Prop E Highlights Need for New Missouri Compromise

When Missouri entered the union, it was under the Missouri Compromise, whereby Missouri was admitted as a slave state and Maine was admitted as a free state.

Before the Civil War, Missouri wanted to keep slavery, but wanted to remain in the Union. During the Civil War, the governor of Missouri took control of the police department. After the Civil War, the city slowly expanded its boundaries in a westerly direction.

In 1876, St. Louis voted to separate itself from St. Louis County. By 1940, the city, for all intents and purposes, was built out. Between 1950 and 1960, its population peaked at about 850,000.

Since 1960, the city's population has dropped by over 50%, while suburban growth stretched out across Missouri and Illinois, putting St. Louis city at the center of the region.

Today, a little over 1/10 of the regional population lives in the city proper, but many of our regions 2.8 million or so residents think of themselves as St. Louisans. There's a general sense that everyone in the region has some stake in the city, but only a tiny percentage get a vote in the future of what happens here.

Next week, that idea of regionalism will be put to the test. Lots of people are advocating for a "Yes Vote on Prop E", the proposition to retain the city's earnings tax, but only a handful of voters will decide the issue.

The St. Louis Business Journal has come out in favor of Prop E, but in their editorial they state that most of their employees don't live in the city, so they have no vote. They work here, so for now, they pay the earnings tax. In its editorial, The Business Journal warns that if the earnings tax is defeated, they would for the first time be forced to consider moving out of the city - for the health and safety of their employees.

Many are making dire predictions about huge cuts in city services - including cuts to fire and police protection - if the earnings tax is defeated. At the same time massive increases in other taxes, such as sales taxes and real estate taxes, are predicted to follow. It's the sort of one-two punch in the civic gut that could potentially bring the city to its knees. The predictions are not much of a stretch when you consider that 1/3 of the city's budget is funded by the earnings tax.

While Prop E will decide the future of the earnings tax, at the same time, the legislature in Jeff City is debating local control of the city police department. A 150 year old debate about how St. Louisans should be governed continues to this day. While Jeff City debates returning local control of the police department to St. Louis, the region is debating how St. Louis should be governed via its tax structure.

As it was when the city divorced from St. Louis County, a very close vote at the time, so it will be in 2011 when a tiny number of individual voters will have a say in a matter of major regional significance for the future of all St. Louisans.

Out of curiosity, does anyone know if the St. Louis Police Officer's Association has taken a position on Prop E? There is some irony here, because a few years ago the state controlled board of the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department significantly reduced the residency requirement for city police officers. So today, like many employees of the St. Louis Business Journal, large numbers of city police officers are not eligible to vote in city elections.

Maybe it's time for a new Missouri Compromise, but this time, make it the St. Louis Compromise, one that creates a sustainable, equitable tax structure for the city of St. Louis as the center of the St. Louis region. Compromises work when there are mutual interests at stake. Under our current system, there are many mutual interests, but our ability to reach a compromise, is, well, seriously compromised.

Too many people have a vested interest in the city of St. Louis with no voice in the outcome of local elections. It's hard to make good decisions about government when there is such a high percentage of our citizens ineligible to participate in the most important decisions.

But, but, but, bt, bt....

Our 2001 Dodge Stratus is on the 4-year plan, namely, we need to keep it running until we're off the tuition train. And that train has at least another 4 years to go.

So it's time for our annual renewal of license plates, this time involving a safety and emissions test. The check engine light has been on for some time, but the car is running strong and there's no visible exhaust coming out of the tail pipe. So it burns a little oil.

Anyway, our mechanic is having a problem getting it to pass the emission test. And today, I'm afraid the updated situation won't be much better. My hunch is that there's some issue with the catalytic converter. Apparently, a car can't pass an emission test with the check engine light on. Or maybe it's a transmission problem.

I have no idea how much it costs to replace a catalytic converter, but from what I've heard, it ain't cheap. And if that's indeed the issue, then I guess we're faced with the lousy choice of sinking a lot of money into an old car, or junking it? And if it's something major with the transmission, well, we know that's a fortune.

I thought there was some limit on how much the state could force you to pay to repair a car under the emission testing requirements? Maybe not.

So, from the sound of this, if indeed we're faced with a choice of repairing the car or junking it, we're in a way dealing with a case of eminent domain - unfortunately with no compensation.

The state may indeed be forcing our otherwise strong running car off the road, with no compensation to us, all for the benefit of the public welfare. Correct? I'll update the post as the situation unfolds...

"The Top 100"

The recent "Open/Closed" conference has lots of people talking about the future of St. Louis and the challenges presented by vacancy and abandonment. In St. Louis, a lot of the vacant land and building inventory is held by the city's Land Reutilization Authority (LRA).

LRA acquires these properties at the end of a long process which ultimately leads to a tax foreclosure sale held on the courthouse steps. By the time LRA gets them, the private market has fully rejected any interest in the properties. As you might expect, most of these suffer from serious deferred maintenance.

Out of the 10,000 or so total properties held in the LRA inventory, fewer than 15 percent of them still have buildings. These 1,000 or so buildings are in varying degrees of condition - generally ranging from bad to worse. Still, some are in better shape than others. And while it's true that many of the buildings in the LRA inventory need to be demolished, the best of them are definitely rehab-able. Call them: "The Top 100".

Would it be possible to start a campaign around these "Top 100" LRA properties? A campaign built on sustainable development, job training, and neighborhood revitalization? Put a value on "The Top 100" LRA buildings of say $10,000 apiece, and if the city were to donate these buildings to the initiative, that puts the city's contribution to the program at $1,000,000 (100 X $10,000).

Identify a foundation purposed with sustainability, community and economic development, and job training, and approach them with a proposal to match the city's contribution to the initiative. Then open up the program to individuals and organizations seeking partnerships and collaboration. YouthBuild and Ranken Tech come to mind as groups looking to train people in the construction trades.

Out of the initiative, a new narrative involving vacancy is possible, one of creative partnerships, community reinvestment, wealth building, and job creation. Is this the sort of possibility that might follow on the path of Open/Closed?

Bee Sanctuary, Greenbelt, or Art Space?

These are some of the possibilites suggested for repurposing abandoned real estate in St. Louis at the Open/Closed Conference held this past weekend at Holy Trinity Church in Hyde Park.

Other ideas included the rebuilding of depleted neighborhoods one parcel at a time. If you look at things this way, the vacant areas of some neighborhoods resemble the St. Louis of 1876 as depicted in Compton Dry's Pictorial St. Louis when the city was first being constructed.

The most likely result will include some combination of all of the above. Indeed there are distressed neighborhoods being rebuilt a parcel at a time and artists are finding their way into abandoned buildings. Such was the start of the revitalization of Washington Avenue's loft district long before the arrival of major tax incentives for the area.

Another opportunity is to begin the unglamorous slog of remediating abandoned properties one lot at a time. Often when you see a vacant lot in a distressed neighborhood, what you don't see are the remains of the former building, now buried under one or two feet of soil.

For years, demolition practices involved simply collapsing unwanted buildings into their basements. At the time, it was the cheapest way to deal with the vacant, abandoned building. Unfortunately, the expedient practice of yesterday leaves us with a legacy of difficult to reuse sites today.

The remains of old buildings under the ground leave behind unbuildable sites today. To build on these usually requires that the old building be excavated and hauled away. As you can imagine, depending on the subsurface conditions, this is a high cost endeavor and from a practical standpoint, renders many redevelopments financially infeasible. With massive buried remains, the land currently has a negative value, especially in weaker market areas.

A dramatic example of this situation is the Pruitt-Igoe site in north St. Louis, whose epic failure and subsequent implosion of dozens of public housing highrise buildings leaves us a vast hole of vacancy on the near north side. Much the same situation exists, albeit on a much smaller scale, for many of the vacant lots in St. Louis.

If the money could be found, especially in the form of a charitable or patient equity investment, the opportunity exists to remediate these sites today. It's a laborious, unglamorous chore, but if we were to create a program to systematically remediate these properties now, we would be creating usable development sites for the future.

How to do it? It's not that complicated. It requires a team of workers (brings jobs), with heavy excavating equipment (brings more jobs), working in concert with neighborhood groups, civic organizations, and planners (yes, more jobs), to phase a mass remediation initiative as the leading edge of a sustainable effort to revitalize currently abandoned properties.

A crew of 6-12 workers, with two or three large excavating tractors and dump trucks, could make major progress at reasonable cost. The more workers and equipment, the faster the process happens. The end result is clean, developable land in the heart of the region. That means more jobs.

