Cardinals Traffic a Nightmare

Tonight I was biking home from downtown as thousands of people were leaving downtown en mass. Tons of cars all leaving parking garages heading for the interstate highway. I’m sure some spent money before the game and some spent money afterwards. But most of these were just clogging the street with their SUVs and polluting our air.

Funny, as they were gridlocked in their own mess I was able to bike past them. I’m sure I made it home sooner than many of them.

We are getting a new baseball stadium because hosting thousands of people for these games are supposed to be a good thing for the city. I’m not convinced. They should have built the stadium in Illinois or near Earth City. It would have given us a chance to repair our downtown.

– Steve

East Washington Avenue: To Park or Not to Park?

This evening on the way to the First Friday Gallery and Design Walk downtown I couldn’t help but notice cars parked on Washington Avenue East of Tucker. This is special because the street has neither parking meters or no-parking signs. So is it allowed or not? Back in December I did a post on this streetscape and had this to say about parking:

Someone made the foolish decision to not have parking on Washington Avenue East of Tucker. This decision is going to have a negative impact on the friendliness of the street by having four lanes of fast moving traffic going by you.The street will seem dead – parked cars have an amazing ability to indicate that something is going on. Can you imagine sitting on one of those benches near the curb line knowing cars, SUVs & buses are going to be whizzing by just a few feet away? Not me!

As a result, these blocks will not be as successful as the blocks to the West. Just imagine the Loop without on-street parking and four lanes of traffic. Yes, you could get through during rush hour much easier but that shouldn’t be the goal. Think of Euclid without street parking – it would be boring and lifeless.

So I was excited to see people parking along this stretch of Washington Avenue. It looked and felt so much better. But later what did I spot attached to the lamp posts with string? No-parking signs. At some point after 6:30pm the city came by and attached temporary “no-parking tow away zone signs.” They weren’t ticketing or towing. They were simply trying to keep the area lifeless and sterile.

Everyone I’ve talked to about this points the finger in one place – Carole Moody, President of The St. Louis Convention and Visitors Commission. The CVC thinks they need four lanes of traffic to support their conventions. I’m not quite sure why they need that much traffic capacity, can they offer anything to support this need? It seems to me visitors come to a city to see an exciting city, not a blank four lane street. Urban street life will not prosper on Washington Avenue without on-street parking. If you agree with me please send CVC President Carole Moody an email via administrative assistant Bonnie Abler.

And look for a post next week on the St. Louis Convention strategy and the convention hotel that is not living up to expectations.

– Steve

St. Louis’ Riverfront to get yet another makeover

The St. Louis Riverfront as seen two years ago from the re-opening of the Eads Bridge. Beautiful stainless steel arch and lush grounds below. But where are the people?

Yesterday I attended an open house and presentation by the Riverfront Design Team (aka RDT for the remainder of this post) as organized by the Great Rivers Greenway District. For more information on the team and the plan click here for a PDF document.

Their primary focus is the area immediately in front of the Arch and grounds with the areas to the North and South being secondary. I think this is backwards because you’ve got a better chance of drawing people from the city through the adjacent areas rather than the Arch. St. Louis Director of Planning Rollin Stanley agreed with the team and said, “Trust me.” Rollin is one of the few that work for the city that I do tend to trust so I’ll keep an open mind. The total area is about a mile and a half long and about 200ft wide (depending upon the height of the Mississippi river).

OK, back to the riverfront and the lack of people two years ago…

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