Five Easy Solutions to Help the City of St. Louis, Downtown – No Stimulus Funds Required

We here all the time about the need to assist multi-million dollar projects such as Ballpark Village.  St. Louis and cities nationwide have been helping fund big ticket projects for decades.  Some deliver on the initial promises while others do not.  But this post is not about the massive project costing hundreds of millions.  It is about little things.  Things not dependent upon federal stimulus money.

The following is my list, you may have others:

#5 – Reduce most six lane roads to four by striping outside lane for bikes and/or parked cars.

Yes stripes do take some money but not that much.  Jefferson, Market, and Natural Bridge quickly come to mind.  We have a fraction of the population we had in 1950 yet we have the lane capacity for a much larger population.  These streets all need expensive diets but paint on pavement can do wonders.

#4 – eliminate all minimum parking requirements throughout the city.

Our entire zoning code is 60+ years old.  Much has changed and the code needs to as well, but that takes time & money.  In the short term we should just 86 those sections in the zoning code that require parking.  Just delete them entirely.

#3 – allow on-street parking on all streets in CBD, reducing 4 lane one-way streets to just two travel lanes.

Downtown St. Louis is blessed by short city blocks that are both walkable and easily biked.  Unfortunately in many places what would be a pleasant two travel lane street has four travel lanes in a single direction.  These should all be reverted to 2-way traffic and reduced to two travel lanes.  But changing signals to go back to two-way streets takes money.  .

#2 – street performers

St. Louis has many talented residents that could help animate our staid streets while earning a buck or two.  Changing the ordinances to make it easier for performers to do their thing on St. Louis’ public sidewalks would do wonders for residents & visitors’ perceptions.  Again, no massive debt-laden project is necessary.

#1 – street vendors

Related to street performers, street vending is as old as cities.  For decades we’ve gone the wrong direction with respect to street vending, being too busy trying to emulate suburbia.  Time to lighten it up Francis.  The vendors are there and they are well aware of the obstacles.  It is sort of the chicken-egg debate.  The first step is to loosen the regulatory grip and in time the vendors and customers will find each other.

—

Follow UrbanReviewSTL on Twitter

I Want To Ride My Bicycle

Warming weather always gets me thinking of the 1978 Queen song,  Bicycle Race:

I want to ride my bicycle
I want to ride my bike
I want to ride my bicycle
I want to ride it where I like

I actually have two bikes.  One is an urban hybrid — “uglified” with stickers and such to reduce the odds of theft.  The second bike is the opposite — still urban, but very handsome.  I can tell you the last time I rode it — Saturday December 22, 2007.

I had recently moved to 16th & Locust so my total distance wasn’t that great.  But as you can see I had to use other items to secure my bike while visiting stores.  City & downtown leaders have been concerned, for decades,  about providing massive quantities of automobile parking they overlooked the need for bike parking.

Despite the lack of bike parking it was a fun trip. At the time I was car-free, using my 49cc Honda Metropolitan scooter to travel longer distances.  The scooter was great but there is just something special about using a bike for transportation, getting from A to B to C under your own power.

Bicycle races are coming your way
So forget all your duties oh yeah
Fat bottomed girls they’ll be riding today
So look out for those beauties oh yeah
On your marks get set go
Bicycle race bicycle race bicycle race

Six weeks after this December bike ride downtown I suffered a massive hemorrhagic stroke (2/1/08).  Although I cannot yet ride a bike, I’m optimistic that I will again.  This bike is so stunningly beautiful I must once again ride it!  Maybe next Spring?

Info on my bike:

• Brand: Kronan (a Swedish brand)
• Manufactured: Eastern Europe
• Purchased from a San Diego bike shop
• Single speed, coaster brake, 50 lbs! — old school.  3spd models available
• New reproduction of WWII Swedish army bike
• once again available in the US, order here (sorry no more orange), $500-$700.

And finally be sure to watch the official Bicycle Race video featuring naked women bicycling.

—

Follow UrbanReviewSTL on Twitter

Poll, Which Social Media Do You Use Weekly?

There are thousands of social media networks in existence today.  Among them are Twitter, Facebook, MySpace and LinkedIn.  The poll this week is simple, which of these do you use on a weekly basis? For example, I have a LinkedIn profile but I seldom use it.  Twitter & Facebook, on the other hand, are used daily.

