Poll: readers planned to stay home for New Year’s Eve

Despite the annual First Night event in Grand Center, I stayed at home New Years Eve.  If I were more mobile and it wasn’t so cold out I might have joined the party.  The question about people’s plans for New Years Eve was the poll question last week:

Q: New Year’s Eve I will celebrate:

• at my home: 28 (33%)
• at the home of family/friends: 28 (33%)
• at a local business in my region: 9 (11%)
• at a local event in my region: 9 (11%)
• unsure/still deciding/not celebrating: 6 (7%)
• in a region other than my own: 5 (6%)

It was a soft question to end out 2009 and the response was lower than normal. Two-thirds were going to be at home – theirs or that of others. I imagine most of us at home watched the ball drop in Times Square.  Such events are held in urban spaces.  You’d never see a New Years Eve celebration in a Home Depot parking lot.   People just expect celebrations (parades, festivals, etc) to take place in urban settings.

As Grand Center gets more restaurant venues, hotels and residential housing this area and the First Night event should become more and more important.  Maybe this coming NYE won’t be as cold?

– Steve Patterson

Projects getting done despite the economy

We all know the economy crashed.  There are signs of recovery but with the unemployment rate at 10% on average (it is up to three times higher for some population segments), a recovery is a long way off.  I know many architects that are either unemployed or with very little work.  If they are not working now that means the construction industry won’t be working in 6 months.

Despite the stark realities of 2009, St. Louis did see some projects move forward.  Presumably most of these had financing in place prior to the financial meltdown.

I present four of many:

Hopefully we will see many more small-scale re-use projects such as these begin in 2010.  Financing for projects the size of these is a major challenge but nothing like a project the size of say Ballpark Village or the long-stalled Bottle District.  One building at a time is how you rejuvenate a city.  That can be through renovation or new construction.  I’d much rather numerous small projects spread out across the city than a few big projects concentrated downtown.

– Steve Patterson

Access to the Coronado

The Coronado is known to many of you.  The building sat vacant for many years until it was renovated into residences, offices and restaurants.  Located across from Saint Louis University at Lindell and Spring (map) it is in the center of the action.

Last month I went to the Coronado to try the new Chuy Arzola’s.  I couldn’t find on-street parking close enough for me so I drove around back to the parking garage.

The walk wasn’t short but it was shorter than anything I could have found on the street.  Part of the garage is reserved for building residents (right).  Guests drive in on a lower level and take the elevator to reach the walkway you see here.  I was walking but to a wheelchair user it is completely accessible.  Well, at least this part is.

Hmm, that curb just blows the accessibility.   I’m able to set up/down curbs but I like accessible routes because not having a curb to deal with reduces my risk of falling.  People using wheelchairs & mobility scooters are out of luck.  People using a walker may have a hard time stepping up.  There may have been a ramp somewhere in the vicinity but I didn’t see it.

The lesson here is you can have many items that are compliant but if the end to end route has one curb all the other efforts don’t really matter.

– Steve Patterson

Sidewalks on Delmar still unusable

Four years ago today Elizabeth Bansen was struck and killed by an SUV as she returned home from the market two blocks East of her apartment.  Although the accident occurred around 6pm driver didn’t see Bansen in her wheelchair on the street.  On December 6th 2007 I posted on the jury finding the city negligent in Bansen’s death since the sidewalks were not passable.  The accessibility of sidewalks has long been a passion of mine. From that post:

Besides the broken sidewalk in front of the existing business on the street, much of the sidewalk area on this block is completely impassable to a person in a wheelchair.

I did that post nearly two months prior to the massive stroke that disabled me.  Since I’ve traveled many miles using an electric wheelchair myself.  My first two and a half months home from the hospital I couldn’t yet drive so, like many, the wheelchair was my only means of independence.

In 2007 Director of Streets Todd Waelterman and City Attorney Patti Hageman either weren’t sure if the sidewalks were fixed or thought they were.  I showed they were not.   Yesterday I drove over to see the couple of blocks along Delmar to see if the sidewalks between the housing and the market were corrected.  Sadly, the situation is exactly like I found it in December 2007.

Heading West from the market at Jefferson toward the housing the first block is fine.  But when you reach Beaumont you cease to have a sidewalk.  The city claims the sidewalk is the responsibility of the adjacent property owner but in recent rulings around the country the courts are determining that cities cannot push of this basic service onto the owners of abutting properties.  The owner of the building in the background, 2719 Delmar LLC, owns the entire length of this city block.

