Another one bites the dust

Having spent a fair amount of time in timber country, the whine of chainsaws is a familiar sound. With it usually comes the smell of freshly chewed wood, tiny wood dust particles in the air, noise, and heat. The smells, the crunching sound of falling tree limbs, it's all very familiar in timber country.

It's not a good sound in our urban neighborhoods. Today, there it was. That loud, screaming of 2-stroke motor and the crunching and snapping of tree limbs. And the roar of a wood chipping/grinding machine at work. A tree service was removing one of the behemoth trees from the rear yard of a 2-family across the alley from us.

The tree guys are amazing. They work like high-wire artists. The way they can bring down these giant trees, with little if any disturbance to the yard or neighbors nearby, is great talent. And it's an expensive proposition. We once passed on buying a new old home because of the humongous oak tree in the middle of the back yard.

Not only do those big dudes get scary when bending over in high winds, they can cost a fortune to have removed, easy over $5,000 apiece.

As sad as it is to see a big tree removed, in most places around here, given the hundreds of thousands of trees shading our St. Louis region, the occasional loss of one or two is hardly noticeable. And it cuts down on raking! Just don't let the situation get too far out of hand. We once sold a house and moved because the block we were on had too few street trees and not enough shade.

For an interesting discussion about what others think of the "look" of St. Louis, check out this forum thread.

Odds and Ends

This time of year, as leaves on the trees start their color change, I look forward to getting out the wool clothing and pleated fall jackets. Leaf raking, fall lawn prep, and other outside projects are enjoyable in the mild weather. Halloween is fast approaching, and neighborhood block parties are a common occurence, featuring outdoor fire pits, lawn chairs, "jumpies" for kids, lots of barbequed meat, good red wine, and comfortable nightime temperatures.

The 7th ward must be one of the places where you're allowed to bring your dog to sidewalk cafes. For the past two mornings, a woman has been accompanied by her two dogs while sitting at a sidewalk table at the corner of 6th and Olive. One of the dogs looks exactly like a long-haired version of our humane society adoptee. Seeing people with friendly dogs makes downtown feel friendly, welcoming, and safe.

The Hilton (nee ballpark Mariott) is showing some of the multiplier benefits of downtown ballpark expansion. The hotel is going through a major remodel of its Broadway and Market corner entrance with an expanded steel and glass-framed conference facility facing the street.

97.1 FM talk show host Dave Glover, in an interview with STL Police Chief Joe Mokwa yesterday, characterized himself as a long time skeptic of efforts to revitalize the city. For years, he was not a believer. On the air with Mokwa, he conceded that efforts to improve St. Louis "are working".

The St. George police stop video going round the world on YouTube is causing some in the St. Louis area to take a fresh look at our many repetitive layers of government and public services. On KMOX this morning, Debbie Monterey explained that the reason St. George exists in the first place is because two moms some years ago wanted to work out a local school bus arrangement for their kids. Monterey and co-host Doug McKelvin went on to suggest that it might make more sense for St. George to consolidate their police services under a contract with St. Louis County.

Good for Another 9 Months

We just finished another summer in our paid for, low mileage, '96 mini-van, the one without air conditioning. Yeah, there were some hot times driving in July and August, but we survived.

The cost to repair the A/C would run somewhere north of $1,000, and I doubt we could even sell the car for that much, so why put the money into it? Better to suffer the heat, driving a car that doesn't attract much attention.

Out of towners often wonder how people can stand living in the heat and humidity of a St. Louis summer. Hey, it's only three months, and in exchange, we get lots of beautiful weather in the shoulder seasons of spring and fall.

Last weekend we overseeded the front lawn, and, thanks to the milder weather and rains over the past week, the new seedlings are already up over an inch tall.

The van is ready for the winter, with a heater that blasts warm air. Come next June, hopefully she'll still be running strong, and we'll hit summer ready to go at it again with 4 x 60 A/C (that's four windowns down, 60 MPH...).

Old St. Louis Shoppe

On the mantle in my parent's California home there is a commemorative beer stein sold as a souvenier at the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair. The memento has been passed down through our family over the years and looks like new. I didn't even know we had it until a couple of years ago. It's pretty cool. I love old St. Louis stuff.

A few years ago a guy showed up at a community meeting. We were talking about something, maybe Forest Park or charter reform. He brought along a fascinating conversation piece. Over the years, he had amassed a huge collection of historic St. Louis post cards. Some of the buildings in the cards were still standing, but many had been long since demolished. Viewing the collection was like taking a trip through St. Louis history.

Which makes me wonder, has anyone taken the idea of Old St. Louis and tried to make it into a commercial venture? I'm not talking about historic tours or bed and breakfast inns, but rather a store specializing in historic St. Louis collectibles?

The store could carry old photographs, maps, sports items, furniture, clothing, advertisements, anything from Old St. Louis. Is there such a place? We have tons of great antique stores, but have any of them made St. Louis history the main attraction? Maybe in these days of the internet, bricks and mortar stores just can't compete?

Sure enough, you can actually buy historic St. Louis bricks on ebay. However, wouldn't you rather be able to browze through a real store, perhaps in a historic building, and see the items in natural light?

The inventory could be expanded by offering reproductions as well as originals. There have got to be some long-time St. Louis families with great collections of historic St. Louis stuff.

On the public/museum side, the Mercantile Library, now at UMSL, is a good place to view lots of St. Louis history. Personally, I haven't been to the UMSL site. For years, the museum was housed in the top floor of a Boatmen's Bank branch location across from St. Louis Centre. Visits to the museum were free, with guests having to sign a register prior to entry. This fall we'll have to plan a trip to the UMSL Mercantile Library. We're overdue.

The Mellanby Effect

Scott Mellanby, NHL bruiser who played a couple of his seasons right here in St. Louis, is retiring from the NHL. He closed out his NHL career playing in Atlanta. Like many NHL players, Mellanby comes from a Canadian hockey family. His dad is a legendary Canadian hockey TV announcer who received Emmy awards for his work on hockey broadcasts.

Pro hockey players make good money. The current minimum salary is something like $500,000 per year. Mellanby had a long career, so he must have made millions. So what is he doing now that he's retiring from the pro game? He's moving his family back to St. Louis to make this their permanent home.

And Mellanby's not alone. Didn't retired MLB stars Andy Van Slyke and Ozzie Smith do the same thing? These professional athletes have fame and fortune and the freedom of choice. They could live wherever they want. And where do they choose to make their homes? St. Louis. Maybe its the water. It's got to be something.

Labor Day Weekend Travels

One of the comments in the "Unique St. Louis" thread noted how St. Louis is like a "big small town". You know what they say about small towns: everyone knows everyone. In St. Louis, it's sort of the same thing. Even though our metro are has around 2.5 million people, we're always bumping into people we know out in public. I wonder if the closer you live to downtown, the more likely your path is to cross with people you know?

We checked out the new Lindewood School lofts, and while visiting these very nice and moderately priced historic rehab condos, there were two of our old neighbors, the ones who kept the nicest yard on the block.

We attended the Blues Festival at Laclede's Landing (packed with lots of fans from the Mizzou/Illinois game), and there, walking through the narrow streets of the Landing, was one of our neighbors and fellow car pool patrons.

