ADVERTISEMENT

Endangered species: the sidewalk newsstand

Author:Steve Patterson January 23rd, 2010

ABOVE: Euclid & Maryland, June 2008

With demand for the printed newspaper decreasing I fear the loss of an already rare sight in St. Louis: the sidewalk newsstand.  You need content to have a newsstand.

ABOVE: NYC newstand in 2001

ABOVE: NYC newsstand in 2001

I love the colorful newsstands of New York City but I don’t know that we will ever have these in St. Louis.  For a long time a stand was located at 8th & Locust, but that went away a few years ago when the current plaza was built.  The benefits to the newsstand are numerous: creates activity, vendor can offer directions, sell snacks and water to pedestrians, eyes on the sidewalk help with safety.  They do require space but smaller versions than the New York example exist.

I want to see the printed newspaper and magazine survive if only so the newsstand will also survive.

- Steve Patterson

Post to Twitter Post to Facebook

  • JZ71
    I'm old school, I still buy and (much to my wife's consternation) save too many magazines. I've also never been a fan of the sidewalk newsstand, preferring to shop inside, out of the rain/snow and in air-conditioned comfort, but don't harbor any grudge against them, either. So, besides the internet reducing demand for printed media, you can also "thank" the growth of the magazine sections at Borders, Barnes & Noble and your neighborhood supermarkets for the demise of those sidewalk stalwarts. But what would be interesting to see how well a/the newsstand is doing at our new multi-modal station . . .
  • Sam
    Steve,

    I'm a big fan of your blog, and have been for years. But I don't think you can have this post lauding the printed media and then follow it up with a post on being green. One of the great advances is the fact that we can get all this info on our mobile devices now, so we don't need to waste the amount of paper that we were before.

    I don't have a single subscription to any print media anymore (now that my GQ finally lapsed), and I wont' again. It's hypocritical to wish for newsstands but want so many eco-friendlly other things. Are they colorful? Yes. Are they wasteful, absolutely.

    If you are looking for the sales of convenience items like water and snacks, that's another issue.
  • I like newsstands but I don't buy the printed content. That is the issue, the newsstand may die with printed publishing.
  • aerosmith
    Steve,

    On Thursday, January 21, 2010, you wrote an article about how an iPhone application is available for this website. (1)

    Are you surprised? It is of my humbled opinion that you should consider eating "meat." You are an omnivore, after all.

    FWIW: I subscribe to The National Rifleman, Road & Track, and Car & Driver.

    (1) http://www.urbanreviewstl.com/?p=8778
  • I think the death of the newsstand is the advent and mass appeal of the coffee shop and blogs. It seems to me that the transition away from newsstands and to hyper-local meet and gather cybernewscafes like starbucks, kaldis and the cartel mitigates the need for newsstands. I'm not sure we can stop the inertia created by the cheap distribution models that are baked into the Internet. And, as the internet becomes more and more embedded in the fabric of our daily lives, i.e. tablet technology in the way of dinning tables, interactive signage and security cameras [reminds me of the movie - Demolition Man] and other appropriate street and sidewalk objects - the higher the chance we keep pedestrians participating. That is not to mention the proliferation and affects of smart phones, netbooks and tablet pc's.

    All that being said, I would not argue the value of the newsstand for all the reasons you mention above but I do think they are dying a quick death.
  • The newsstand was dying long before the internet and Starbucks. Newsstands requires pedestrians on the sidewalk. In places where you have busy sidewalks you have newsstands still.
blog comments powered by Disqus