March 17, 1978: Board of Aldermen Approve Downtown Shopping Mall Bills

In the 1970s civic leaders were busy destroying large swaths of downtown in order to retain/attract workers/employers & residents.  In 1977 the Cervantes Convention Center opened with largely blank exterior walls and occupying 4 formerly separate city blocks.

The following Spring, 36 years ago today, they continued in the same direction advocated by our first planner Harland Bartholomew decades earlier:

The St. Louis Board of Aldermen approved three bills that would set the stage to develop a proposed downtown shopping mall, with the only further step being the acquisition of federal funding. The headquarters of Stx, Baer, & Fuller, which would become Dillard’s just months before the mall’s completion, and Famous-Barr existed with one block separating them between Washington and Locust at 6th Street. The goal was to create an enclosed, urban shopping mall with these two companies as anchors, and the estimated budget was nearly $150 million. St. Louis Centre opened in 1985 as the largest shopping mall in America. It had over 150 stores and 20 restaurants, and was initially a great success. Challenges appeared in the 1990s however, as the Westroads Shopping Center was redeveloped into the St. Louis Galleria and stores began closing. St. Louis Centre closed in 2006, and since then has been redeveloped into a 750-car parking garage and retail center. (STL250 on Facebook)

Seven years later the internally-focused mall opened. The pedestrian realm in St. Louis was officially dead.

In the 1970s big indoor shopping malls were all the rage. We know now in an urban setting, like a central business district, turning blank exterior walls to the sidewalk and putting all retail activity indoors out of view to people passing by is a formula for disaster. In hindsight, it’s obvious. At the time few realized the magnitude of the mistake.

When the Cervantes Convention Center was expanded a block to the south in the early 1990s it was given a new more inviting facade, controversial at the time. St. Louis Centre was converted into a large parking garage in this decade, with retail spaces facing outward to the sidewalk. Slowly we’re relearning that a CBD can’t appeal to the suburban motorist. The urban core of any region should distinguish itself from the suburbs.

Suburbia can’t match old urban neighborhoods, usually failing when it tries. Conversely, older urban areas fail when trying to be like new suburbs. Most people chose suburbia, I get that. In the St. Louis region we have plenty of suburbia for those who prefer it, we need to double-down on making the City of St. Louis the pedestrian-froendly urban environment preferred by the rest of us. These can co-exist in the same region. Unfortunately, we’ve gotten to the point of having so little good urban area that those seeking an urban life have had no other choice but to leave the region.

A few urban block here and there won’t support an urban life, we need a city 100% committed to the urban dweller.

— Steve Patterson

Poll: Your Ranking of On-Street Paid Parking Options

The St. Louis Treasurer’s Office is looking at new parking technology for the City of St. Louis to replace the coin-only individual meters. For the poll this week I want to get a sense of which type of physical payment machine readers prefer.

Individual meters

We’re all familiar with the individual meter, but in the 21st century they can now accept credit cards, but not bills. Paying via a mobile app means you don’t need to fiddle with the meter.

Pay-and-Display stations

With Pay-and-Display you park, walk to a station to buy your time, take the receipt back to your car and stick it inside the side window (it has a Post-It like substance to self adhere), the paid receipt is valid in the same zone until the time expires.  With this option parking space length is not defined.  Accepts coin, cash, credit cards.  Paying via a mobile app means you don’t need to take a receipt back to your car.

Pay-Per-Space stations

Pay-Per-Space eliminates the need to return to your car. You park, note the 3-4 digit space number you’re parked in, walk to the station, enter the space number, pay for time, go to your destination.  Paying via a mobile app means you can pay while looking at the space number.

Mobile apps work with all three types. In the poll this week I’ve included every combination of the above types, I’d like you to pick the answer that corresponds with the order you prefer them from 1-3, the poll is in the right sidebar.