Watching the main stage, there was fellow side man Matt D playing bass. From down the alley, there walked up two more of our car pool friends, and standing beside them, a couple of long-time co-supporters of youth baseball here in town. Up the hillside a little, checking out the music, there was KSDK morning host, Art Holiday.

Yesterday we hit the CWE for the annual Greek Festival at St. Nicholas. The young man shucking corn comes from a family we've known for over ten years, and we saw two of his sisters up on stage performing traditional Greek dances. Enjoying the dance performance from a table in the audience was my former music director with his wife and child. And then as we were standing in the food line (the place was packed), two teenage girls from our parish, who had arrived to the festival via Metrolink, walked up for a visit.

We walked over to see a movie at the Chase, where we bumped into the theater director, someone we've just met recently, who just so happens to also be one of this town's greatest built environment advocates.

Then taking a seat behind us at the show was another long time acquaintance, Shaw neighborhood resident, and professional collegue working in St. Louis County.

Out of all the places we've ever lived, we've never experienced anywhere near the number of random, on the street, meetups with friends and acquaintances like we have here in St. Louis. These chance meetings are among the things we like to think of as "St. Louis moments".

They say St. Louis has a good sense a community. For a big city, it's a pretty tight knit community. Unplanned visits with your friends and neighbors around town are another of those things that make this city a fun and more interesting place to live.

Rethinking the Riverfront

While we think about the future of the Arch, we really need to be thinking about the future of the riverfront at the same time. The picture of above shows Portland's skyline and its riverfront (click on the image for an awesome super-sized view).

Notice the view across the water isn't much different than ours, with a maze of highways. Notice also how Portland's buildings are much closer to the river than ours. And notice the condo development and sheltered marina next to downtown.

Size wise, Portland's river looks about as wide as ours, with just as many river crossings. Now if we could photoshop the Arch into the middle of the Portland riverfront, and see how it looks!

Public Meeting Tonight: The Future of Near Northside Development

Stemming from the pending "Distressed Areas Land Assemblage Tax Credit" in Jefferson City, there will be a public meeting tonight at 6:00 p.m. in the auditorium of Vashon High School at 3035 Cass Avenue in the City's Jeff Vanderlou neighborhood.

The meeting will provide a forum for elected officials, residents, and other interested parties to dialogue on the future of the area. Given the wide range of possibilities and opinions on redevelopment options, this promises to be the start of a very interesting discussion about the future of a key area of the City of St. Louis.

Rethinking the Arch

Yesterday's post highlighting "Unique St. Louis" included the idea of how we like our changes to happen more incrementally.

City leaders have put on the table a proposal for a potentially very significant incremental change to downtown St. Louis-the idea of placing sizable areas of the Arch grounds under local control.

Mayor Slay and Senator Danforth are working together to advance the effort to improve our riverfront, and they are convinced that local control over sections of the Arch grounds is an essential element of any major riverfront development plan.

They haven't announced any specific development strategies yet, however, the long-standing effort to better link the Arch grounds to the rest of downtown is a major component of the overall vision.

Historically, any intrusion onto the Arch grounds has been strictly verboten by federal authorities. The Arch is a National Park in downtown St. Louis and any changes to the status of a National Park require congressional approval. So, in order for our local effort to happen, we will have to build a pro-local control coalition all the way up to the halls of Congress. Senator McCaskill has already indicated her support.

Times change. Priorities change. Saarinen's original plan for Arch did include more active uses. Imagine the Arch more like the Eifel Tower, as a centerpoint of our community, rather than being set aside as a passive memorial.

Do you think strengthening the linkage between the Arch and downtown St. Louis might diminish its significance as a national landmark? Or would it be increased?

Is your cheese a laughing matter?

Personally, I'm not much into "St. Louis style pizza". Other than South County's "That's-A-Nice-A-Pizza", I haven't found a St. Louis style pizza that does much for me. I much prefer Round Table Pizza's "King Arthur Supreme" from the area where I grew up. I don't get St. Louis style pizza, and I especially don't get the local fascination with "Provel" cheese. Provel is a St. Louis thing.

They even package it that way at Schnucks. In the cheese section, you can buy packages of Imo's brand Provel cheese. "The original St. Louis Pizza Cheese" they call it. We joke about it. People from outside the St. Louis area probably have no idea what's so funny. It's just cheese. What's funny about cheese? To appreciate it, you need to understand St. Louis. It's a St. Louis thing.

Which gets to the point of this post. After more than 250 years, St. Louis has established its very own, unique local culture. It is manifested throughout our daily lives. And it's a wonderful thing. With the leapfrogging growth of many places, there are lots of areas without much "local" culture at all. They're pretty generic. Not us. We're steeped in it, and it's one of the things that makes St. Louis unique.

The list below are some of the examples of what I like to refer to as "Unique St. Louis". Yes, not everything on the list is exclusively found in St. Louis. However, taken together, they make up the features of our community that provide a unique St. Louis experience, a lifestyle unlike anywhere else.

Granted, St. Louis may not be for everyone, but there's no doubt about it: we are an American original. How so? Well consider the following list. After reading it, perhaps you'll disagree and think we're not so unique. Or, maybe, you'll have some more things to add of your own...

We're a “city not in a county”
Our changes happen incrementally, not in rapid fashion
The Arch
Parish Culture
Ward Culture
Block party scene
2nd highest rate of parochial/private school enrollments
Near or at the top of the highest number of Catholic high schools per capita in the country
Affordable housing
Low cost of living
Long list of “oldest _____ west of the Mississippi River” things
Identity as a "Neighborhood City"
Historic neighborhoods and architecture
The confluence of the Missouri and Mississippi rivers
Rich in Native American historic sites
2nd largest US inland port
Biggest concentration of Bosnian immigrants in US
Major presence of independent grocery stores
High number of pro-sports franchises in a smaller-sized market
High percentage participation in amateur sports
Gay friendly
Flyover Country
Forested neighborhoods
4 equal seasons
Hot summer nights and cold beer
Chilly winter nights around bonfires, sledding at neighborhood parks
Outdoor ice skating under CWE/BJC highrises
Winning MLB tradition/Best Fans in Baseball/Home of "Cardinal Nation"
Community-driven effort to renew Forest Park
Parades, parades, parades,
Especially, the Veiled Profit Parade
Proximity to Missouri Wine Country
Mardis Gras week,
Especially, the 5,000 decorated dogs in a dog parade with 50,000 spectators
Ethnic festivals
Emerging arts scene
Excellent local symphony and theater groups
Beautiful, diverse performance venues
Clayton Art Fair
Neighborhood butchers and bakeries
Neighborhood tavern culture
Active blog scene
Rich music history
Emerging new music scene
New Cathedral mosaics
Old downtowns, such as Florissant and St. Charles
Central US location, 2/3 of population within a day’s drive
"Gateway To The West"
Route 66 landmarks
Local language and pronunciations
Discouragement of privacy fences
Lush greenery
Missouri Botanical Garden
Forest Park
Vestiges of Civil War-no local control of police
Beer Town USA
Halloween culture, haunted houses, Alton
Decorated neighborhoods, holiday and year-round yard decorations
Salvaged broken glass and ceramic interior decorating displays
Strong union town
Brick streets
Stable local economy, not subject to wild swings like Sunbelt states
Best tasting tap water
Wide range of world class attractions offering free admission, a tradition which dates back to our European working class roots...
Especially, the St. Louis Zoo, free to all, historic and scientific
The St. Louis Science Center
Boeing's Prologue Room
The City Museum
Significant civil rights history
Loft District transformation
Local foods including Pietkowksi Krakow, G and W Grant’s Farm Bratwurst, Manzo’s Salciccia, Provel cheese and St. Louis Style pizza, Frozen Custard, and brain sandwiches
Italian products from the Hill

As a community, we are a work in progress. We acknowledge our weaknesses, and we work together to improve them. Suffering for so long has made us humble, and we welcome others to join us in our effort of community renewal. Given our humility, sometimes we are the last to recognize the progress we have made.

