Miguel, you just don’t get it and I don’t know why.
I cannot be clearer to you. You can point out all you want that the problem with downtown park space is its quality and I will agree with you on that point. But focusing solely on that point is foolish and ignores second and third problem with downtown park space: that there aren’t enough people to support all of the land and that the current structure of downtown park land (linear) does not support good urban design. Do you honestly believe that improving the quality of parks will suddenly flood them with people? Sure, maybe for a few well positioned parks, but not for the vast majority of wide open empty and useless spaces that constitute most of the Gateway Mall (particuarly since most of the mall is surounded by lifeless insitutional buildings that none of us are going to change [Example A: South side of Market Street between 18th and Tucker]).
Downtown is drowning in park space and until our leaders take action to increase density and spread our park throughout downtown, they will remain what they are now. Empty.
Take a look at the map I proposed. Then think for a few minutes. I am not calling for the eradication of downtown parkland. I am calling for the improvement of our most well positioned parks along the Gateway Mall (the Serra Sculpture Park, Aloe Plaza, the park in front of City Hall, and Kiener Plaza). Then I call for 3 things:
1. The greening of Market Street. A green street full of trees, filled with people, shops and restaurants year round is infinitely more valuable than the one a year Taste of St. Louis and miles of empty parkland.
2. Development of the remaining blocks of the mall.
3. Creation of new parks throughout downtown.
Together, these three form the basis for a comprehensive rethinking of how our downtown approaches parkland. The fundamental idea of the City Beautiful Park (a linear greenspace with areas for massive civic celebrations) is preserved through the green Market Street and the four remaining parks that line what should the St. Louis’ grand boulevard. In the place of the parks removed, we have many new parks near our new neighborhoods. Look at the location of those new parks and tell me which is a better location for downtown parkland:
• Some the Block between 18th and 17th on Market or the 16th and 17th on Washington, surrounded by new residential
• Three blocks of parkland between 8th and 11th on Market or a new park at Washington and 11th across surrounded by new residential development.
When it comes right down to it, for some reason you believe that simply having more events a few times a year, a few more benches, some new sidewalks, some new trees, and maybe a novel thing like an ice rink will really make downtown’s parks thrive. This view is fundamentally flawed because it ignores that much of downtown’s parkland is poorly placed and that there is way too much parkland to ever be utilized. None of your ideas ever address any of these problems. All of mine do.
One final point. You can dislike the comparison to New York and dislike private parks (btw, I never did argue that some private company should own, operate and maintain the parks, I only argued that the revenue generated from the sale of parkland be used to fund an endowment for these parks), but when it comes right down to it, you would give your eye teeth to have any one downtown park be as successful as Bryant Park next to the New York Public Library (a privately operated park) or as Madison Square Park (home to the Shake Shack) or Gramercy Park. The fact is that the idea providing basic amenities to urban parks (benches, good lighting, paths, cafes and kiosks, and even big events) is as important as locating a park in an area surrounded by occupied buildings full of people who will fill the parks on a nice day and make the areas feel safe. None, I repeat NONE, of your ideas Miguel address the second part of that equation. Unless they downtown does address this second part of the equation, our Gateway Mall will continue to be an embarrassment, empty, and home to more bums and stray dogs than downtown office workers and residents.
I cannot be clearer to you. You can point out all you want that the problem with downtown park space is its quality and I will agree with you on that point. But focusing solely on that point is foolish and ignores second and third problem with downtown park space: that there aren’t enough people to support all of the land and that the current structure of downtown park land (linear) does not support good urban design. Do you honestly believe that improving the quality of parks will suddenly flood them with people? Sure, maybe for a few well positioned parks, but not for the vast majority of wide open empty and useless spaces that constitute most of the Gateway Mall (particuarly since most of the mall is surounded by lifeless insitutional buildings that none of us are going to change [Example A: South side of Market Street between 18th and Tucker]).
Downtown is drowning in park space and until our leaders take action to increase density and spread our park throughout downtown, they will remain what they are now. Empty.
Take a look at the map I proposed. Then think for a few minutes. I am not calling for the eradication of downtown parkland. I am calling for the improvement of our most well positioned parks along the Gateway Mall (the Serra Sculpture Park, Aloe Plaza, the park in front of City Hall, and Kiener Plaza). Then I call for 3 things:
1. The greening of Market Street. A green street full of trees, filled with people, shops and restaurants year round is infinitely more valuable than the one a year Taste of St. Louis and miles of empty parkland.
2. Development of the remaining blocks of the mall.
3. Creation of new parks throughout downtown.
Together, these three form the basis for a comprehensive rethinking of how our downtown approaches parkland. The fundamental idea of the City Beautiful Park (a linear greenspace with areas for massive civic celebrations) is preserved through the green Market Street and the four remaining parks that line what should the St. Louis’ grand boulevard. In the place of the parks removed, we have many new parks near our new neighborhoods. Look at the location of those new parks and tell me which is a better location for downtown parkland:
• Some the Block between 18th and 17th on Market or the 16th and 17th on Washington, surrounded by new residential
• Three blocks of parkland between 8th and 11th on Market or a new park at Washington and 11th across surrounded by new residential development.
When it comes right down to it, for some reason you believe that simply having more events a few times a year, a few more benches, some new sidewalks, some new trees, and maybe a novel thing like an ice rink will really make downtown’s parks thrive. This view is fundamentally flawed because it ignores that much of downtown’s parkland is poorly placed and that there is way too much parkland to ever be utilized. None of your ideas ever address any of these problems. All of mine do.
One final point. You can dislike the comparison to New York and dislike private parks (btw, I never did argue that some private company should own, operate and maintain the parks, I only argued that the revenue generated from the sale of parkland be used to fund an endowment for these parks), but when it comes right down to it, you would give your eye teeth to have any one downtown park be as successful as Bryant Park next to the New York Public Library (a privately operated park) or as Madison Square Park (home to the Shake Shack) or Gramercy Park. The fact is that the idea providing basic amenities to urban parks (benches, good lighting, paths, cafes and kiosks, and even big events) is as important as locating a park in an area surrounded by occupied buildings full of people who will fill the parks on a nice day and make the areas feel safe. None, I repeat NONE, of your ideas Miguel address the second part of that equation. Unless they downtown does address this second part of the equation, our Gateway Mall will continue to be an embarrassment, empty, and home to more bums and stray dogs than downtown office workers and residents.
