Steve Patterson
Recent Posts
Take Parking Away From Treasurer’s Office
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Former St. Louis treasurer Larry Williams reminds me of a small town version of New York's Robert Moses (1888-1981), using the state legislature to give him money and power while also remaining free of oversight.
Generations of Shortsighted Decisions Continues To Dog St. Louis Region
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Many of our current problems in the St. Louis region can be traced back to decisions made long before any of us were born.
St. Louis Expects Lots of Car Lanes Because of Harland Bartholomew
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Bartholomew, like his better-known contemporary, NYC’s Robert Moses, believed it was necessary to destroy the city to save it from itself. Everything prior to the 20th century was wrong for the modern world of the automobile.
Bus Stop Design in St. Louis Region De-Prioritizes Transit
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St. Louis, naturally, makes buses pull out of traffic rather than stay in the travel lane.
St. Louis Does the Opposite of NACTO
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Since St. Louis, and the region by extension, does the opposite of what NACTO recommends, we could benefit greatly if the city joined — and followed their lead. But I doubt the traffic engineers in the Streets Dept and the like-minded engineers at the Board of Public Service are willing to change the way things have always been done.
The Civic Center MetroBus Transit Center Reopens Today
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The new design is substantially different, it has 3 times as many bus bays. First we have to get to it.
A Look at the New Kiener Plaza
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Overall I think they’ve done an outstanding job, but the previous space was so awful it was hard to not do better. Accessibly is excellent, as is the amount of seating.
Turnstiles Are For Fare Collection, Not Public Safety
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Many, including regional elected officials, letters to the editor, and others, are pushing the idea of turnstiles as a way to increase public safety on our MetroLink light rail system. This is incredibly ill-informed because turnstiles, physical and virtual, are meant to combat fare-evasion.
Senior Apartments Slated to Be Built Near Swansea MetroLink Parking Lot
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Back in September 2016, on the 20th, I received a press release from our transit agency Metro — aka Bi-State Development: SWANSEA, IL, SEPT. 20, 2016… Southwestern Illinois Development Authority (SWIDA), in partnership with Bywater Development Group and Bi-State Development (BSD), is pleased to announce a new, $10.5 million development that ...
Taxpayers Need to Pay to Rebuild Dead Highway Site, Not Stadium
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Decades ago Missouri and St. Louis used taxpayer money to buy and raze a huge area West of Union Station for a planned highway that’s long dead. This vacant hole has been a huge negative, preventing smaller private investment all around from spreading to improve the tax base and employment. It took taxpayer money to raze the neighborhood that once existed here -- it will take taxpayer money to undo the damage.
Downtown Needs a Form-Based Code, Not an Old Height Restriction
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Within the central business district the only regulation on height of new construction should be minimum height -- not maximum. Issues such as heights and design could easily be addressed within a form-based code, replacing our 1940s use-based code.