So while I may not be a big fan of Provel cheese, I think the rest of the stuff that makes us unique is pretty cool.

Downtown Weekend

We had two discounted tickets to the Cards/Braves game Saturday night, so we headed downtown for the game. We had other things to do, so, if the game was a dud, we were planning an early exit. By the end of three innings, it didn't look like tonight would be the Cardinal's night, so we headed for the exit.

On the way to the stadium, we had taken a detour over to the new "Old Rock House" music club. They said that under-21s were welcome, and there was no cover charge, so when we left the Cardinal's game, we walked south the few blocks to the Old Rock House.

Exiting the stadium, we walked through the smoking area gauntlet. Busch Stadium doesn't allow smoking in the stadium. Instead, they designate a place on the sidewalk outside the entrance for smokers. When we walked through, there must have been over 100 smokers puffing away. Not a nice setting.

Leaving the stadium area, we walked south under the many trestles and bridges next to the stadium, into an area that is rapidly turning into its own version of Ballpark Village. Nearly every old building, weigh station, and otherwise non-descript odd brick building has become a Cardinal-themed sports bar. Many with outside patios, big tents, quality sound systems, barbeques, etc. Rothschild is converting the long vacant loft building directly across Highway 40 from Busch Stadium into loft apartments.

Seeing the acres of surface parking lots on the south side of the ballpark made me wonder: would St. Louis support TIF or other public/private financial structures to redevelop some of these parcels into new mixed-use, parking underground, housing/office developments?

Continuing south, Matt had the urge to climb one of the abandoned bridge abutments near the Ralston Purina campus. During the week, downtown workers park their cars on the closed brige. Today, it appeared an urban relic. Matt expressed an interest in hiking across the old steel bridge someday, and an overall desire to move to the area.

We passed the 1940-vintage, Eat Rite Diner, and then the 1911-built Monroe School (not sure if the name is right). A couple more minutes, we arrived at the Old Rock House. The Post ran a nice feature this weekend on the Rock House, so we wanted to give the place a try. They have a huge sidewalk cafe area, which was packed with customers.

Inside, the music hall is first rate, with live acts performing daily. They are encouraging local bands to appear. Combined with Lucas School House, there are now two new classy music halls opened in the past 12-months on the near-near South Side.

We ordered a shrimp appetizer. At a little over $10 for 5 "jumbo" shrimp, I thought we might have been getting a little skewered on the price. Not at all. These shrimp were big and heavy, and if served as a main course would be more than filling for one person. Highly recommended. The seasoning tasted like a Baltimore/New Orleans crossover. Excellent, and worth a return trip to try more of the menu.

Inside the Old Rock House, there are huge flat screen TVs, and we could see that the Cardinals were getting back in the game. We walked outside to the patio, and from there you have an unobstructed view of the Arch and neighborhood kids playing hoops on the playground in back of Monroe School. We made a note about this being a good spot for future firework watching, and Matt made a note about possible future pickup b-ball games on the school yard.

We left the Old Rock House, with plans to get the car and drive over to the Lucas School House. We walked backed to our car in the Kiener Plaza garage. Twisting the key in the ignition, the car wouldn't start. The game was now in about the 7th inning, with the Cardinals clinging to a 1-run lead. Downtown was buzzing with pedestrians. We called one of our friends still at the game to line up a ride home.

With an inning's worth of time to kill, and Hooter's on the corner, we figured it was as good a place as any to wait out the end of the ballgame. Our Hooter's girl gave new meaning to the term ditzy, but she was very nice. She asked us if the Braves got a base hit, did that mean that the Cardinals would get to bat again? She told us she was a veteran of the Iraq War. When Matt asked her if she'd killed anybody in Iraq, she got a puzzled look on her face said she couldn't answer that question. She was sitting on the bar stool next to him, leaning closer, and asked, "do you have a girlfriend?".

He smiled, and said, "no".

She leaned a little closer and asked, "Do you want one?"

About this time, the game was in its final moments. Then Jason Isringhausen recorded a strikeout to seal the victory for the Cardinals. We headed outside to wait by the naked-running-man statue in the Kiener Plaza fountain for our friends and our ride home.

The next morning, Sunday around 9:00 AM, I arrived back downtown to retrieve the car. Hardee's, home to the "Thickburger" and one of the garage tenants, has installed nice new tables and umbrellas on the 6th street side of the garage. Along with Joseph's, and across the street at TGI Fridays, there are now three sidewalk cafes lining 6th Street at Kiener Plaza.

A tow truck driver appeared, and I hailed him over. He helped me get the car out of the garage, but when he quoted me $85 for the tow, I said, "hey, this is supposed to be AAA". He was the wrong tow truck driver. He said he saw the AAA driver headed down the road.

So he loaned me his cel phone, and I called AAA back to send another driver. I gave him ten bucks for his trouble, and proceeded to wait for driver number 2.

It's now about 9:30 AM on a Sunday morning, and there are more people on the sidewalks than during a typical weekday morning. 30 minutes later, and still no tow truck. So I flag down one of the CID Downtown Guides, and he loans me his cel phone. (Note to self: if you're gonna drive two old cars, better get a cel phone for emergency use...).

Standing by the car on Chestnut, on the sidewalk between Hooters and Hardee's, a nice looking young woman with done up hair and nails, chatting on her cel phone comes walking by. She was wearing short-shorts and a tank top. As she got closer, I could see that the shorts she was wearing were actually Sponge Bob boxer shorts, the same kind my six year old nephew wears. She had underwear showing under her boxers, so I guess this qualifies for acceptable dress in public?

About now, driver number two arrived, hitched up the dead car, and we caravaned our way to down South Kingshighway.

Lumiere to transform the Landing

This morning's drive from East St. Louis took me past the rapidly completing Lumiere Casino on Laclede's Landing.

For months drivers on Highway 70 have seen Lumiere's highrise tower under construction. Now, entering Laclede's Landing via the MLK Bridge, you see a whole Lumiere "village" emerging, filling in the entire northwest corner of the Landing's entertainment district.

With months of pre-opening promotions, major efforts to recruit high-quality employees, a huge dry land casino located between the river and downtown, will Lumiere become the major casino attraction of the Midwest?