— Steve Patterson

Raised Crosswalks Should Be Used More Often

Everyone is likely familiar with what a crosswalk looks like, ramps on each side sloping down from the sidewalk level to the street level. Ever stop to wonder why the pedestrian must come down to street level then back up to sidewalk level on the other side of the street? With the raised crosswalk it is reversed:

Raised crosswalks are marked crosswalks that are raised to act simultaneously as a speed hump. Approach markings signal to drivers that the crosswalk is raised. Crosswalk markings or contrasting crosswalk materials (pictured) show this element is also a crosswalk. As both a marked crosswalk and a traffic calming element, raised crosswalks provide a superior safety advantage to pedestrians. Raised crosswalks are most appropriate on streets with only moderate traffic (<10,000 trips/day), such as a minor collector, or a residential street with a significant conflict between pedestrians and vehicles. This type of facility is particularly effective where heavily used trails cross a road. (Streets Wiki)

This is not a crosswalk you’d use across a busy aerial, like Kingshighway. It’s great in lower traffic areas where lower speeds are desired. Several crosswalks around the new Jazz at Walter Circle senior housing in East St. Louis are raised crosswalks:

The raised crosswalk makes the pedestrian network easier to plan & construct. My guess is the construction costs are probably a wash, but with greater benefits of increased pedestrian safety.

Related to the raised crosswalk is the raised intersection, I don’t know of a local example to show you.

— Steve Patterson

One Year of Vermicomposting

When I had a yard I’d compost yard waste and occasionally, kitchen scraps. When I moved into a downtown loft with a 5×10 balcony 6+ years ago I thought my composting days were over. I knew of using worms to compost, but I’d never tried it.

One year ago today we started our worm bin — vermicomposting — indoors.

Vermicompost is the product or process of composting using various worms, usually red wigglers, white worms, and other earthworms to create a heterogeneous mixture of decomposing vegetable or food waste, bedding materials, and vermicast. Vermicast, also called worm castings, worm humus or worm manure, is the end-product of the breakdown of organic matter by an earthworm. These castings have been shown to contain reduced levels of contaminants and a higher saturation of nutrients than do organic materials before vermicomposting.

Containing water-soluble nutrients, vermicompost is an excellent, nutrient-rich organic fertilizer and soil conditioner. This process of producing vermicompost is called vermicomposting. (Wikipedia)

I was very excited to be starting the bin:

In the last year I made many mistakes; the bin got too wet, too dry, etc. I added a second bin and have finally found a balance.

Nearly every kitchen scrap gets composted. I was trying to add citrus peels but doing so threw off the PH level, even in small amounts. I’ve found other uses for lemon & orange peels, like scenting vinegar to use for cleaning.

Does this take time? Yes, but it also feels good to not put waste down the disposal or into a landfill. The castings are great for our potted plants — both indoors and those on our balcony.

— Steve Patterson

Readers: Mixed-Use Building Better Than Laclede’s Landing Park

I agree with the majority of the voters in last week’s poll, a mixed-use building would be better than a park in Laclede’s Landing!

Q: Great Rivers Greenway Bought Laclede’s Landing Property, Plans Park. Thoughts?

1. A mixed-use building would be better 53 [51.96%]
2. A park is a good idea 21 [20.59%]
3. A residential building would be better 15 [14.71%]
4. A Taco Bell with drive-thru would be better 4 [3.92%]
5. Other: 4 [3.92%]
   1. greenway along the river
   2. “Other Compatable Development” appears to leave much open to consideration.
   3. Park? Restrooms? Sounds like a great place for the homeless!
   4. It’s a nasty dirty area
6. Unsure/No Answer 3 [2.94%]
7. A parking garage would be better 2 [1.96%]

Laclede’s Landing is barely a place anymore, with so many holes in the formerly urban fabric. Between grassy blocks are harsh surface parking lots, it’s clear there needs to be a plan to infill some of these holes with new construction. It make take 20 years to happen, but the planning needs to happen now.

With such a tiny amount of land between the King & Eads bridges I think every bit should get filled in. Knowing that isn’t likely, the land closer to the south should be filled in while land to the north isn’t as critical to completing streetscapes and urban vistas.

But if Great Rivers Greenway goes ahead with this park next to the Eads Bridge, what should we call it? Eads Transit Park?

A tiny park next to a massive park that is growing in size by the size of the Arch parking garage and the width of Washington Ave is a huge mistake! This land is an opportunity to add much-needed building mass, people, activity, etc right next to a light rail station. Great Rivers Greenway can’t get into the development business but I’d think they could buy and hold for a developer. If they really have the urge to green up Laclede’s Landing they could unlock Metro’s Eads Transit Park and/or do something with the mess under the King Bridge.

Hopefully Great Rivers Greenway will reconsider, so the land adjacent to the Eads Bridge might someday see new constriction. Maybe a demonstration is needed to convince them?

— Steve Patterson