» Walkable

Because it’s Friday, I’m in the mood to share a little happy here. The other night I had a great evening out at the Delmar Loop. My friend and I met for beverages and dinner at Blueberry Hill, probably the most iconic destination on the Loop. Because it was a gorgeous night and the street was hoppin’, we strolled up and down, peering into shops and galleries, enjoying the crowd and the vibe.

Delmar Loop is one of those spots in St. Louis that really has a feeling of “place” – it has a character, it feels like a cohesive neighborhood. There’s no question that people are drawn to its glow like moths – there’s never a spot to park on the streets and usually the public parking is full, too. That’s a good reason to take MetroLink – the Delmar Loop station drops you off right at one end of the Loop, and you can make a whole evening of strolling up one side of the street and back down the other.

The street is packed with unusual and interesting sights, both in the stores and on the sidewalks – there is an abundance of public art, interestingly-dressed people, books and quirky knick-knacks for sale…even the business signs are nice to view. You can shop for furniture, gifts, or a computer; see a rock n roll legend in concert; eat fondue, Thai, sushi, or burgers; drink fresh-brewed root beer or elaborate coffee creations; drink a martini and try to bowl a few strikes; and spend hours flipping through old records.  What’s not to love about the Loop? And with this amazing summer weather we’re having, and open access to the Loop via MetroLink and Metro Bus, there’s always a fun evening to be had under the stars.

The chatter on all the urban blogs today is about Culinaria, the new mini-Schnucks that is opening downtown today on the corner of 9th & Olive. Steve Patterson of UrbanReviewSTL already has a few complaints, but overall the buzz seems to be pretty positive. The coolest thing I’ve read is that they will hold your groceries for you if you shop at lunchtime, so you can pick them up on your way home. I don’t see that information on the website, though – does anyone know if this is true?

Either way, it’s definitely an advance for downtown and I’m glad that City Grocery will still be around too – they are switching focus to gourmet foods. I doubt the residential growth downtown would have been possible without someone filling in the gap til a larger store was willing to relocate.

UPDATE: Matt at St. Louis Investment Realty points out that there is also a 12,000 square foot grocery opening up in Benton Park. Hooray!

I’ve just returned* from a trip to Europe to visit my dad and one of the things I enjoyed the most was how easy it was to get around the cities I was visiting without having a car at my disposal. I hope to publish a few posts pondering the differences of European transit vs. American transit, but for now, an overview.

My dad lives near Waterloo, Belgium (yep, that one), and very affordable commuter trains run every five minutes or so, day & night, into nearby Brussels. There are also express buses into the city and a network of buses around the little villages and to the train station. Within Brussels, there’s street-running light rail, buses, and bikes; and the city itself is very walkable, with wide, pedestrian-friendly sidewalks and good crossings. (more…)

I was perusing some of the St. Louis-focused blogs today and saw several links to St. Louis real estate blogger Dawn Griffin, so I decided to click over and check her out. She’s provided a great service with this post, “Homes Under $200,000 Near MetroLink Stations.” She provides the listing for seven homes walkable to MetroLink, and the highest priced is $199k. While that’s sadly out of my current price range (of zero!), it’s nice to dream – and good to know that people are thinking about proximity to transit when making their purchasing decisions.

In fact, I think that’s probably a growing trend. There’s another site called Walk Score that covers 40 cities and gives a score based on walkability from a selected address. I tested the site by checking out the score for my old house in Portland, Oregon and it had a walkability score of 88 – amazingly high. (Though, since I lived there without a car, I would argue that the score really should be 100!)

The popularity and growth of sites like Walk Score indicates, to me, that more and more people are factoring transit into their big life decisions. So tell me – in your next move, will you factor in access to transit or other transportation-related concerns, when making your decision?