Personally, I'm not much into casino gambling, but I'm definitely looking forward to a visit to this exciting new addition to the St. Louis riverfront. Who knows, maybe we'll lose a roll of quarters or two into some of their slots.

Ballpark Village Design Questions

Ballpark Village is ready to start construction, with completion scheduled for 2009. The model shown on TV this week makes the project look very upscale, and our son is already pushing for us to sell our house in favor of a BV condo. No doubt about it...new construction has its advantages. We are tempted, but where would we walk the dog?

Anyhow, I'm wondering about a couple of things on the design. First, how does BV incorporate into the rest of downtown? Will there be a sense of being "inside" versus "outside" a Ballpark Village "district"?

I'm rooting for pursuing the most seamless connection possible between Ballpark Village and downtown. Perhaps there are a few key design measures we might implement to strengthen the connection between the new and the old? Which brings me to the second question. Will there still be a good view of the Old Courthouse from inside Busch Stadium once Ballpark Village is built?

From the updated rendering of the project above, it appears most of the view of the Old Court House would be blocked by new high rise construction. If so, could these buildings be moved to the other end of the site, essentially reversing the site plan, thus highlighting a historic St. Louis building among further stunning proof of downtown's continuing renaissance?

Another way of looking at this would be, what sorts of outcomes would we want to avoid in the final development of Ballpark Village, and are we making sure we are taking the right steps to ensure the best final result?

Keeping the residential component in the project is one such proactive step. Are there any others? Would blocking the view of the Old Courthouse be a mistake?


Maybe it doesn't really matter. The project looks awesome.

Here are more views of the project:

Ballpark Village

Land Assembly Tax Credit Moves Toward Approval

For years, local leaders have called for a program to assist with land assemblage in distressed communities. Yesterday, the state of Missouri moved one step closer to making that concept reality.

The current version of the plan calls for local control over approval of development plans. How should the city maximize its potential with this opportunity?

Historic STL Area Route Map - Revisted

Picking up on a topic from yesterday, here's a historic map of the St. Louis area, Missouri side only. The idea I'm thinking of is to create a new map today, combining Missouri and Illinois, designed with the historic explorer in mind, offering interesting day trips starting from St. Louis city.

Key routes might be 159 through the Metro East, Spoede Road through STL County, W. Florissant and S. Broadway through STL City. The final product would be something that would serve locals and visitors alike interested in visiting the many historic settings of the STL area.

Landmark destinations could be highlighted, including places operating businesses in original settings, such as Marx Hardware in Old North St. Louis, the White Cottage Ice Cream restaurant in Belleville, interesting hole in the wall taverns, etc.

The map should include historic neighborhoods, parks, and cemetaries; and old roads such as West Main in Belleville, the Old River Road in Illinois, Manchester Road in St. Louis, etc.

If you started with a modern day Missouri and Illinois road map, and then highlighted the main roads in use around 1900, you'd have a good base map.

If you were planning such a map, what landmarks would you include, especially looking outside of STL City?

Serious Starter

If you know someone looking for a good quality, solid body, electric guitar for the serious student, we have one available, as pictured above. Ten percent of the proceeds will be donated to the Historic Mullanphy Alliance. For more information, please contact me at rbonasch@sbcglobal.net. Thanks.

Historic STL Area Maps?

With the STL area so rich in history, there are countless possibilities to enjoy scenic, historic drives through our region.

A great resource for planning such road trips would be a map of historic St. Louis, one showing the old roads still in use connecting the settlements of early St. Louis, say dating back from 1910 or so.

Has anyone ever seen such a map? I'm thinking of something that would provide roughly a fifty mile radius from the Arch.

Free Reverse Phone Directory Website

Reverse directories are a key resource when trying to track down property owners, neighbors, contacts, etc.

Go to: whitepages.com

One More Jewel in the Crown?

St. Louis is already a major league city, but the prospects of bringing Major League Soccer to the STL area are exciting and real.


For full details, click here.

Be sure to read the blog section, where the promoters talk about how "STL Soccer United" has the potential to unify the STL region:

"As the name suggests, we truly believe this project has the potential to unite us as a community. Not that we are divided here in St. Louis, by the river or anything else. But as World Cup and other international soccer competitions have proven for decades, soccer has more of a galvanizing effect on a nation, state or community than virtually any other sport on the planet. That's what we envision unfolding here in our community. A St. Louis team will call Illinois its home, and the benefits to the entire region will be too many to count."

No Way!

He didn't do that, did he?

Sister Marie Charles to Retire

Longtime friend and neighborhood advocate, Sister Marie Charles, Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet, is retiring. For more than two decades, Sister Marie Charles has served as Executive Director of the Carondelet Community Betterment Federation.

CCBF provides a wide variety of community and neighborhood development services. Under Sister's tenure, CCBF was instrumental in the historic rehabilitation of the Virginia Manor Apartments, the preservation of Stein Rown, and the establishment and further expansion of the St. Boniface National Register Historic District.

Sister Marie Charles is a sister at the Sisters of St. Joseph's of Carondelet convent. The Sisters of St. Joseph came to St. Louis from France in the very early 1800s, establishing their Mother House in St. Louis at Carondelet. The convent offers guided tours of the historic site which give visitors a fascinating look into early St. Louis.

Sister Marie Charles has been a tireless community servant, coordinating countless projects and thousands of volunteer hours. Thanks to her for many years of service to the City of St. Louis and the Carondelet community!

DT Rising: Too Fast, Too Slow, or About Right?

The other night on the KMOX "Two Johns, No Waiting" program, the hosts had two downtown restaurant owners in the studio discussing an upcoming restaurant promotion. The conversation turned to the subject of the pace of downtown's revitalization.

One of the Johns said that he felt the pace was too slow, and that it's taking too long a time to reach the point of downtown Chicago's hustle and bustle. He acknowledged that we won't be "another Chicago", but maybe a smaller version.

Then he asked if there was "enough housing" downtown, and that the development along Washington Avenue was good, but what about on the KMOX side of downtown (south of Market Street). (paraphrased)

I don't know about you, but my impression is that the pace of downtown's revitalization is amazing. Neal Pierce agrees. The restaurant owners were staunchly defending downtown's progress. In the past ten years, property values, housing growth, and investment have soared.

It's frustrating to hear the "Voice of St. Louis" question the pace of downtown's recovery, while experts around the country consider it a remarkable achievement.

Coming Soon: Prime Downtown Block Party Site

Outdoor movie nights. Concerts. Simulcasts of sold out Cardinal games. This could be fun!

That's A Lot of Concretes!

Ted Drewes GM Pays $820,000 for STL County Estate

Downtown's Corner Sandwich Stops

10 months or so out of the year, at downtown's corner of 6th and Olive, there's a vendor who sets up a stainless steel, hot dog cart, and barbeques brats, chicken etc.

The food smells good, and customers line up sometimes ten deep. Sidewalk vendors add buzz to downtown's street life. Downtown should have more small business operators like this.

Does the city lease these sidewalk locations? How much? Do businesses get grandfathered in? Anyone know how this works?

What about starting one up in the CWE or South Grand?

STL: Dead Last on the "Weirdness Index"

Survey Says! (Scroll to slide 27 of the link)

Hmmm...there's got to be some catchy marketing angle here...

