Parking Space Half Into Public Sidewalk

In August 2011 I addressed part of the parking issue at Vito’s on Lindell (see Where is Vito’s Disabled Parking?). Last week I had dinner at Vito’s, going in I spotted another problem with how their parking lot is designed. 

This car is parked in what appears to be a legitimate parking space in their lot. The problem is the space isn’t even long enough for a smart fourtwo so any car parked in the space sticks out into the public sidewalk.

The city has minimum requirements for the size of parking spaces, and the sidewalk can’t be counted toward the minimum.  Vito’s needs to redesign their parking lot to provide a disabled space and to eliminate this space that extends over the sidewalk.

— Steve Patterson

Grand Center’s Northern Boundary?

If you were to ask most people what is the northern boundary of Grand Center is they’d likely tell you Delmar Blvd. That’s where the urban buildings end and the parking lots begin, the change is stark.

The Grand Center website confirms Delmar Blvd as the northern boundary:

Where is Grand Center?

The Grand Center district is conveniently located in Midtown St. Louis. The boundaries of the district run along Grand from Lindell to Delmar and from Vandeventer to the west and Josephine Baker to the east. The heart of the district is located at Grand and Washington, next to the Fabulous Fox Theatre. (Grand Center district FAQ)

That’s settled then isn’t it? Hold on, not so fast. Let’s go for a walk north to see if we can find any evidence that suggests a different boundary.

Five blocks (map) covering a third of a mile is marked on street signs as being part of Grand Center but you don’t see the signature double head streetlights north of Delmar, just the standard issue cobrahead lights. No banners, no branded trash receptacles. Nothing except a different street sign.

Grand Center folks like to say the district is “steeple to steeple” referring to Saint Francis Xavier (College Church) on the south and  St. Alphonsus Ligouri “The Rock” on the north. That sounds good but the reality is this isn’t the case in practice.

Clearly the streetscape sends a very different message than the phrase “steeple to steeple” does. Clearly Grand Center.

This week Grand Center is holding a “public open house”, maybe they’ll present something to improve the streetscape north of Delmar.

The open house is being held at the Metropolitan Artist Loft building. How do you get to Grand Center? Let’s take a look at how Grand Center Inc tells you to do it via public transportation and then I’ll add in the other ways they fail to mention:

Public Transportation

MetroBus

Take the #70 Grand MetroBus for several stops available in Grand Center. Click here to plan your trip through Metro Transit – St. Louis.

 MetroLink

The Grand MetroLink Station is now open. Travel about two blocks north on Grand Boulevard once out of the MetroLink Station to get to Grand Center at Lindell Boulevard and Grand Boulevard. (Grand Center, Inc)

That “about two blocks” is a half mile walk, that’s just to reach the south edge of Grand Center.  Use your MetroLink ticket as your transfer and catch the #70 northbound. For the Metropolitan you want the stop just on the north side of Lindell.

Not arriving via MetroLink? You can catch the #10 MetroBus from downtown, CWE and even  south city along Gravois. Other good MetroBus options include the #97 (Delmar) and #94 Page, getting you to Grand & Delmar and Page, respectively. Remember the farthest north Grand Center sign is just a block from Page.

You’d think since Grand Center President, former Mayor Vince Schoemehl, is also on Metro’s board the transit information would be more complete.  The five block discrepancy in the northern boundary remains a mystery.

UPDATE: 2/26/2013 @ 9:35am: In the comments below it was pointed out the website says Page, not Delmar. So here’s the proof

— Steve Patterson

Chronicle Coffee Now Open, Grand Opening Soon

Last July I posted about a New Coffeehouse Opening Soon on Page Blvd Just East of Grand Ave. It took a white while to open but last month it finally did. A few days ago I met someone there and returned for lunch.  The concept is simple, a nice neighborhood coffeehouse that hires employees from the area.

But how do you make such an enterprise financially viable? During my visit I was able to chat with the owner, turns out the answer is through acquisition!

Rick Milton, owner of Northwest Coffee Roasting Co., has sold his company to Jason Wilson, the owner of Chronicle Coffee. Chronicle is located just north of Grand Center at 1235 Blumeyer Ave. The sale, completed in December, includes both the Northwest Coffee roasting operation as well as Northwest Coffee cafes in Clayton and the Central West End. (Sauce Magazine)

By buying the well established Northwest Coffee Wilson has quality coffee for Chronicle and a good place to train new employees.

