steve May 8th, 2008
Presidential hopefuls McCain and Clinton are both suggesting we take a summer vacation from collecting the federal tax on gasoline. Obama is coming the closest of all the major candidates to just putting it out there — China & India are now crazy about cars, just as we are, the world only has so much oil and the refineries can only convert oil to gas so fast.
We’ve spent nearly a century investing in infrastructure that only works when oil is cheap. Now that most Americans live in auto-dependent suburbia the world market rules have shifted. This is our new reality. There is no good short term solution. The long term solution is invest in different transit systems that move people more efficiently. Of course we are so spread out now that becomes increasingly costly.
Government is going to have to make some tough decisions. In the St. Louis region, for example, we need to rethink the idea of MetroLink being a regional system. I don’t think we can afford to build enough lines to encompass our region. We need to think at the local street level — how can mass transit get the average Joe to work, to the store and so on. We also need to think about goods — where do they come from, can we ship them more efficiently and better yet can we produce that same good locally for less?
We are in the midst of the reality we created for ourselves. No summer vacation from the gas tax is going to change that.
steve May 7th, 2008
Proponents of bike lanes use arguments of increased safety to advocate an increase in such lanes. That would be nice and all if it were true. What is true enough is the perception of increased safety.
To the novice rider getting out into traffic can be intimidating. Bike lanes give these riders a mostly false sense of security. It is not the fault of the lanes but how they are designed in the US. Here they are largely left over roadway whereas in other areas where they are more effective they are part of a connected network, sometimes with their own signals and such. Here bike lanes simply start and stop out of the blue, leaving the rider on their own when the lane ends. This is where the safety argument falls apart.
Recently Slate did a couple of video segments looking for the stupidest bike lanes, click here to watch both. Go ahead and watch — they are brief and interesting. OK, back?
In July 2005 I did a report on a local bike lane that was more dangerous than stupid — it intentionally placed riders going straight ahead to the right of right turning vehicles.
The bike lane is that area nearest the curb. As you can see the cars in this lane above are required to turn right — right into cyclists heading South. The above is where 8th merges into 7th which at this point is basically Broadway.
Broadway is one of those hit or miss streets — the bike lane stops and resumes all of a sudden. A reader sent me a few pictures from further South, just South of A-B in fact:
Above as we approach the I-55 overpass we have two Southbound travel lanes, but no bike lane.
Under the bridge the roadway widens and a right turn lane begins to form for people going to Cherokee St or Southbound I-55. A brief bike lane appears to separate Southbound bikes from right turning motorists.
This is the exact spot where a cyclist should be at this point. But any rider skilled enough to get to this point doesn’t need a 10ft long bike lane to help them. The novice rider that hugs the right curb still needs help getting positioned in the right spot. If anything this tells motorists to not use all the road when turning right.
Bike lanes can be a good thing but only when they are consistent. Having then only in spots where the road is too wide and not where it narrows again is just inviting a bike accident.
steve May 6th, 2008
Sunday was such a nice day I decided in the afternoon to make my way the 9-10 blocks from my house to City Grocers at 10th & Olive. Knowing of at least one curb ramp issue ay 16th & Locust I took the power wheelchair Eastbound on Washington Ave. Everything was fine and dandy until I turned on 10th Southbound:
A block South of Washington at St Charles St I encountered this white Pontiac in my path. To an able-bodied person they’d just walk around but when you are in a wheelchair your options are more limited.
I thought about ramming the side of the vehicle with the chair but then I realized that would probably do more damage to me than the car. My cane on the other hand could have done a number on the car without hurting me. But I thought if the owner came out I would be a sitting target. Plus I am not really the type that would damage another’s property — even if they are insensitive and need a good lesson in where not to park.
The sensible thing would have been to call the police. But it was a nice day and I didn’t want to get all worked up. I also presumed the dispatcher would have been less than enthusiastic about the problem. I let it go and back tracked to Washington where I then crossed to the other side of 10th.
The rest of the journey was pretty uneventful, I got a large canvas bag full of food. Leaving the store I looked up 10th and saw the car was still parked there. So I headed Westbound along the sidewalk on the South side of Olive. To my surprise at 11th there was no curb ramp at all. Oh the other three corners all had ramps but they were of no use to me. So again I doubled back from 11th to 10th and took 10th to Locust. Locust was fine until I got to 13th St (by the Shell building) where my options to continue Westbound basically ran out. I was able to take 13th up to Washington where I was able to continue the remaining blocks to home.
In all of this the basic message is that without curb ramps on all the corners, or a car blocking a ramp, it becomes increasingly harder to navigate through the city. In the end it was doable – just required a bit of backtracking on my part. Added to my memory now are those routes where lack of ramps make getting from A to B a challenge.
steve May 5th, 2008
Friday night a friend and I decided to meet for dinner not far from my place.