Welcome humidity and a smiling face

Saturday evening we returned from a two-week west coast trip, half spent in Southern California, half in the far north end of the state. As the doors of the plane opened at Lambert, I could hear a man in the front of the exit line moan and exclaim, "ahh, there's that humidity". I smiled inside.

A friend met us at the airport, and on the drive home she got lost, trying to avoid Inner Belt construction. We wound up on the west side of the 270 at McKelvey! Nonetheless, we still managed to make it home to our South City address in about 30 minutes.

Upon arriving home, stepping onto our sidewalk, we looked up at the giant street trees lining our block. Huge, ancient, trunks soaring straight up fifty or sixty feet, leading to a massive shady canopy. By comparison, few of the places we visited out west had trees between the sidewalk and the curb, and the natural vegetation there was usually less than 25 feet tall. Returning home to our forested, all-brick, city neighborhood was like walking in a medieval village.

We shopped a Safeway store in California's Redwood country. They had two prices on all the products. "Safeway Club" members received the lower price; non-club members paid a 40% premium. Asking a store employee about the two-tier pricing policy, all the man said was "Welcome to California!"

While visiting family in the far north end of the state, California is in its mid-summer heat. Day time temps routinely hit the 100 + degree mark. Since, homes are built from wood frame construction, stepping into the garage is just like being inside a wood sauna. You can feel the dry heat burning the lining of your sinuses.

Travelling counter-commute saved us from sitting in the miles and miles of backed up traffic we saw heading the opposite direction on most the metropolitan area freeways we drove.

Yet the strangest part of our trip was the noticeable lack of interpersonal communication between people in public. There was minimal eye contact or words spoken. And most of the outside streets were deserted. People live in their cars. Downtown LA after 5 PM is empty.

Back home, while buying a few things Sunday morning to restock our empty fridge at our neighborhood Schnucks, a lady cut me off from an aisle walkway. Immediately she looked up, smiled a friendly smile, and apologized. I assured her it was nothing, thanked her for her kindness, and was reminded once more how much the little things add up to make St. Louis such a great place to live.

Returning from the store, our A/C was blowing warm air. By the end of the day, it would warm to near 90 degrees in the house. According to the weather report, there's a week of high heat and humidity to come. Not to worry. We wouldn't trade it for a "dry heat" any day.

STL People and Places

St. Louis has lots of cool places, but what makes STL such a great city is our people. People make the place. Visitors love our architecture, but they come back for the people. Lots of places have interesting architecture. We have the people to make it special.

Ask 100 St. Louisans...

How do you think most St. Louis area residents would respond to these questions?

1) Do you favor the plan for a sculpture garden for downtown's Gateway Mall?
2) Should public schools in neighboring districts accept students from St. Louis City?
3) Are you pleased with the remaking of the St. Louis University campus in midtown St. Louis?
4) Do you favor the BJC lease of Forest Park lands east of Kingshighway?
5) Do you support Paul McKee's efforts for large scale redevelopment in North St. Louis?
6) Are you happy with the Cardinals decision to build their new ballpark downtown?
7) Do you want Metrolink to expand near your neighborhood?
8) Do you actively follow blogs discussing community renewal efforts in St. Louis?
9) Do you know what is planned next to improve the St. Louis riverfront?
10) Do you favor MoDOT's total shut down plan to rebuild Highway 40 between 270 and the City of St. Louis?
11) Would you patronize a restaurant on the East St. Louis riverfront with panoramic views of downtown St. Louis?
12) Would you move to a riverfront condo on the East St. Louis riverfront with panoramic views of downtown St. Louis?
13) Should pro-choice politicians receive the sacrament of Holy Communion?
14) Should Missouri pay half the cost of a new Mississippi River bridge at downtown St. Louis?
15) Will your next home in the St. Louis area be closer to downtown?

Do you prefer...

16) KMOX or KTRS?
17) Rush Limbaugh or Al Franken?
18) State or local control of the St. Louis City police department?
19) Residency requirements for city employees?
20) The appointed or elected city school board?

Southside Sunset Brings New Beginning

For a long time I've preferred kid baseball to watching the pros. Starting from the time they're just learning to play, all the way up to when they get to play on a major league-sized field, it's always been more enjoyable watching these young people learn to play and improve. This year the changes have been dramatic. The finer points of the game stand out. Last night, I finally figured out why I prefer watching these young players so much: it's a far more precious thing.

When they're seven and eight years old, their young baseball lives seem like they'll last forever. But they don't. Each year, more and more of them drop out. Some of them stay with it, but by the time they reach high school, most of the players are done with the competitive track of the game.

Last night our guys played their final league game of the season. For a lot of them, it will likely be the last competitive baseball game of their lives. This fall, as they enter high school, some will try to make their high school teams. Some will make them, but many won't. Of the ones who do, plenty will spend most of the season riding the bench. Only the top players will see much playing time.

A few years from now, when these young people enter the working world, some will probably play adult softball. St. Louis is among the top recreational softball towns in the country. But you usually don't see many parents cheering their kids at beer-league games. We're fading out of the picture.

So as last night's game wound down, it was a sentimental time for some of us. We enjoyed a few beers at the grand stand, looking out over the manicured diamond, watching as many of these young ballplayers - our sons - stood in the batter's box, taking the last competitive at-bats they'd ever see.

The outcome of the game was never in much doubt, and ended a rather uninspiring 8-2 loss. As the game ended, there was a beautiful sunset in St. Louis. I wonder if any of the boys realized that, for most of them, faroff dreams of playing professional baseball, if they ever had them, were now fading as fast as the setting sun over that outfield fence? Hopefully the thought never entered their minds.

Afterwards, a group of us went over to Gino's restaurant on Hampton. The group "Presentations" performs there on Thursday nights, and Rich Guzman, drummer for the band, invited some of the boys to sit in. They've got a rock band now, and they're doing pretty good. For the young band, this would be their first time playing a public performance. They played three songs, and received a good reponse from the crowd. The boys still need to come up with a name for the band.

We struggled for a long time trying to think of a name for the ballclub. Kerri was the one to think of "South Sox", since the team brought together players from neighborhoods all across South St. Louis. That was the perfect name. For the band, it's their turn. They'll have to come up with a name of their own.

Zip Codes, Parishes and School Districts

Besides our 100-something local municipalities, countless individual wards, neighborhood boundaries, and police districts, in St. Louis, we also identify by school district, zip code, and parish boundaries. Some people even get down to the X-hundred block of a street. When you're an old city, you develop a lot of layers. It's a lot to learn.

Districts or Wards?

After seventeen years in St. Louis, fourteen of them in the city , I still don't know the number for our police district. When people cite different police districts around town, I'm lost. It's the one time I feel like a real out-of-towner.

I know the location of the city's 79 neighborhoods and her 28 wards, but have no idea how many police districts we have, let alone their boundaries. Some folks are just the opposite. They'll use their police district and neighborhood name interchangeably.

There are people who say St. Louis is "subtle". Identifying with a police district is something I've never understood. It's another of those nuanced things like the "where'd you go to high school" question. Maybe the practice dates back to our loss of local control of the police department? Or maybe it's just another example of our strong sense of community and neighborhood identity.

