Sidewalk Obstruction Removed After Annoying Pedestrians For 7+ Years

Last month I began going to the Downtown YMCA at the MX to workout (thanks AARP Medicare Plan). Locust would be direct, but crossing 13th in a wheelchair is awkward and construction has the sidewalk on the North closed at 10th. So I take Washington Ave East to 6th. It was there, next to the Eastbound Convention Center MetroLink station entrance, I encountered an obstacle. A wooden box with a yellow stick on top. At times I’d be meeting someone walking the other direction, one of us had to wait (usually me because of direction) while the other went by.

By my 10th visit on July 11th I’d had enough, posting the following on Twitter:

When I got home I pulled up the link on my computer — Google Street View allows you to see current views, but you can also go back to see older views. I also looked through my photos to see why I had. Below is a mix of Google Street View screenshots & my photos. First, background history. The Convention Center Metrolink Station opened on July 31, 1993 as part of our original light rail line. The Eastbound entry/exit is located on the SW corner of 6th & Washington.

Eight years earlier St. Louis Centre indoor mall opened. So opening a  transit station adjacent to a mall is a good thing. After helping to kill downtown’s sidewalks, the mall closed.

So when I posted about this on July 19th it had been an issue for over seven years. Seven years!

Either Metro or the MX developer planned something that was never going to be installed. Rather than cut the bolts off they built a wood box, then later added a yellow pole to said box to prevent people from tripping.  I know this is just one little sidewalk on a side street, but it illustrates how little concern there is for the pedestrian experience downtown — right next to a transit station.

The box & pole were still there on the morning of July 25th, but July 28th I came around the corner and saw they had been removed and the bolts cut off.

It wold’ve been cheaper if the bolts had been cut off years ago, or realize the sidewalk was too narrow in the first place and the bolts not put in there in the first place!

In the big scheme of things St. Louis still has major problems, in that context this is insignificant. To me and others who use this sidewal, it is important,  There are still hundreds of other issues I deal with just downtown. I can’t solve St. Louis’ big problems, but I’ll take on small issues one by one.

Cities in which residents & tourists have challenges as a pedestrian are not going to have bustling sidewalks. Downtown retail/restaurants can’t survive without foot traffic. St. Louis would be wise to make life easier for pedestrians all over the city — but especially around major transit.

— Steve Patterson

Sunday Poll: Will You Vote In Tuesday’s Primary?

Today’s non-scientific poll has nothing to do directly with political parties, candidates, ballot questions, etc. Instead, today’s poll is simply about voting itself.

Americans appear to be more engaged with this year’s midterm elections than they typically are. Not only do about half of registered voters report being more enthusiastic than usual about voting, up from 40% in 2014, but turnout has surged in the 31 states that already have held their congressional primaries – particularly among Democrats.

In those states, nearly 13.6 million people – or 10.1% of registered voters – have voted in Democratic primaries for the U.S. House of Representatives, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of state election returns. By this point in the 2014 midterm election cycle, fewer than 7.4 million people – or 6% of registered voters – had cast ballots in Democratic House primaries. (The same 31 states have held primaries as by this date in 2014.) (Pew Research)

Are you more engaged this year, will you be voting on Tuesday?  Here’s the official poll question:

As always, this poll will close at 8pm.

— Steve Patterson

Missouri’s Primary is Tuesday August 7th

Missouri’s primary election is next week, Tuesday. I’ve already voted absentee, hopefully you plan to vote. I covered the St. Louis ballot here, and St. Louis County here. However, last week I neglected to mention three charter amendments on every St. Louis County ballot, all are yes/no questions:

CHARTER AMENDMENT – ST. LOUIS CO. – PROPOSITION 2 
Shall the St. Louis County Charter be amended as proposed by Ordinance No. 27,057 enacted on the 29th day of May, 2018? Said charter as so amended would provide that the council may appoint an attorney, licensed to practice law in Missouri, to its executive staff, and enter into a contract with outside private counsel, who shall be an attorney licensed to practice law in Missouri.   

