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Raising Urban Kids

One of the great things about downtown’s Citygarden is I almost always seen someone I know when I pass through.

ABOVE: A friend plays ball with his young son as another friend watches.

Last Sunday was no exception, I stopped to talk to two friends and the young son of one friend. It seems like just last week when his son was in a tiny infant, now he’s playing ball. How’d that happen so quick? Downtown has a growing number of young kids being raised in the region’s most urban area. As you might expect schools and education is a concern for these parents. Rather than immediately flee the suburbs or exurbs a growing number of urban parents expect they can continue the walkable urban lifestyle they love while ensuring their kids get a good education as well as being exposed to a broad range of people.

These kids won’t be sheltered, they’ll know how to walk to the store alone when their older, they won’t be shocked when their out with friends in college and they spot a homeless person. The idea of a cleanup project won’t be a foreign concept either.

– Steve Patterson

 

St. Louis to Study Removal of Elevated Highway

Some potentially good news reported in the Post-Dispatch on Wednesday:

“…now the city is poised to fund a study of how knocking down the elevated section of 70 might work. Last week, the St. Louis Development Corp. issued a request for proposals for a $90,000 “downtown multi-modal access study.” It focuses on ways to improve connections between downtown and the riverfront.” (STLtoday.com) 

This is encouraging to see the city taking this step to study the issue. While I want to see easier connections to the Arch grounds at multiple points it’s the elevated highway between Laclede’s Landing and the Edward Jones Dome and the area billed as The Bottle District that’s a bigger block to development and connectedness.

ABOVE: Elevated highway in plain view of driving into St. Louis on the Eads Bridge

Way back in August 2005, in a post about the then-proposed Mississippi River Bridge, I ended with a somewhat radical idea — replace the highway through downtown with a boulevard:

So imagine the existing I-70 removed from the PSB to the new bridge (North of Laclede’s Landing & the proposed Bottle District). In its place a wide and grand boulevard lined with trees and shops. The adjacent street grid is reconnected at every block. Pedestrians can easily cross the boulevard not only at the Arch but anywhere along the distance between the bridges. Eads Bridge and the King Bridge both land cars onto the boulevard and into then dispersed into the street grid. The money it would take to cover I-70 for 3 blocks in front of the Arch can go much further not trying to cover an interstate highway. Joining the riverfront and Laclede’s Landing to the rest of downtown will naturally draw people down Washington Avenue to the riverfront. In one bold decision we can take back our connection to the river that shaped our city. The decision must be made now. The interchange for the new bridge is being designed now — we’ve only got one chance to get it right. Similarly, the lid project in front of the Arch could shift to a removed I-70 and connecting boulevard design before we are too far along the current path. (view full post)

Of course the bridge is under construction and the lid is proposed to cover part of the highway west of the Arch. Still there is a way to remove the elevated highway and have a boulevard go under the lid once finished. How many people want to walk directly from Busch Stadium to the south end of the Arch grounds? Just a fraction of the number that currently navigate under I-70 going from our convention center to Laclede’s Landing.

ABOVE: Looking east under I-70
ABOVE: Hardly quality urban space, not what visitors should experience when visiting St. Louis

I’ve spent quite a bit of my time around the elevated highway and it’s miserable space. A high volume roadway/boulevard can move the traffic but also be much more hospitable to pedestrians. For more information on the subject see the grassroots group City to River.

– Steve Patterson

 

The Future of 18th & Washington Ave

Last week I went to the MetroBus stop on the NE corner of 18th & Washington Ave to catch the #97 Delmar bus westbound. The normally full parking lot behind the bus shelter was empty except for a for lease/sale sign.

ABOVE: Lot is listed by L3 Corporation but it's not listed on their website (click to view)

The lot is owned by a couple in Glencoe Missouri but had been leased by Consumers Program Inc, aka CPI, located across the street.

ABOVE: CPI is located at 1706 Washington Ave in a structure built in 1912

Presumably CPI didn’t renew the lease to save money, having employees use one of the three parking lots they own. One is city block #831 bounded by Washington, 16th, St. Charles St and 17th — this is the block directly east of their building. This block once was occupied fully by a building that was part of Brown Shoe.

ABOVE: Entire block of surface parking east of CPI's building shown in the background

CPI’s other two lots occupy two more corners at 18th & Washington — the SE & NW.

ABOVE: The SE corner held the 10-story Marquette Hotel until it was razed in 1988
ABOVE: CPI's largest lot occupies city block 2002 bounded by Washington, 19th, Lucas and 18th

Three of the four corners are surface parking, the fourth corner (SW) is occupied by Mulligan Printing.

