Open Letter to the new Downtown Partnership President Maggie Campbell

This post is to welcome Maggie Campbell to St. Louis.  Campbell started work yesterday as the new President and CEO of the Partnership for Downtown St. Louis.  The following is from a September 30th St. Louis Business Journal article:

Campbell has been president of the Arlington (Texas) Downtown Management Association since 2006.

She will succeed Jim Cloar on Nov. 2 and become the first woman to hold the post, according to Shuntaé Shields Ryan, a Partnership spokeswoman.

Cloar announced his retirement plans in February after eight years at the helm.

Prior to her current position, Campbell served as president and CEO of the Old Pasadena Management District in Pasadena, Calif., and as executive director of the Dallas West End Association, a nonprofit organization that represents 24 blocks in the downtown Dallas historic entertainment district.

So now that everyone knows who I’m talking about I’m going to address the balance to her:

I’ve been a downtown resident for two years now. Even before I moved downtown I saw the potential.  I remember going on tours of future lofts in the mid-1990s.  Those never materialized but many others did.  Over my 19 years in St. Louis I’ve seen far to many great buildings razed.  I’ve seen some bad ones razed, but we still have too many of those.

I wanted to bring you up to speed on a variety of issues, giving you a different perspective that you probably won’t hear from the suits.

Busch Stadium:

• Seems to work well in downtown.
• Fans hang out before and after the game.
• Openness of the stadium is nice.
• Not paid for yet so I don’t expect changes for a long time.
• Two parking garages left over from previous Busch Stadium are horrible at the sidewalk level.  Retrofit of street-level retail not feasible.  Both garages need to go.

Ballpark Village:

• Good potential, good location.
• Cordish/Cardinals should create form-based standards and parcel out the land so that it can be built in stages by various entities.

Edward Jones Dome:

• Horrible structure that divides downtown from the near North side of town.
• Keep the Rams in the St. Louis region, just not downtown and probably not in the City of St. Louis.
• We should not invest more in the dome to meet the 2015 lease requirements.

Taxi stand at America’s Center:

• We have taxi cabs parking and driving on the public sidewalk where we have visitors to our city.
• Solution: move taxi stand to curb lane of Washington Ave.

Street Vendors:

• St. Louis’ current law is highly restrictive — too few licenses are issued.
• The area where licenses are issued is too small.
• Vendors are a great & cheap way to add life to sidewalks.

Parking (Bicycles):

• A handful of blocks on Washington Ave have some poorly placed bike racks.
• The rest of downtown mostly lacks bike parking.

Parking (On-Street):

• Every block needs to be evaluated to see where additional spaces can be added.
• Disabled parking needs to be added at metered spaces throughout downtown.

Parking (Garages):

• We have an excess number of garages although the suits will tell you we need more.

Bottle District:

• Not really a district, just vacant land North of the dome.
• Needs to be connected to adjacent areas.

Streets & intersections:

• 3-4 years ago a study was prepared that indicated some of our one-way streets could return to two-way traffic.  I say make all two-way.
• Pedestrian signals downtown are lacking.
• We need to change the name of Convention Plaza back to Delmar.

Downtown guides:

• This may be happening already but get some of then off the bikes and on foot instead.  They are more approachable on foot.
• The ones on bikes please make sure they actually secure their helmets.
• Make sure all shirts and jackets no longer say “CID” on the back because most don’t know that means Community Improvement District.

Arch Connection:

• The suits want to put the highway into an expensive 3-block long tunnel.
• They call the tunnel a lid so it sounds less expensive than it will be.
• A group of citizens has proposed a 2 mile long boulevard to replace the highway from Cass Ave to the Poplar Street Bridge.
• Connecting 2 miles is better than 3 blocks.

St. Louis Centre/skywalks:

• The failed downtown indoor mall.
• Walkways over the sidewalks on all sides.

Union Station:

• Not well connected to surrounding blocks.
• Needs residential closer.

22nd Street Interchange:

• Left over from a planned highway that is officially dead.
• Paul McKee plans to develop the area.
• Needs the restoration of the street grid.
• Possibly abandon highway connection here and build new interchange at Jefferson Ave.

Valet Parking:

• A few years ago numerous restaurants had out of control valet service.
• City needs a good way to permit and manage the valets so they conduct their business in a limited zone, leaving the rest of the street for the public.

Gateway Mall:

• Very long history, most of it not so good.
• Downtown has too much open space and not enough urban space.  Leave the mall but build out other areas to reduce total open space.
• Citygarden is amazing.  But many more blocks are awaiting a transformation.
• 1st priority is to extend the wide “hall” along the North side of Market St.

I’m sure I’ll think of other things but this is a good starter list.  Readers will no doubt leave additional items in the comments.  Many will disagree with me as well.  This shows you that citizens care about downtown and that not everyone agrees.  When the suits tell you something be sure to ask citizens what they think.  Your members do not represent the typical resident or downtown user.

We’ve already met virtually but I look forward to meeting you in person.  Welcome to St. Louis.

