Two Steps Forward and One Step Back

Today I upgraded the software that manages this blog and added some new features. Along the way something managed to wipe out the list of categories. Ugh!

Within the last week I added a new feature which gives you the option to share each individual post with friends. At the end of each post you’ll see a “share/save” option. Just mouse over this and you’ll get a list of options such as emailing a link, bookmarking the post, or using sharing services such as Digg & Delicious. Email addresses are not collected by me so no need to worry about that. Of course you are still free to just copy & paste the post URL to send to others. One step forward.

Today I added a feature that I’ve wanted for a long time — a listing of the posts with the most comments for the last week. Over in the right sidebar between the calendar and recent comments is now the posts that have received the most comments in the last seven days. I have the option to change the number of days so I might make it five, ten or even fifteen days. For now I’ll stick with seven days. This feature is great because it quickly lets a reader see the most recently active posts. Another step forward.

I hadn’t upgraded the WordPress software that manages this blog since switching to it in November 2006. The upgrade took far less time than it took to upgrade my iPhone to 2.0! In the process though it managed to wipe out the names for my nearly 60 categories. Restoring that table of names from my backup is beyond my limited abilities so fixing that goes on the list for the programmer that I need to keep on a retainer. Two steps back.

Also on that list for the programmer is to figure out how to get comments to display paragraph breaks.
So enjoy the new features and my apologies for the missing category names.

Downtown Bookended by Delayed (Dead?) Mega-projects

Acres and acres sit idle on the edges of downtown awaiting promised new development.  On the South edge we have Ballpark Village and just North of America’s Center and the Edward Jones Dome we have the Bottleworks District.  Both have made news over the past few
years, lately for not going anywhere.

Above:  blocks sit vacant awaiting the proposed Bottleworks District
The latter was in the news again this week for a settlement on one of the blocks the city took from its rightful owner:

A St. Louis jury awarded $2.8 million on Friday to the former owner of two acres just north of the Edwards Jones Dome downtown in a fight over eminent domain.

The city’s Land Clearance for Redevelopment Agency condemned the two-acre tract after the owner refused sell it in 2005 for $523,000.

The property, a city block bordered by Sixth, Seventh, Carr and Biddle Streets, was included in the “Bottle District” redevelopment plan for a $226 million entertainment destination including a restaurant, concert venue and bowling alley. It has not yet come through.

Today the entire site remains covered in gravel with much of the intact street grid blocked by Jersey barriers.

The surrounding blocks could have been developed without taking this one block from the owner.  But assembling larger and larger tracts for larger and larger projects is what proponents say must be done to get development.  Judging from the broken sidewalks and vacant blocks of land  think perhaps it is high time we questioned this practice.

Granted creating the ideal urban building on a single narrow parcel surrounded by vacant blocks is going to be an island for a long time.  Development does have to be large enough to build both excitement and a sustainable level of visitors.

An alternative to the single developer mega-project is to create a zoning overlay district that outlines the urban design qualities that future buildings must have.  This allows different property owners to participate in the redevelopment.  It also allows the business owner to build their own structure without being tied up in an increasingly complicated and difficult process of financing the mega-project.

This city was built one building at a time — each fitting into the grid.  I think we need to return to such a scale to finish filling in the gaps in our urban fabric.

Forestry Dept Begins Long-Overdue Street Tree Maintenance on Washington Ave

A few days ago I did a post on the deferred maintenance along a stretch of Washington Ave (posted at 2:43pm on Wednesday). The main issue was the fact that nine out of 41 trees (over 20%) had been cut down and not replaced between 14th and 18th. Of course I had a picture of each and every stump to illustrate the point that maintenance was lacking on a street that underwent a massive (and costly) streetscape makeover just over five years ago.

Earlier today employees from the city’s Forestry Dept ground out one of the nine stumps. Eight remain. Still I was encouraged (and a bit surprised) to see the crew out doing this work on a Saturday morning. Perhaps today was just a test to see how long each might take? Also they’ll need to ban on-street parking in the remaining areas to get their equipment into place.

Above, getting the grinder into position required blocking the crosswalk for a few moments.

By 10:30am one offending stump was gone.

The crew cleaned up the mess and left. Hopefully this Fall we’ll see a newly planted tree in this spot and the eight others.

On a related note New York Magazine last year had an interesting article on the worth of street trees:

The standard formula says a dwelling with a tree in front is worth .88 percent more than a home without one.

That is $880 per $100K. The ability to clean the air, create shade and absorb water runoff is all part of the value. The loss of nine street trees in a distance of four blocks thus devalues the whole area.

I Walked To Lunch Today

Walking downtown is one of the things I’ve missed since returning home after my three months in the hospital following my stroke on Feb 1st.  The electric wheelchair is great but there is just something different about getting somewhere only using your own power.  Walking & bicycling are the two ways to enjoy this great feeling and up to now both had been taken away from me.

I’d been practicing walking around the block in the evenings but today I walked the farthest I have since my stroke, roughly 4/10ths of a mile to a luncheon at Lucas Park Grille.

That fraction under a half mile took me 40 minutes.  Ditto for the walk back. Getting back my urban life of walking, bicycling and scooting is a great motivator.    Despite the heat and the slowness of my pace it felt great to walk to a destination.  Next time perhaps Bridge & Tunnel Pizza at Tucker?  After that dinner at Mosaic or Kitchen K, both at 10th & Washington Ave.

Washington Ave Suffering From Deferred Maintenance

When the rebuilt Washington Avenue (Tucker to 18th) reopened around 2003 after a $20+ million make over everyone was excited. Initial meetings were held in 1999 and the project took a long time to complete. It was a major project, reducing the street from four travel lanes to just two so that wider sidewalks could be accommodated.

The street has been done for not even a decade and it is already looking a bit ragged. The main issue is the absence of so many street trees.  Nine out of 41 are missing between 14th and 18th:

None of the trees look like they’ve been freshly cut down.

The limb above is being held up by Christmas lights.

This poor tree on 13th is barely holding on.

The two blocks West of Tucker have a zipper motif to reflect the area’s past use as a garment district.  I was never a fan of such motifs but hey, whatever.  Above is part of the design in the center of the street.

But step just to the West and you see a spot where the stone pieces are missing and the whole filled in with asphalt.

Another car length West and again we have missing stones patched with asphalt.

The problem here is funding sources.  We can find federal money for big capital improvement projects but not for ongoing maintenance.  So where should the money come from?  The Alderman’s allocation?  Too bad we don’t have some taxing entity for improving the downtown community.  Oh wait, we do — the downtown Community Improvement District (CID) that is administered by the Downtown St Louis Partnership. From the CID page:

The Community Improvement District provides new and enhanced improvements and activities, including: maintenance, security, marketing/communications, streetscape improvements, landscaping services, economic and housing development, and special events above and beyond those currently provided by the City. 

Yes maintenance is on the list.  Well Jim you’ve got some maintaining to do.