Northside Acquisition Effort Sign of the Times

Large scale purchases of land on the near north side by private interests are another sign of the city's turnaround. For decades, most of St. Louis had written off the north side. Then the city started its turnaround.

Neighborhoods rebounded. The state created the historic rehab tax credit. Momentum grew. Targeted investments drew more interest. Property values around the entire city increased. The city's population started growing again. The northside started showing more and more signs of life.

With her momentum swing to the plus side, the city was in a new position: it could start lowering the amounts of incentives being offered to attract investment. No longer would the city be the first money in on projects or land acquisition. Developers would have to risk their funds on the front-end of projects. The city would lower its participation and seek more leveraging.

Meanwhile, familiar themes remained: Assembling buildable sites for redevelopment continued to be a challenge. A statewide incentive for land assembly was needed.

Nature abhors a vacuum. Venture capital seeks opportunity. The near northside provides a solution to both.

Must See TV

Channel 5, KSDK in St. Louis, reports on the improvements to the Macklind Avenue business district in the City's Southampton ("SOHA") neighborhood.

Doggie Diners

New legislation in the city permits dogs to be with their owners at outside tables at restaurants. However, the permission is only granted in certain wards.

Personally, I enjoy seeing friendly dogs in public and have no problem with well-behaved dogs joining their owners at sidewalk cafes. The concept fits with our inherited French culture.

The question I have is why the permission is only granted in certain wards? Like deciding whether to operate a smoking or non-smoking restaurant, shouldn't it be up to the owner of the restaurant whether dogs are allowed?

Then, as customers, we can decide whether we want to patronize the establishment or not. If my customers don't want dogs at the restaurant, then I probably won't be inviting them to dinner.

However, if my customers want to share their space with doggie diners, then why should the city tell me "no", if they tell my competitors across the street in a different ward they may do so?

Neighbors Debate Creating Local Historic District

The Journal has the story. McKinley Heights is the neighborhood. Both sides of the debate are well represented in the article.

Car Walk

Saturday morning about 7:15 I drove our '96 Plymouth minivan to Don Brown Dodge on South Kingshighway for its annual safety inspection. The weather was pleasant, so I decided to make the three mile walk home from the dealership.

South Kingshighway is auto dealer row, so for the first few blocks, I was able to stroll through dealership lots, checking out lots of new car models. On the Dodge lot there were sporty new models, the Toyota lot had some of those boxy Scions, and looking into the windows of one of my favorite places, Charles Schmitt, there were rows of classic cars.

I crossed Kingsighway about a block north of Chippewa to get a closer look at the Holy Ghost church. Holy Ghost sits behind the row of 1930s vintage commercial buildings fronting Kingsighway. You can see its steeple from Chippewa, many blocks to the east.

The alley on the south side of Holy Ghost backs up to some of the four-families off of Chippewa. Conditions vary on the backs of the buildings and the garages, some showing new rehab, others showing their years. One garage had no doors and the interior was filled with cast off junk.

I walked through one of those easement paths between buildings towards Chippewa, and on the other side, there was a police lady writing up a parked car for some ordinance violation. I approached her and asked the officer about open garages with loads of junk visible from the alley. She informed me that police have no jurisdiction in such cases.

You can't legislate common sense, so we're free to keep our garage doors open, and filled with junk and visible to the street if we want. This sounds like one of those delicate situations where some friendly neighbor to neighbor contact, perhaps through an NSO, might help convince the property owner to take better care of the property. Let's hope no one hears that tired "I can't control my tenants" line.

Around 7:45, crossing Chippewa, I bumped into an old friend pulling weeds in her bath robe. We talked about ten minutes, and she told me it was about another two miles from her place to ours. She said that her area had some problem tenants in recent years, but lately things have been good. The homes were being well maintained, and she said most of the 2-family properties had owner occupants.

The rest of the way was good, with the walked well-shaded by abundant street trees. Its nice walking past all the brick homes on their 25-30 foot lots. It's fascinating to see the little details in people's landscapes and years' of home improvement from block to block.

In our gridded-street neighborhood layout, there were thousands of alternate routes of commercial and residential blocks, streets and alleys, for that three mile walk home. Just guessing here, but I've heard that our city has some three or four thousand total miles of streets and alleys. And believe it or not, there are St. Louisans in the middle of quests to walk every block of it during their lifetime.

Fox 2 Promotes City Life - Block Party Season Arrives

Fox 2 Morning Crew Visits City Block Party; the block party season is on!

Where else but St. Louis are neighbors crazy enough to show up for a 7:00 AM block party? Hey, it's Friday!

Highlights from Recent STL Fed Conference Available Online

You can visit the May 2007 STL Federal Reserve community development finance conference as a virtual guest by clicking Exploring Innovation.

Site courtesy of the STL Federal Reserve Bank.

Funny Site Promotes Benefits of City Living

Created by the historic rehab pros at LoftWorks

SLPS Turn the Page

After many years of turmoil, the SLPS have turned the page to begin a new chapter. An interim board takes control today, comprised of a diverse group of St. Louisans: A major home builder, a former Metropolis St. Louis president, and a long-time city businessman and SLPS parent and grand parent.

It's all about substitution

The best when to analyze a market is to think in terms of substitution. Are the prices of comparable opportunities equal or higher to my choice? If so, then I'm probably paying about right.

In real estate, for example, is that house I'm thinking of buying on this block similar to the one for sale a block away? How similar? Is it in like condition? Is it less expensive? Is the block as nice? If so, then I'll probably go to the substitute and leave my original choice behind.

The idea of choosing substitute opportunities has me thinking about recent news of some popular people leaving St. Louis. We always are sad to see talented people not "choose" St. Louis. It makes some of us feel a little rejected.

When people leave, especially in such a strong neighborhood place as St. Louis, it can make us feel a little less validated about our own decision to choose St. Louis. For a long time, St. Louis has had issues and challenges in retaining young people. However, when people leave, they are making a similar substitute decision.

What are they substituting? Weather. Traffic. History. Neighborhoods. Friends. Cost of living. Gritty urban fabric. Stable economy. Strong academic institutions. Great parks. Easy access around town. Lots of free amenities. Great restaurants. Overall, a great quality of life.

A friend and I were discussing this issue yesterday. I was asking him about what sorts of things would motivate him to leave St. Louis. Then we talked about it in terms of the overall substitution choice. You might get better urban density somewhere else, say in Manhattan or downtown Chicago, but what about the cost of living? You get the idea.

So what about you? Are there substitution choices so powerful that they'd motivate you to leave town? Besides a lover, a job, a teaching assignment?

For years, weather was a huge choice, driving millions of people to California. However, now other factors in a California choice, such as congested roads and high living costs, are having would- be emigrants to the west coast reconsidering the California option.

If you put everything in the lifestyle substitution basket together, you have your overall quality of life. Has anyone ever seen a quality of life ranking for US Regions? It would be interesting to see how St. Louis rates.

However, these lists always seem a little suspect. San Francisco probably rates very highly in terms of quality of life. However, unless you're an investment banker, a real estate tycoon, a dot-com millionaire, or a trust fund baby, you would have a hard time affording it.

