fight for $100 million in order to be realistic about state of politics
2. The cuts have to come from somewhere.
3. There are probably other tax credits that should be lowered before this one.
4. I’m not happy, but I realize we are in the middle of a recession
5. sacrifices have to be made to have a balanced budget
6. Good idea if and only if savings are put towards job creation tax credits

No surprise that over 70% of the readership wants the state to not lower the cap.

In November 2008 nearly 85% of St. Louis voters supported Democrat Jay Nixon for Governor.  Statewide Nixon received just over 58% of the vote, showing how much St. Louis voters support Democrats.  Will Gov Nixon listen to the people of St. Louis, or does he know we always vote for the Democrat regardless?

St. Louis and communities across the state need the historic tax credit to put buildings back into use, creating jobs & revitalizing areas along the way.

– Steve Patterson

The Density Needed For Walkability Myth

Continuing the walkability theme from yesterday, I thought it would be interesting to explore the assertion that walkability requires density. So I decided to look at 1st tier suburb Kirkwood MO and 2nd tier suburb Ballwin MO to see if this is the case.   If you buy into the theory that walkability requires density then you probably think  Kirkwood is more walkable because it has greater density than Ballwin.

As you will see, walkability has less to do with density and everything to do with how the land is used, a reflection of the era in which they were created.

Kirkwood, MO:

• Established: 1853
• Total Area: 9.3 square miles
• Density in 2000: 2,961.3/sq mi
• Source: Wikipedia
• Walk Score: 88/100 – Very Walkable (101-115 W Adams Ave)

Ballwin, MO:

• Established: 1950 (incorporated)
• Total Area: 9 square miles
• Density in 2009: 3,494.6/sq mi
• Source: Wikipedia
• Walk Score: 62/100 – Somewhat Walkable (15025 Manchester Rd)

For the Walk Score of both suburbs I just put in the city name, it determined the address it must consider the center point.

So the older, less dense, suburb is more walkable than the newer, more dense, suburb.  How can this be?  Ballwin was planned at a time when people thought nothing of getting in the car for every trip.  The lady of the house had her own car now so she could drive the kids to school, do some shopping and get groceries on the way home. Kirkwood, on the other hand, was laid out long before the car.  Being near the train station was important for reaching St. Louis.

Residential lots in Kirkwood are about the same size as those in Ballwin, the big difference is the Kirkwood lots are narrow & deep whereas the Ballwin lots are wide & shallow.  Commercial districts are vastly different between the two.  Kirkwood has too much newer auto-dependent retail but it also has a nice 19th century downtown.

Fortunately, Ballwin is not a lost cause.  It, and many other 2nd tier suburbs of the same era can be retrofitted to be more walkable.    The existing residential neighborhoods of single-family detached homes can remain unchanged, except for the addition of sidewalks internally and leading out to the commercial areas. Manchester Rd in Ballwin running through Kirkwood and into the City of St. Louis is an ideal corridor to be retrofitted. New structures can be built to infill the massive parking lots.  I can picture enhanced bus service or even a streetcar line the entire distance.

– Steve Patterson

Much Of The Region Should Be Walkable, Not Just The City

Late last week I posted about the lack of walkability at a subdivision in the western suburb of Chesterfield, These McMansions Will Be Hard To Give Away A Decade From Now.  As I expected I got this viewpoint in the comments: “I get it – you love urban living, but not everyone else does.  One size does not fit all, and commuting is highly personal, and for an increasing number of people, no longer includes the CBD.”

For the last 3 years I’ve lived downtown, just west of the central business district. The prior 17 years I lived in the CWE, Old North & Dutchtown/Mt. Pleasant neighborhoods.  I commuted by car to jobs in Rock Hill,  North St. Louis and Kirkwood.

The St. Louis MSA (Metropolitan Statistical Area) is 16 counties — 8 in Missouri and 8 in Illinois.

So? Our region is quite large geographically.  In 2000 we had 2.8 million living in 8,846 square miles.  The City of St. Louis represents only 66.2 square miles of the total area – less than one percent.  Even looking at St. Louis County & City only, the city represents only 11% of the total area.

We can’t all live in the city so I expect much of the region to be walkable.  That is, a person living in a developed area should be able to walk to a store.  Their kids should be able to walk to school.  The fact is this is already a reality for many throughout our region.  The concept of walkability shouldn’t be limited to within the city limits.

Yes, most will drive to reach their places of employment.  But for those living in walkable areas like downtown St. Louis, New Town at St. Charles, Ferguson, etc.  the many non-work trips can be done on foot. Many of the people I know who live downtown don’t work downtown.  They live here, in part, because it provides a walkable lifestyle for everything other than getting to/from their jobs.

Back to that McMansion subdivision in Chesterfield, those residents must drive everywhere.  They have no choice. Every no-work trip will be an auto trip.

There is nearly 20 miles from the street I mentioned before reaching the western edge of the City of St. Louis.

I don’t have figures on how much of the 8,846 square mile region is urbanized (developed) vs rural.  Parts of the city are, unfortunately, auto-dependent.  Some of the region outside the city is at least somewhat walkable.  But how much of the total area isn’t auto-dependent? Maybe 1-2%? I’d like to see that be 10% or more.

But please, don’t assume that I’m speaking of the city vs the remainder of the region when I write about walkability.  Walking knows no political boundary.

– Steve Patterson