I find myself touring our many parking garages — to check how they are used, their condition and so on.
Our older garages are not space efficient at all. The buildings they replaced were considered “obsolete” for modern use but we know how to adapt old buildings to new uses. Old garages just languish.
The old spirals for ramps gave way to sloping parking decks to get you from level to level, this is what we still have today. I hope to see much more efficient parking systems here one day.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d0iUPtjfByU
Parking like this would allow us to replace our above ground garages with…buildings occupied by humans. Some might say we have cheap land so there is no incentive to build more compactly. To that I’d say we have policies that have encouraged poor use of land. We need to change our policies so we use our core urban area more efficiently.
“The 2010 Great Forest Park Balloon Race is scheduled for Saturday, September 18, 2010 and will take place on Central Field in Forest Park, near the Jewel Box. The Balloon Glow will take place on Friday, September 17, 2010 also on Central Field. A detailed event schedule for the 2010 race is available here.”
Open Streets combines elements of your neighborhood block party, a day at the gym, and a relaxing weekend morning. It’s a chance to exercise, an opportunity to people watch, and a great time to enjoy our region’s wonderful spring and fall weather.
Returning from Oklahoma City last week I booked a room in St. Robert MO (along I-44)
ABOVE: Quality Inn, St. Robert MO
When I arrived the first thing I noticed was the lack of a curb ramp onto the sidewalk from the loading zone between the disabled parking spaces. As soon as I got into my “accessible” room I knew I couldn’t stay — a tub/shower is impossible for me to use. Two grab bars does not make a tub/shower accessible.
The staff was helpful, they called the Holiday Inn Express next door and got me a room there.
ABOVE: Holiday Inn Express St. Robert MO
It turns out the Quality Inn was the old Holiday Inn. It was renovated but that didn’t include ADA requirements such as a roll-in shower or curb ramps. The useful life of the property has been extended through renovation so it will continue for years to be non-compliant.
The Holiday Inn Express, opened in April 2010, was as close to perfect as I could expect. The ramps, above, are not the recommended design as someone walking past one has to deal with the cross slope. The better was is to have the sidewalk drop down to create the access point and then rise on the other side. Better still, just don’t have a curb and use bollards.
ABOVE: the roll-in shower at the Holiday Inn Express was ideal
The shower in the new Holiday Inn Express was ideal for me. I wasn’t traveling with my manual or my motorized wheelchair but the lack of a raised curb, a seat and grab bars ensured a safe shower. Half the hotels I’ve stayed in recently that had seats had padded vinyl seats which can be dangerously slippery when soapy & wet. The Quality Inn should have updated one bathroom to have a roll-in shower.
Closer to home we have the case of the restaurant space at 711 Olive.
When the Downtown Cantina occupied this space the above door was their main door. After they closed a new place, Slay’s on Zaytoon opened after remodeling the space. In their remodel they made the above accessible entrance a secondary doorway and the other door their main door.
This entrance, as you can see, is not accessible. At the time the person from Slay’s said just come in and they’d unlock the accessible door. That works if you are with someone but not when alone. Slay’s wasn’t open long and on November 11, 2009 I sent an email to David Newburger, St. Louis’ Commissioner on the Disabled, about the situation. Here is part of his response:
From the point of view of the law, the City cannot deny an occupancy permit to new operators of a facility who are not doing significant rehab if that facility has previously had an occupancy permit for the same use. So, as I think you understand, from the City’s point of view and unless the new occupant will need a building permit, this is a matter for moral persuasion rather than legal imperative.
If I can get the owners attention, I will try to impress the new owners. Likewise, it is possible Alderman Young or others in City Hall can have some say in this.
As a last resort, of course, if the owners do not set the situation up to use that accessible entrance, both you and any other person with a disability who might patronize the restaurant can file a discrimination charge with the City’s Civil Rights Enforcement Agency, the Missouri Commission on Human Rights, and/or the US Department of Justice.
When Everest opened in this space they didn’t make any significant changes from the previous tenant. The main door is not accessible and the accessible door says “use other door.”
Someone issued a permit to renovate the space for Slay’s on the Zaytoon. Who would that have been that OK’d making the non-accessible doorway the main door? The City of St. Louis! The city cannot keep passing the buck when they fail to ensure that spaces that are being remodeled do not end up less accessible than before.
I think I will begin filing complaints with the above agencies — complaints against the municipal agency that should ensure compliance when issuing permit. For them to knowingly allow a tenant to remodel a space so that it became less accessible is discriminatory action in my view.
ABOVE: Modern strip shopping center, Classen Curve, in Oklahoma City
We all know the strip shopping center: a line of storefronts set behind a massive, usually tree-less, parking lot. Oklahoma City’s newest shopping area, Classen Curve, is not like any strip center you’ve ever seen before – at least not in St. Louis.
The architecture of the buildings is crisp & modern.
It is situated on a odd shaped site adjacent to a residential neighborhood.
Once inside the boundaries you get a sense of place.
ABOVE: Large overhangs protect pedestrian from weatherABOVE: several buildings feature an outdoor seating area in the centerABOVE: buildings on both sides of a drive give a sense of enclosureABOVE: Vegan & raw lasagna from 105degrees
Classen Curve is on clearly on the high end. I had lunch at 105degrees — a vegan/raw restaurant. If you are unfamiliar with raw food it is a growing niche market. You are not likely to find such a place in your typical strip mall next door to a Subway. Classen Curve is located near the City of Nichols Hills, Oklahoma City’s equal to out Ladue (old money).
The developer is not your typical real estate developer, but one of the largest US producers of natural gas, Chesapeake Energy. Chesapeake’s corporate campus is a block away. The campus has changed dramatically since I first saw it in 2003. With over 1,500 employees on campus there is a built-in market for close shopping and restaurants. Between Chesapeake & Classen Curve construction has begun on Oklahoma City’s first Whole Foods.
ABOVE: site plan from ClassenCurve.com
You can see more on the aerial view in Google Maps.
ABOVE: sidewalk from one building to the next
The attempt was to create a pleasant experience, and to a large degree they succeeded. But despite good intentions they failed to create a good experience for pedestrians.
ABOVE: curb ramps are lacking in many areasABOVE: pedestrians on new sidewalk on Classen Blvd don't have access to shopping center, except through auto entry & exit points
Like nearly every strip center built in the last 50 years, Classen Curve fails to make a strong pedestrian connection to the public sidewalk along the adjacent road. In getting from one building to the next you have curb ramps in some places, but not others.
The architect was Elliott & Associates Architects. I met Rand Elliott in the Fall of 1985 as a freshman in the architecture program at the University of Oklahoma. I was assigned him on a student + professional project in a 6th grade class. Elliott’s professional portfolio is outstanding which is why the poor walkability/accessibility of Classen Curve is so disappointing.
ABOVE: architecture makes a statement
Care was given to make the back of the buildings attractive, dumpsters are cleverly concealed in steel structures that hold the tenant names.
While I have issues with the poor walkability/accessibility I’m very pleased with the effort to use the small/odd site and to rethink what a strip mall should be like. I just wish people knew how to make new construction walkable & accessible.
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Our older garages are not space efficient at all. The buildings they replaced were considered “obsolete” for modern use but we know how to adapt old buildings to new uses. Old garages just languish.
