Tonight (9/14) hundreds (thousands?) will converge on Central Field in Forest Park for the annual Balloon Glow, a tradition the night before the Great Forest Park Balloon Race.
ABOVE: The 2011 Balloon Glow
The Balloon Glow starts at 7pm and ends around 8:30pm:
The Balloon Glow offers spectators a breathtaking view of inflated balloons lighted by their burners. Get up close and walk around the balloons. Refreshments and Food are available. The event will conclude with the PNC Bank fireworks finale display beginning at approximately 9pm.
ABOVE: Up close last year.
If you plan to attend I suggest you think about your route into the park because driving up to the event isn’t an option (a disabled drop-off location exists). Last year I took the #10 MetroBus to the Central West End MetroBus Transit Center and crossed over kingshighway into the park. Many bus routes also end up at this transit center (adjacent to the CWE MetroLink station).
ABOVE: Families making their way to Central Field along the paths last year. Click image for event map.
The “hare” balloon launches at 4:30pm on Saturday.
Whenever I pass by the designated WeCar (car sharing) parking spaces downtown (usually 10th @ Washington) I look to see if the WeCar is there or out being used. I don’t know the usage, but often the space is empty so the car is being used by a WeCar member.
ABOVE: A couple unloaded their purchases made shopping using a WeCar
Then last month I was almost home when I stopped and snaped a picture of a couple unloading a WeCar from a shopping trip. I chatted with them briefly, they really enjoy having access to a car without having to own and pay for one 24/7/365. He was going to take up their purchases while she returned the car and walked back the 4/10th of a mile — six city blocks from 10th to 16th Street. They’d like to have a WeCar further west.
The farthest west are 10th & Olive and 10th & Washington. Along Olive there are five WeCars from Broadway (5th) to 10th — one per block. I’d think at least one between Tucker (12th) and 18th would do well. Perhaps WeCar looked at their membership and realized most live east of 10th, or those living west of Tucker don’t join because the WeCars are too far away?
A WeCar representative indicated via email they have adjusted car locations over the last four years based on customer feedback. Having one car per block along Olive works well, he said, but they’ll look again further west.
I’ve offered to help find a suitable location west of Tucker. Since parking meters are tied to parking garage bonds it might get complicated but I know of space where metered parking can be added to make up for one WeCar space.
On September 15, 2009 Schnucks, the largest grocer in our region, opened a new “flagship” location:
DES PERES, Mo. – After 46 years of serving customers in its present location, Schnucks Des Peres will close at 9 p.m. on Monday, Sept. 14, and reopen at 9 a.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 15 at its new location, 12332 Manchester Road (next to West County Mall). The relocation of this landmark facility marks the beginning of a new era for the family-owned grocery company.
At 74,000 square feet, this combination food and pharmacy store is like no other Schnucks store. Schnucks Chairman and CEO Scott Schnuck explained, “We promised our Des Peres community something special and that’s just what we will deliver. Des Peres will be a flagship store in our company because of the atypical offerings it will include.” (Source: Schnucks)
Not to be outdone, the region’s 2nd biggest grocer, Dierbergs, opened a new flagship store nearby on July 31st of this year:
The supermarket, located on the south side of Manchester Road, one mile east of I-270, is a free-standing 75,000-square-foot store. It sits on approximately 6.5 acres, occupying a full city block of Des Peres. HBD Construction is the general contractor for the project.
Dierbergs submitted its proposed site plans to the city in fall 2009. With plans for three levels, including a mezzanine dining area, it was evident from the beginning that this would be a different Dierbergs. (Source: Dierbergs)
Two huge locally owned flagship grocery stores a short distance apart? This foodie had to see what each had to offer! On Saturday August 18th I caught the #30 MetroBus just two blocks from my downtown loft. At the Maplewood MetroLink station I transferred to the #57 MetroBus that goes all the way out to Wildwood. I got off at Manchester & Bopp Rd since the Dierbergs was the first location I came to arriving from the east.
Using public transit meant I was arriving as a pedestrian, not a motorist. Of course, no downtown resident is going to go all the way out to Des Peres to shop for groceries. But people living near these new stores may decide to walk, rather than drive, to shop on a nice day. This is a look at how Des Peres residents would walk to these two stores.
Dierbergs:
Located on the south side of Manchester, where Bopp Rd ends, this large building is highly visible to passing motorists.
ABOVE: View of the new Dierbergs as seen from southbound Bopp Rd at Manchester Rd. ADA ramps, crosswalks, and pedestrian signals were all replaced as a part of this project.ABOVE: Like the Target in south city, the Dierbergs has parking under the building. Pedestrians have the option to enter at this point.ABOVE: Unfortunately for a first-time visitor it’s unclear where the entrance is located and no protected pedestrian path is provided.ABOVE: Back outside, those approaching from the east will cross an auto entrance, but walk signals are provided.ABOVE: For those who don’t wish to enter via the lower level parking they can continue west to the main entrance. Curvy sidewalks are annoying but I’m glad it wasn’t up next to Manchester Rd.ABOVE: A walk takes you from the Manchester Rd sidewalk to the main entrance, which faces the parking lot to the west.ABOVE: The western boundary of the site is Lindeman Rd. Those persons living directly to the south also have a sidewalk to get them to the store.ABOVE: Unfortunately the crossing distance near the entry is wide and a ramp wasn’t provided right away. This is the biggest pedestrian access error they made.ABOVE: View of the produce section from the upper level mezzanine.
