Farmers’ Markets: How they benefit an urban community

Since the middle of May, I have supervised an organic produce stand at the Tower Grove Park Farmers’ Market on Saturday mornings. I can’t tell you how many people have walked in front of our stand, wandered in to look at the produce, and bought produce from my co-workers and I. While there are occasional newcomers to the market, I usually find myself greeting a familiar face who is holding a canvas bag, ready to fill it with our organic produce. The newbies who shop at the market are greeted with a chaotic scene: dozens of people walking up and down the market paths, searching for that “perfect” peach, apple, radish, cucumber or bundle of Swiss Chard. There are people of all shapes, sizes, ethnicity, religions and creeds who shop at the market, and they usually bring their kids, dogs and significant others with them. That’s why I feel that a farmers’ market is an excellent way to tie a community together. Citizens from all walks of life can interact with each other in a comfortable setting and learn about each other and locally grown produce as well. I know that I have learned alot about the fabric of urban life in St. Louis, especially South City, while I have been at the market.

The engine behind the farmers’ market is the farm that supplies the market with fresh produce. Tower Grove Park’s Farmers’ Market has a variety of suppliers and a few of them are local urban farms. Our farm, City Seeds,  is in downtown St. Louis, a couple of blocks east of Jefferson Ave close to Union Station. Consequently, we have had produce stolen from the property, we find people sleeping there on occasion, and we normally have to walk around the farm each morning and pick up trash, but the farm continues to prosper and inspire people who visit it and volunteer with us. I feel that our farm makes a positive difference in the downtown St. Louis community but our location may be compromised by Paul McKee’s Northside plan. But, that day is hopefully a way off and until Mr. McKee’s bulldozer destroys our property, we’re going to keep farming on it.

Finally, I pose a question to you, the loyal Urban Review STL reader: do you shop at local farmers’ markets (and I’m not talking about Soulard. 75% of the produce there is trucked in from California. Shocking, isn’t it?)? If so, which ones and why? Also, how could your favorite farmers’ market better serve you? More variety, perhaps?

Thanks.

-Tim Brinkmann

St. Louis is Low-Profile

We may get a boost in future convention business because we not a high-profile city like Las Vegas:

What happens in Vegas may be moving to Detroit, Denver or Dallas.

The public backlash against lavish corporate meetings and conventions in cities such as Las Vegas, Palm Springs and Hawaii is becoming a boon for cities such as Detroit and other places viewed as destinations less likely to raise eyebrows.

What some convention bookers call the “AIG effect” — after the insurance giant whose officials traveled to a luxury California resort last year a week after the federal government agreed to an $85 billion bailout — is causing business travelers and organizations across the country to rethink their destinations. (Source, Conventions seek lower-profile cities via USA Today)

Finally it may pay off to not be an “it” destination.

We have fun things to do in St. Louis that, as long as you avoid the immediate East Side, won’t raise any eyebrows.  Meanwhile, growth cities such as Vegas have serious problems.  I know plenty in St. Louis who are out of work but St. Louis, it seems, will do better than others.

– Steve Patterson

Too Much Open Space Just as Bad as Too Litttle

In the early 20th Century St. Louis, like many cities, was a crowded place.  Nearly every foot of land had a structure.  The public street (sidewalk + road) was packed with pedestrians, streetcars, horses, buses, trucks, bikes, and cars.  Around the edges you could find relief in parks such as O’Fallon & Forest.  Downtown had only the Lucas Gardens (now Lucas Park).

Demolition began in the blocks West of Tucker and North of Market for the Soldier’s Memorial and Aloe Plaza across Market from Union Station.  As the city’s population thinned, smoke ordinances cut air pollution, and jobs went to the suburbs the destruction continued as if it was still 1917.

The image above is looking South from AT&T.   The Western block of Citygarden is at the bottom.  Market street runs left to right with 10th Street top to bottom.

We’ve got open space for a city of a million people but we have 350,000. An excess of open space just feels lifeless.  Put 20 people on 20 acres and it will be boring.  Put the same 20 people on 20 square yards and now you’ve got urban open space where you might have some interaction.

The Arch grounds are not going away and the city is committed to the Gateway Mall (5th to 20th) so we need to reduce the amount of other open space to bring the total in line with our population.  The block next to Bank of America was planned for a future building — lets get that built.  Beyond that is a seldom used space across from the federal courthouse.  Build that out as well.

Even on the blocks of the Gateway Mall adding structures for food service (restaurants/kiosks) and restrooms is a good idea.  We need to have less green space but better green space.  That is what makes the two block Citygarden work so well — it is quality space for all ages.  People are drawn to it and as more people fill the space the more you are drawn in.  People attract people.  Empty spaces repel.  Recently I saw two wedding parties having pictures taken in Citygarden. Much of our open space has never seen a single wedding party in decades.

Of course it is not just open green space we need to reduce.  We have lots of open gray space — surface parking lots. We’ve got to fill in the numerous gaps in our downtown and neighborhoods.  The economy today isn’t going to permit the breaking of ground on lots of new construction but now is the perfect time to articulate the vision for when the economy does improve.