The poll is in the upper right hand corner — check all that apply.  And be sure to follow UrbanReviewSTL on Twitter!

New Dog Park Opens in South St. Louis Neighborhood

At noon today the Benton Park West Dog Park opened for business — bring neighbors and their dogs together.

The site selected was two city owned lots on the SE corner of Nebraska & Utah (map).  A decade ago one lot was intended as a pocket park for the neighborhood.  Some paving & benches were added.  Without ongoing positive activity, the pocket park attracted a bad element.  The old lot and the adjacent lot were fenced in to create the dog park.

Now neighbors have a reason to come to this corner — to let their dogs play with other dogs off leash.

The two combined lots are 58ft x 128ft.  All but a wedge from the corner is fenced.  The old concrete paving from the pocket park was retained.  There are four benches inside the dog park.

Access is for members only.  Annual membership is only $35 for residents ($15 per additional dog). Not a resident of Benton Park West but want to become a member?  Submit your application (PDF) now.  First memberships go to neighborhood residents but it will soon be opened to others.  The annual fee will be slightly higher for non-residents. Members get the code to the outer gate to the vestibule entry.

I don’t have a pet of any kind.  And when I did it was always a cat.  But I love dog parks.  They have a great way of bringing neighbors together.  They create activity  in places that might otherwise only have illicit activity.

Water is one of the required items.  This fountain serves humans and their doggy companions.  The city has regulations regarding the requirements for dog parks — fencing, surface, water, managing organization, etc.  President of the Board of Aldermen Lewis Reed, when he was 6th Ward Alderman, introduced the legislation to set up the process for dog parks throughout the city.

Reed, above, was on hand for the opening.

Alderman Craig Schmid (left) shakes hands with Bill Byrd (right), President of the Benton Park West Neighborhood Association at the opening.  Schmid used ward funds to help with infrastructure costs.  Newly sworn in 25th Ward Alderman Shane Cohn was present for the opening.  Hopefully we’ll see a new dog park in the 25th ward in the future.

Actually I hope we will see dog parks in every ward, in every neighborhood in the city.  We no longer walk to the local commercial district so neighborhoods need a way to get residents out walking and talking.  Dog parks are one of the best ways to accomplish that.    My congrats to the residents of Benton Park West for making this project happen.

Further reading & helpful documents:

• Dog Parks of Greater St. Louis
• Benton Park West Neighborhood Association
• St. Louis City Dog Park Process (PDF)
• St. Louis City Dog Park approval application (PDF)

—

Follow UrbanReviewSTL on Twitter

Remembering Jane

It has now been three years since the world lost the most well-known urbanist, Jane Jacobs.  On the 1-year anniversary of her passing in 2007 I wrote:

Jacobs was not a professional planner, most likely a good thing in my view.  She authored the classic 1961 book, Death & Life of Great American Cities, as well as a number of other books on urban economics and planning.  Again, not a planner by training but by instinct and observation.  For much of her life she worked against the urban experiments being tested by the professional planners and traffic engineers.

Jacobs was born in Scranton PA but lived in NYC for several decades before moving to Toronto. Two months after her passing I was walking the streets of her Toronto neighborhood.  Though not perfect, I can see why she was drawn there.  Beautiful dense urban city with active sidewalks.

I’ve been working on my Masters in Urban Planning & Real Estate Development (UPRED) from Saint Louis University since the Fall of 2006 (I’ll graduate in December ’09).  In my studies I’ve read a lot of books and academic articles.  Some of the reading has been by Jacobs and some has been about Jacobs.  At least her theories.  Much has been critical too.

Keep in mind it has been nearly 50 years since Death & Life was first published.  Much of what she advocated doesn’t apply because cities ignored her warnings and razed large swaths of land for Urban Renewal.

Today’s cities are vastly different than the cities she studied in the 1950s for her book.  Of course her observations not longer apply — we’ve long destroyed the very qualities she spoke so highly of.

The next year St. Louis lost our own urban advocate, Marti Frumhoff.  Before Frumhoff died in 2007 she gave me copies of four additional books by Jacobs.  I’ve yet to read these.  To honor Jacobs I’m going to pick one to read this weekend.  Her Death & Life book should be required reading for elected officials and, well, everyone else.  May 4th marks her 93rd Birthday.

—

Follow UrbanReviewSTL on Twitter