To do this, we need to build a list of supporters and seek out those investors of charitable dollars or patient equity. This is doable. Yes, a lot of work, but it's definitely doable.

Cherokee Street Blues

Cherokee Street is one of the storied streets of St. Louis. Over the years it has maintained its focus as one of the city's neighborhood commercial corridors. It runs from the old Lemp Brewery on the east to Gravois on the west. In between, it's a narrow commercial strip, lined with historic buildings, shops, and apartments.

Over the past ten years or so, it has become one of the city's emerging creative areas. Today it is an eclectic mix of ethnic restaurants, small business creative entrepreneurs, and residents. Mostly, it's a group of passionate, dedicated people working together to make the area a better place to live and work.

The greater part of Cherokee Street is shared between the 9th and 20th wards, all of which may change after the next aldermanic ward redistricting. The reason for the change is population losses in the city. The 2010 census showed about an 8% loss in city population, heaviest in the north, but generally pretty even throughout. The net result in terms of ward redistricting will likely be a pulling south of ward boundaries.

So why call this post "Cherokee Street Blues"? Because the blues are about suffering, and we all know there is a lot of pain in St. Louis. The process of ward redistricting is no different. For many, it will cause lots of pain and indigestion.

Since the census was released, there's been a lot of pain expressed about the city's loss of people. Maybe "St. Louis Blues" is another song waiting to be rewritten. A rap version maybe? Whether it's ragtime, blues, or rap, St. Louis is a place of creativity, art, and - yes - pain; and, even though people here don't like it: change.

Most of the city's historic population losses have happened north. In fact, Cherokee Street's 20th ward was formerly part of North City, around the intersection of Kingsighway and West Florissant roads. The ward was moved to south city in the last redistricting of aldermanic wards, and was designated an "opportunity ward" for the election of an African American alderman.

The old northside 20th ward seat had long been held by an African American alderman, and in order to move the ward south, without violating the Voting Rights Act, the city needed to draw a new ward boundary where an African American candidate stood a good chance of being elected. The new southside 20th ward was created, and, since 2000, a white alderman has been elected in the strongly black ward - twice.

In the meantime, north city continues to lose population. According to the 2010 census, since 2000, some northside wards have lost over 20% of their populations. There's no doubt that the next aldermanic ward redistricting will create more pain. Loss of wards in north city creates much concern, as does potential loss of African American elected officials. The new census is foreshadowing of more St. Louis change. As city and regional residents, our challenge is how we move forward.

The first things cited when it comes to city population loss are high crime and lousy schools. There are lots of other reasons, but those two are almost always at the top of the list. Families with school age children move out and people living in high crime neighborhoods leave. In some parts of St. Louis city, population losses have created huge vacancy.

On March 19th, NextSTL is presenting "Open/Closed", a conference on vacant land in St. Louis. The conference will bring together a variety of community leaders and regular St. Louisans to discuss the challenges and opportunties of vacancy in St. Louis.

Thinking back on the challenges causing vacancy, add jobs to the top of the list. With abundant vacant land, shouldn't St. Louis be able to create affordable, attractive site locations for new employment?

What about education? Building on St. Louis' standing as one of the top bio-tech centers in the country, are there ways to connect local institutions, such as our strong universities and biotech companies, with young people in St. Louis to leverage underutilized urban land into opportunities in the emerging fields of green urban agriculture and the green economy? These are some of the ideas which will be explored at the Open/Closed conference.

Heading back down to Cherokee Street, the creative energy will continue. It too shows population losses, but the built environment of the area remains largely intact. Its population losses are not immediately evident, and are more a result of a reduction in household size and number. Old four-family flats might now house one family and a studio or home office. Raw numbers of population loss make headlines, but they do not tell the whole story. As in so much of St. Louis, there are interesting nuances below the surface.

The blues can be slow with lots of pain, or upbeat and filled with hope - like when Chuck Berry and an electric guitar transformed the blues into rock and roll. So whether it's a new version of the St. Louis Blues or the still unwritten Cherokee Street Blues, the way the songs come out will be based on the way we work together. We have the resources. It's up to us to make the best good with them.

Bet: Most STL Traffic Lights Could be Switched to Flashing Red...

...and overall traffic would move easier. Sure, it might sound crazy, but I bet it's true.

Some lights would need to remain on normal cycles, but countless others could be switched to the equivalent of "signalized" stop signs.

Granted, I don't have the scientific facts to back up the bet, just years of anecdotal evidence that every time a light is switched to flashing red, you almost always get through on the first or second waiting of your turn - much faster than you do waiting from a change from red to green. Why? Bottom line: St. Louis just doesn't have that much traffic.

Besides, given the overall extremely courteous nature of St. Louis drivers, it just might work.

Seismic Shifts Coming to St. Louis Political Landscape?

Could the battle for local control of the St. Louis police department be the catalytic event to trigger major structural changes to local government in St. Louis? For years, there has been a struggle over control over the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department.

Since the Civil War, the department has been controlled by a board appointed by the governor. And since at least the 1960s, St. Louis leaders, have been fighting to bring control back to the city. Now their call for local control has been joined by Civic Progress and Focus St. Louis.

This year, for the first time since the Civil War, a bill has passed in the Missouri House to return local control of the police department to the City of St. Louis. The Police Officers Association vehemently opposes this effort and has many political allies, both within and outside of the city limits.

The Police Officers Association holds that returning local control to the city will result in two things they don't like: the possibility of political interference with the police department from St. Louis city elected officials, and, of greater concern, local control of their pension system.

The Police Officers Association has an ally in a state senator from University City, Maria Chappelle-Nadal. Senator Nadal opposes local control.

In the past few days, Senator Nadal has raised two interesting ideas. The first was to insert language into Senate version of the local control bill to reduce the number of aldermen in the City of St. Louis from 28 to 14. And today the news is reporting that Senator Nadal is proposing a bill to call for a vote by citizens for the re-entry of the City of St. Louis into St. Louis County.

A return of the City of St. Louis into St. Louis County increases the liklihood of there one day being a region-wide metropolitan police department on the Missouri side of the St. Louis area. Such a system has the potential to save significant cost to Missouri taxpayers.

While STL Rising strongly favors having a local city police department in the City of St. Louis, where neighbors get to personally know their local police department representatives, the idea of a region-wide metropolitan police force is worth serious consideration.

And if all of this work by local leaders results in further streamlined yet strenghtened local government, then perhaps these will be remembered as times of great progress for the St. Louis region.

Pujols...not looking good!

"Albert", "El Hombre", "the man", whatever you want to call him, is not looking too good thanks to his agent and recent contract negotiations flap with the St. Louis Cardinals. Pujols is a great player. However, the handling of his "walk year" is not serving him well.

At the end of this season, if he does not sign a new contract with the Cardinals, Albert Pujols becomes a free agent. So, without a lot of explanation, Pujols imposed an arbitrary "deadline" on negotations of this week. The deadline came and went without an agreement.

The deadline became the top national baseball story. Dozens of reporters are hounding Pujols at spring training. Pujols is featured in sportscasts, standing in the center of a pool of reporters, cameras and microphones in his face, saying things like, "you guys don't have a clue", "if people think I'm greedy, they don't know me", and "we are laughing about this, and so are the Cardinals, I think".

Really? Albert, you're not helping yourself. These are rough economic times. The Cardinals have an imbalanced situation and you're debating between $200,000,000 and $250 or $300 million. Fans are paying $9 for a beer. Ownership is considering giving you an equity position in the team while Ballpark Village sits empty.

I'm over the whole thing. Really, was never too worried about it in the first place. Quick, can anyone even name the Cardinals likely starting infield? Probably not. But everyone can name Pujols. Albert, if you leave town for more money, lots of little kids might get their hearts broken. That's your choice. But for the rest of us, there's a lot more to life than your contract. Hey, you just keep telling everyone that they have "no clue".

When this is all done, you might want to find a new agent.

Big Pepper

For a variety of reasons, I found myself dining alone last night at El Paisano Mexican Restaurant in South City. Suffice it to say that the customer service function at ATT-UVerse has driven us out of our house.

Anyhow, so after looking over the menu while seated at a booth in the bar area of the now smoke-free restaurant, watching Manchester United get roundly spanked by a rival, I order the poblano pepper and pork tamale combination. I asked the waiter how big the pepper was.

With a nod of his head and a muffled grunt, he held his hands out in front of him, creating a space of about 4-5 inches between the palms of his hands. Good enough.

When the plate arrived, the poblano looked like a size 10 shoe. And delicious!

Will NPR Drop Its Needle on St. Louis?

This week NPR is running a series on cities. Today's edition focused on Washington DC. In particular, the series is looking at changing demographics. In DC, a noticeable trend has been the return of white families to the city.

