Steve Patterson
Recent Posts
A Decade Since Jane Jacobs’ Death
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Ten years ago today, one of my heroes died. Jane Jacobs, author of The Death & Life of Great American Cities, was 89. Her 1961 classic was a sharp critique of Urban Renewal — the erase & replace thinking that was commonplace at the time. New York’s Robert Moses & St. ...
No Pedestrian Signal One Block From Busch Stadium
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Monday was the Cardinals home opener, tens of thousands made their way into Busch Stadium III for the afternoon game. The current stadium opened a decade ago, the previous Busch Stadium opened to the North half a century ago, in 1966. So you’d think by now the pedestrian environment to/from ...
The 2013 Northside-Southside Study Was About Development, Not Transit
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In 2006/07 I attended many public meetings on a proposed Northside-Southside light rail line, it was finalized in 2008. In writing about these plans in the last year, people have asked if I’d seen the new study that was done, it’s not the same as it was in 2008. The ...
An Open Letter to St. Louis Bicycle/Pedestrian Coordinator Jamie Wilson
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Jamie, This open letter is in response to your February email reply regarding my posts St. Louis Fails At Crosswalks, Part 1 and Part 2. You wrote: Thanks for your input on the crosswalks. I’m working on improving our pedestrian facilities and we will get better. Please feel free to send me ...
McKee’s Gas Station & Grocery Proposal Highly Suburban In Plan — Inappropriate Near Central Business District
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In a December 2011 post, titled Downtown’s New Entrance, I said the following of developer Paul McKee’s plans along the new Tucker coming into downtown from the Stan Musial Veterans Memorial Bridge: I’m still concerned the new buildings will lack connections to adjacent sidewalks. St. Louis now has a “Complete ...
New NGA West Location Will Gut St. Louis Place Neighborhood, Not Revitalize What Remains
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The National Geospatial Agency decided to keep its Western headquarters in the City of St. Louis. The narrative around this decision is summed up nicely here: The decision means the city will keep 3,100 jobs, currently housed at the Old Arsenal complex south of Anheuser-Busch brewery, and move them to ...
St. Charles County & St. Louis County Connected Via Public Transit
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Five days a week people take public transit to/from St. Louis & St. Charles counties! No, MetroLink light rail wasn’t secretly extended over the Missouri River. No, MetroBus doesn’t serve St. Charles County either. “How”, you ask? Just the way Madison County Transit enters the City of St. Louis, St. Charles ...
Soldiers’ Memorial Kicked Off Demolishing Our City’s Center
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Last month, on the 28th, Soldiers’ Memorial closed for a 2-year renovation. Soldier’s Memorial is St. Louis’ tribute to those who died in World War 1. The Soldiers Memorial Military Museum closed Sunday for a $30 million renovation, with promises of reopening in two years as a functional and inspirational “transformation.” It is ...
Downtown Trolley Route Expands To Compton Starting March 14th
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Tuesday’s post (Metro Makes Long-Needed Changes at 18th & Clark, Still Violates ADA) listed the many MetroBus route changes effective March 14th, one of which was the #99 Downtown Trolley. As mentioned in a July 2014 post, the Trolley will reach Union Station — and well-beyiond, as it turns out. First, ...
Metro Makes Long-Needed Changes at 18th & Clark, Still Violates ADA
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In a couple of weeks Metro’s new North County Transit Center will open, so many MetroBus routes will see major changes: Metro’s quarterly service change on March 14 will impact the operations of 48 MetroBus routes in the St. Louis metropolitan region, including the introduction of nine new MetroBus routes ...
Another Local Example of In-Street Light Rail
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A couple of weeks ago I posted about a local example of light rail in center of a street, which was largely misunderstood. Objections to my Meramec Ave & Forest Park Parkway example included: Cars could never cross here Pedestrians have no reason to cross here Several cities have light rail ...
Zoning Should Not Be Used to Force Washington Ave to Become a Retail Street
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There are some who envision one mile of our Washington Ave (from 4th to 18th) as being a retail street like the Delmar Loop or Chicago’s Magnificent Mile along Michigan Ave. One person even wants to use a proposed form-based code overlay to mandate a retail use on the ground ...