So Much To Be Thankful For

Today I will be with friends I spend every thanksgiving with, enjoying homemade food and cosmopolitans (it’s our traditional drink as we cook).

I have much to be thankful for this year:

• The increasing number of urbanists fighting to keep others (Biondi, etc) from further destroying the city, giving me hope for the future.
• Starting my 8th year blogging. My longest time at jobs has been about five years (about two longer than I should have stayed), so to still love what I’m doing after 7 years is thrilling & rewarding.
• Very thankful for my family of friends in St. Louis.
• And finally, I’m still alive! It’s been nearly four years since I had my stroke. I couldn’t get to my phone to call 911 and I was pretty sure I wasn’t going to survive. Going through that thought in your mind is life changing. The memory of that time and therapy will stay with me until the day I actually die. In the meantime, I’m going to do my best to encourage positive change in St. Louis.

– Steve Patterson

Readers Grocery Shop at Schnuck’s & Trader Joe’s

Local grocery chain Schnuck’s received the largest number of votes in the poll last week.

Q: What are the three (3) primary places where you shop for groceries?

1. Schnuck’s 116 [24.89%]
2. Trader Joe’s 47 [10.09%]
3. Big Box (Target, Walmart, etc) 42 [9.01%]
4. Shop-N-Save 37 [7.94%]
5. Farmers’ market (Soulard, Tower Grove, etc) 33 [7.08%]
6. Dierberg’s 32 [6.87%]
7. Local/small grocer (Local Harvest Grocery , Vincent’s, etc) 24 [5.15%] (DiGregario’s added from an “other” answer)
8. Aldi 26 [5.58%]
9. Culinaria 23 [4.94%]
10. Whole Foods 20 [4.29%]
11. Straub’s 14 [3%]
12. International grocer (Jay’s, etc) 12 [2.58%]
13. Drug Store (CVS, Walgreens) 8 [1.72%]
14. Other: 8 [1.72%] (see list below)
15. Food Co-op (Old North Co-op, etc) 7 [1.5%]
16. Costco 5 [1.07%]
17. N/A – I eat out 4 [0.86%]
18. Save-A-Lot 3 [0.64%]
19. Other (not listed) 3 [0.64%]
20. Convenience store (7-11, QT, etc) 2 [0.43%]
21. Mail order (Amazon, etc) 1 [0.21%]
22. Food Pantry 0 [0%]

As you can see Trader Joe’s came in second with big box stores like Target & Walmart a close third. Readership is primarily in the city of St. Louis but a fair amount is in St. Louis County, the rest of the region & Missouri.

I soon realized after the poll started I hadn’t included a “warehouse club” choice. Costco was entered by readers five times so I grouped these and put them above. The one Sam’s answer was left below:

1. Dollar General
2. Country Mart
3. Sappington Farmer’s market
4. FairShares CSA
5. Giant
6. Sappington Farmer’s Market
7. Bigger Box – Sam’s Club

These results tell me a few things about the readership and the grocery market. Readers are mostly middle class .

Reurbanizing Jefferson & Lafayette Pt 3: Getting Started

Yesterday I posted about the design problems at the vacant Foodland grocery store and adjacent parcels on the NW corner of Jefferson & Lafayette. The problems are numerous, but most boil down to a lack of planning for the circulation of pedestrian traffic.

Comments yesterday blamed failing schools and the loss of the middle class for the failure of retail at this corner. This reasoning doesn’t consider the new housing built west of Jefferson Ave in the 70s, 80s and 90s. Nor does it make sense given that other retail areas have remained stable or improved since 1984. In that period the Lafayette Square neighborhood, directly across Jefferson Ave to the east has solidified and actually gained population in the most recent census.

Poor pedestrian access (neighborhood connection) wasn’t the only the only factor in the failure but it’s one that could have been avoided and should be corrected. The city has already invested who knows how much into the area from tax incentives and the donation of land from the vacation of Eads & Texas Avenues. Now the city will be asked to contribute more money. In exchange we must fix the pedestrian  shortcomings so this retail becomes integrated into the adjacent neighborhoods in all directions.