DC has been a majority black city for a long time. But that's been changing, and soon, DC will be less than 50% black. Meanwhile, suburban Prince George County has been a popular destination for middle income African-American families exiting DC. That county is becoming majority African-American. So in DC, there's a trend where white families are returning to the city and black families are moving away.

DC's Anacostia River is a dividing line where traditionally lower income, depressed neighborhoods are located. Low cost by DC standards, home prices in Anacostia are in the $250-$300,000 range. Many DC neighborhoods see prices 3 to 4 times that amount. With its low prices and sense of upside potential, Anacostia is becoming a vogue target area for developers and white home buyers.

In today's segment, NPR previewed that they will also be covering Portland, Oregon. Portland is often held out as the vanguard of progressive hipness and cool urbanism. NPR noted that Portland is one of the "whitest cities in the country". That surprised me. When people think of big cities in particular, or urban places in general, they usually don't think of them as being heavily white. They think of them as places of diversity. Portland has its own challenges: how cool it is to be known as one of the "whitest cities in the country"?

The DC story featured a delivery driver and his wife, a two income black family who had moved from Anacostia to Prince George County. The husband felt sad about leaving his old neighborhood, but moved away to get more house for the money, and because of pressure from his wife who had grown up in the suburbs. In Prince George County the family could buy a 4-5 bedroom home for the same price as a 2-3 bedroom home in the old neighborhood.

So what does all this have to do with St. Louis? When cities are compared, how will St. Louis fare? St. Louis' challenges are much different than Portland's or DC's. St. Louis isn't the cool destination that Portand is (but maybe it should be). And, unlike DC, St. Louis city neighborhoods, especially the blighted ones, don't outprice its suburban neighbors.

St. Louis is high cost in terms of construction, and low priced in terms of values. Like DC, for decades, St. Louis experienced heavy black and white flight from its neighborhoods, especially on the north side. Today St. Louis is experiencing renewal in many parts of the city. There is a noticeably white demographic at city booster events. "City Affair" gatherings are usually 90% percent white, and meetings for the renewal of the Arch grounds were about the same percentage white.

Cherokee Street, the emerging hip district of South St. Louis, is largely a mix of white and hispanic entrepreneurs, while the surrounding neighborhood is high percentage African-American. With an election for alderman coming soon, given the interesting demographic mix of the area, what will the lead issues of the campaign be?

Trends in St. Louis seem to be more elusive. It's hard to make broad generalizations. Things vary greatly from block to block and neighborhood to neighborhood. There are places such as Old North St. Louis and Cherokee Street which get a lot of attention in terms of their renewal, but geographically they represent a tiny percentage of the city. Look at the city's strategic land use plan and you see that roughly 75% of the city's area is designated "Neighborhood Preservation".

Maybe the story of St. Louis is that we have a good thing, and our goal is to keep it that way by working smart on a combination of things both large and small, those with the biggest impact and greatest leveraging?

City Identifies Source to Help Replace Earnings Tax?

In referring to a state law passed in the 1980s, St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay may have found a major funding souce to offset a portion of the City's current earning tax.

According to the law, the state of Missouri is responsible for over $100,000,000 of the cost to operate the St. Louis police department.

On a recent newscast, Mayor Slay stated that unless Jefferson City returns control of the department back to St. Louis City, "we could send them a bill".

A St.Louis Police Officers Association representative called the tactic a political manuever. Slay replied "this is not a ploy".

When interviewed by Fox 2 News reporter Charles Jaco, Governor Jay Nixon had "no comment".

St. Louis Mastodons

Created by Ryan Frank
www.firstpunchfilm.com

Open Public Forum - St. Louis City Earnings Tax

When: 6:30 pm, February 17, 2011

Where: Old Post Office, Mall Level, 815 Olive, Downtown St. Louis

Sponsors: Downtown St. Louis Residents Association, League of Women Voters, the UPS Store, Emmis Communications, Webster University, the Holden Public Policy Forum

Presentation and Panel Discussion Featuring: Hon. Francis Slay, Mayor; Hon. Darlene Green, Comptroller; Mark Mantovani, President and CEO, NSI Marketing; Nancy Cross, Vice-President, SEIU St. Louis Local

Paint Louis

Years ago, there was a lot of interest in a project to paint the flood walls south of the Arch. It was called, "Paint Louis" and you can still see the work today.

What about painting murals on the monster flood walls along the riverfront between the Eads Bridge and the Poplar Street Bridge? These could be huge in size and a new draw for visitors to the riverfront.

Cleveland HS and Others Like It

Perusing the other urblogs around Saint Louis, STL Rising is very dismayed to learn, if indeed true, that when it comes to demolition, the historically significant buildings of the St. Louis Public School system are exempted from the city's preservation framework, including Cultural Resource Office and Preservation Board reviews.

As these handsome public school buildings are architectural centerpieces in many city neighborhoods, it's sad news indeed to learn that these physical assets are not protected from short-fused demolitions like most of the city's built environment.

History Museum Event Opens Discussion on Class

On Saturday, an overflow crowd gathered in the Lee Auditorium at the St. Louis History Museum for the start of the new series, Class: the Great Divide. The first installment in the series was a presentation by University of Iowa's Colin Gordon on his work Mapping Decline. If you're into maps and St. Louis history, this was the event for you.

Gordon takes his readers through a detailed history of restrictive covenants in St. Louis and the practices of the St. Louis Real Estate Exchange. It shows the history of white flight and ultimately black flight from St. Louis city. It chronicles the depopulation of St. Louis. And it shows the trend continuing in parts of St. Louis County.

The presentation challenges St. Louis about what we do now? The history is well documented. St. Louis was ground zero in terms of white flight and urban dislocation. While there is no question that the downgrading of neighborhood risk by the St. Louis Real Estate Exchange in the 1950s led to much disinvestment in North St. Louis, it is not as clear that restrictive covenants were the cause of white flight.

1950s St. Louis was a place steeped in racism, practicing legalized segregation. Block busting and panic selling caused more white flight than racial covenants or grading of areas by the St. Louis Real Estate Exchange. The challenge for St. Louis is where do we go from here?

STL Rising is hopeful that the sad history of racism and white flight in St. Louis is being rewritten by young people today who do not carry the racial baggage of their parents', grandparents', and great grandparents' generations. Previous generations did not leave a good legacy for our young people. Thankfully they do not seem to be repeating our mistakes.

Staggered Lanes for the Home of Stagger Lee?

When Stack O' Lee shot Billy near the St. Louis riverfront about a hundred years ago, a St. Louis legend was born that lives to this day in rock and blues clubs around the world.

Will the home of Stack Lee soon be home to staggered lanes in place of Memorial Drive, plus a widened depressed section with two new highway on and off ramps between the Arch grounds and downtown?

It's a little hard to tell based on the renderings, but, according to UrbanSTL, the plan to improve the Arch grounds includes a widening of the depressed section to build two new highway ramps.

Overall, the proposed plans are exciting, especially the work proposed around the Old Court House, the north end of the Arch grounds, the remake of Kiener Plaza, and the ecological improvements to the ponds on the grounds.

More info is needed to understand traffic flow and lane changes. Diverting vehicular traffic from the Old Court House area could be a very good thing.

How long on the market?

There's a closed florist shop for sale on Chippewa between Hampton and Kingshighway. It's a nice enough looking building, but for whatever reason, the place has not sold in over a year. Any theories why?

Rams - Seahawks Game Very Revealing...

...not in the sense that the Rams have problems scoring touchdowns, but rather in viewing the aerial shots of downtown Seattle. Those views showed how downtown Seattle is cut off from its Puget Sound waterfront by the elevated Alaskan Viaduct highway structure.

City to River is proposing the idea of highway removal in downtown St. Louis. The City to River concept is to reconnect downtown St. Louis to its riverfront by replacing the depressed and elevated lanes of the soon-to-be-former lanes of I-70 through downtown with an at-grade boulevard.

Perhaps City to River should be setting its sights higher? Rather than simply highway removal, the Seattle project proposes a combined highway replacement with new connections to its waterfront. The price tag? Over $3 billion.

Highway Departments Designing Communities

We have two high profile situations in St. Louis where some of the most important planning work in our region is being led by highway departments. The latest is the South County Connector - a joint project of the St. Louis County Highway Department, MODOT, and the Federal Highway Administration. The second is the finalizing of the Arch redesign effort.

In the case of the South County Connector, the County Highway Department is leading the Environmental Impact Study (EIS) of a project to connect Mid-County to I-55 via River Des Peres. At the Arch grounds, MODOT is working on highway access to the planned improvements coming to the Arch.

