Poll: What Is Your Favorite Commercial Street In St. Louis City?

When I first moved to St. Louis in 1990 my first apartment was on Lindell at Euclid Ave. At the time Euclid Ave was the most urban street in St. Louis with shops (remember Heffalumps?) and restaurants. One of my first jobs was at an antique store east of Jefferson, not much positive was happening west of Jefferson except prostitution.   Not long after I made my first trip to Crown Candy — at night. The 14th Street Pedestrian Mall seemed totally dead.

Today we have many thriving commercial streets, amazing progress is just two decades.  The poll this week asks you to pick your favorite of these, here are the choices I’ve provided:

• N. 14th St. (Old North)
• Cherokee St.
• Delmar (Loop)
• Euclid (CWE)
• Grand (South Grand)
• Locust St (Midtown Alley)
• Manchester Rd Ave (The Grove)
• Morgan Ford
• Washington Ave

If you think of another you can vote for it in the poll using the other field. The poll is in the right sidebar (desktop layout).

— Steve Patterson

Poll: How Do You Feel About Police Chief Dotson’s Vision For Using Drones?

In February drones were the subject of the weekly poll and readers supported regulation of drones in Missouri. Last week we learned of a real local example:

In Chief Sam Dotson’s vision of modern policing, a drone would circle Busch Stadium to watch for terrorists, or silently pursue a criminal who thought the chase was over when the officer in the car behind him turned off its red lights and siren. (stltoday)

Dotson sent a letter to the FAA on March 25th indicating they’d like permission to operate an “Unmanned Aerial Observation Platform”. See the RFT for Dotson’s March letter and a letter of support from Circuit Attorney Jennifer Joyce.

I personally like the idea of using drones in the above situations, allowing the police to do their jobs, while not endangering the public with a high-speed chase. But I know many of you are camera shy, you expect more privacy even in public spaces.

This non-hypothetical example seemed like a good enough reason to revisit the issues of drones again. The poll is in the right sidebar, results on Wednesday July 10th.

— Steve Patterson

Poll: Best Way To Improve Public Transit In North & South St. Louis?

Lately I’ve been posting about the St. Louis Streetcar, a proposed modern streetcar line that’d primarily serve the central corridor from Downtown west to the Central West End. Though the proposed streetcar route includes a spur into North St. Louis, I believe north & south sides of the city have tended to get the short end of the transit infrastructure stick.  Our Metrolink light rail opened 20 years ago serving the central part of the city, and the streetcar will double-down on this area.

I’ll personally benefit since I live downtown, but I’d like better transit options for reaching destinations in north & south city. I recognize many people might live say in north city but work in south city, or vice versa. Existing bus routes like the #70 (Grand) only partially fills the transit needs of the city.

Improvement options I’ve listed in the poll are:

1. Nothing, doesn’t need improving
2. Run existing buses more frequently
3. Reduce/eliminate fares
4. Bigger articulated buses for the busiest routes
5. Buses that go from diesel in the county to electric via overhead wires in the city
6. Bus rapid transit (BRT) lines serving city neighborhoods
7. In-street modern streetcar lines serving city neighborhoods
8. In-street light rail lines running through the city to connect to the county

These answers will be presented in random order in the poll (right sidebar), you can select up to 3 choices. You’ll have the option to provide your own answer as well.

A number of years ago East-West Gateway Council of Governments studied light rail lines through North & South St. Louis to reach North & South St. Louis County, respectively, but it went no further.

So please vote in the poll, located to the right, and share your thoughts in the comments below. I’ll share my views when I post the poll results on Wednesday July 3rd.

— Steve Patterson

Be Patient…Still Rebuilding From Malware

My programmer is still rebuilding my blog, somehow malware got into the theme files, please be patient as we work to return to normal.

— Steve Patterson

Poll: How Should We Address Auto Congestion In Forest Park

Last week Loop businessman & Loop Trolley backer, Joe Edwards, said he thinks we’ll eventually see cars banned in Forest Park. He’d like to see an electric powered trolley (aka vintage streetcar) on tracks circulating within the park. I know weekend traffic in the park can be so bad the #95 (Hampton) MetroBus reroutes to avoid going through the park. Cars are banned/limited at times — like the annual Ballon Glow.

Traffic can be obnoxious in Forest Park, ruining the pleasure of being outdoors to some. I recall flying back to St. Louis one night a few years ago and lighting in the parking lots stood out like a sore thumb in an otherwise dark park.

Currently the Forest Park Trolley does a decent job for those of us who enter the park without a car.

Still, the vast majority drive into the park rather than use public transportation. This has prompted the St. Louis Zoo to buy the former hospital site across I-64/Highway 40 for additional parking with plans for a gondola to transport patrons back and forth. By eliminating some, or all, of the surface parking between the zoo and the highway the zoo can expand to the south with more exhibits.

So what are some of the options for dealing with congestion?

• Bans cars at peak times or all the time
• Construction of a electric trolley on a track, as Edwards suggested
• Construction of an electric bus system with overhead wires like the trolley but no track
• Run the existing trolley bus more frequently

Some will object to overhead wires and/or tracks, but others object to all the cars.

So this is the poll topic this week, the exact question is: How should we address auto congestion in Forest Park? I’m allowing you to pick up to 3 choices from the list. The poll is in the right sidebar.

Please take a moment to vote in the poll then share your thoughts in the comments below.
— Steve Patterson