If you're like most average income Americans, by choosing San Francisco, you'd be living in an area with great scenery, resort weather, congested roads, and probably crowded into a tiny apartment or a house under a freeway interchange. Which substitutions are you willing to make?

STL Rising - From 630 Feet

Have you heard about Archfund, a new organization seeking to secure supporters to help maintain and promote our town's most recognizable symbol? The flash version of the website has some great views of the Arch.

Market at McKnight in Rock Hill

Rising at the corner of McKnight and Manchester is an interesting looking mixed use development.

Fronting along the south side of Manchester Road are smaller-sized retail spaces, with parking to the rear of them (out of view from Manchester), and then larger-sized stores are in the back. Future phases of the project are planned for residential.

With most of the buildings now standing, the form of the development is readily recognizable: it will be new urbanism in the heart of St. Louis County.

"PPD"

With our semi-tropical warm season climate, St. Louis gets lots of rain in the March through June months. Our emerald green forested neighborhoods and countless flower gardens love the moisture, but all the rain wreaks havoc on amateur baseball schedules.

The rain makes it especially tough on the adult volunteers. They go in to the commitment with no idea of how much time they will ultimately give. Matt plays on two teams: a Catholic parish team and a more competitive South County team.

As of June 1, the parish team has only played one game this year, with six rainouts. Every time there's a rainout, the managers (dads usually) have to meet to schedule a makeup game. And with lots of the kids having various other scheduling commitments, rescheduling games is no easy proposition.

With a big rain, sometimes it can take 2-4 days for the fields to dry out, and if rain falls three or four days in a row, it's possible that a whole week's worth of games can be postponed ("PPD"). So, thanks to the moms and dads that keep youth baseball going. Without their commitment, the kids wouldn't get to play.

Who knows if the Old Man River vision, with its plan to build a mile-wide umbrella-inspired covering over a portion of the East St. Louis riverfront and downtown, will ever be realized. But if it came with baseball fields, I bet there'd be lots of St. Louis kids ready to cross the river to spend spring and summer afternoons and evenings in downtown East St. Louis!

As far as tonight's Baseball and Bricks fundraiser for Mullanphy, news regarding field conditions at Heine Meine can be had by calling the rainout number, at 314-638-8524. Keep in mind that it might be dry in Old North St. Louis, with a monsoon happening just a few miles away. If skys are threatening, best to call right before game time. The field crew (one or two guys with a small tractor and some soil drying agents) does everything in its power to get the games played. Tonight's game is scheduled on the big field for 8:00 o'clock.

With all the rain in the area yesterday, they were still able to get last night's games in at Heine Meine. Meanwhile, just a couple of miles away, games at Carondelet Park, were all rained out. As of this moment Friday morning, tonight's games at Heine Meine are still scheduled. Stay tuned...strong thunderstorms are predicted for the St. Louis area later today.

Blending Bricks and Baseball

I’m pleased to report that last night, the St. Louis South Sox, Juvenile One Division (ages 14-15), won their second game of the year by a score of 8-1, improving their season record to 2 wins against 5 losses. Son Matt pitched four scoreless innings to help secure the victory.

Weather permitting, the South Sox play again this Friday night at 8:00 PM at historic Heine Meine Field. Heine Meine is a beautiful baseball park just outside the city limits off of Lemay Ferry Road, a block south of River Des Peres. The St. Louis Cardinals have helped finance major improvements at Heine Meine, and in a few years, they will celebrate their 100th anniversary (so I’m told…they say it opened around 1911).

To tie this in with the drive to raise funds to preserve the Mullanphy Emigrant Home, STL Rising is pledging to donate $1 for every soda or beer purchased by supporters of the effort to rebuild the Mullanphy Emigrant Home in attendance at Friday night's South Sox game (Heine Meine's rainout number is 314-638-8524).

Every STL Rising dollar for Mullanphy combines with your buck or two for a soda or beer for Heine Meine, and together we turn a double play for historic preservation and kids baseball.

STL Rising: Find Your Grail

Whenever I read news about talented St. Louisans leaving town for places like New York or LA, I'm saddened to see them go. Yet it always reminds me to be thankful for the creative and energetic ones who choose to make STL home.

STL is a place where individuals without a big name or a lot of money can still make a big difference. The abundance of active dialogue in popular STL community interest blogs shows the impact individuals are making here. We know each other; STL is like a big small town. Opportunities abound to directly participate in the growth and improvement of our community.

Our-slightly-off-the-radar-screen, less-than-top-tier-status makes us affordable and fun with lots of work to do and places to help make a positive difference. Not getting lost in the crowd is one of the best things about STL.

Cassilly's Riverfront Project Rising?

Was it at Mayor Slay's blog, where there's mention of a new northside project under development by Bob Cassilly, creator of the City Museum?

Does anyone know where it is? What it will be? Any details or links?

STL Rising Thanks "Grafitti Buster's"

With much of the recent blog world discussing the activities of "Ed Boxx", a local grafitti tagger, it was interesting to see a City Parks Department truck driving down the road this morning equipped for another day of grafitti removal.

Two city workers, a truck and trailer were headed somewhere to remove grafitti. On the back of the truck is a sign that reads "Grafitti Buster's". The trailer was loaded with a huge pastic vat filled with liquid (cleaning chemicals probably), a power washer, compressor, buckets, hoses, and other tools.

Cleaning grafitti must be a thankless job, and the cost to the city is substantial. It's a good thing we have these crews, but wouldn't it be nice if they were planting trees and maintaining park improvements rather than cleaning up the vandalism of others?

Let's keep our city beautiful. Please discourage grafitti artists.

Hampton Village "Noodles" Sets Nat'l Sales Record

Word is that the "Noodles" restaurant at Hampton Village smashed the chain's previous national sales record for grand openings.

"On the Couch" with STL Rising

Few things perk up the collective St. Louis psyche more than when out-of-town writers offer affirming things about St. Louis.

Here are two articles written by "Chip, the Beer Guy" from Scranton, Pennsylvania. Chip was here covering the recent St. Louis Brewers Heritage Festival.

We met Chip and his fiance, Diane, at Iron Barley on Virginia. Chip is an on-air personality of the radio station "Rock 107" in Scranton. In a two-part series, he has nice things to say about St. Louis.

Part One

Part Two

Marti Frumhoff

Last night St. Louis lost a great friend in Marti Frumhoff. Marti was a true believer and inspiration for many.

Marti was a marketing and public relations powerhouse and she was a huge factor in building the momentum for the city's rebirth. Her annual Big BIG Tour project was a major positive force, promoting the entire city.

She was a doer until the end. On the day of her passing, she was announced as a co-sponsor for the concert to raise funds for the preservation of the Mullanphy.

When they write the story about the revitalization of St. Louis, they will need a whole chapter just for Marti.

Thank you Marti for your friendship, your vision, your passion, and the pathways you have created for the rest of us.

STL Rising Welcomes Your Anonymous, Unfiltered Comments

In the last thread, "STL Rising: In Search of the $100,000 Neighborhoods", I nearly succumbed to the temptation of deleting an anonymous comment. Someone anonymously suggested that the reason for affordability in a neighborhood is crime, by making a link to an STL Today article from this weekend which told the story of a 90 year-old South City man mugged in his alley back in March.