Federal dollars spent on highway projects trigger NEPA (National Environmental Protection Act) reviews. The EIS process is the first step in satisfying NEPA requirements. In the EIS, project alternatives are identified, impacts and mitigation are analyzed, and, ultimately, a preferred alternative is chosen.

It's possible that the best alternative is deemed the "no project" alternative. However, you would not expect many highway planning efforts to result in a finding that "no project" is the best alternative. Planning efforts are expensive and they are intended to "pave the way" for new projects.

Planners frame the process. In the case of the South County Connector, the process is being framed to connect the Manchester/Hanley intersection to the Shrewsbury Metrolink station at Lansdowne and River Des Peres. From there, to get to I-55, commuters would travel down River Des Peres boulevard through existing neigborhoods.

In the case of the Arch grounds, planners analyzed the option of closing Memorial Drive in front of the Arch. Closing Memorial Drive is part of the approved environmental review in the new General Management Plan for the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial.

The South County Connector is a project of the County Highway Department. The cities of St. Louis, Webster Groves, and Shrewsbury are not proposing a new federally funded highway connector through their neighborhoods; the planners at the highway department are.

The final version of the plan to improve the Arch grounds will soon be revealed to the general public. It will be the first time the public sees the working drawings for how MODOT and the National Park Service plan to connect downtown, the interstate highway system and the Arch grounds.

At the start of the Arch planning process over two years ago, bad connectivity, largely based on the barrier created by the highway, was identified by the public as the number one problem with the Arch grounds. Soon we will see the results of the public process. At the end of the day, will St. Louis get a widened highway structure between downtown and the Arch grounds?

As the South County Connector project begins its planning process, there is no clear sense of the biggest problems facing the area to be served. County highway planners state that the biggest problem to be solved is to provide faster travel times between South County and the Clayton/Richmond Heights/Brentwood commercial center. Yet many South County residents disagree, saying travel times from their homes to mid-County are less than thirty minutes.

Traffic in the St. Louis region is very light by national standards. Is this because of good highway planning or low demands on the system? The streets of downtown St. Louis are said to have far greater capacity than they need. Tucker Boulevard is 8 lanes wide, and most downtown streets are one-way, higher speed routes. Is our vision as a region to have the fastest travel times for commuters, whether from South County to Mid-County or through the streets of downtown?

Short travel times hardly seem a good indicator of a region's competitiveness or quality of life. In some ways, it suggests the opposite. A little congestion can be a good thing. Slower is not necessarily a bad thing. There are many communities in St. Louis. What does it say about us when we give top priority to the community of commuters?

Two St. Louis Area High Schools Win National Video Production Competition

National competition sponsored by Ford Motor Company.

See the videos here: Drive One for Your School

Why not use window stickers?

Missouri's peel and stick license plate renewals are notorious for the way they are so often stolen from your car's plates.

Why not give driver's an option of having a sticker on the inside of your rear window?

Most Dangerous (Sidewalk) City

STL Rising is no fan of "most dangerous city" lists, especially the bogus CQ Press rankings. Yet on this icy morning, we do want to call attention to a list of dangerous sidewalks in downtown St. Louis.

For the past 12 hours or so, light freezing rain has been falling in St. Louis. When it comes to *light* *freezing* *rain*, freezing is the operative word. It only takes a paper thin layer of ice to cause problems. And that's what we have this morning on some sections of downtown's sidewalks - primarily in front of vacant buildings.

Sidewalks in front of rehabbed, occupied and loved buildings of downtown are generally fine. There's plenty of ice melt in front of places like the Old Post Office, Culinaria, and the Railway Exchange Building. But in front of the vacant and disposessed buildings, not so much. So be careful when walking past some buildings, including the Arcade and the Chemical. The sidewalks in front of these two buildings have not been treated and they're dangerous. I almost busted my head slipping on the sidewalk in front the Arcade.

The sidewalk in front of the Paul Brown, loved and occupied is fine. But as soon as you pass the gangway from the Paul Brown to the Arcade, watch out. This warning would be of no use to out of towners. Even if they read the blog, they would likely have no idea the names of places like the Chemical Building and the Arcade.

Since these buildings are very likely delinquent in their CID fees, I wonder if they are not being serviced in the same fashion as other downtown properties? Or maybe the CID does not provide for ice and snow melting/shoveling. Maybe we should organize a collection to ensure snow shoveling and ice melt in front of the few remaining empty buildings in downtown STL?

Huffington Post Article on Reclaiming Urban Spaces

link

Good article, much applies to St. Louis, but the part about a traditional street grid making it more difficult to reclaim community doesn't make sense to me. Street grids make for lots of places to build connections.

From the article:

Our experience with Michael and City Repair made us realize that our cities are based on the grid plan, and it is much easier for people to feel isolated and sadly be disconnected from their own neighbors. The neighborhood places for communication and gathering that develop naturally in non-grid cities must be specifically planned for in grid cities. Sustainable communities are built when people work together for mutual benefit.

Fall Peak

2010 Fall color peaking on our block.

World AIDS Day Remembrance

I remember my good friend Victor H. Victor and I were classmates in high school, graduating in 1977.

In the summer of 1976, Victor, Mark S and I backpacked across the Sierra Nevada. It was a 2 week, 120 mile trek. I remember how, halfway through the hike, we all started hungering for a hot, fresh meal.

All around the trail, there were these plump looking grouses (plural of grouse, anyone?) darting in and out of the scrub. After awhile, we all started seeing them with their feathers off, little dressing caps on the ends of their feet, and roasted. We started carrying rocks the size of billiard balls in our hands.

Whenever a grouse would appear, we'd chase after it, backpacks weighing us down. The grouse would run a zig-zag pattern. We'd fire the rocks just as the grouses would take their short-hop flights in the air, evading all our throws.

It got to be kind of funny. Desperate hikers chasing after these little chicken-like things. I don't know what we would have done if we actually bagged one. I guess we would have found a new use for our Swiss Army knives...

Anyhow, I didn't know it at the time, but Victor was gay. You'd have never guessed it in high school. Victor was one of the most popular guys in the school, especially with the girls. He was funny, handsome, an AAU champion swimmer, and the singer in a rock band we started.

We named the band "The Piss Aaron Band" in tribute to our favorite singer and performer, Todd Rundgren. Victor was the first person to turn me on to the wonders of Todd. I graduated high school never knowing Victor was gay.

Shortly after high school, Victor got heavy into the gay bath house scene in San Francisco. He spent more and more time in the City. We lost touch, but I heard he died in the early 80s from HIV/AIDS.

Victor has been gone for about 30 years, but he will never be forgotten.

Here's to you my friend.

City Savvy

Alternative source of general revenue?


From an amenity and destination standpoint, the City of St. Louis could be considered a "target rich environment". Lots of people from throughout the region and the entire midwest visit St. Louis for a variety of reasons.

They come here for our restaurants, the interesting neighborhoods, the museums, the schools, to view historic architecture, visit world class hospitals, attend sporting events, enjoy our wonderful parks, neighborhood festivals, and parades.

Year after year, they come by the millions. Tomorrow, tens of thousands will line up on the streets of downtown for the annual Thanksgiving Day Parade. Those visitors support local businesses but they also place a demand on local services in a city starved for general revenue.

How to capture some of that traffic in a way to bolster a flagging city budget? What about creating a program for the savvy city visitor? Those visitors know they get the best of our region's arts and entertainment when they visit St. Louis.

Why not invite them to become "patrons" of the City St. Louis? With modern technology, such a system is possible. Patrons would simply affix a bar code on their vehicles.

The city could then install scanners at the many entry points to St. Louis. Once a month, an electronic transer could be made from the checking accounts of city patrons to the City of St. Louis Collector of Revenue. Only those people actually visiting the city would pay a fee. Those never entering St. Louis would not be assessed any access charges.

Of course, such a program would need to be completely voluntary. It would, however, provide one alternative to the city's earnings tax. If you're a non-city resident, would you support such a program?

Vacant Properties Awareness

The image above is from a recent street slip edition of What's Up Magazine. What's Up Magazine is a project of Jay Swoboda that builds awareness and creates income opportunties for the homeless of St. Louis. The street slip edition above delves into the arena of vacant properties and describes the recent "Reclaiming Vacant Properties Conference" held in Cleveland, Ohio. For related info, please visit: community progress.net

There's no doubt that St. Louis has a vacant properties problem. It's not a new problem. It's been with us since at least the 1970s. Today, the population of St. Louis is roughly 41% of its 1950s peak of approximately 850,000. Back then the city was a network of neighborhoods from north to south, all served by street cars and lots of neighborhood retail.

