Economic Stimulus should NOT be used to bring the suburbs into the city. 6:12 PM

An UrbanSTL forumer posted the link to the St. Louis Economic Stimulus Package Proposal, which the city titled "St. Louis: "Fired Up and Ready to Go"".

[cue blank stare]

Among the many things I will discuss from this plan is the I-55/Tucker interchange overhaul, which the city is correct to have identified as a priority.

However, the city wants to reformulate the interchange to leave more room for suburban big box stores!

Page 81 details the "Change We Need":

The former Darst Webbe high-rise public housing development has now been transformed into a mixed-income HOPE VI low-rise development; City Hospital, more than 30 years vacant and vandalized, has now been transformed into residential condominiums, most of which are now sold and occupied. Over the past 30 years, the adjacent neighborhoods of Lafayette Square, Soulard and LaSalle Park have been almost completely revitalized. The most significant missing piece linking all of these successful revitalization initiatives is quality mainstream retail development.

Hmm...okay. I'm listening. But take a look at the old rendering for the site (in the city's Bohemian Hill neighborhood) that the city uses to makes its case:




That site plan is "dependent upon ramp relocation"?

The lack of vision and lack of sense for urban design is flabbergasting. This area has been slowly destroyed with the vision of giving this interchange (Tucker, I-55, and I-44) over to big box retail. Built St. Louis has documented what has already been demolished in the diminutive Bohemian Hill neighborhood. Why aren't these structures providing a model on how to rebuild?

Instead of suggesting that the bloated and utterly disruptive mass of interstate interchanges should be given over to urban development, the plan argues that the extra space is needed so that front-facing surface parking can be in clear view and plentiful.

The author of this write up even has the nerve to argue that one of the benefits of the proposal--under a heading entitled Green Features-- is that more people will be able to "walk and bicycle" to new services provided by the development. Sure, it is possible to walk across a giant parking lot, but it's not exactly "green" design.
The city will continue its long malaise if the absence of sound urban planning continues. The wonderfully urban neighborhood slowly nixed for this future development contains the code on how to rebuild--street grids, small scale, walkability, attractive architecture and design. Yet these lessons seem completely squandered.
It is extremely important to reduce the size, prominence, and convenience of interstates within the City of St. Louis. This interchange is a wonderful place to start the demonstration of how urban neighborhoods can be reclaimed from the clutches of deadening, autocentric planning. This proposal, however, will only damage the nearby neighborhoods. With nothing to distinguish it from suburban strip centers, except for, in all likelihood, higher rates of crime and vandalism, it will take the typical big box route of a 15-year life cycle before creeping blight sets in--perhaps on accelerated track.
I question the wisdom of encouraging big box retail in the City of St. Louis. While big box seems appropriate in less walkable areas of the city adjacent to interstates (Hampton and I-44, for instance), it is not appropriate here, or in many other spots in the City of St. Louis. Too many close-in suburbs (Richmond Heights, Maplewood, Brentwood, and South County) offer automobile-owners a safe and parking-aplenty opportunity to shop in big boxes. It's hard for a more constrained urban site, which, as I've stated, usually grapples with worse crime and perception of crime issues than suburban locations, to compete effectively in the long term. The city should be bending over backwards not for big boxes to place an anti-urban store in city limits, but for small business owners to continue to lend a local flair and distinction from those very suburbs.
Big boxes do not belong in, or near, the Near South Side.

This land should be opened up to smaller scale retail, office, and residential development, with an urban street grid reinstated.

With riverfront planning, sometimes common sense is key. 2:20 PM

I took a stroll down the New Orleans riverfront the other day. It is, of course, notable because the riverfront is elevated above the rest of the city. Ironically, this unfortunate, flood-prone geologic reality is actually a civic and tourist draw. Passing ships literally hover above the city, even though the French Quarter is actually one of the highest elevated spots in the city.

I think these pictures are important because they showcase how simple riverfront development can be. In New Orleans, it's really as simple as a paved walkway, some benches, attractive lighting, some artwork, good transit connections (yes--there's a streetcar line that runs along the riverfront!) and--the big one--active edges.

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While St. Louis suffers from an inherent lack of good edges which would cause pedestrians to want to traverse the length of the riverfront, it is partially a problem of marketing. For instance, the northern end of Laclede's Landing is wholly underutilized. The developed portion of Laclede's Landing could be rebranded into something of a residential area, especially if Lumiere buildings its proposed housing (pictured below--Phase II of the development).

As for the Arch and Eads Bridge, I would make a couple recommendations. The idea to transform the Eads Bridge archways into retail is amazing--but it would hinge on hiding the parking garage that currently faces the Bridge. The northern end of the Arch grounds is wholly unwelcoming. While in St. Louis this past December, I was walking on Washington Avenue in front of the bridge when a confused tourist from Dallas confessed to me he was about to give up looking for the 630-foot tall monument! I know it's an issue of grade, since the street is on a large slope that descends to the riverfront. Still, that is nothing some major surgery can't fix. Storefronts should face Washington Avenue on both sides just north of the Arch.