– Steve Patterson

Sidewalks on Delmar still unusable

Four years ago today Elizabeth Bansen was struck and killed by an SUV as she returned home from the market two blocks East of her apartment.  Although the accident occurred around 6pm driver didn’t see Bansen in her wheelchair on the street.  On December 6th 2007 I posted on the jury finding the city negligent in Bansen’s death since the sidewalks were not passable.  The accessibility of sidewalks has long been a passion of mine. From that post:

Besides the broken sidewalk in front of the existing business on the street, much of the sidewalk area on this block is completely impassable to a person in a wheelchair.

I did that post nearly two months prior to the massive stroke that disabled me.  Since I’ve traveled many miles using an electric wheelchair myself.  My first two and a half months home from the hospital I couldn’t yet drive so, like many, the wheelchair was my only means of independence.

In 2007 Director of Streets Todd Waelterman and City Attorney Patti Hageman either weren’t sure if the sidewalks were fixed or thought they were.  I showed they were not.   Yesterday I drove over to see the couple of blocks along Delmar to see if the sidewalks between the housing and the market were corrected.  Sadly, the situation is exactly like I found it in December 2007.

Heading West from the market at Jefferson toward the housing the first block is fine.  But when you reach Beaumont you cease to have a sidewalk.  The city claims the sidewalk is the responsibility of the adjacent property owner but in recent rulings around the country the courts are determining that cities cannot push of this basic service onto the owners of abutting properties.  The owner of the building in the background, 2719 Delmar LLC, owns the entire length of this city block.

Going the other direction from the housing to the market one immediately finds a curb without a curb cut.  I know that if I approached the above low curb just right I could get on that sidewalk.  But a resident of these apartments would know the sidewalk doesn’t go through. What about taking the other side of Delmar to avoid being in the street?  The city can debate the sidewalk issue but access from the road to the sidewalk is 100% their responsibility.

On the South side of Delmar the sidewalk is not perfect but it is mostly passable.  But here the curb height makes the sidewalk condition a mute point.

The obstacles are few but they are enough to cause wheelchair users to use the roadway.  The apartment complex is owned by the St. Louis Housing Authority.  Not all of the units are accessible but some are.  Occupants of these units have two basic needs — food and access to transportation. Much of the public transportation is on Jefferson where the market is located so this route along Delmar is a critical path.

I am fortunate to live an a step-free building downtown but for many wheelchair dependent public housing units like these are their only choice.  Routes to food and transportation isn’t a luxury but a must.  Enough to for someone to risk their life.

Two years ago I emailed several with the city about the sidewalk conditions on Delmar.  I’m will again do the same so that hopefully two years from now residents of these apartments will have a safe route to the store and to transportation.

And finally, I’ve emailed with Elizabeth Bansen’s father and two of her siblings.  They miss “Lisi.”  I’ve promised them I will work to ensure that residents of these apartments will have safe sidewalks to access Delmar & Jefferson.

– Steve Patterson

Your favorite St. Louis brewery?

For generations St. Louisans have been brewing and consuming beer.  From the biggest to the smallest, and everything in between, the number of breweries in the St. Louis area is impressive.

The poll this week asks your favorite local brewery.  I’m not asking which you consume the most, but which is your favorite.  They might be the same and they might not.

The list of breweries was taken from participants in the 2009 St. Louis Brewers Heritage Festival (must be 21 to enter site):

• Alandale Brewing
• Amalgamated Brewery
• Anheuser Busch
• Augusta Brewery
• Buffalo Brewing
• Mattingly Brewing
• Morgan Street Brewery
• O’Fallon Brewery
• Schlafly
• Square One Brewery
• Trailhead Brewery

I have tried about 5-6 of them but that means there is that many I haven’t tried.   In the event I omitted a local brewery from the poll I have enabled the “other” field so you can add in one not listed.  The breweries are presented alphabetically.

I see the corner bar/brewery as being part of an urban environment.  Applebee’s says they are a “Neighborhood Grill & Bar”  yet their neighborhood is often a suburban strip mall. Just not the same.

Most of these places are small brewers.  Others started small and expanded.  Most are in the City of St. Louis but there are exceptions.  Whenever I’m on Main Street in St. Charles I usually end up at Trailhead.  Going to Augusta used to be about wine for me but since I discovered Augusta Brewery I go for beer instead.

Brews from some of these brewers are available in other establishments/grocery store while others can only be obtained directly.  You may think it unfair to have A-B compete in the poll with small micro breweries.  Again, I’m asking for your favorite brewer.   I like A-B’s Amber Bach but that doesn’t make A-B my favorite brewer in town.

Fans of local beer can go to the stlhops.com forum where members post what beers pubs have in stock on certain days.  Technology and beer are a nice combination.  As I finish writing this post Halloween night I’m finishing off a local pumpkin ale.

Thanks to contributor Jim Zavist for the idea for this poll & post.  The poll is at the top of the right sidebar. If you chose to drink please do so responsibly.

– Steve Patterson