We decided upon beso, downtown’s newest restaurant. How new? Friday night was opening night. This is the narrow place a couple of doors West of the burned-out Copia, in a space that was the short lived-restaurant, Red. beso had a few minor glitches as you might expect but overall it is a welcome addition to the scene. We sat outside and the tables were arranged so as to keep a clear path open on the sidewalk. Across the street at Bridge & Tunnel Pizza the tables were also arranged so as to respect the pedestrian passing by.
Above, at beso, diners enjoy dinner while a pathway was kept clear for pedestrians — those walking, those of us using wheelchair and those pushing baby strollers. Even without Copia this block seems destined to have valet parking. While we were eating the valet had only a small space and frankly nobody seemed to use it.
Flannery’s down the street has larger tables and chairs arranged in a single row. Here I was able to take the path near the buildings and get by just fine — even with people seated. It wasn’t generous near the entry but it was doable.
Unacceptable was the situation at Solace and Sugar (formerly KYO) at 14th and Washington, shown above. All pedestrians were forced to the outer edge of the sidewalk. A man pushing a baby stroller followed right behind me just trying to get through as well.
Sidewalk dining is one those things that makes living in an urban setting so great. However it needs to be respectful of the needs of all pedestrians using the same space. Clearly it is possible for some establishments to have sidewalk service without forcing pedestrians to hug the curb.
The city must have some sort of guidelines for those establishments that obtain cafe permits. But who is left to enforce the rules. Like the numerous valet stands that basically raise a middle finger to the idea of fairly sharing the public right of way, nobody seems to exist at city hall to monitor the situation.
As a property owner in the downtown community improvement district I pay additional taxes for increased services. Helping monitor the increasing number of sidewalk cafes and valet stands would certainly be an improvement. Perhaps this is already being done which would help explain why most of the cafes I encountered left sufficient space. Or simply that the operators of those establishments are more considerate than others. The problem likely exists in other parts of the city with sidewalk dining.
steve May 2nd, 2008
Being in the hospital for all of February, March & April you tend to miss what is going on. Sure at the end of February I got internet access but not all subtle little things make it to the web — especially while I am out of commission. I did notice a few things coming back into town on Wednesday and when I went to dinner with friends on Wednesday evening.
Ameren is constructing a pedestrian bridge over 18th/Truman Prkwy so that employees can walk to their cars without stepping foot on a public sidewalk. I’m sure safety was the argument but if the area had something besides acres of parking and a fairly inactive corporate HQ the area would be safer. Starting prior to my stroke and continuing for some time construction crews had the sidewalk totally blocked. With only the West side of the 18th street viaduct having a sidewalk pedestrians had only one North-South option. ADA requires an accessible route be maintained even during construction. I will have a follow-up post on this project (w/pictures) in the near future.
The Drury Inn is now open at I-44 & Hampton. Ick. More generic roadside crap in our city. At quick glance it appears to not have proper connections to the public sidewalks but I’ll have to check that out.
The KFC on South Grand near Gravois got a face lift.
We seem to have once again been competing with Chicago, this time for homicides in a given period. I think they won.
So now is your chance to fill me in on things big and small that I might have missed these last three months.
steve May 1st, 2008
Today, my first full day back from physical rehab, I attended a Society of Professional Journalists luncheon down the street. So I ventured out in the power chair from my place at 16th & Locust over to Lucas Park Grille at 13th and Washington.
Not a huge distance but one that would have been pretty difficult in a manual chair. Curb ramps were in place on all the corners except one. The ones that did exist, however, were often broken or had a huge edge at the point of approach. Again the power chair was able to handle the situation but not everyone has such a chair. Also I have to say that using a manual chair vs a power one can be rewarding — like riding a bike vs driving a car — one requires physical exertion but with that you get a sense of accomplishment. You seem more connected to your environment.
At a casual glance we look around and see curb ramps and thus assume the environment is accessible to the physically disabled. The real question we need to ask is how functional is the environment? Poorly installed or damaged curb ramps reduces functionality, at times to zero. Cities all over the country pay a small fortune to upgrade their intersections with curb ramps but when they don’t work as intended it simply becomes another waste of taxpayer money.
On the other side, when curbs and such are done right, disabled members of the community can lead independent lives rather than wasting away in costly nursing homes. In that context, investing in accessible
infrastructure is very cost effective.
A fellow patient from MRC also returned to his home near South County Mall yesterday. Despite being close to both a good number of employment and shopping choices his options for getting there are very limited. His neighborhood of single family detached dwellings has plenty of paving for driveways but not sidewalks. Getting to a point where he could catch a bus is nearly impossible. He’ll need an expensive van with a lift to be mobile not because of his inability to push his wheelchair but because of the poor pedestrian nature of where he lives. So while I may have issues with a ramp here or there at least we have sidewalks!
We all make choices about where we live and I must say I am very pleased with mine.
