Over on the Urban St. Louis discussion forums there has been a thread discussing predictions for 2006, I posted mine a couple of weeks back but I’ve given it a little more thought.
I thought my 2006 predictions might be a good way to end up the year on Urban Review – St. Louis:
So am I off base? What are your predictions for the St. Louis region in 2006?
– Steve
A few days ago I did a post about seeing all the lights of commuters coming to St. Louis from the hinterlands as I drove to Oklahoma for the holiday weekend. Yesterday someone placed the following comment on that post:
Steve, I am surprised you took an automobile to Oklahoma instead of either a bus or train. Isn’t that being a bit hypocritical?
Interesting question. Typically I’d just do a simply reply to that comment and that would be that. But instead I thought this worthy of a fresh new post.
In the 15+ years I’ve lived in St. Louis I’ve gone back to Oklahoma City to visit my family many times. Most have been by car while a few have been by plane. None have been by bus or train.
… Continue Reading
I was downtown for lunch yesterday and picked up a simple but smart flyer listing 16 “fine independent retailers.” In a small amount of space they’ve managed to communicate all the business names, what they each offer, their addresses and phone numbers as well as pinpoint their locations on a map. Not bad!
Here is the really smart thing these savvy retailers have done, they’ve created one website that lists all of their individual websites along with a printable map. Smart.
So, check out shopdowntownstl.com and support our locally-owned merchants. For your future reference I’ve added the link to the growing list of links in the right hand column of the home page here at Urban Review – St. Louis.
– Steve
Faced with a stumbling block at the Preservation Review Board last week word on the street is that Alderman Joe Vollmer is considering introducing a bill to the Board of Alderman to exclude the single parcel in question from the Preservation Review District. If so, this would sound like “spot zoning” to me.
From Law.com:
n. a provision in a general plan which benefits a single parcel of land by creating a zone for use just for that parcel and different from the surrounding properties in the area. Example: in a residential neighborhood zoned for single-family dwellings with a minimum of 10,000 square feet, the corner service station property is zoned commercial. Spot zoning is not favored, since it smacks of favoritism and usually annoys neighbors. [emphasis added] An existing commercial business can be accommodated by a “zoning variance” (allowing a non-conforming use for the time being) or a “grandfathered” right to continue a use existing when the zoning plan was adopted and which will terminate if the building is torn down.
Spot Zoning typically applies to say residential verses commercial — the use zone for a particular parcel. At this point I’m not certain how Missouri law applies to Historic & Preservation Review Districts but these do form a type of zoning. Any attorney out there know more about spot zoning?
What we do not want are Aldermen excluding individual parcels or entire neighborhoods from the review process. If so these neighborhoods risk losing the buildings that give them the character that people seek. The Preservation Review ordinance has excellent criteria and should not be skirted simply because they don’t like the outcome.
– Steve
Thursday morning I was driving West on I-44 heading to Oklahoma for the holiday weekend. I left my house just past 5am so it was still dark as I left the region. I was amazed at all the lights from people heading East from places such as Pacific, Washington, St. Clair, Eureka, Union, and Sullivan.
I was over an hour away from downtown before the traffic volume decreased to a “normal” level. Where were all these people going I wondered to myself. Why did they live so far away from their workplace? Could they not afford anything closer or was this by choice.
I often hear people cite that they don’t want to live on top of each other as a reason for living out in the “country.” But then I see the subdivisions where they live. The lots are wide and the houses far apart but to get that big front yard the houses are set far back. The back deck overlooks the main road or the neighbors deck. I have more privacy in my small backyard.
Another reason often given is the kids. But to pay for this dream home in the “country” the parents have to work which can mean long commutes. The people I saw will likely spend close to two hours driving each and every day. That is equal to 21 days a year gone! How is that good for the kiddies?
MetroLink planners have been looking at stretching lines out near the I-270 loop although the low densities in those places make it questionable. Yet along I-44 construction work continues to widen the highway further and further West. Too many people and vehicles for the existing roads yet nowhere near enough people to consider a commuter rail line.
I suppose until gas prices go up we’ll continue to see the car lights along I-44.
– Steve