CHARTER AMENDMENT – ST. LOUIS CO. – PROPOSITION 3 
Shall the St. Louis County Charter be amended as proposed by Ordinance No. 27,058, enacted on the 29th day of May, 2018? Said charter as so amended would provide that the term employment as used in the County Charter, Section 2.170, shall be strictly interpreted as prescribed in state law, specifically 8 CSR 10-4.150, as that regulation existed on April 12, 2018.

CHARTER AMENDMENT – ST. LOUIS CO. – PROPOSITION 4 
Shall the Charter of St. Louis County be amended to provide for the regulation of campaign contributions, the regulation of interdepartmental fund transfers, and a website to publish certain county financial documents, as set forth in Exhibit A of Ordinance No. 27,059 on file with the St. Louis County Administrative Director and St. Louis County Board of Election Commissioners?

I’m not familiar with the issues so I’m not going to weigh in on them, just want every voter to know what to expect so they can decide how they plan to vote before Tuesday. You can begin research into these amendments at St. Louis Public Radio.

Along the line of being an informed voter, I highly recommend every Missouri voter use Missouri’s Voter Outreach Center to find the candidates & issues based on your address & party preference.

— Steve Paterson

Readers Represent a Diverse Range of Ages

Each Sunday Poll is non-scientific, so we can’t extrapolate draw any conclusions bigger than the number of responses. The recent Sunday Poll results, however, do confirm my experience over nearly 14 years.

Q: Which age group are you in?

• 19 or younger: 0 [0%]
• 20-29: 3 [8.57%]
• 30-39: 10 [28.57%]
• 40-49: 6 [17.14%]
• 50-59: 7 [20%]
• 60-69: 8 [22.86%]
• 70-79: 1 [2.86%]
• 80 or olde: 0 [0%]
• Prefer not to answer: 0 [0%]

Readers come from all age groups — younger and older than my 51+ years. That’s very rewarding to know.

Today is my husband’s 35th birthday. Yes, I’m 16 years & 5 months older then he is. I was driving and about to enter my junior year of high school when he was born. Relax, he was 29 when we met.

I’m Gen-X, he’s Gen-Y. We learn from each other, he helps keep me young(-ish). He also helps me by explaining who people are since I’m no longer clued in on musicians, actors/actresses. etc. He’s feeling old at 35, but I guess I did too. Can’t remember that far back.

My oldest brother will turn 70 in less than two years. His first grandchild, my great-niece, turned 20 last month.   I assume those of you with children & grandchildren understand this, but for those of us without kids we don’t experience them growing up daily like you do. It seemed like one day she was all about American Girl and the next she’s in college.

It seems like my husband and I spend more time watching Netflix/YouTube than watching broadcast television. So very different than just a decade ago. We both like watching React videos.  Here’s a fun one watching kids react to rotary phones.

This was all we had when I was a kid. I still remember when AT&T was broken up and we got newer phones that plugged into a wall jack rather than be hard wired. I love watching these kids try to figure out how to text on a rotary phone!

The other side of the spectrum is elders (boomers) react. My particular favorites relate to the only video hame I’ve played: Grand Theft Auto V. First the reached to the trailer, a year later they played the game.  Don’t worry, they bleeped out “expressive language.”

What’s fascinating about the above is their different reactions and views on the influence of violent video games. If you enjoyed watching the elders play GTAV, later they return to get a tattoo. visit the strip club, go to the beach, and fly a helicopter. Again, it’s PG. I want to have a beer with Catherine.

Remember we can learn from each other, so be open to the views and experiences of those who are both younger and older than you are. By all means, enjoy the package of time.