Some have also expressed disappointment the proposal from Green Street Properties doesn’t start over from scratch. Understood, but from a sustainability perspective reusing older structures (1894 & 1984) is good if possible. Value remains in the tired vacant structures. This corner has been dehumanized incrementally since 1950 with the corner gas station to the razing of the area in the late 1970s. It’s not going to suddenly become an urban oasis, not in this economy anyway.

Solutions must account for those who will enter the site as a pedestrian, from within the usual 1/4 mile radius that most people are willing to walk. This includes those who may come from greater distances via MetroBus lines on both Jefferson & Park avenues.

In the above image I look at the many points where pedestrians might approach  this corner. The pedestrians might be customers, retail employees or both. They might be library employees from across the street or from other businesses in the area. Motorists might be middle class parents shopping before or after picking up their kids at several nearby schools or downtown workers on the way home.

A retweet of yesterday’s post mentioned a desire  for a Trader Joe’s at this location. A TJs store would be an excellent draw here. Tomorrow’s post will show the results of the poll from last week, but I’ll tell you now Trader Joe’s received the second highest vote count behind Schnuck’s. Remarkable considering how few TJ’s are in the region and the closest to the city is in Brentwood.

One thing that makes Trader Joe’s unique is the size of its stores—most locations average between 8,000 and 12,000 sq ft. In February 2008, Businessweek reported that the company has the highest sales per square foot of any grocer in the U.S.; two-and-a-half years later, Fortune magazine estimated sales to be $1,750 in merchandise per square foot, more than double the sales generated by Whole Foods. (Wikipedia)

The vacant Foodland building is over 47,000 square feet so clearly the building will need to be divided up. The large parking area to the north was required for delivery tractor-traioler rigs to be able to back into the loading dock. Hopefully the architects can find a way for 3-4 tenants to receive deliveries without cutting off pedestrians.

A St. Louis Bread Co (Panera) also seems like a good fit for this location. Highway travelers might exit I-44 for a bite, those staying in the hotel need a place to walk to for dinner. This might be a storefront space in one of the existing buildings or perhaps a freestanding structure like Panera is building now. The benefit of the latter is a new building could help fill up the massive parking area, adding some massing. However, these include a drive-thru land which could be acceptable if good pedestrian access throughout the site is created.

The area in question is designated a “Neighborhood Commercial Area”

Areas where the development of new and the rehabilitation of existing commercial uses that primarily serve adjacent neighborhoods should be encouraged. These areas include traditional commercial streets at relatively major intersections and along significant roadways where commercial uses serve multiple neighborhoods or where the development of new commercial uses serving adjacent neighborhoods is intended. Mixed use buildings with commercial at grade and a mix of uses on upper floors are an ideal type within these areas. These areas may include higher density mixed use residential and commercial and may initially include flexibility in design to allow ground floor uses to change over time e.g., ground floor space that can transition from residential to commercial use as the local demand for retail goods and services strengthens in the area.

The Foodland, Midwest Petroleum, Holiday Inn and retail building combined occupy over 8 acres, with the Foodland being nearly 6 of those. This is a substantial amount of land to create a neighborhood centric commercial district. Done well, it could draw customers from outside the immediate area just as say South Grand does.

Unfortunately the land use designations aren’t really used, it’s the zoning that matters. The land use strategy is modern and suggests what is desired.

Our zoning, however, is a relic of Harland Bartholomew’s days, as our city planner (1918-1950). It tells you what you can’t do and how much parking you need for those activities not prohibited (modern zoning outlines what is desired).The parking mandates have no basis in our current times which is why the Board of Adjustment often grants waivers for reduced parking. We need to instead set low maximum parking requirements and let developers argue why they need a waiver to provide more parking.

This area is zoned (G) Local Commercial and Office:

The purpose of the G local commercial and office district is to establish and preserve areas that accommodate a wide range of businesses catering to the personal and home needs of the general public and to provide for employment activity and service to the public which does not detract from nearby residential uses. (Ord. 59979 § 12 (part), 1986.)