Going the other direction from the housing to the market one immediately finds a curb without a curb cut.  I know that if I approached the above low curb just right I could get on that sidewalk.  But a resident of these apartments would know the sidewalk doesn’t go through. What about taking the other side of Delmar to avoid being in the street?  The city can debate the sidewalk issue but access from the road to the sidewalk is 100% their responsibility.

On the South side of Delmar the sidewalk is not perfect but it is mostly passable.  But here the curb height makes the sidewalk condition a mute point.

The obstacles are few but they are enough to cause wheelchair users to use the roadway.  The apartment complex is owned by the St. Louis Housing Authority.  Not all of the units are accessible but some are.  Occupants of these units have two basic needs — food and access to transportation. Much of the public transportation is on Jefferson where the market is located so this route along Delmar is a critical path.

I am fortunate to live an a step-free building downtown but for many wheelchair dependent public housing units like these are their only choice.  Routes to food and transportation isn’t a luxury but a must.  Enough to for someone to risk their life.

Two years ago I emailed several with the city about the sidewalk conditions on Delmar.  I’m will again do the same so that hopefully two years from now residents of these apartments will have a safe route to the store and to transportation.

And finally, I’ve emailed with Elizabeth Bansen’s father and two of her siblings.  They miss “Lisi.”  I’ve promised them I will work to ensure that residents of these apartments will have safe sidewalks to access Delmar & Jefferson.

– Steve Patterson

A.G. Edwards to Wachovia Securities to Wells Fargo Advisors in Two Years, Blog Anniversary

Two years ago today A.G. Edwards became Wachovia Securities.  From the Post-Dispatch on the vote the Friday before:

In five minutes it was over.

That’s how long it took Friday for shareholders of A.G. Edwards Inc. to approve the demise of the 120-year-old St. Louis-based brokerage when they voted overwhelmingly in favor of a $6.8 billion purchase by Wachovia Corp.

The final shareholders’ meeting, before a standing-room only audience in the company’s main auditorium, was little more than a formality to announce the results of voting that took place earlier.

Just over a year later, in December 2008, Wells Fargo bought Wachovia.  It was not until May of this year that the Wachovia Securities name was dropped.  Post-Dispatch:

On Friday, the company officially changed the name of the unit from Wachovia Securities.

Wells Fargo bought ailing Wachovia Bank in December, and the securities unit came with the deal. It employs 4,800 people in metro St. Louis, mainly at its Jefferson Avenue headquarters.

The company plans to roll out its new moniker over the next few months. The website will be renamed in June, statements will change in July and the signs on the buildings will switch after that, with the transition completed early next year.

The headquarters on Jefferson now has survived two big mergers without large-scale layoffs. Originally the home of A.G. Edwards Inc., the firm was sold to Wachovia in 2007.

One of my earliest posts was a review of the then A.G. Edwards campus.

On November 22, 2004 I wrote:

We are stuck with a campus better suited to a greenfield site in the hinterlands. The employees drive in from the ‘burbs, park and return to the ‘burbs at 5pm. Of course, some of their employees live in the city but it is likely they drive to the campus. I saw no bike racks – not even at the visitor’s entrance. It is possible employees walk to Union Station or perhaps the Tap Room for lunch – both locations are about six blocks East. I’d be willing to bet most employees either stay within the campus or drive to a lunch destination. When I’ve got a free lunch hour I will observe the comings and goings of the campus during the lunch hours.

Rather than give A.G. Edwards awards we should be shaming them and their long term architects, Raymond E. Maritz & Sons, into changing their ways. This is unlikely to happen. Instead, city life will naturally avoid this vacuum. East of Jefferson a wonderfully urban area is blossoming along both Locust & Washington Ave – extending all the way East of Tucker. West of Jefferson life is quickly emerging along Locust. A small real estate developer on Locust has done more in two years to generate life than Edwards has done in over 30 years at the current location.

Today also marks the start of the 5th anniversary month of this blog.  Halloween will mark the start of the 6th year of UrbanReviewSTL.  Throughout this month I will bring you my favorite posts from the last five years. I’ve had a blast these last four years and eleven months.  I look forward to the next five years.

– Steve Patterson