When those 500,000 or so residents moved away, they left behind empty buildings and a growing base of decay. They took with them a lot of spending power. Some areas were hit much harder than others. Today, you can see those areas in abandoned buildings, poorly maintained buildings, and lots of vacant land. What to do now?

There are lots of ideas. What makes sense for St. Louis? This is an important issue for St. Louis to address, and if done right, could be a source of great economic and community development. Thanks to Jay and others for raising the profile of the issue.

Dog friendly St. Louis

Most dogs need more exercise than they get. Today in my in-box there was an announcement of a new pet service geared toward offering a tailor made exercise routine for your dog. It's run by a young entrepreneur here in St. Louis. Please take note and share the information with people who might need such a service:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Young Entrepreneur is the First to Bring Dog Running to Saint Louis: Pet Services Company, Go Dogs St. Louis, to Offer Dog Running

SAINT LOUIS, Mo – (Nov. 16, 2010) - Recently established pet services company, Go Dogs St. Louis, is the first company in the St. Louis area to offer dog running. Young entrepreneur, Natalie Provost, knew she wanted to start a business in the pet industry and while there are multiple pet service companies in the greater St. Louis area offering daily dog walks and visits, some dogs need more exercise. Natalie recognized a need for the area that fit with her athletic background and love for dogs.

Go Dogs St. Louis is based on the premise that dogs need exercise, and certain breeds need significantly more exercise than their owners have the time or capacity to provide. Running provides dogs with dynamic and mentally stimulating exercise and offers multiple health and behavioral benefits. Adequate amounts of regular, essential exercise increases a canine companion’s quality of life and allows pet parents to enjoy a healthier pet as well as positive behavior in the home. Regular exercise is especially important for energetic, hyperactive and overweight dogs.

“Our goal is to enhance the quality of dog’s life with fun and regular essential exercise,” says Go Dogs St. Louis founder and principal, Natalie Provost. In addition to dog running, Go Dogs St. Louis also offers a variety of pet services, including dog walking, puppy program, pet taxi and pet sitting.

Not all dogs are candidates for running, which is why Go Dogs St. Louis evaluates each dog prior to beginning any endurance program and may recommend an alternative endurance routine, such as brisk or leisurely walking. “The goal is not to log miles, but rather to improve and maintain each dog’s health and general well being through fun and stimulating exercise,” says Natalie Provost.

For more information please visit godogsstl.com

Contact:
Natalie Provost
natalie@godogsstl.com
Phone: (314) 452-3545

Thanks, Natalie, for sending out the press release.

Note from the moderator: Please check out the website. It has lots of practical information about providing a good home and healthy lifestyle for your dog(s).

Creating multiple levels of momentum

The City + Arch + River Foundation has set October 2015 for the deadline to complete improvements to the Arch. That's an aggressive timeline for a $300,000,000 project. It's good to have a goal date because it gets everyone working together on a clear objective. Setting the goal gets momentum moving towards the date.

Teams in the Arch design competition described longer range efforts to improve downtown and the Arch beyond the 2015 deadline. One of those is highway removal. Why not set another deadline to remove the downtown lanes of I-70 separating the riverfront and Arch grounds from downtown? Having multiple deadlines creates multiple levels of momentum.

What about setting October 2020 for the goal date to replace the highway with a new boulevard? That leaves five years for building the boulevard after completion of the new I-70 bridge over the Mississippi. More people working on combined efforts, all with common interests and shared values - a better connected, more vibrant downtown, riverfront, and Arch grounds - creates mulitple levels of momentum.


The Arch design program is in its final stages. Design teams and community leaders are looking at construction plans and cost estimates. They are also finalizing crucial connections between downtown and the riverfront neighborhoods of Laclede's Landing, the Arch, and Chouteau's Landing. One option is to build a lid over the depressed lanes. MVVA, the winning team of the Arch design competition, proposed a lid over the depressed lanes, but also left north and south bound lanes of Memorial Drive passing through the lid.

In the image above, City to River suggests how a program of building the lid, removing the highway lanes, and having Memorial Drive pass underneath the lid can all be combined in a downtown/riverfront connectivity strategy. As the drawing indicates, it is possible to build a lid over the depressed lanes designed to have the boulevard ultimately separated from it by passing through an 1-2 block underpass made available through the vacation of the depressed interstate lanes.

Click on the image for a more detailed view - highlighted areas show new commercial frontage created for expansion of existing buildings and new development sites. Much better views of these connections are available through the City to River link above. It's possible to imagine how drivers could access new underground Arch parking through this same lid underpass. In this manner, the underpass and lid become a primary new entry point for drivers visiting the Arch and downtown.

Creating a phased development plan for downtown and the riverfront with multiple goals on parallel tracks builds momentum for all projects and keeps things building towards greater outcomes.

SF Rising

Having spent my first 30 years in the Bay Area, I grew up on Giants' baseball, watching Hall of Famers like Willie Mays, Willie McCovey, and Gaylord Perry on the field. But we never saw a World Series winner. Places like St. Louis and Oakland got to experience those thrills.

The years of Candlestick Park baseball were long, cold, and difficult. Since moving out of New York, the Giants have never won a World Series. For all the fans of the Giants in the Bay Area and elsewhere, let's hope this is their year.

The Giants of 2010 are a fun team to cheer. They're built around pitching and youth. Their manager, in classic San Francisco tradition, is a gravelly-voiced Italian named Bruce Bocce. You can imagine seeing him dining at one of the City's North Beach restaurants after a game.

The 2010 team has an inspiring narrative in young catching and hitting star Buster Posey. The team's orange and black color theme is dull for most of the year, but a perfect match for October baseball.

St. Louis has a rooting interest in former Cardinal Edgar Renteria filling in at shortstop for the injured Juan Uribe. Renteria brings multiple post season championships and overall veteran experience to the clubhouse.

After many years of possibly leaving the Bay Area for warmer, friendlier playing confines, at ATT Park, the Giants now play in what is arguably the most beautiful ballpark in the country.

Could 2010 finally be the year for a World Championship parade for the San Francisco Giants down Market Street? Is the new ballpark the difference?

Perhaps ATT Park is an example of how architecture improves our quality of life. Or, can architects help you win a World Series? Maybe in San Francisco!

Sitting amongst subsidized millionaires...

...well, not exactly amongst, let's say above.

On Sunday we attended the Rams/Chargers game at the Edward Jones Dome. Our seats were located halfway to the top of the nose bleed section. Corner of the end zone. Great game. The resurgent Rams won by a score of 20-17, evening their record to 3 wins and 3 losses.

These days, professional sports teams get subsidies to build stadiums. I like football and I like baseball, so I don't mind part of my tax dollar going to such things, especially when we have a winning team. If that's what it takes to keep big league sports in town, I'm open to it.

Our society subsidizes lots of things. Highways, military spending, the arts, police and fire protection, libraries and schools. Why not entertainment?

Welcome Sign In "The Grove"

Never mind that old "don't forget to turn out the lights" line people used to say about St. Louis.

From the Washington University Medical Center Redevelopment Corporation comes word that the Grove/Forest Park Southeast neighborhood will soon be welcoming residents and visitors to the area with a bright new illuminated sign over Manchester Avenue.

Click here for more details and photos.

One block of downtown street grid re-connected

After more than two years of closure, 8th Street between Washington Avenue and Locust has been reopened to cars, cyclists, pedestrians, and truck traffic.

The street connects the main entrance of the Convention Center to the Old Post Office Plaza and the rest of downtown, adjacent to the west side of US Bank and the new Robert's Tower.

With some construction activity still underway on the new tower, for the time being 8th Street is only opened for one lane, but it's amazing what a difference it already makes just having that one street re-connected. It's much easier to get around.

It makes you wonder how many more options for downtown visitors the one re-opening creates, and then makes you really wonder what a fully reconnected downtown street grid would mean for the vitality of St. Louis.

No doubt there is a multiplier effect on many levels.

Arch design competition picked a winning team...

...but many large questions remain.

Chief among those is how to deal with the connection between the Arch grounds and downtown.

The winning MVVA team proposed a lid over the I-70 depressed lanes, with Memorial Drive remaining open in both directions across the lid.

Last week there was a meeting where proponents of the Arch redesign suggested that Memorial Drive be closed at the lid.

MVVA proposed closing Washington Avenue between Memorial Drive and the riverfront. The jury for the competition didn't like that idea, and recommended keeping the street open.

MVVA proposed closing Leonor K. Sullivan Boulevard at the foot of the Arch grounds along the riverfront, which to date hasn't generated much public response.