There is little to be done with the Archgrounds portion itself. Of course, the floodwall could and should be painted. And vendors, art installations, boat docks, etc. could enliven the actual riverfront itself.

The Chouteau's Landing portion, along with the Graffiti Wall, have loads of potential--a portion of which looks as if it's being explored. Having residents, as well as tourists and other visitors, in the immediate proximity is a must.

If all of these edges can be cultivated properly, a simple New Orleans treatment would be very appropriate. Let's take a look at some pictures.

The paved brick path is attractive, simple, and doable for St. Louis. This picture actually contains some aspects that a casual viewer might not realize applies to St. Louis as well. This view is looking across the Mississippi River toward a section of the city of New Orleans known as Algiers Point. There is a ferry that connects downtown New Orleans to Algiers--it's free to pedestrians and cyclists and only a buck for cars. Algiers is attractive, quaint, and is a minor attraction unto itself. So too should East St. Louis be that same foil to downtown St. Louis. Not a show-stealer, but a nice complement to the attractions on the other side of the river. And there need to be better connections between the two, too. Lighting the Eads Bridge is one way to draw attention to an existing connections.

The other issue is...take a look at the Crescent City Connection, the twin bridges in the photograph above. They're lit at night and visible from across the low-lying city. They're not anything spectacular, but they do symbolize a grand and important passage over a great river. The Poplar Street Bridge? Not so much. Instead of building a new bridge over the river to the north of downtown St. Louis, the Poplar should receive a much, much needed upgrade.

In this photograph, a restored red trolley car rolls on the Riverfront Streetcar line adjacent to the Mississippi River. The line terminates at Esplanade Avenue, a beautiful tree-lined boulevard that serves as a delightful edge to the French Quarter (it's also where I live!). The streetcar then runs along the riverfront for the length of the Quarter, the Central Business District, and the Warehouse District, ending at the Convention Center--about a mile and a half run.

St. Louis isn't at the point where a streetcar line along the riverfront would really attract a critical mass of passengers to justify it. However, if there is aggressive redevelopment of Chouteau's and Laclede's Landings, this could change.

This is an actively used space. In fairness, this picture was taken yesterday--a Saturday--when it was 80 degrees outside. Even so, even on colder days you will always witness joggers and camera-laden tourists (that's my shadow!).

I'm not sure why these planters were emptied--dead trees, perhaps. And New Orleans has a noticeable problem with less-than-creative graffiti. Since this is technically a City Park, it does "close" at night, which tends to empty it out and allow taggers to complete their "works". Still, the planters and benches offer a place for weary riverfront admirers to relax, and, when trees are restored to their proper place, some shade as well. The skyline of New Orleans--which I do not find overly attractive at all--at least lends a strikingly urban feel to this riverwalk.

The St. Louis Cathedral is located some 1,000 feet from the riverfront, separated by a floodwall and a narrow parking lot. Yet, the spillover of pedestrians is tremendous. The Cathedral is the city of New Orleans' "Gateway Arch"--the popular symbol of the city and one of its largest tourist attractions. The transition here between monument and riverfront is not seamless, as one can see. But the whole spine, Decatur Street, along the riverfront is an active space, and those wanting to briefly escape hyper-urbanism can enjoy the respite that the more subdued riverfront brings.

This is a view of Decatur Street, poking out above the foodwall.

There are numerous statues and sculptures along the Riverfront, but I found this Holocaust Memorial very intriguing. It's interactive art. A sign to interpret the installation exists on one end, along with a description of each different view of the changing kaleidoscope of images. If you stand in one spot, you're viewing one symbolic stage of the Holocaust. Above is the first stage. Interactive, dynamic art is essential to well-used public spaces. It enlivens them. When strategically placed and strewn about the space, each installation can be a discovery that the casual repeat-visitor may not even have noticed before or never took the time to stop at before.

I have many more pictures of the riverfront in New Orleans, but these should suffice for now. Redeveloping St. Louis's riverfront will require thinking of urban spaces in terms of their connectivity as well as their functionality. Downtown St. Louis should not be a series of "districts" with highways, vacant lots, or bland corporate campuses separating them. It is essential to restitch downtown and reduce the deadening visibility of those dividing seams. If the city, its leaders, residents, and business owners, can convince St. Louisans and visitors alike that the riverfront is an asset and that the location is excellent for both commerce and residence, then riverfront redevelopment can be successful. It might even be simple, with the New Orleans treatment shown above.

Dotage does Facebook! 1:11 AM

Join the group here.

Why Facebook?

I really, really would like to be more interactive. Someone once commented that she enjoyed the New Orleans-St. Louis comparisons on this blog. I really appreciate comments and suggestions, since I put a lot of time into this blog and would really enjoy some readers! The Facebook group is a good way for me to get feedback and to improve the blog.

Plus, now that I have my own camera (finally!), I expect to feature a lot of New Orleans photos--good and bad--to demonstrate things St. Louis should adopt, absorb, or avoid.