– Steve Patterson

St. Louis Rams Playing to the Right? (Updated)

You’ve probably all heard the latest Rams news.  From the LA Times on 10/6/09:

It appears conservative talk-radio host Rush Limbaugh wants to be an NFL team owner.

In a statement released today, Limbaugh said he’s partnering with St. Louis Blues owner Dave Checketts in a bid to buy the St. Louis Rams. Limbaugh didn’t go into details, but said he and Checketts “have made a bid to buy the Rams and are continuing the process.”

Such a move would most certainly keep the Rams in St. Louis, good news to many.

Would the controversial Limbaugh make fans question their loyalty to the team?  Would the conservative radio host ask for taxpayer help to build a new stadium when the Rams have an out on their current lease at the Edward Jones Dome?    Or would he argue for a free market solution – he and the other owners building their own facility? Would they be happy keeping the team in a politically blue city?

Los Angeles is still without a team, and a loophole in the Rams’ lease allows them to move as early as 2014 if the Edward Jones Dome is not deemed among the top quarter of all NFL stadiums. Though just 14 years old, the dome is fast becoming one of the league’s older venues, and getting it into the top quarter seems unlikely. (Source: AP)

The poll this week, in the right sidebar, asks for your reaction to the possibility of Limbaugh as a Rams owner. Read the answers carefully before answering:

• I don’t like Limbaugh but I would continue supporting the Rams.
• I don’t like Limbaugh, used to support the Rams, but will stop if he becomes an owner.
• I don’t like Limbaugh and this would make it easier to stay away from the Rams.
• I don’t care who owns the team as long as it remains in St. Louis.
• I don’t have an opinion on Limbaugh buying the Rams.
• I like Limbaugh but not the Rams/football.
• I like Limbaugh so I might start supporting the Rams.
• I like Limbaugh and the Rams, great match.

I tried to cover all the options with the answers listed above.

The comments to the LA Times story covered all views from left to right:

– Steve Patterson

Where Is Your Third Place?

There is one thing cities provide in much greater abundance than suburbs: the essential “third places” in our lives that provide respite and relaxation for us outside our homes or workplaces.

Third places are defined as one of three places that meet fundamental human needs: home, a first place; work, a second place; and a third place, where we go to find community, relaxation, and simply “be” when we aren’t at home or working.

For all the people who work from home offices, the line between the first and second places, home and work space, may have blurred, but it makes the third place even more important. We all need a common place to hang out, see friends, find conversation, or simply watch the world go by. We seek a place that is separate from our homes or workplaces and all their attendant comforts and irritations.

Third places are very individual. In a family of four, there could be four different third places: church, coffeehouse, club or park. They are where you go to get away from your immediate responsibilities and expectations. You don’t have to do housework or laundry; you don’t have to finish that project or spar with your partner. You are (temporarily) free to indulge your own thoughts, talk or not talk, do or not do anything.

In the city of St. Louis there are many good third-places: local coffeehouses like The Hartford, Shaw Coffee or even the London Tea Room. There are neighborhood bars and cafes where they get to know you and you can stay as long as you like. There are libraries, drop-in centers and parks. There are churches and clubs, both social and athletic. There are museums and entertainment districts like The Loop on Delmar or Washington Avenue downtown. And there are intentional places like Left Bank Books with book groups, author readings and community events. These third places are close at hand, across the street or down the block, most of them within walking distance.

The suburbs of St. Louis are trickier, especially in second-ring suburbs. Newer, more affluent suburbs like Chesterfield and Wildwood have been built with more modern sensibilities about community gathering spots and the intentional communities created by mixed-use construction. You may be more likely to hang out at commercially sponsored third places like Starbucks or the mall, but they exist and are well used.

The second-ring suburbs are in a tougher spot. They belong to an earlier time, before we realized how much we would miss the communal third places that are so abundant in the city. Like the outer-ring suburbs, they may have some commercially-sponsored places like Starbucks, McDonalds or Dennys, but there may be only one or two in a municipality and they are rarely within walking distance. There is a real dearth of small, local businesses like independent coffeehouses, casual cafes or bookstores. Which pretty much leaves the bar, gym or possibly church and almost all of them require driving in your car.

There is a misplaced attempt to fulfill this need for third places in the construction of suburban great rooms, finished basements and fully-equipped media rooms, but all of these fall short. A third place requires distance from home and family. It also requires diversity and randomness in the people you might observe or start a conversation with.
When I lived in Seattle, I could easily walk a few blocks to any of six coffeehouses, each with its own ambience and crowd of regulars. There were bookstores with cafes where you could hang out from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. When I lived in the South Grand area, I had my choice of places to hang out.

In Maryland Heights, I’m stumped. I occasionally get in the car and drive to Starbucks at Westport or I go farther afield to Creve Couer or Chesterfield. More and more, I drive farther to Main Street in St. Charles or into the city to find a third place, but none of them are my third place.

City planners take note: vibrant cities or suburbs don’t exist without a multitude of viable third places. And if you want to attract the young, the creative, the socially engaged, that advice is doubly important.

What I’d like to know, especially if you’re a suburbanite, is where is your third place? Where do you regularly go to hang out, read a book, see friends, or just escape home and work responsibilities? What makes a place your third space? I look forward to what you have to say.

-Deborah Moulton