Sidewalk Cafes vs. Bike Parking

I’ve posted before about St. Louis needing much more bike parking so that patrons don’t need to secure their bikes to parking meters, sign posts or railings. When I spotted this bike locked to the railing in front of Flannery’s Pub I thought, “wait a minute, this is one of the few areas where we do have bike parking!”  Did the racks get removed?  No, not quite, they are still there — somewhere.

Oh there is one, buried among Flannery’s cafe furniture and advertising.  Not exactly a usable bike rack, is it?  I’m a huge fan of sidewalk dining — I love the excitement it can bring to the sidewalk.  When I’m out I often see people I know dining outdoors, including at Flannery’s. But the restaurants must realize they don’t own the public sidewalk in front of their establishments. They must respect others using the sidewalk — including bicyclists trying to secure their bikes.

– Steve Patterson

PR: APA Names Wydown Boulevard A 2010 Great Street

The following is a press release:

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WASHINGTON, DC – The American Planning Association (APA) today announced the country’s 10 Great Neighborhoods, 10 Great Streets, and 10 Great Public Spaces for 2010 through the organization’s national program, Great Places in America.

Launched in 2007, Great Places in America celebrates places of exemplary character, quality, and planning. Places are selected annually and represent the gold standard in terms of having a true sense of place, noteworthy social, cultural or historical character, community involvement, resilience, and a vision for the future. To date, 110 places have been designated in 47 states and the District of Columbia.

“This year’s designations represent American communities of all sizes, from New York City, Boston and San Francisco to Wallace, Idaho, Red Lodge, Montana, and Middleburg, Virginia,” said APA Chief Executive Officer W. Paul Farmer, FAICP. “Places of distinction and unique character are found not only in big cities or selected states, but everywhere. We hope these examples inspire other communities to envision, plan and realize their own great places of lasting value.”

“These American Planning Association Great Places demonstrate the benefits of good planning and plan implementation, often over generations,” Farmer said, adding “Great Places show what helps make communities attractive and able to offer residents better choices for where and how they work and live.”

APA Great Places are enjoyable, safe and desirable — places that attract users every day. America’s truly great streets, neighborhoods and public spaces are defined by many characteristics, including architectural features, accessibility, functionality, and community involvement. The 2010 designees are not ranked, but are listed here alphabetically by state. Additional details about each designee are available at www.planning.org/greatplaces.

2010 Great Neighborhoods
Lower Downtown, Denver, CO; Riverside Avondale, Jacksonville, FL;
Frank Lloyd Wright Historic District, Village of Oak Park, IL;
John S. Park Neighborhood, Las Vegas, NV; The Paseo, Oklahoma City, OK;
Historic Ninth Street Hill Neighborhood, Lafayette, IN;
Back Bay, Boston, MA; Downtown Frederick, Frederick MD;
Hyde Park, Cincinnati, OH; The Cathedral Historic District, Sioux Falls, SD

2010 Great Streets
Spring Street, Eureka Springs, AR; 5th Avenue, San Diego, CA;
Bank Street, Wallace, ID; Massachusetts Street, Lawrence, KS;
Wydown Boulevard, Clayton, MO; Broadway Avenue, Red Lodge, MT;
Washington Street, Hoboken, NJ; Middle Street, New Bern, NC;
Liberty Street, Franklin, PA; Washington Street, Middleburg, VA

2010 Great Public Spaces
Charles W. Ireland Sculpture Garden, Birmingham, AL;
Ferry Building, San Francisco, CA; Plaza Real, Boca Raton, FL;
Fountain Square, Bowling Green, KY; The Emerald Necklace, Boston, MA;
Campus Martius Park, Detroit, MI; Bryant Park, New York City, NY;
Rittenhouse Square, Philadelphia, PA; Main Plaza, San Antonio, TX;
Percival Landing Boardwalk and Park, Olympia, WA

Great Places in America is just one of the ways APA recognizes and celebrates National Community Planning Month each October. The special month is designed to recognize and celebrate the many residents, leaders, officials, and professionals who contribute to making great communities. For more about National Community Planning Month, visit www.planning.org/ncpm.