This Dierbergs is a big box geared toward the driving public but they recognized the need to provide access for pedestrians from all possible directions. A neighbor might send their 8 year old for a loaf of bread or an 80 year old neighbor might want to do their shopping and stay fit.
Let’s head west on Manchester now to check out the Schnucks flagship store.
Schnucks:
Part of a new shopping center called Des Peres Corners on the southeast corner of Manchester & Ballas Rd (map).
ABOVE: Getting close to Ballas Rd so it must be close. Here’s a MetroBus stop, great for low-income service workers that can’t afford private transportation. Sidewalks are new and friendly considering they’re next to busy Manchester Rd.ABOVE: At the eastern edge is a one-way auto driveway but no pedestrian access.ABOVE: A little further west is the main entrance to the Des Peres Corners shopping center that contains the new flagship Schnucks.ABOVE: The Des Peres Corners main entry but no access for pedestrians. I’ll keep looking.ABOVE: Des Peres Corners contains a couple of buildings besides the Schnucks, each with multiple tenants. So close but I’m not seeing a way to the businesses from the public sidewalk.ABOVE: Without any luck off Manchester I turned south along Ballas Rd to try that side.ABOVE: Just past the first building I can see the second building, but no pedestrian access.ABOVE: So I continued south along Ballas to what I assumed was the last opportunity for pedestrian access.ABOVE: At the intersection I can see the public sidewalk continue to the south, providing a way for all those residents to walk to the store, if there’s a way to do so.ABOVE: Oh good, I knew there had to be at least one way to enter this large site as a pedestrian!ABOVE: But this is as far as I was able to get. An able-bodied person could find their way to the Schnucks but I couldn’t go any further.ABOVE: By now I was ready for lunch but I couldn’t even do that at any of the places at Des Peres Commons. I crossed Ballas and had a nice lunch at West County Mall.
Final Thoughts:
These new “flagship” grocery stores are world’s apart when it comes to pedestrian access. Dierbergs is still largely auto-centric but it goes beyond the minimums required by the American’s with Disabilities Act of 1990. Those who planned the Dierbergs clearly made a decision in their process to provide a way for pedestrians to reach their store. These pedestrians include employees arriving for work on MetroBus, neighbors walking from nearby homes as well as residents of nearby suburbs also arriving on MetroBus. I’d give it a B+/A-
The Schnucks at Des Peres Corners is a total failure from a pedestrian perspective, a big F. Schnucks/Des Peres Corners makes no attempt to provide access to those from outside the development or even internally from one building to the next. The civil engineers responsible need to have their licensees taken away. They may know parking lot drainage and requirements for retaining walls but that are incompetent when it comes to pedestrians and the ADA. I hope someone with legal standing takes Schnucks and the developer to court to force them to come back and correct their mistakes — also known as a violation of my civil rights as a disabled person.
Only after I got back home did I see that my friend Herbie Markwort pointed out the flaws at Des Peres Commons in July 2009, prior to Schnucks opening:
A quick look around the site, however, reveals that no thought was given to accommodating pedestrians. (Gateway Streets)
It’s appalling that such a bad development can get municipal approval and bank financing. Loughborough Commons doesn’t look quite so bad now.
If you live in Des Peres please don’t patronize Des Peres Corners until they’ve retrofitted the site with internal pedestrian connections as well as access from both Manchester & Ballas.
ABOVE: The Normal IL Amtrak station is the “fourth busiest Amtrak station in the Midwest behind Chicago, Milwaukee, and St. Louis, and the station served more passengers per train than St. Louis.” Click the image for the source from Wikipedia
Passenger rail service, Amtrak, is a topic in the 2012 elections. Republican candidates vow to remove federal funding from Amtrak as ridership is increasing and stimulus funding is updating infrastructure. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 has invested billions in our national railroad infrastructure, working toward improved rail service for passengers and transporting goods.
Between New York and Washington, Amtrak said, 75 percent of travelers go by train, a huge share that has been building steadily since the Acela was introduced in 2000 and airport security was tightened after 2001. Before that, Amtrak had just over a third of the business between New York and Washington.
In the same period, Amtrak said, its market share between New York and Boston grew to 54 percent from 20 percent.
Nationally, Amtrak ridership is at a record 30 million people; the Northeast accounts for more than a third of that and is virtually the only portion of Amtrak’s system that makes money. (Frustrations of Air Travel Push Passengers to Amtrak)
I’ve taken numerous trips via Amtrak in the last few years and think it’s a great way to travel. No form of transit is without subsidy, we subsidize all other forms of travel.
Which brings us to the poll question this week: is passenger rail service important to America’s future? The poll is located in the right sidebar.
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