Kirkwood Electric's Problem is Not Unique

• Last week's Webster-Kirkwood Times had a couple stories of note:
  • On pg. 1, there was a write-up of the public works site development proposal that I offered my own two cents on a couple of weeks back. I'm so so glad Downtown Kirkwood will be getting a bunch of new residents, and I don't want any criticism to jeopardize that, but I also think we could do so much better. The article reads in part, "within this development, the streets and sidewalks will be pedestrian-friendly, including gathering spaces, art installations, and robust trees and plantings." This assertion, however, fails to grasp that for a place to be walkable, there has to be a reason for people to visit, and without any retail being included in the project, that reason won't exist. Who is going to walk into a residential neighborhood to gather in a plaza or look at art? The residents, after they get out of their car but before they walk into their apartments? Certainly no one walking down the trail we're spending millions of dollars on.
  • Then, on pg. 9, we get the perfect counterexample in the news that Perenial on the Trail is open for business in Oakland. The whiskey tasting room and cocktail bar aims to be a family-friendly and dog-friendly outpost with indoor and outdoor seating and fire pits, specifically catering to folks using the trail. Kirkwood currently bans any sort of beer gardens, bars, restaurants or retail within the light industrial-zoned area that surrounds the trail for most of its run through the city, so I thought we'd at least try to capture some of those customers at the public works site, but so far that's not the case. I urge you to email the Council and tell them that while you support the residential portion of the plan, you'd also like them to consider allowing retail uses, both here and in the industrial area.