You can use the link above to read the entire section but here are the types of businesses listed in the ordinance:

• A. Any use permitted in the F neighborhood commercial district;
• B. Bars and taverns;
• C. Dyeing and cleaning works;
• D. Laundries;
• E. Livery stables and riding academies;
• F. Milk distributing and bottling plants;
• G. Package liquor stores;
• H. Printing shops;
• I. Restaurants other than carry-out restaurants that operate as described in Section 26.40.026B provided that carry-out restaurants that meet the site requirements specified in Section 20.40.026B2 shall be permitted;
• J. Telephone, outdoor pay, if the proposed telephone is not located on a lot that is located contiguous with or directly across a street, alley, public or private easement from a dwelling district;
• K. Tinsmith or sheet metal shops;

That’s it, a livery and a package liquor store with a pay phone or two! How we expect to be competitive in the 21st century when our zoning dates to the early 20th century is beyond me. Bartholomew, who got us down this path was born in 1889! I’m surprised our city still has over 300,000 people given our antiquated zoning.

This entire area is within the 6th ward.

– Steve Patterson

Reurbanizing Jefferson & Lafayette Pt 2: Foodland

The long-vacant Foodland grocery store (1601-45 S. Jefferson) was in the news recently:

Developer Green Street Properties has filed plans with the City of St. Louis to rehab the empty 47,000 supermarket, and hopes to fill it with a smaller grocery store and other retailers. It has a contract to buy the building and hopes to start a $6.6 million first phase in the spring, with a second phase potentially to come later.

The store – just across Jefferson Ave. from Lafayette Square – has sat empty since 2004, when Foodland closed after failing to get neighborhood support for a liquor license. It had previously been a National store. Much of the surrounding neighborhood is now considered a “food desert” by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, for lack of grocery options. (STLtoday)

On Saturday I posted about the SE corner of Jefferson & Lafayette, how a 2007 residential & retail building is a starting point for reurbanizing this intersection. This grocery store was occupied for only 20 years (1984-2004) before being vacated 7 years ago. That’s a rather sad statement but not really surprising given how out of context it is.

This post will critique of 70s & 80s planning theory that created the existing problems. Part 3 tomorrow will look at possible solutions.

Street Grid:

The short-block walkable street grid was always decimated by development. Street closures are still common practice in St. Louis.

Eads Ave east of California Ave was removed, Ohio Ave was removed from St. Vincent Ave to Henrietta Pl and Texas Ave became lost in a sea of parking. Cul-de-sacs were created for new housing built in 1979, the same year the television series Knots Landing premiered (set on a California cul-de-sac). Yes, Eads Park was created from the replatting of the land but that doesn’t justify the disruption in the grid — the connectedness of the area.

Isolation:

The nearby houses were only 5 years old when this grocery store opened as a National in 1984. Still, it wasn’t designed to be walked to from houses that could see the store from their windows. The single access point from Jefferson Ave is an auto drive where Eads Ave used to be located. St. Louis’ population in 1980 was 452,801 and in 1990 it was 396,685 — both significantly greater than our 2010 count of 319,294.

Today those remaining still walk to the store, but now their choices are limited to gas station convenience stores.

These last two guys cut by the side of the store to go through an opening in the fence to reach the park and residences beyond.

Lack of Connection within the development

In addition to deliberately not connecting to the city beyond the boundaries of the property even new construction isn’t connected to each other, everyone is expected to drive from place to place.

In 1991 a small retail building was built on a separate parcel to the north of the grocery (far left above). The auto access drive, once a public street, is part of the grocery property. The parcel with the retail building was likely  granted an easement to use the drive for auto access. Developed after the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), it has no concern for pedestrians entering from Jefferson or even the adjacent grocery store. Plenty of auto parking though.

Reaching the site

The problems aren’t limited to the site.

Perhaps the attitude was “why bother?” since no pedestrian route exits to the front of the buildings. It’s no surprise to me this has failed as a retail draw, urban customers must be able to reach the stores by foot as well as car.

Corner Gas Station:

The NW corner of Jefferson & Lafayette has had a gas station since  1950. The building has changed but the issues have been the same for more than six decades.

The pedestrian space is lost, overtaken by autos. A public library branch is across Lafayette Ave.,  in the background. Let’s get around to Lafayette Ave, the south edge of the area.