One wall of Chronicle Coffee includes enlarged black & white prints of the former Blumeyer public housing project that once  occupied the immediate area.I know I’ll return when I’m nearby. Wilson is finalizing plans for their grand opening later this month.

— Steve Patterson

Olive Street Is Streetcar Ready

Most days Olive St. is pretty much deserted even though it’s a major east-west arterial.

In each direction you have a parking lane, a bike lane, and two travel lanes. I don’t know the posted speed limit but the road design is for much higher speed. Any savvy urban cyclist will use Locust St a block north even though it lacks dedicated bike lanes because Locust is narrower and has much slower traffic.

Former director of planning Rollin Stanley had suggested a green median where you could jog down the middle of Olive St. I could never figure out why someone would want to do that.

If the Partnership for Downtown St. Louis has their way Olive St. will once again have a streetcar line. Their aggressive timeline calls for it to be operational by 2016. Great if it can happen but I’d be happy with 2020. Actually I ride the #10 MetroBus often along Olive and Lindell and I’m pretty happy with it.

Much of the potential new development along the eastern part of the route could happen between Jefferson Compton avenues. If the right land-use controls are put into place first this will be very urban a decade from now. If not, we’ll have an expensive streetcar line passing by vacant/underdeveloped land.

— Steve Patterson

Scott Joplin’s Brief St. Louis Connection

Legendary ragtime composer Scott Joplin wasn’t born, or raised, in St. Louis, but he lived here during a significant part of his short career.  That much is well documented, Joplin’s birthplace & birthday aren’t so clear:

One tenacious myth tells us that Joplin was born in Texarkana, Texas, on November 24, 1868. The location is easily dispensed with: Texarkana was not established until 1873. Testimony of a family friend has Scott born in Marshall, Texas, some 70 miles south from what was to become Texarkana; in 1870, according to the U.S. Census, the family lived on a farm in Linden, Texas, almost 40 miles away. That same census, of 1870, certifies that on July 18, 1870, the young Scott was already two years old, thereby ruling out a birth date of November 24, 1868. The 1880 census and his death certificate support that conclusion. Though we cannot cite an exact date for his birth, documents place the event between July 19, 1867 and mid-January 1868. (source)

As a young man in his 20s he began his musical career:

During the late 1880s he left his job as a laborer with the railroad, and travelled around the American South as an itinerant musician. He went to Chicago for the World’s Fair of 1893, which played a major part in making ragtime a national craze by 1897.

Joplin moved to Sedalia, Missouri, in 1894, and earned a living teaching piano and continuing to tour the South. In Sedalia, he taught future ragtime composers Arthur Marshall, Scott Hayden and Brun Campbell. Joplin began publishing music in 1895, and publication of his “Maple Leaf Rag” in 1899 brought him fame and had a profound influence on subsequent writers of ragtime. It also brought the composer a steady income for life. During his lifetime, Joplin did not reach this level of success again and frequently had financial problems.(Wikipedia)

Joplin only lived in St. Louis from 1900-1907, but it was a productive period in his life:

Joplin moved to St. Louis in the spring of 1900 with his new wife, Belle. They moved into the flat at 2658A Morgan Street, now Delmar Boulevard. While living there between 1900-1903, he produced some of his better known compositions: The Entertainer, Elite Syncopations, March Majestic and Ragtime Dance. With royalties coming in from his musical creations, he began to perform less and became more of a teacher and composer. During this productive time in St. Louis, Joplin also wrote his first major serious composition, an operatic piece called A Guest of Honor, which had as its setting the Missouri governor’s mansion in Jefferson City. The original score for this work was lost, and it can no longer be performed. (Scott Joplin House)

Although Joplin and his wife only lived at that address for a few years, it is a Missouri state historic site, with most of the block face intact as it was during his time here.

Joplin moved to New York City in 1907 to further his career, but he never achieved  the same success. He died there on April 1, 1917, basically pennyless.

The Scott Joplin House State Historic Site is an interesting place to see. It’s is closed November-January but I’d suggest visiting next year.

— Steve Patterson