Readers that voted in the unscientific poll last week made it clear they’d support a ban on puppy mill dogs:
Q: Would you support a municipal/county ban on pet stores selling dogs from puppy mills?
Yes 61 [78.21%]
No 9 [11.54%]
Unsure/no opinion 6 [7.69%]
Possibly 2 [2.56%]
Such bans aren’t new:
Thirty-one cities have passed ordinances that ban pet stores from selling animals that come from commercial breeders. They are only allowed to offer rescued animals from shelters. (KMOV)
Maybe an alderman will introduce bill to ban pets stores in St. Louis from selling puppy mill dogs.
In August 2010 a new Save-A-Lot grocery store opened in the St. Louis County municipality of Pagedale:
ST. LOUIS, August 5, 2010 – Save-A-Lot, a SUPERVALU (NYSE: SVU) company, one of the nation’s leading hard discount carefully selected assortment grocery chains, has extended its commitment to a local neighborhood in need of access to fresh produce, dairy and meats with the opening of the first new grocery retailer in the Pagedale community in 40 years. The store is a result of a partnership with Beyond Housing, one of the St. Louis region’s leading providers of housing and support services for low-income families and homeowners.
“We are thrilled to celebrate the opening of this new Save-A-Lot Food Store, which will serve thousands of families including hundreds in the Pagedale community,” says Chris Krehmeyer, president and CEO of Beyond Housing. “The opening of this store is another step toward our goal of providing families with access to necessities, such as groceries and bringing new jobs to the community.” (Save-A-Lot)
Pagedale is a low-income municipality that has long been ignored by for-profit developers.
The Save-A-Lot in 2010, set back from PageLooking from the front of the store out toward Page. Despite being very close there isn’t a safe accessible route.An ADA-compliant route does exist, but few will go the extra distance required to use it. The slope might be too steep to be ADA-compliant.The red line shows the accessible route from the bus stop to entry. Click image to view mapThe customer circled in red was headed west on Page, he took the shortest route.Looking west in 2010, the east end of the site was undevelopedLooking into the site in 2010, future development site on the left and Save-A-Lot parking on the rightIn this 2013 view you can now see the new development on the east end.
The new development includes a bank and senior apartments:
Mayor of Pagedale Mary Louise Carter looked on as Chris Krehmeyer, president and CEO of Beyond Housing, and Ron Barnes, Midwest BankCentre (MBC) chairman, recently unveiled the city’s first-ever full-service bank.
“This is a great day for the City of Pagedale,” Mayor Carter said. “This means convenience for our residents because they can now bank right in their own city at a financial institution with a long history of excellent service.” (St. Louis American)
Yes, a local bank branch can be very convenient.
Getting closer to the multi-story buildingGee, how do we get into the housing?Or into the bank? Clearly the drive-up window is more important than pedestrians getting to the entry.Senior housing as seen from Save-A-Lot’s entry. Can grandma navigate this using a walker?
I applaud Beyond Housing for investing in Pagedale, adding needed retail, banking, & housing. But the common “drive everywhere, walk nowhere” viewpoint is expressed in the design. As a result, I’m disappointed.
Numerous buildings were razed allowing them a clean slate. Nobody on the design team asked how a senior got from their apartment to the 1) bus, or 2) grocery store. Maybe they thought all low-income seniors have cars?
The Roberts Market Place has opened at Kingshighway & Delmar, the site of a former Schnucks. Discount grocer ALDI, the only business so far, is the anchor. Unfortunately, it is designed to be driven to, not walked to.
Roberts Market Place on the NE corner of Kingshighway & Delmar, click image for map linkThe same corner back in AprilLooking east along DelmarLooking north along Kingshighway, a stop for the #95 MetroBus is circled in red. Concrete barriers block the auto driveway.The fencing blocks pedestrian access, except at the auto driveways. Not welcoming at allLooking east along Enright Ave we see a family leaving ALDIAn opening in the fence at the auto driveway.At least a walkway was provided at one pointNot a straight shot or wide enough if you meet someone, but as a bare minimum it works…except…Who fits between the carts & bollard? Certainly nobody using a cane, walker, scooter, or wheelchair! #adafailLooking back at the problem from the opposite sideLooking west toward KingshighwayLooking south toward DelmarGetting closer toward Delmar we can see the fence forces pedestrians to enter/exit via the auto driveway
Seriously? The one minimal pedestrian route from a secondary road is blocked by a bollard!?! As I mentioned in April, the site has been divided into three parcels.
Outline of the ALDI parcel, the other two are just parking right now.A hearing will be held on the 20th for a drive-thru fast-food restaurant at the Kingshighway & Enright parcel
It would’ve been relatively easy to plan a north-south sidewalk through the site connecting Enright to Delmar, with a perpendicular walk connecting to the bus stop on Kingshighway. This would’ve provided a pedestrian route to all three adjacent streets and to all three parcels. Instead we’ve got another development that ignores pedestrians almost entirely.
