The International Photography Hall of Fame and Museum Opens Today in Midtown

The International Bowling Hall of Fame left St. Louis a few years ago, but we’ve more than made up for the loss by attracting the Susan Polgar Institute for Chess Excellence, the World Chess Hall of Fame, and this year, the International Photography Hall of Fame and Museum.

IPHF was founded in Chicago, in Oklahoma City for a while, and now at 3415 Olive in midtown. This is the 2nd floor space over Triumph Grill.

Today is your chance to see it for free:

The International Photography Hall of Fame and Museum is pleased to announce that it will celebrate the museum’s GRAND OPENING on Friday, October 4, 2013.

In conjunction with First Fridays in Grand Center, the IPHF will be providing FREE ADMISSION to the general public to celebrate its grand opening and will have extended hours from 11:00 AM – 9:00 PM. Regular museum hours and admission prices will begin on Saturday, October 5th from 11:00 AM – 4:00 PM. You can find more information to help plan your visit on our website www.iphf.org/contact/plan-your-visit/

The fall exhibition, The Past, Present and Future of Nature Photography, will run from October 4, 2013 through January 25, 2014 and features Hall of Fame inductee Peter Dombrovskis, Noppadol Paothong, a photojournalist from the Missouri Department of Conservation, and select images from the National Geographic Young Explorers (ages 20-28) and North American Nature Photography Association High School Scholarship Students (ages 14-19). (source)

I had a chance to see the IPHF a few days ago, speaking with Executive Director John Nagel and board president Robert Wagner. Wagner is from Kirkwood, but is a practicing attorney in Oklahoma City.

I’ll suggest they add transit directions to their website, the #10 MetroBus will get you there from the Central West End, Downtown, and from much of south city. And the #70 MetroBus is very close.

— Steve Patterson

Presentation: Neighborhood Change in the St. Louis Region Since 1970; What explains neighborhood success?

Two local professors will attempt to answer the question in the headline when they present their research findings one week from today:

The older parts of the St. Louis region have faced serious challenges in the past 40 years. Some neighborhoods have done better than others. Hank Webber, Washington University, and Todd Swanstrom, University of Missouri–St. Louis, will present their findings on St. Louis neighborhoods that rebounded from decline. The “rebound communities” will be the subject of future UMSL “What’s Brewing” breakfast forums that will take place in the neighborhoods with local activists telling their stories of neighborhood resilience.

Is there a secret formula for success? We can find out Thursday October 10th from 7pm-8:30pm, followed by a reception. The event is free.

The event will be held in the Lee Auditorium, lower level of the Missouri History Museum.

— Steve Patterson

Poll Results on Vehicles Per Licensed Driver

There are many ways to measure and compare regions/states on how auto-centric they are. For the poll last week I selected number of vehicles per licensed driver. The results of the poll are near the end but first I want to share other data.

Examples of vehicle miles traveled per capita in 2005:

• 1) New York City metro: 5,889.9
• 11) Chicago metro: 7,540.5
• 22) Seattle metro: 8,552.6
• 37) Wichita: 9,237.2
• 46) Minneapolis metro: 9,585.0
• 55) Austin metro: 10,220.3
• 64) Kansas City metro: 10,726.2
• 77) St. Louis metro: 11,511.4 
• 88) Nashville metro: 12,275.4
• 92) Oklahoma City metro: 12,325.0

I see this as good evidence our region is too auto dependent, 76 metro areas had less vehicles miles per person than we did in 2005! But maybe we’ve peaked:

When adjusted for population growth, the number of miles driven in the United States peaked in 2005 and dropped steadily thereafter, according to an analysis by Doug Short of Advisor Perspectives, an investment research company. As of April 2013, the number of miles driven per person was nearly 9 percent below the peak and equal to where the country was in January 1995. Part of the explanation certainly lies in the recession, because cash-strapped Americans could not afford new cars, and the unemployed weren’t going to work anyway. But by many measures the decrease in driving preceded the downturn and appears to be persisting now that recovery is under way. The next few years will be telling. (New York Times)

Even if we’ve declined since 2005 like everyone else, we’re still driving considerably more miles per capita than 76 other regions.

Here are the results from last week’s poll:

Q: How many vehicles per licensed driver in your household?

1. One+, but less than two 33 [45.21%]
2. Less than one, more than zero 21 [28.77%]
3. Two+, but less than three 9 [12.33%]
4. Zero 6 [8.22%]
5. Three+ 4 [5.48%]

I’ll admit I broke an important rule when it comes to polls — keeping the answers uniform. It appears the readers who responded don’t have an excess of vehicles, with over 8% saying their household has zero cars per licensed driver.

— Steve Patterson

Jefferson Commons: Very Good ADA Access With One Big Exception

Jefferson Commons has done an amazing job retrofitting new tenant spaces into the old Foodland building on Jefferson (see Reurbanizing Jefferson & Lafayette Pt 2: Foodland). As I had hoped

UIC/Greenstreet Properties did a great job and, as required by the ADA, provided a non-drivewalk access route from each public transit stop. Shopping centers must do so, whereas stand-alone properties can provide access through a driveway. Yet an important detail for compliance was overlooked. It may have been shown on the drawings but overlooked during construction, or left off the drawings by mistake.

I’ve not seen any crossing paint here, drawing that in on construction plans can greatly reduce a design or construction error. I’ll be sending this to my contacts at the companies responsible and to city officials.

— Steve Patterson

SLU’s New Law School Breathed New Life Into An Old Building, Downtown

The building at 100 North Tucker was built by a developer in 1964, opening for office tenants in 1965. Typical for that era, the 11-story structure had low ceilings and small windows. It was plain, a dog. It’s been “functionally obsolete” for decades now.  Occupancy dwindled to the point the last owner donated it to his alma mater, Saint Louis University.

Last week I got to tour the Saint Louis University School of Law, the new occupant of the building. The tour was organized by the St. Louis Chapter of the American Institute of Architects, our guides were architects from The Lawrence Group who worked on the project.

I’ve not been happy with the direction former SLU President Larry Biondi took the main campus (fenced fortress) but his last project looks to be a winner.  I’ve not tried The Docket restaurant on the ground floor yet, but at lunch on the day of the tour I saw a SLU law student at Empire Deli on Washington. An ugly building was given new life while adding many more people downtown.

Congrats and thank you to everyone that made this happen!

— Steve Patterson