Steve Patterson April 30th, 2008
After three very challenging months, later today I will be back at home. I still have a lot of rehab to do in order to be back where I was prior to the stroke but that will take some time.
For the past nearly two weeks I have been “independent in my room” meaning that I was free to walk to the bathroom and to do my own transfers from the wheelchair to the bed and back. For several days now I have been “independent on the floor” which meant I could walk to the dining room for floor without a staff person at my side.
I still have some anxiety about being on my own again after having so much excellent help. Still I have managed to overcome great adversity these last three months so I know that I have the willpower to meet the challenges that I will soon face.
A couple of days ago I uploaded a new video to YouTube. It’s only 20 seconds but it shows me moving my left arm. My left hand is wrapped to a table top device they call the bicycle which you pedal with your hands. I’m able to use my shoulder to pull my arm back to my side — keeping this up allows me to rotate the pedal over and over. Check it out:
I have a loaner wheelchair until I get my own in June. Around the house I will be walking with my cane but the loaner chair is motorized so that will give me the freedom to run around downtown with ease. It will also let me get to the bus and MetroLink. I’ve got a folding cane ordered so I might use the power to get somewhere and then walk at that point. The longest I’ve walked since the stroke has been about 600 feet — half a block roughly.
Sadly it will be some time before I’m back on my Honda scooter so I am reluctantly car shopping.
In packing up my stuff yesterday I realized this was the longest I had been away from the City of St. Louis since I moved here in August 1990 at the young age of 23. St Louis is my adopted home and despite my criticisms of it’s flaws I am so looking forward to being back.
I want to thank my blood family as well as my St Louis family of close friends for being there with me on this journey — I could have not survived without them — literally. In the coming months their help will again play an important role in my life. Thanks to all of you sticking with me here at UrbanReviewSTL these last few months.
For the moment it is just so exciting to be returning home.
Steve Patterson April 29th, 2008
The Missouri Department is now arguing for additional funding to reconstruct some 200 miles of I-70. MoDot now wants to double the number of lanes between St Louis and Kansas City — four total for passenger vehicles and local trucks and four total lanes for long haul trucks. They argue, unconvincingly, that truck traffic is going to double by 2030 and that our quality of life is in danger without this new highway. Here is their propaganda video:
Rising fuel cost will shift the demand for these big trucks. Increasing transportation costs will alter the markets enough that we will hopefully see a return to local production, thereby reducing the need to truck stuff into the state. The billions of dollars proposed to be spent on this highway project would be better invested in re-establishing local manufacturing and food production within the state.
This highway, if built, would be like the new runway at the St Louis airport — an expensive project built on false assumptions about projected growth.
If they want to build such a highway then build toll booths as well. Make those that use it pay the cost. Sure for transportation that cost will end up in the price of goods but that is the reality of the situation — better to have the transportation cost in the price of the item rather than having it in a tax on something unrelated.
MoDot talks about the costs to maintain what we currently have and yet they want to add many more acres of paving in addition to more bridges and so on. This to me would be a major waste of tax dollars.
Steve Patterson April 28th, 2008
Like last month, I will be a phone guest on KDHX’s Collateral Damage program, at 7pm this evening (April the 28th). You can tune in at 88.1FM in the St Louis area or listen online at kdhx.org.
Last month host DJ Wilson and I talked about what it was like to have a stroke and my progress in rehab to that point — at the time I had only arrived at Missouri Rehabilitation a few days earlier after nearly a month at SSM Rehab/St Mary’s Hospital which itself followed a few weeks in ICU at Sy Louis University Hospital.
From kdhx.org:
Steve Patterson, the indefatigable blogmeister of www.urbanreviewstl.com, returns to Collateral Damage at 7 p.m. Monday night, April 28th. Patterson continues his recovery from a stroke and while typing one-handed beat the mainstream media by almost a week on the troubles at John Steffen’s Pyramid development company. Listen Monday night for Patterson’s take on what Pyramid’s financial crisis means for downtown St. Louis, and beyond.
In addition to talking about Pyramid’s closure and what that means to downtown & the city we will touch on the San Luis Apartments on Lindell — specifically that no matter what you may think of the building it is better than a surface parking lot. I will also be sharing with everyone the date in which I return to St Louis and to my own place.
Steve Patterson April 28th, 2008
Since March 21st I have been at the Missouri Rehabilitation Center located on a big hill overlooking the small Missouri Town of Mt Vernon. Originally the facility was opened in 1907 as a Tuberculosis sanatorium. In the 1980’s the focus shifted to physical rehabilitation.
Back in the day the facility was completely self sustaining complete with its own farm fields, dairy cows and so on. So yesterday I got bored and decided to go exploring — in my wheelchair!
I did three outings yesterday in different directions, taking my camera on two out of three trips.
Above is the main administration building although this entry is no longer the main entrance. Wings were added on each side in the 1950’s. Continue Reading »