ABOVE: SW corner of 18th & Washington is the only one left with a building, occupied by Mulligan Printing

Mulligan Printing’s 5-story building was built in 1928. The closed up windows at the street level are unfortunate but at least the building massing is good — far better than a surface parking lot.

What is the future of this intersection? Will it always be mostly surface parking lots? The planner in me would like to see form based codes to replace our old use-based codes. Instead of detailed regulations depending upon the original intended use of any new construction, a form-based code would require a minimum height, the building pushed out to the property line, windows and doors at sidewalk level, etc. The architectural style, just like the use inside, of any new construction is of little concern me.

In the future I’d like to see the current situation reversed with buildings on three corners and only one corner with surface parking. It might take 40 years to happen but it’ll never happen under our current zoning.

– Steve Patterson

 

Reactivating 7th Street

February 27, 2012 Downtown, Featured, Planning & Design, Retail Comments Off on Reactivating 7th Street

The short stretch of 7th Street from Washington Ave north to Convention Plaza (formerly Delmar) has been a dead zone for years. That’s changing thanks to the old Dillard’s building being occupied by a hotel, apartments and soon several street-level uses facing Washington Ave.

ABOVE: Looking north on 7th Street from Washington Ave,side of America's Center convention center (left), Edward Jones Dome (center, background), former Dillard's Dept Store (right)

Both the Embassy Suites Hotel and Laurel Apartments face 7th Street, creating daily activity not seen in decades. The hotel’s 212 guest suites and the 205 apartments can potentially put a lot of feet on the sidewalks in the area, but only if their are places to walk to.

ABOVE: Looking south on 7th Street toward Washington Ave

Parking isn’t allowed on 7th which then looks too wide and empty. However, people are parking on the street at times and the hotel valet is using part of the space. But once you remove the parked cars the excessively wide street looks abandoned.

ABOVE: Without parked cars the street is clearly too wide

In terms of active facades the east side of the street is good with the hotel and apartment entrances & visible lobbies.  The west side of 7th is totally dead though.

ABOVE: Steps to nowhere, the entrance to the MetroRide store faces Washington Ave, not 7th
ABOVE: View of 7th Street from inside the MetroRide store (click image for website)
ABOVE: Marketing windows, but no active doorways, exist along the east side of 7th Street to create activity and the perception of safety.
ABOVE: View of side of convention center from across 7th Street

The architects did a good job breaking up this facade and trying to make it look hospitable but it’s nothing more than a gussied up blank wall, lipstick on a pig.

Are we just stuck with one side of 7th Street remaining dead forever? I don’t think so.

ABOVE: The space along 7th is back space and employee hallway

We need the Convention & Visitors Commission to look at activating the 7th Street facade of America’s Center. From a retail perspective the MetroRide store is a total dud occupying what should be a very active corner between the convention center and a MetroLink station.

– Steve Patterson

 

Downtown’s First Electric Vehicle Charging Station

Last month the first electric vehicle charging station opened in downtown St. Louis:

Microgrid Energy, based in Clayton, Missouri, unveiled its second charging station at its second hotel in less than a year, Thursday morning. Microgrid Energy spent a rainy Thursday morning celebrating the installation of the second station where customers can pay to charge their electric volt (or EV) cars.

The first was at the Moonrise on Delmar less than a year ago. (KPLR)

Earlier in the week I stopped by and saw it was being used.

ABOVE: Two Chevy Volts being charged on Lucas Ave just east of 7th

From the company’s website:

Microgrid is helping lead the transition to Electric Vehicles (EVs). An extensive shift in infrastructure from gas stations to EV Charging Stations is required to fulfill the potential that EVs hold. This transition will go hand in hand with the transition to locally generated energy from renewable sources. EVs result in lower carbon emissions, but when coupled with onsite solar power, the carbon footprint can go to zero. (Source: Microgrid)

As a city and country we are a long way from mass consumer adoption of electric vehicles, but early adopters will pave the way:

The climate will get kinder for electric cars.

 A prolonged spike in oil prices may send consumers scrambling toward electric. Wider adoption rates should result in lower battery and car prices down the line.

 We’re just not there yet. (Daily Finance: 3 Reasons Why You’re Not Buying an Electric Car)

This charging station is next to the former downtownDillard’s, now home to the Laurel Apartments (an advertiser here) and Embassy Suites Hotel.

– Steve Patterson

 

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