The American Planning Association is an independent, not-for-profit educational organization that provides leadership in the development of vital communities. APA and its professional institute, the American Institute of Certified Planners, are dedicated to advancing the art, science and profession of good planning — physical, economic and social — so as to create communities that offer better choices for where and how people work and live. Members of APA help create communities of lasting value and encourage civic leaders, business interests and citizens to play a meaningful role in creating communities that enrich people’s lives. APA has offices in Washington, D.C., and Chicago, Ill. For more information, visit www.planning.org.
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Readers: Use Cards To Educate Rather Than Shame

The poll last week got lots of diverse responses but the biggest group thinks I should use a bit of guilt (“I’m disabled…”) but should otherwise educate those who park in disabled spaces, block crosswalks, etc:

Q: How should I phrase cards to leave on cars blocking disabled parking spaces, pedestrian crosswalks, curb ramps, etc?

1. I’m disabled, how you’ve parked can make things difficult for me and others. 74 [43.53%]
2. I’m disabled, I don’t like how you’ve parked, the authorities have been notified, pic posted on Twitter & Facebook 36 [21.18%]
3. Don’t leave anything, just let it go 14 [8.24%]
4. Other answer… 13 [7.65%]
5. Forget a card, key their car 11 [6.47%]
6. I’m disabled, I don’t like how you’ve parked, the authorities have been notified 10 [5.88%]
7. You insensitive jerk, I hope you end up disabled like me someday 7 [4.12%]
8. Unsure/no opinion 3 [1.76%]
9. I’m disabled, I don’t like how you’ve parked 2 [1.18%]

All of the answers I provided in the poll were things I thought at times I encounter a poorly parked car.  I’d never damage anyone else’s property but for a brief moment just the thought of keying an offending car brings satisfaction.  Mostly I do nothing other than take a picture but I want to have a pre-written card with me to cover those times I don’t want to let it go.

The 13 other answers were:

1. attach a chain to the axle “American Graffiti” style
2. Choice 4 with the Facebook and Twitter part added.
3. kiss or kill me. you pick.
4. Collective Action: No
5. I like the car you’ve got – but recommend posting it with tenacious adhesive
6. I’m disabled, how you’ve parked can make things difficult for me and o Monday,
7. If you have the balls to leave a card, you better put your conact info on it too
8. Grow up
9. move your piece of crap
10. the first option with an image of you in your wheel chair giving them the finger
11. just call the cops, be(come) the squeaky wheel
12. Good idea, but it also sounds really whiny.
13. I would print out the MO code for this and leave it on their car

The following are just some of the other examples where a card would have been nice to leave behind:

I’ll be ordering the revised card soon so I will have them with me when I run into more examples.

– Steve Patterson

Walkability Around The Maplewood MetroLink Station

The “Cross County” MetroLink extension opened in August 2006.  In that time many would expect new development and increased walkability around the new stations but we had no plan beyond the line.  I’d plan for and require dense development and walkability over time.  But  not in our region, here we can spend hundreds of millions on transit infrastructure but not change the land planning to justify the infrastructure capital investment.

To make the transit investment worthwhile there must be nearby destinations (housing, office, retail, etc) and the ability to walk to/from transit and these nearby destinations. In cities where transit is planned and zoning is changed in anticipation of a transit line you get new dense & walkable development occurring before the line even opens for riders.

– Steve Patterson

It Does Get Better

Today is National Coming Out Day and, yes, I’m gay.  I was harassed for being gay, before I even knew I was gay, during the 5th-8th grade (1977-1981). I came out in 1983, at age 16 — a year after the term “AIDS” was first used.  Although scary times for me, it got better.

Last week I joined hundreds of others in the Central West End for an important event to show youth it gets better:

“They marched as one. Unified by candlelight, reflecting on some of their darkest days of bullying and harassment.” (Vigil Condemns Anti-Gay Bullying)

Here is a short video clip I shot:

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=piM5o3uth3Y

The vigil was organized by Growing American Youth:

“Growing American Youth is a social support organization for youth who live near St. Louis and who are 21 and under and may identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, asexual or questioning their sexual orientation or gender identity. Growing American Youth has been serving St. Louis area youth for 30 years.”

In addition to the string of gay teen suicides we now have the story of violence against young gay men in New York:

“Outraged city leaders said Saturday that the city wouldn’t tolerate the “vicious” hatred that had apparently caused a street gang to allegedly beat and torture two teenage boys and a man inside an abandoned home over the course of several hours because they were gay.” (NYC officials outraged over anti-gay gang torture)

Cities are still the most accepting place to be.

– Steve Patterson