Not A Postcard View

Many seek out that photo of St. Louis that could be used to promote the city to tourists, businesses and conventions. A blue sky and Busch Stadium might even be in such a pic. The following has both but it wouldn’t be used by civic boosters.

Double deck highway (I-64/hwy 40), on/off ramps, surface parking just aren’t very appealing. This image is just as honest of a representation of downtown St. Louis, maybe more so, than that perfect shot of the Kiener Plaza fountain with the Old Courthouse & Arch in the background.

I point this out not to put the city down but to show we have many unpleasant areas that with planning and vision can be made less ugly over time.

— Steve Patterson

Dumpsters Block Pine Street Sidewalk At The Park Pacific

I’ve not had much reason to walk along the south side of the Park Pacific building but that changed on Monday when three new eateries opened for business: Smoothie King, Alumni St. Louis, & Flying Cow Frozen Yogurt.

Very handy having these three so close to my loft! Unfortunately a problem exists reaching all three. You see, the roll out dumpsters for Park Pacific are frequently left out blocking the sidewalk along Pine. Depending upon where they are it’s ether a pain in the butt, or impossible, to pass by in a wheelchair. The able-bodied are forced into the street as well.

The dumpsters have a designated space between the Park Pacific and adjacent parking garage, yet someone is just leaving the out where the block the sidewalk. Hopefully this won’t continue!

— Steve Patterson

Readers Overwhelmingly Opposed To Proposed Utility Surcharge

Readers very clearly oppose bills in the Missouri senate & house that would permit a utility surcharge, read specifics in the prior post. Here are the results of the poll:

Q: Support or oppose proposed electric utility infrastructure surcharge?

1. Oppose 48 [77.42%]
2. Support 10 [16.13%]
3. Unsure/no opinion 3 [4.84%]
4. Other: 1 [1.61%] – “support only if used for utility network, not plants”

You can lookup your Missouri state legislators here to let them know how you feel.

– Steve Patterson

Don’t Drive Your Scooter On The Sidewalk Like The McDonalds GoodMorningSTL Commercial

If you watch local television no doubt you’ve seen a McDonald’s “Good Morning St. Louis” commercial filmed in the Delmar Loop, from a January RFT Gut Check report:

Gut Check spotted a film crew and a guy on a moped wearing a McDonald’s jacket in front of Chuck Berry Plaza this morning, and we just hoofed it down the block from Gut Check International Headquarters to confirm that McDonald’s is indeed shooting a TV commercial at the University City, um, landmark.

At 9 a.m., a crew set up a limited McDonald’s breakfast menu and a call box like the kind used to place orders in drive-throughs. When inquisitive pedestrians walk by and decide to try to order from the seemingly random speaker, much to their surprise (or maybe not, given that there are camera crews all over), a guy rides up on the aforementioned moped to deliver fresh, hot McDonald’s food to the person who placed the order. (RFT)

Each time I see the commercial I keep thinking it’s getting people okay with the idea of driving a motor scooter on the public sidewalk — a very bad idea. Illegal too.

Hopefully McDonald’s obtained permits to close the sidewalk during filming but I’m disappointed it shows an illegal act.

On the positive side I do like they’re doing locally-focused commercials.

— Steve Patterson

Wayfinding In St. Louis

The St. Louis Convention & Visitors Commission has been rolling out a new wayfinding system in the region for a couple of years now. From a January 2011 Post-Dispatch editorial:

The St. Louis Convention and Visitors Commission has launched a $2.9 million initiative to design, build and install an attractive and comprehensive system of street, road and highway signs. The idea is to direct tourists and residents to a rich array of sites and attractions in the city of St. Louis and St. Louis County.

The project has been in the works since 2008. So far, about 300 signs — highway, street-level and pedestrian — have been installed or are slated for installation. The signs aren’t cheap: Fabricating and installing a large highway “guide” sign costs more than $20,000. (stltoday.com)

For example:

Lately these have begun to turn up downtown.

Until the other day all the signs I’d seen have been like the ones shown above, or larger highway exit signs. Them I finally spotted, at Citygarden, a sign to help pedestrians downtown.

But it was placed in the middle of a planter bed so I wasn’t able to get close enough to evaluate its effectiveness. Great planning!

I get asked directions often and I enjoy helping others. Two common requests are for places very close to my loft: the Social Security office at  717 N 16th St and City Museum across the street at 701 N 15th St. The other day at 10th & Washington a woman asked where to find the “landmark Arch.” I pointed east on Washington Ave.  When she asked if she should then turn right I told her she’d see it.

The following describes the process that took place to establish the system:

The Missouri Department of Transportation, along with the CVC, St. Louis City, Laumier Place, Grand Center and Forest Park funded the research needed to implement the program. Three “attraction corridors” were created in determining the locations of the signs. The first corridor is Broadway, second is Grand, and third is Kingshighway, with all three connecting major attractions and districts in the city. The entire program, including the research to implement the program cost 1.5 million dollars. CVC did apply for grants but was not successful in receiving any funding. The CVC worked with MODOT to identify those organizations that would provide funding for the wayfinding program. An important goal of the program for MODOT was to reduce sign clutter on the interstates in order to comply with Federal Highway standards. (continue at Cherokee Street News)

Hopefully I’ll be able to locate another pedestrian-oriented wayfinding map to evaluate. I don’t have a clear picture of the overall system and the CVC website wasn’t helpful.

Have you seen any of these new wayfinding signs? If so, what do you think?

— Steve Patterson