The #97 (Delmar) bus and #95 (Kingshighway) bus generate lots of pedestrian traffic at this location. Many customers & employees of ALDI, a new drive-thru, and a third place will arrive on foot. Development in our neighborhoods should be designed to welcome motorists, bicyclists, and pedestrians. This must be mandated, developers aren’t going to do it on their own — especially not in low-income areas where they do as little as possible.
Forty-four years ago today a new children’s program debuted that was very different from predecessors such as Howdy Doody (1947-1960), Captain Kangaroo (1955-1984), and Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood (1968-2001). These earlier shows weren’t set in the gritty inner-city. I was a few months shy of being 3 years old when Sesame Street first aired on November 10, 1969, so I didn’t notice the change. Mister Rogers Neighborhood had only been on the air a year.
The Sesame Street set represented a compact, dense urban neighborhood. Image: Muppet Wiki
Officially located in New York City, as is often confirmed by regional references and the adjacent New York subway, Sesame Street was designed to resemble an urban, inner city landscape, recognizable to children although slightly idealized (though urban grunge was still well accounted for thanks to Oscar the Grouch). While many of the inserts took place in puppet-scale interiors, ranging from Ernie and Bert’s apartment and Charlie’s Restaurant to the countless walls or the varying game show sets of Guy Smiley, the main storyline scenes have always focused or at least begun on the street and its environs, outside of special location episodes. It serves as a meeting place for human and Muppet cast members alike. (Muppet Wiki)
My family moved into a brand new home in suburban Oklahoma City just months before I was born. Our subdivision lacked sidewalks, we had a 9-car driveway (3×3).
In February 1972 I posed for a pick on my new Big Wheel, my mom’s 1966 Plymouth Fury III is behind me.
To my eyes Sesame Street seemed exotic, nothing like where I lived. Sure, I’d see neighbors, tinkering in their garages or sitting in a lawn chair — on their driveway. But the interaction was different on Sesame Street, they couldn’t help but run into neighbors as they went about their lives. Since my dad worked on new homes, I rarely got to experience older/walkable neighborhoods closer to those on Sesame Street.
Thankfully our family doctor had his office in OKC’s Capital Hill area, a once-thriving shopping area similar to the Wellston Loop. My father would also do carpentry work on his personal home from time to time, it was located in the historic Heritage Hills neighborhood, just north of downtown Oklahoma City. Otherwise I saw new homes going up in subdivisions far from the center. We drove to buy groceries, clothing, etc. — anything really other than a few things I might get at a convenience store I could walk/bike to. We shopped at an L-shaped strip mall built in 1965 called Southwestern Plaza 1+ mile away, or a big Sears, also from 1965, a mile further away.Watching Sesame Street though, I knew there was another way to live. I’m not sure when I got too old for Sesame Street, but the images of the conversations on the front stoop stayed in my memory.
Looking back, I think Sesame Street gave me a very positive image of urban neighborhoods. This is the subject of the poll this week, the question being “How did Sesame Street influence your childhood perceptions of urban neighborhoods?”
The last occupant of the large home at 3262 Hawthorne was born on August 5, 1908. No, the home hasn’t been vacant for years, he died in January at the age of 104. The home was built in 1893. Here’s his obituary:
Bokern Sr., Eugene A. 104, Fortified with the Sacraments of Holy Mother Church on Thursday, January 17, 2013. Beloved husband of the late Lucille (nee Lynch); loving father of Robert F. (Joyce), Gene Jr, John F. (Shirley), Edward C. (Nina), and the late Karen Sue Watkins; 19 grandchildren, 30 great grandchildren, brother of the late Robert and Francis Bokern; dear cousin, uncle, and friend to many. Services: Visitation Monday, Jan. 21, 4-8pm. Funeral at HOFFMEISTER COLONIAL MORTUARY 6464 Chippewa at Watson, Tuesday, Jan. 22, 10am. Interment Calvary Cemetery. Friends may express condolences at: www.hoffmeistercolonial.com – (Source)
Stone facade of 3262 Hawthorne
Last Sunday the house was open to lookers even though an offer had just been accepted, see listing & many photos here. A friend I ran into at the open house said he saw the place shortly after the owner had died. It was “stacked high with papers”, he said. On Sunday all the stuff, including old carpets, had been removed. Ideally the original windows will be retained, appropriate reproductions would be very expensive and cheaper windows wouldn’t alter the look significantly.
Beautiful fall colors on Hawthorne Blvd just before the house
Apparently the owner had lived there since the 1940s, with few updates. Old boiler with radiators for heat, no central air conditioning. The kitchen and bathrooms were antiques. Fairly original houses like this are very rare, the buyers will have many decisions to make. Do they clean the stone exterior to look like it did in 1893? Or perhaps just a light cleaning so some of the old patina remains?
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