— Steve Patterson

After A Quarter Century, Still No Transit-Oriented Development At St. Louis’ Light Rail Stations

Tomorrow is an important day for transit in St. Louis. At 10am Tuesday 7/31, 2018 a new MetroLink station will open along the original segment. The original light rail alignment opened 25 years earlier on July 31, 1993.

I was 26 and a huge supporter of rail transit, but I didn’t live or work anywhere near amy of the stations. At the time I lived in Old North St. Louis, a year later I bought a 2-family in Dutchtown. I was working in Rock Hill. MO.

As a result of where I lived & worked, light rail wasn’t of any use to me. Switching jobs from Rock Hill to North St. Louis to Kirkwood didn’t change the lack of usefulness to me. However, I do recall a few times I’d catch the bud to take MetroLink to the airport for a rare trip.

It wasn’t until after moving downtown, and my February 2008 stroke a few months later, that I really began to use our public transit system on a regular basis. In the last decade I’ve traveled far more miles on MetroBus than via light rail.  Trips involving light rail almost always involve a MetroBus on one end, or both.

The St. Louis region only a little bit of heavy rail commuter lines to places like Jennings & Ferguson, Webster Groves, Kirkwood, etc. Light rail in the form of streetcars was the primary type of rail transit in the St, Louis region. A line even connoted Illinois into downtown St. Louis, coming in under Tucker Blvd.

Prior to WWII the bus began to replace streetcar lines — it was smoother and quieter than the old streetcars. The final streetcar line ended in May 1966. So when modern rail transit was being conceived in the 1980s the choices of right-of-way was limited. In 1989, as part of the work on light rail the City of St. Louis traded bridges with the Terminal Railroad Association. The TRA got ownership of the MacArthur Bridge and the city got the Eads Bridge and tunnel under downtown’s central business district.  Rail use of the Eads/tunnel ended in 1974 because then-new locomotives couldn’t navigate the bridge or tunnel. New light rail vehicles, however, would fit nicely. This was an excellent use of right-of-way and a great way to cross the Mississippi River.

An old freight corridor was acquired that would take the original alignment from downtown St. Louis through numerous municipalities in St. Louis County toward the airport. On opening day trains didn’t reach the airport terminals, it stopped at the Hanley Station. The main terminal was opened soon after. The East Terminal (#2) station came years later.

Extensions were made in St. Clair County, IL and in 2006 a Missouri extension to Shrewsbury via Clayton.

The Blue Line to Shrewsbury was costly as many residents along the alignment wanted the trains underground rather than at grade. The line was built to continue South from Shrewsbury, but nearly 12 years later that seems like a non-starter.

In the 25 years since the original line (Red) opened, and nearly 12 years since the Shrewsbury line (Blue) opened, we’ve not seen any transit-oriented development around the stations. We’ve had some transit-adjacent development, but mostly nothing. This is because smart land use planning wasn’t implemented at each station prior to construction. Development around the Maplewood station on the Blue line has been a lot of new car dealerships.

Tomorrow morning service will begin at the new CORTEX station located between Grand and Central West End (BJC). The CORTEX district tries to market itself as pedestrian-friendly. Compared to most of the St. Louis region, it’s a pedestrian’s paradise. For this pedestrian, however, it’s a typical mediocre attempt at best. Sidewalks are narrow, surface parking lots face rail line, the original CORTEX building still lacks an ADA-compliant accessible route. Ribbon cutting for the new station begins at 10am, I’ll be there, weather permitting.

The new station can be tracked from Boyle Ave on the West, or Sarah Street on the East end, though it’s closer to Boyle. Those using Boyle from the North or South will have no problems tomorrow. Same for those using Sarah from the North. As of Thursday last week, those trying to enter/exit the station from/to South Sarah will have ro use the street.

We’ve invested a lot in light rail, but we’ve not always been smart about it. We’ve not leveraged it to created dense walkable nodes around stations. Going back after the fact is proving just as hard, if not harder, than if it had been done 25 years ago.

— Steve Patterson