In 1998 a Holiday Inn Express was built on a separate parcel south of the still-open grocery store.

I was barely able to get past the brick columns and I had to move a bench on the sidewalk under the canopy to be able to head toward the grocery store.

I reviewed Historic Aerials from 1958, 1971, 1998 and later for this post.  Search for 1601 S. Jefferson 63104 to view for yourself. Tomorrow I will offer my thoughts on how Green Street Properties together with adjacent property owners and the city can connect the retail to the surroundings.

– Steve Patterson

Poll: Should MoDOT Make I-70 A Toll Road To Raise Funds?

Missouri doesn’t allow toll roads but MoDOT wants to change that.

Under the scenario, MoDOT would contract with a private firm to rebuild I-70 and collect tolls as specified in the contract. In the existing model, no tolls would be collected in the St. Louis and Kansas City metropolitan areas.

State lawmakers briefed about the concept estimate about 50 percent of Missourians would support a toll project. (Source)

Another option is increasing the state fuel tax 0.15¢ per gallon.

In the 21+ years I’ve lived in St. Louis I’ve made 15-20 round trip drives to Oklahoma City, paying tolls to drive on I-44. My trip two weeks ago cost me $16 in tolls. I bought gas twice in Oklahoma on this trip but paid nowhere near $16 in Oklahoma gas taxes. I used the road and, over the years, have paid for said use to the tune of about $200.

From a 2002 MoDOT study on tolls:

The Oklahoma Turnpike Authority (OTA) was established in 1947 to construct, operate and maintain the Turner Turnpike. In 1954, OTA’s responsibility was expanded to include the construction of additional turnpikes. In 1999, the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority changed its name to the Oklahoma Transportation Authority. Today there are 566 miles of toll roads in Oklahoma. The Oklahoma Transportation Authority board consists of seven members including the Governor and one from each of the six congressional districts. They are appointed by the Governor and approved by the State Senate.

Operation of the Oklahoma turnpike system is financed by toll and concessionaire rentals. The average toll rate for passenger cars is 4.1 cents per mile and 10.6 cents per mile for commercial vehicles. The revenues generated by tolls and concessionaire rentals pays for all of the operation, maintenance, and construction costs of the Turnpike. The Operating Revenues in 2000 were $132.8 million of which $14.2 went to toll collections and $35.6 million went to debt service. PIKEPASS is the electronic toll system for the turnpike. PIKEPASS users comprise 49 percent of the total vehicle traffic.

The Oklahoma system of toll collection has changed since I first moved to St. Louis in 1990. At that time you took a ticket to show where you entered the toll road and paid when you exited. Now they have two big toll plazas along I-44, one between the Missouri state line and Tulsa and the second between Tulsa and Oklahoma City.

If you enter from Missouri but exit before the toll plaza then you pay at the exit. These are unmanned booth with bill changers so drivers can get coin to deposit into the bin. If you exit after the toll plaza but before the end of that section you present your receipt to the person who refunds you the difference. An electronic device (PIKEPASS) is available so you don’t have to stop, you just keep on driving and it debits and credits your pre-paid account.

Since I only do the drive once a year I’ve never bothered getting the device, even though I’d save money each trip (PIKEPASS users get a discount on tolls). A round trip in a semi-truck costs $80 ($20 per stop). I noticed many trucks in the toll plaza during my four stops to pay. MoDOT seems to think everyone will use an electronic device, which just isn’t true based on my experience.MoDOT’s 2002 report indicates 49% pay electronically. Obviously this may be different nine years later.

On the positive side, I-44 in Oklahoma is very well maintained and self sufficient when you include federal transportation funds. The toll booths also create jobs in rural areas.

Right now Missouri is in the bottom group of states when it comes to gas taxes. MoDOT’s 15¢ per gallon alternative would put us near the top — paid by everyone in the state. Clearly they are trying to get the Missouri legislature to allow them to toll I-70. Regardless of tolls on I-70 I think our gas taxes should be increased 3-5 cents per gallon to put us into the average for the surrounding states.

The question of tolling I-70 is the poll topic this week. You can vote in the right sidebar and add comments below.

– Steve Patterson