So, please, join the group and help me bring the coverage that you want to see.

Thanks!

Heads up: excellent Skyscraper Page thread provides window into St. Louis's long gone "French Quarter" 6:23 PM

Head on over to Skyscraper Page forums to check out a thread with some very rare photographs of the St. Louis riverfront prior to demolition for the Arch.

St. Louis 2010 12:07 PM

What do you want to see for St. Louis in the upcoming decade?

The passage into 2009 reminded me that another decade is nearly upon us. Sure, it's arbitrary to start reflecting every time we hit a Census year (2000, 2010, etc.), but even that event is significant and will tell us a bit about where St. Louis is headed into the next decade.

For the next couple days, I will be posting on legislative, lobbying, and civic actions St. Louis City--its government, its businesses, its residents, its proponents all alike--needs to adopt in order to reposition itself as an urban area in the 20-teens.

Some will have been discussed on other urbanist blogs (spoiler: term limits and fewer aldermen will get their day). Others won't be so commonly noted. Some will be highly feasible. Others will be long shots at best. Some will be city-wide, others neighborhood specific.

For now, though, what are your thoughts on things St. Louis must do in the near future in order to improve its lot?

Southampton Neighborhood, on the last day of 2008 11:13 PM

I am returned to New Orleans once again. 11:58 PM

Another fantastic trip back home; a feeling of belonging that bores further into my skull. Sigh.

As regular readers of this blog know, when I return home, I hit up all those restaurants, etc. that opened up in my absence. I also, this time, was able to get to some I had never been to despite being fixtures of the St. Louis dining scene. Lacking money, I must thank my newly minted lawyer-brother for some of these meals. Thanks Josh!

As far as oldies-but-goodies, I went to both Modesto (the Hill) and Yemanja Brasil (Benton Park). Both are colorful and lively dining experiences. I would have to say, though, that Modesto provided some of the best food I've experienced in quite a while. Try the chicken croquettes! We must have had seven tapas portions of food that were all excellent. I give Yemanja more marks on its ambiance, which is as lively and festive as Copacabana.

I returned to a couple places, too--The Wedge (Bates/Virginia), Hodak's (a Benton Park classic), Hartford Community Coffee (Tower Grove South), Three Monkeys (Tower Grove South), Murdoch Perk (Southampton), and Pi (East Loop), to name a few.

I was extremely pleased to finally experience Urban Eats (Dutchtown), at Meramec and Virginia. I had a flatbread pizza that was extremely fresh and delectable. The place is a step up, for sure, in the decor department as well, especially compared to previous attempts at tackling the space. I would highly recommend this place if your desire is quick, relatively inexpensive, healthy food. Plus, you can overlook the sidewalk activities of a very urban neighborhood as you dine. As it turned out, I ran into 25th Ward Alderman candidate Shane Cohn and had a brief conversation with him at the establishment as well. I wished him luck in his campaign. He, like Steve Patterson of Urban Review St. Louis, who ran and lost in this same Ward against Dorothy Kirner, supports term limits for alderpersons. I could not agree more that this is a huge issue in St. Louis governance. [Wow...Urban Eats became surprisingly political].

Triumph Grill in Midtown/Grand Center is a superb addition to the neighborhood's growing repertoire of eateries (though I've still not been to The U or Pappy's, both having earned critical acclaim). I stayed somewhat conservative with my food choice (old fashioned fish and chips), but our party ordered an appetizer sampler that was simply delicious. Flash-fried asparagus with a soy-based dipping sauce? Count me in!

BoBo Noodle House (Skinker-DeBaliviere) was a pleasant surprise as well. Its ultra-contemporary/Euro design is surprisingly rare in St. Louis and is welcome in my opinion. I forget the name of my dish, but it contained beef and, go figure, noodles. Spicy and wonderfully tasty.

SweetArt in Shaw (on 39th) opened on the 26th, so I was actually able to make it to this highly anticipated spot. A husband and wife duo, painter and baker, respectively, have turned a vacant storefront facing the beautiful St. Margaret of Scotland Church into an urbanite's paradise. Within easy walking distance of thousands of Shaw residents and scores of visitors to the Garden is this pleasant bakery (which, of course, serves coffee). I tried the red velvet cupcake (all natural, by the way)--and it did not disappoint.

What's next on my list when I return?

Velocity Cafe and Cyclery (DeBaliviere Place)

Fritanga (Nicaraguan, on Jefferson near Russell)

One of the Mexican restaurants on Cherokee (...I've never been. I know. Shame. Anyone have recommendations?)

Taft Street Restaurant (Bosnian, in my parents' neighborhood, Bevo)

Also, I snapped a couple more pictures that I have yet to dump onto Skyscraperpage, and so may just make them Dotage exclusives. I was able to walk the length of the Macklind Avenue Business District and snap a bunch of photographs, so look forward to that post coming soon!

Thanks, all. My New Year's resolution is to post more often while I have a lull in my workload.

Happy New Year!

[Linkage to come soon...]