Large questions remain in the reworking of the Arch grounds. A ninety-day fine-tuning period has been established, currently at about day seventeen, to finalize how these questions will be decided.

The biggest questions are the same ones that were being asked at the start of the competition: What to do with the connections between downtown and the Arch grounds and what to do with the I-70 barrier between the city and the riverfront neighborhoods.

The question of how to pay for all of it is equally a part of the conversation. Proponents are mum on cost estimates. The design team is working on a budget at this time as well, but the cost will depend on the design, which is still being finalized.

With so many moving parts, the process is complex and difficult. How do you sell something with so many open questions? In the Show Me State of Missouri, it's not easy.

Refresh Everything Contest

St. Louis's own Operation Brightside is in a national gardening competition. Learn more and support our local team by voting here.

New study: 40% of kids' food "empty calories"

The news reported today on the continuing epidemic of childhood obesity in the United States. Quoting an MD from the east coast, the story said that 40% of a child's diet between the ages of 2 and 18 is from "empty calories".

Eating foods with empty calories adds to your waistline, but provides no nourishment. Obesity follows.

The story described the types of foods that provide empty calories. Candy, junk food, and pizza. Pizza??

How is pizza an empty calorie food? It's bread, cheese, tomato sauce, and meat or vegetable topping. Those are all healthy foods. What's the problem?

Bosnian Born + Brooklyn Bred = St. Louis Success

Pizzeria Tivoli

Located in a splendidly rehabbed historic mixed use property at the corner of Kingsighway and Holly Hills on the same block as Our Lady of Sorrows Church in South St. Louis, the new Pizzeria Tivoli deserves your business.

Chef Sam hails from Brooklyn and owner Yana from Bosnia. The owner lives upstairs after completing an immaculate rehab of the property. Creative pizza selections are baked in an open flame, 600 degree wood burning brick oven, resulting in a delicious smoky-light crispness in the crust and wonderful flavor in the toppings.

All pizzas are the same size (well approximately the same size - they're all hand made so no two are exactly the same size), large enough for two persons (three slices apiece), and surprisingly affordable (ranging from $10-$12). Quality beers on tap and good wine by the glass can be purchased in the $4 range. Don't be surprised if you decide to extend your stay with a second pizza and beverage of your choice. Pictured above is their spinach pizza, a house favorite.

Service is friendly, music is excellent, dine on the sidewalk patio wrapping the building or in the cozy interior. Pizzeria Tivoli is family friendly, a great date spot, and welcome addition to Sorrows Parish and the southside community.

Media Advisory: "Avoid Downtown If You Can"

No way to frame a masterpiece...


Today's multi-vehicle accident between the Arch and the Old Court House, which snarled I-70 traffic in both directions for over an hour, provides stark illustration of the unsightly and dangerous barrier in the middle of downtown created by the depressed and elevated lanes of I-70.

Emergency crews filled the depressed lanes. Let's hope there were no serious injuries. News coverage on all major media outlets is continuing. Meanwhile, in the aftermath of the accident, most downtown streets remained undisturbed.

KMOV's coverage including lots of additional photographs of the early scenes of the wreckage along with reader comments.

Elephant in the room

Missouri voters will soon have their say on the Kansas City and St. Louis earnings taxes. Efforts are afoot to abolish the taxes. Some say elimination of the taxes will make both cities more competitive.

Here are a couple of questions for those for and against the earnings tax. To non- city residents and business owners: If the city of St. Louis abolished the earnings tax, would you be more or less likely to move your business or personal residence to the city of St. Louis?

With a 1/3 drop in general revenue to result from a loss of the earnings tax, city services are likely going to be reduced. Due to declining revenues, services in the city are already being cut back. Residents are now paying for trash service once considered "free" (covered by already collected city taxes).

So, here's the second question. To non-city residents and business owners: With a smaller government offering fewer services, would you be more or less likely to move your business or personal residence to the City of St. Louis?

Here's a third question, to current city residents: With fewer city services being provided as a result of a loss of the earnings tax, would you be more or less likely to move out of the City of St. Louis?

Loved by the spirit world

The scene above is a reminder that Halloween night is right around the corner. Time to start planning those yard decorations and scary sound effects!

The scene below is even scarier. With evidence of serious deferred maintenance, the building in the photograph is in precarious condition.



What do these two scenes have in common? One of them is already in the inventory of abandoned city properties and the other is close. Abandoned properties are held in trust by the City's Land Reutilization Authority, or "LRA" for short.

Which one do you think it is? Most would assume the derelict building, but in this case, it's the cemetery that has ended up in city hands.

How could a cemetery end up in the city's LRA? For abandonment by its owners. And what about the building with the rear wall near collapse? The answer will likely be the same.

Once an owner abandons its real estate, taxes and other expenses of ownership aren't paid, and it eventually ends up in the hands of the city. The process takes years. In many cases the buildings deteriorate to the point where they are demolished at the city's expense.

It's a slow, unfortunate process, filled with dread and loss. The subject of property abandonment presents many challenges and there are no easy answers. The problems leading to abandonment were years in the making, and whatever the strategy, will require lots of resource to solve.

Abandoned properties cross over into a sort of nether world. Most people in the real world have turned their backs on them. The properties go unsold at tax sales. We most want for something better, but there is little good expected.

Scary houses on Halloween are with us only one night a year. Unfortunately, the inventory of abandoned properties is with us day after day, month after month, and year after year.

Forest Park Side Trail

Recently we were walking in Forest Park and turned down a side trail looking for a short cut across the park. The trail takes you by restored water courses and vegetation, stone water falls, lily gardens, and then, surprisingly, this tiny stone amphitheater.

There's no sign leading to this delightful and romantic spot. You'd never know it was there without venturing off the main road and down the side trail. It makes you wonder how many other hidden treasures there are scattered throughout the remade Forest Park or planned for its future?

Urban Irony

Here is a truck unloading a delivery on Olive Street in the heart of the improving Old Post Office District of downtown St. Louis. The truck is double parked, leaving room for cars to pass in the next lane. The scene is a sign of life and commerce. Trucks are an important part of a vibrant city.

Ten years ago, you'd rarely see a truck unloading in the heart of downtown St. Louis. Today, cars, pedestrians, cyclists and trucks are all learning to share the streets of a healthy urban core.

Meanwhile, a few blocks east, long range plans are in the works to reconnect downtown to the riverfront and Arch grounds. City to River is promoting the concept of highway removal and the creation of a new urban street in its place.

In the planning process leading up to the Arch design competition, there was widespread agreement that the biggest problem facing the Arch was a lack of connectivity to downtown and that the biggest barrier to those connections is the existence of I-70.

All five finalist design teams acknowledge the problem with the highway barrier and many of them stated that highway removal is the ultimate solution to reconnecting downtown to the riverfront and Arch grounds.

Replacing a highway with a boulevard means that truck traffic will be using the city street grid. It also means there will be more traffic on the streets of downtown. This means more people and commerce in the city instead of bypassing it.

A plan to replace a highway with an urban street is going to create questions and opposition. The two main objections to the plan for highway removal have been: 1) increasing truck traffic on city streets and, 2) increasing traffic congestion on city streets, causing delays.

Isn't it ironic that the ultimate urban design solution to reconnecting downtown to the riverfront is opposed due to reasons of increasing urban vitality?

Ballpark Village or Grand Opportunity

by Megan Beebe

We’ve all heard about that area by the Cardinals stadium, you know the one deemed “Ballpark Village,” the place that’s going to change all our lives. But after years of ups and downs shouldn’t we finally decide what to put there? Clearly the original idea has taken some beatings, so maybe we ought to think of something else, something even more useful that will put St. Louis back on the map.

Ballpark Village is a great idea. The thought of glittering restaurants and shops, complete with scenic lofts on top sounds perfect. And to builders and real estate agents it’s simply mouthwatering. But maybe not now; not during a recession when no one is willing to take risks. So what can we do instead? Lots of things! It’s the land of opportunity!

To be innovative is to be green these days. So why not be the first to build vertical farms? A vertical farm is just that: an indoor greenhouse that can be built on several levels, towering 30 stories into the sky. This new idea created by Dickson Despommier, an environmental professor, would eventually lead to new employment opportunities, fewer abandoned lots, cleaner air and much more. And if its aesthetic s you’re worried about, don’t be. Because the buildings need to let sunlight in, they will be just as shiny and brilliant as we had hoped the original BPV would have been. Plus, Japan has already successfully integrated farms into their urban cities, so let’s jump on the bandwagon and start a new craze in the US!

