Over at 52nd City Thomas Crone reports he was told the old Avalon Theatre is going to be razed soon. While I like the Avalon, the scary part of Thomas’ story is talk of clearing part of the Southeast corner of Kingshighway and Chippewa for a Sam’s Club.
The last thing St. Louis needs is more sprawl.
– Steve
I got to thinking more about eminent domain and decided to play developer. How fun! Someone should make a board game version.
So where would be a good spot for a new sprawl center I thought? They love highway access so I-44 came to mind. The area South of Arsenal seems perfect with good on and off ramps and being close to Watson as well. High traffic count on Arsenal was also a plus.
The image at right shows the area I had in mind. It is bordered on the North by Arsenal Street, Leona Ave on the East, Bradley Ave on the South and I-44 on the West. Just the right size for a typical development.
I’m sure the people that live there wouldn’t mind moving. After all, this is the kind of thing that is good for the city — taking homes for big boxes. The owners will get settlements for more than their properties are worth so they shouldn’t complain.
The businesses located along Ivanhoe can also relocate or perhaps lease space in one of the new outlot parcels. They are just small potatoes anyway — not as important as national big box chains. Hey — I’m really getting the hang of this game! Did you notice how the name of Ivanhoe Commons is a play on the street being destroyed — that earns me bonus points.
But I’m willing to bet the Mayor won’t be too thrilled about this development. Why not you ask? Simple, I doubt he’d want to tell his parents that a Circuit City is more important than their family home.
– Steve
Less than a year after the old Target store was closed and razed the new store has opened with much anticipation. Today I visited the store to check it out.
I’ve posted twice before on the new Target. First was in April and the second was in July. You might want to read those to get caught up.
Before I go any further I should state a few things:
I think I’ve covered all the basis with the above statements. Yet as you might expect, I have some critical thoughts on the project. I offer these as something to keep in mind for future projects in an urban area. Yes, I got a bit of a thrill walking into a store that had been open less than 48 hours but it still just a retail store. Let’s get started.
A few years ago now the old Sears store on S. Grand near Chippewa became a pile of rubble. The massive parking lot to become new in-fill housing in a development known as Keystone Place by Pyramid Construction.
Fast forward today and you see more vacant lots than new houses. The city’s website says that as of August 2003 12 out of a possible 27 have been sold. But, the purpose of this post is not to critique what when wrong at this site. i’ll have to save those thoughts for another day. This post is to tell you that word on the street is McDonald’s located at the NW corner of Grand & Chippewa may move to the old Sears site at the SE corner of Grand & Winnebego.
I’m thinking if I really wanted to kick start sales of the home lots backing to this vacant parcel the very last thing I’d put there would be a McDonald’s complete with bright lights and fumes from cars in the drive-thru lane.
Alderwoman Jennifer Florida inherited the Keystone Place during redistricting a few years ago. Nothing seems to have changed.
A new McDonald’s combined with the windowless International Institute will really liven up this part of Grand – not. Why they didn’t add any windows during their renovation and, I don’t know, place an entrance on the public side of the building? I have no clue what they were thinking. The Blockbuster with front parking and Aldi across the street certainly don’t help the area.
The current McDonald’s isn’t exactly an asset. The parking lot takes up the corner and the extra wide street with right turn lane makes crossing Grand by foot a major chore. Access to the drive-thru lane is off Chippewa and a hassle for most. I can see why McDonald’s would want a better location.
So why put the McDonald’s here – on the SE corner of Grand & Chippewa on the corner of what was a former National grocery store? It is already a dreadful corner so the McDonald’s won’t make it any worse. That leaves the old Sears site a block North vacant for something more urban – with a building up to the street and any parking behind.
– Steve
All over the City of St. Louis you can see newly constructed medians along our wider boulevards – Delmar West of Union, Russell near Jefferson, and most recently along S. Grand from I-44 to Arsenal. Unfortunately, these aesthetic improvements serve as a barrier to what we really need – street cars.
MetroLink is great but it currently only covers a small fraction of the region. Soon it will extend out to Clayton, Brentwood & Maplewood. But, much of the city & region is served only by bus service. Even when the south & north MetroLink routes are constructed much of St. Louis will not be within walking distance of a station.
Light rail is far more costly to construct than streetcars. In cities such as San Francisco – both fill an important need. The BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) rail system in SF is only about a 5 minute drive from my brother & sister in-law’s house which is nearly an hour drive from San Francisco. Taking BART into SF I am able to get around quite easily on their system of streetcars and cable cars.
While I have ridden the bus here and in other cities I don’t think it is the best way to get around town. Not sure what it is but buses just seem like second class transportation. Street cars, on the other hand, are very enjoyable. Waiting for a bus is different than a street car – I can’t quite put my finger on why this is. Figuring out bus lines, especially for a visitor, is maddening. Street car & light rail lines are easily seen on a map. I think it is mostly a mental state of mind I need to get over. Still, street cars have proven to be very popular in other cities – if it will get more people out of their cars when why not?
Currently I know of only one planned streetcar line for the St. Louis region – serving Forest Park and the Delmar Loop. Given that the Loop got its name from an old streetcar line making a loop in the area, it seems fitting to return streetcars to this area.
• Heritage Trolly – St. Louis; a good description of the proposed streetcar line.
• Trollys To Go was created to promote the new Delmar Trolly/streetcar.
Here are some other streetcar lines I’d like to see in St. Louis:
• Grand Blvd from the North Water Tower to Arsenal. This line would pass the MetroLink stop at the Grand Viaduct. Future MetroLink stops at Natural Bridge & Chouteau would make this line critical for getting mass transit to areas in North & South St. Louis that will never be served by our light rail.
• Jefferson from Natural Bridge to Broadway/Chippewa.
• Broadway from downtown to Lemay.
• Tucker/Gravois. Starting at Tucker & Cass heading South through downtown and following Gravois as far into St. Louis County as is feasible.
• Dr. Martin Luther King or Page. Start at Tucker & MLK and head West
• Union & Goodfellow.
• Chippewa from Jefferson/Broadway West to Watson Road/River Des Peres.
Such streetcar lines, combined with MetroLink and bus service would add needed diversity to our transportation system. I’d much rather invest in mass transit systems than pretty flower beds. Another blogger, Citywmn, posted her thoughts on Grand today – click here to read her take.
– Steve