Or we could take sustainable living to the extreme. The site could be turned into self-sustainable restaurants. Sort of strange for something in the center of downtown, but several other cities have already had a go at it, and it works. Sustainable restaurants grown their own food and try to rely on nothing but what is around them. Of course, sometimes they’ll bring in food from other local farms, but mostly they support themselves. It’s hard to do but it’s something we’ll be seeing more of.

On the other hand, maybe we should take a look at the local universities. Are there any that seem to be overflowing? Why not build a center at the proposed Ballpark Village site where students can flock to during the day. Downtown university buildings are great for cities. They bring in loads of students who are bound to provide lots of business. They’re going to want food, entertainment and space. Perfect!

If nothing else, why can’t we at least make it a little less desolate for the time being? The softball field is a definite step up from the tiring brown dirt. And it’s nice enough to have a brand new parking lot, but when you look to the side and find an empty space, it leaves you wondering what could have been. In the words of Tim Gunn, make it work St. Louis!

About the author -

Megan Beebe is a recent graduate and has recently accepted the position of webmaster for Hermann London Real Estate. Megan researches all about St. Louis restaurants, communities and services and writes about them. Thanks to Megan for submitting her article.

Interested in writing a guest post for STL Rising? Submissions welcome. Please contact the moderator at rbonasch@sbcglobal.net.

8th Street Countdown

8th Street between Washington Avenue and Locust has been closed for over two years with the construction of Roberts Tower. Now the Tower is looking complete, although there is surely much more work to do on the inside.

8th Street is an important downtown artery, connecting the Convention Center to the Gateway Mall and Old Post Office district. Is there an estimate for when the street reopens? If crane work is complete on the skyscraper, does that mean the street can be reopened?

Waterfront redevelopment and highway removal

Rx for regional competitiveness?

Trenton makes the case.

Next steps in highway removal

With 5 of the 5 teams supporting highway removal as the ultimate solution for fixing downtown's connectivity problems, efforts to remove the downtown lanes of I-70 separating the city from the riverfront will be shifting from the conceptual to the practical. What would a pragmatist do?

Cart Security

A shopper at the downtown Culinaria had some pastry boxes and shopping bags loaded into her shopping cart. As she was rolling the cart out the front door of the store, the cart lurched to a stop.

What to do? Flummoxed, the shopper loaded all her purchases into her arms, left the cart at the door, and labored out to her parked car.

Apparently, Schnucks has a security system on its carts which prevents people from leaving the store with their shopping carts. That's a good idea, but makes things tricky for shoppers.

STL Rising Trivia Tip Of The Day: When taking your Culinaria purchases to a car parked on the street, be sure to ask the Culinaria staff for a courtesy assist.

Mansion House owner on highway removal

From today's Post Dispatch:

"An economic boost"

Five teams have unveiled their visions for revamping the Arch grounds and riverfront, and it's encouraging to see that all five teams support the eventual removal of Interstate 70 through downtown. This plan has been strongly promoted by the volunteer group City to River and will be the key to reconnecting downtown, the Arch and the Mississippi River and spurring downtown economic development.

As an owner of the Mansion House complex on Fourth Street, my New York-based company has invested and re-invested in downtown over the past 21 years. As a father, I have fond memories of traveling to St. Louis from the East Coast with my family to visit the Arch grounds.

Being a New Yorker, I have a unique perspective. I witnessed the elimination of the Westside Highway in Manhattan and the creation of a grand boulevard south of 57th Street, joining the city with the Hudson River and creating a myriad of residential, tourist, recreational and business activities. In St. Louis, I-70 is creating barriers for tourists and residents looking to gather downtown and is hindering future investment by property owners along the eastern edge of downtown.

Should City to River's proposal to replace I-70 with an urban boulevard move forward, the property across from the Arch could be transformed into a vibrant, pedestrian-friendly venue, providing a significant economic and tourism boost for the city.

Louis Tallarini • New York

Framing the Question

All five Arch design teams have stated their support for highway removal as the ultimate best solution for reconnecting downtown to the Arch grounds and riverfront. So where do we go from here?

The issue now becomes a challenge to planners and civil engineers. How to frame the question? Is highway removal a "go" or "no-go" proposition? Is the program subject to an "either/or" determination of feasible or infeasible?

Or, do we take the can-do approach of how do we make this work? Problems and challenges need solutions, which is the whole point of the Arch competition: to find solutions to problems and challenges, especially challenges of reestablishing lost connections.

Traffic people speak of "levels of service" (LOS). They strive for acceptable levels of service (ease of traffic flow), with an understanding that the LOS will fluctuate according to various times of day and demands on the system.

Ultimately, our course on highway removal will depend on the will of the community. The design teams have all said highway removal is the best solution. So now will St. Louis support or call for such a change?

Arch Redesign - More than Just Building Stuff

Architects as community developers

As the details begin to emerge in the Arch design competition, and the jury carries out its role, it's becoming clear that this effort to reconnect the city, the Arch, and the river is about more than cool new designs and structures on or about the Arch, it's ultimately about the life of a city, the region, and its people.

The jury is asking questions about markets, sustainability, phasing, and feasibility. The teams are talking about budgets, community participation, and public support. The builders of the Arch created a great structure and landmark. Today's designers are trying to create community.

The teams, the jury, and ultimately St. Louis is challenged to build community back into our riverfront, the east bank, and downtown. It's a huge challenge that rivals any in this region's history. It's about building a sustainable future for St. Louis. Creating connections and leveraging of effort will be a key factor of success.

This project is as much more about us as a community as it is the Arch grounds as a physical environment. What an exciting challenge indeed.

Front and Center in St. Louis

Today at the America's Center in downtown St. Louis, the five finalist teams in the Arch design competition will make their case before a jury of national community design leaders. The jury is charged with choosing the winning team design that will lead the remake the Arch grounds and reconnection of downtown St. Louis.

Front and center in St. Louis is the Arch. The Arch is both a national monument and the international icon of St. Louis. The Arch stands between the Mississippi River and downtown. However, running down the middle of the three is an obtrusive interstate highway. As the highway has long been identified as the number one barrier dividing downtown from the Arch grounds and riverfront, this blog, along with many other writers in St. Louis, have pushed for planning the removal of the downtown lanes of the interstate as a key part of the conversation in the reworking of downtown connections.

Meanwhile, planning for highway removals, as part of an overall economic and community development strategy for downtown areas, has become a national movement. STL Rising has identified over fifteen other completed or concurrent highway efforts. With the Arch design competition the catalyst, and a nationally seated jury deciding the course, St. Louis could lay a further foundation for possibilities of highway removal efforts around the country.

Proponents of highway removal suggest that these highways through the hearts of our nation's cities were mistakes in the first place. As they now are surpassing their useful lives, cities are revisiting ways to reimagine their downtowns. St. Louis is in the forefront of this effort with the Arch design competition and efforts to reorient the city to face its riverfront.

The design teams will be front and center before the Arch design competition jury today. The jury is front and center in setting policies for how St. Louis will work for the next century. And the St. Louis community stands at the threshold of making all this happen. The Arch stands for discovery. Today St. Louis is on an historic odyssey of discovery. The outcome is sure to be outstanding. These are great times to be part of St. Louis.

STL has lots of company in quest for highway removal...

Nationwide Downtown Highway Removal Projects - Completed or Proposed:

I-64 along the Ohio River - Louisville

I-84 Aetna Viaduct - Hartford

Alaskan Way Viaduct -Seattle

Sheridan Expwy - Bronx NY

The Skyway and Route 5 - Buffalo

Route 34 -New Haven CT

Claiborn Expwy - New Orleans

Interstate 81 - Syracuse

Route 29 - Trenton

Gardiner Expwy -Toronto

11th Street Bridges and Southeast Fwy - Washington DC

Downtown lanes of I-70 - St.Louis

Milwaukee Park East Freeway (complete)

Portland waterfront (complete)

Embarcadero - San Francisco (complete)

Central Freeway - Octavia Boulevard
San Francisco (complete)

Arch Competition Public Comment Period Closes Today

Commenting is easy. Click here and post your comment today.

Time for a riverfront traffic study?

If you've ever driven the surface streets of downtown St. Louis which connect to the central riverfront and Arch grounds, then you know first hand the barriers created by the elevated and depressed lanes of I-70. Streets are confusing; there are few good connections; and, routes are frequently cut off, sending unwitting drivers over bridges they didn't intend to take.

With Arch Competition finalists joining City to River in the call for downtown highway removal, and as we ready for major improvements to the Arch grounds and east bank, it's time for St. Louis to examine traffic issues of our downtown, Arch, and riverfront areas. In so doing we can identify traffic solutions, including possible highway removal, so that we will fully enjoy and connect with the benefits of our revitalized riverfront and Arch grounds.

Phasing in the new boulevard

Support is growing for City to River's vision for removing the downtown lanes of I-70 between the riverfront and downtown after the opening of the new I-70 bridge.

The challenge of solving logistics is high on the priority list of planning this project. How would you like to see construction of the new boulevard phased? Here are some ideas.

Opening of the new I-70 bridge is scheduled for 2014. With the slow economy, it's possible the project will be completed ahead of schedule.

Starting in the Fall of 2010, planning and engineering for the new boulevard and highway removal begins. City to River works to engage interested parties in keeping project on track.

Upon opening of the new bridge, close the former I-70 downtown elevated lanes between the new I-70 bridge and the Poplar Street Bridge. I-55 traffic is directed onto Memorial Drive or across Poplar Street Bridge. I-70 traffic is rerouted across the new bridge or onto city surface streets.

Demolish the old elevated lanes and grind the rubble for clean fill. Recycle structural steel from the elevated lanes. According to engineered plans, begin process of filling in the depressed lanes. Bring the void of the depressed lanes up to grade. During this time, Memorial Drive remains open.

Once depressed lanes are brought to grade, demolish the transition between the old walls of the trench and Memorial Drive. According to engineered plans, compact the entire area creating the roadbed for construction of the lanes of the new Memorial Drive, on-street parking, and landscape medians and other amenities.

Schedule all work to be completed within one year of completion of opening of the new I-70 bridge. With this schedule, the new boulevard is open nearly on the same schedule as the new improvements to the Arch grounds.

Arch Design Competition Public Comment Window Open

Competition comment period open this week. To celebrate the ongoing effort, City to River is hosting a community event tonight at the Schlafly Tap Room

Yesterday, five exciting visions were revealed that point toward a bright future for the Arch Grounds and downtown St. Louis.

The proposals unveiled make clear that the teams agree with City to River’s supporters that highway removal is the ultimate solution to fully reconnecting the city with the Arch and riverfront.

From four of the five finalist teams:

“City to River articulates an enormous number of benefits arising from such a scheme…”

- SOM Team

“..the benefits of removing the highway altogether are clear...”

- MVVA Team

“Full Circle’s grand loop of transportation facilities could be easily integrated into its [City to River’s] design."

-Weiss-Manfredi Team

"We predict fanfare should the elevated highway that cuts off Laclede’s Landing be removed."

- The Behnisch Team

Come to the Schlafly Tap Room Club Room tonight (7:30 p.m., 2100 Locust Street) to show your support for highway removal! Have your voice heard on this pivotal regional issue. The event is FREE.

Invasion from the north

Saturday night the Minnesota Vikings paid a visit to St. Louis. They played the St. Louis Rams in the first pre-season game of the 2010 season. The Vikings won the game handily, giving rookie Rams QB Sam Bradford a dose of NFL medicine. With the holes in the Rams offensive line, this might be a long season for Bradford and the Rams. But the real question is whether the Rams are long for St. Louis? Can St. Louis compete in the NFL game?

The Rams are for sale and the top bidder is minority owner Stan Kroenke. Kroenke has been cagey in his responses about his commitment to keep the team in St. Louis. Meanwhile, in 2014, the Rams have an escape clause in their lease for the Edward Jones Dome. If the Dome is not considered in the upper eschelon of NFL stadiums, the Rams are free to move. A lot has to happen in order to meet that requirement.

For this pre-season matchup, the Rams played in a stadium that was only about 70% filled. Of those in attendance, a large number had driven down from Minnesota to watch the game. Given the lack of a sellout, the game was not broadcast live in St. Louis. Last year, many regular season Rams games did not sell out, preventing the game from live television broadcast in St. Louis. Low attendance at games combined with a lack of local live broadcasts feeds on itself in a downward spiral of dwindling fan interest.

Meanwhile, out in LA, plans are in the works and financing is coming together for a brand new $1 billion dollar football mecca, replete with all the luxuries desired to put LA on the dance card to be a regular Super Bowl host city. Can St. Louis compete with that? Not likely.

St. Louis is a metro of 2.5 million. The greater LA area has 15 million. Whether for filling the stadium with fans or setting ad rates for televised games, LA has huge market demand to offer the new Rams ownership.

LA is the sentimental hometown of the Rams. The playing years of many of their Hall of Fame legends are based in LA. The Warner, Bruce, Holt years in St. Louis made great history. But with the soon to be voided stadium lease in St. Louis and tempting conditions shaping up in LA, does St. Louis have a prayer in keeping the Rams? If we lose the team to another market, will St. Louis ever be home city to an NFL team again?

Many US regions getting serious about highway removals...

...six in the works in CT, NY, and NJ

How many more are out there?

Illinois Gems

Illinois is a state filled with rare treasures. The small towns and farms, and beautiful court houses hold many wonderful surprises.

Adorning a small conference room in a central Illinois municipal office, is a work of art completed as part of the Public Works of Art Project, also known as the Federal Art Project.

It's interesting to note that over 70 years ago, at a time of economic stress, the federal government intervened not only in providing public works projects but also public art projects.

The work pictured above was completed in 1934. A brass plaque at the bottom of the frame reads, "Public Works of Art". The painting is signed "John Stephen 34". I wonder what the subject is? The mood is an awesome reflection of the times.

Beers for a Boulevard

No, we're not talking about Boulevard Ale, it's City to River along with STL Style sponsoring an event at the headquarters of St. Louis' largest locally owned brewer, Schlafly, to celebrate the culmination of the Arch design competition.

Join friends and neighbors for a fun evening in a beautiful setting in support of efforts to reconnect the City, the Arch and the River. For more information, check out the Facebook invitation here:

Facebook Invite

Riverfront, Arch poised to be downtown's next hot spot?

Washington Avenue led the way through the late 90s and early - mid 2000s. Will the riverfront area and Arch grounds be the center of excitement for the next big wave of downtown renewal?

Check out the list of downtown stakeholders supporting City to River's proposal to open up the downtown/riverfront area through highway removal and creation of a new Memorial Drive:

City to River releases it's expanded list of supporters

"Gateway to a new legacy"

That's the title of a recent City to River blog entry. The Arch design competition is reaching its final stage.

Soon the five finalist design teams will unveil their proposals and St. Louis will face a decision that will redefine her downtown and the region for the next fifty to one hundred years.

Much has been written about the planning mistakes of the past. Actions now will lay new foundations for our future. Not since the passing of the riverboat era has St. Louis had such importance placed on its riverfront.

The projected budget for the total program (low estimate, for Missouri and Illinois) is over $300,000,000. When it was first built (1960s dollars) the cost of the Arch was about $13 million.

Will you work to make dreams reality? We are on a community odyssey setting course for a new future. Will hope and vision prevail over cynicism and naysaying?

It's up to each of us to make a difference. We can do this. Let's watch and work for great things.

Outpouring of support for highway removal at Arch design competition website

From the City + Arch + River Design Competition website "Community Connections" page, there is a huge outpouring of support for City to River's vision of removing the highway between the Arch and downtown and replacing it with an at-grade, urban boulevard. Below is a sample of the comments. Click on the highlighted text to read them all and add your own.

"I support removing the section of I-70 between Cass Ave and Poplar Street and replacing it with a boulevard. I support the City to River plan. www.citytoriver.org"

- Jill M.

“I would like to voice my support of City to River’s concept of removing Interstate 70 from the Poplar Street Bridge to Cass Avenue and replacing it with a pedestrian-friendly boulevard. I believe that a new Memorial Drive would reopen the front door for St. Louis and connect the city, the Arch and the river more completely. As citizens of Saint Louis, we have an unique opportunity to revitalize our Mississippi riverfront during the renovation of the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial and the construction of the new Mississippi river bridge. Let us use this opportunity to create a more vital connection with our city’s grand lifestream. Please incorporate this concept into your design! ”

- Mark C

"I grew up in St. Louis and am among those that have always considered the I-70 crossing through downtown as a near fatal gash through the heart of the city. For a city that boasts a history with the river, we have isolated ourselves and our downtown from that source of so much rich history. This is an opportunity that I did not think would come in my life time; the chance to remove the highway from blocking access to the river, and the Arch, from downtown. I implore the designers to incorporate a new Memorial Drive and removal of I-70 from downtown as part of rejuvenating St. Louis and giving us back our river. Without direct access to the Arch and the River, I’m sorry but we are not a river city and should refrain from calling ourselves as such. Thank you for the chance to voice my opinion."

- Dennis N

"I like this plan and since I moved here 9 years ago I have wondered why it hasn’t already been done."

- James W