If you read the article, you probably felt sorry for the man, but also might have been scratching your head as well. We don't see too many personalized news stories about crime victims, written weeks after the incident, with a major angle of the story connecting the crime to the neighborhood. So, I nearly deleted it.

However, given that the story was front-paged in the Post Dispatch, and widely available online, what would be the point of deleting it here? The link remains, as do all of your uncensored, anonymous, non "blog-owner approved" comments.

At STL Rising, we welcome your unfiltered comments. If they should be challenged, challenge away! Anonymous or not, it's up to you.

STL Rising: In Search Of The $100,000 Neighborhoods...

With property values on the rise in St. Louis, it's getting harder to match first time homebuyers with quality affordable housing.

There are still homes for sale in the $90,000-$120,000 range, but the choices are getting fewer and competition for starter homes is getting tough. First time homebuyers often wind up competing with real estate investors buying homes for use as rental property.

If you were making recommendations to someone starting out in the St. Louis housing market, what would be your advice?

Ballpark Village Groundbreaking?

Based on previous news reports, it should be starting any day now. Any word on the official start date?

One possible use - a baseball-themed hotel for the area - has not been mentioned. Doesn't that seem like a perfect fit, replete with player or team themed rooms and baseball decor? How about a rooftop party area with bleachers overlooking Busch stadium, similar to Wrigley Town?

Does Ballpark Village "complete" downtown's comeback? Or are we already there?

.012346

Do you know the significance of the number .012346 to St. Louis? It's a tiny number, but it represents something very important to the City. Do you know what it is?

If you think you do, post your answer in the comment section. The first correct answer wins an STL Rising prize package!

ESL Old Man River Plan

Originally conceived over 20 years ago by architect Buckminster Fuller, the Old Man River plan proposes a new paradigm for American cities and land ownership, to be located along the bank of the Mississippi River in East St. Louis, Illinois.

Proponents of the concept are still pursuing the effort, with features of the project including shared land ownership, an environmentally friendly power plant, an "Aquatron" (comparable to MoBot's Climatron - except based on fresh water science), affordable housing, and a cultural center building on the legacy of East St. Louisan Katherine Dunham.

The original concept featured a lightweight umbrella-type cover over roughly a 1 mile diameter crater-shaped area. The design would allow free flow of fresh air and water, while becoming a symbol of social progress around the world.

State Representative Yvetter Young is currently proposing Illinois House Bill 2352 in support of the project and draft organizational documents for the sponsoring entity are in legal review.

The Opposite

Yesterday we featured an aerial image of a part of north city where most of the original building stock is intact. Today we will examine the opposite situation. Many of the neighborhoods on the north side are well preserved. However, there is no question that parts have seen significant building loss.

The aerial above provides a good example. In this area there are multiple blocks entirely devoid of any buildings, and some with only a few remaining. Of those still standing, frequently they are vacant and substantially deteriorated. In these areas, other than the original street grid, the rest of the historic neighborhood context is lost.

What is unseen is the reality on the ground. Or better put, under the ground. People refer to greenfield and brownfield developments. These areas meet the definition of brownfield.

As described in the St. Louis Regional Chamber and Growth Association Roadmap report on Brownfield redevelopment, in the broadest sense, a brownfield is defined as "real estate that has been rendered either underutilized or completely unusable due to the existence - or mere threat - of environmental contamination".

For years, when demolished, abandoned buildings were collapsed into their basements and covered with a thin layer of soil. To redevelop these sites requires thousands of dollars in site excavation and possible environmental remediation. The high cost to return these parcels into buildable sites often results in net negative land value.

However, despite the real costs of redevelopment, landowners aren't likely to pay developers to purchase their lands. As a result, this unworkable economic reality has removed the bottom from the real estate market, leaving, as we have seen, brownfield sites in the heart of our city vacant for years.

Not unlike the historic tax credit for rehabilitating historic buildings, a tax credit program for land assembly, designed to offset some of the upfront costs of returning abandoned properties to productive reuse, has the potential to be one part of an overall community redevelopment program.

Northside Preservation

Last week there was discussion about providing incentives for land assembly for redevelopment in distressed communities. The above is an aerial view of the neighborhood around St. Elizabeth's Catholic Church on Shreve in North City.

St. Elizabeth church is in the middle of a beautiful northside neighborhood with nearly all of its original buildings intact. We made a point of returning to the neighborhood again soon to attend church services at St. Elizabeth's.

The idea of land assembly for major redevelopment here is probably a low priority compared to preserving the historic character of the area. Lots of the north side is similarly intact in terms of its original building stock.

If you're interested in learning more about community based organizations working to strengthen the northside of the city, be sure to include the long term efforts of Erma Lawrence and the Northside Preservation Commission in your research.

Challenges in Community Revitalization

For years, urban planners, developers, architects, elected officials, neighborhood residents, community organizations, and a huge array of other interested parties have worked together addressing the difficult challenges of community revitalization. While the challenges differ from neighborhood to neighborhood and town to town, some issues are common in the most troubled situations.

Low property values, high development costs, weak real estate markets, poor public perception, and aging infrastructure are frequently part of the mix. There's another major issue challenging community developers: the difficulty in site assembly.

Site assembly is not a sexy issue. In fact, it can be downright dull. While it's going on, there's usually not a shovel in the ground, and lots of money being spent. It gets further clouded when viewed in discussions involving the use of eminent domain. Nonetheless, for any development to occur, it's an absolute necessity. The lack of site assembly can hold back redevelopment efforts for decades.

Bring together a group of experienced community developers from across the country, and they will usually agree that the ability to assemble large, contiguous sites for redevelopment is critical. Why is this important?

Successful redevelopment projects create positive visual impact and critical mass. They establish economy of scale in the installation of public and private improvements. They are connected.

For our local redevelopment efforts to be successful, where property ownership has become a dizzying patchwork of mostly tiny, often vacant, publicly and privately owned parcels, we must overcome the upfront challenge of site assembly to create opportunities to build quality planned developments.

For macro challenges we need solutions of scale.

STL Most Enhanced: Pre-Nomination

At the southwest corner of Devonshire and Macklind, just across from Manzo's (best salsiccia in St. Louis) grocery and deli, Raineri Construction, a general contractor actively working on historic rehab in the Old North St. Louis neighborhood, has acquired and is performing the first true gut rehab in the Southampton neighborhood,

The building is a typical city corner storefront, solid brick construction, featuring a cast iron column on the front corner entrance, and an apartment upstairs. The new rehab will restore the original large-sized windows of the commercial space.

At one time, the building was home to "Buckets Lounge". Back around 1994, the building sold for about $38,000. Shortly thereafter it was badly remuddled, and sold again in the $150,000 range. Now, in 2007, it's getting the royal treatment.

If you haven't visited Macklind Avenue in a while, it's taking off in the way neighborhood leaders envisioned ten years ago.

Chicken or Steak?

This morning I was waiting in line for a cup of coffee, when two people behind me were discussing their dinner choices at a recent banquet: chicken or steak. They had a long talk about it. I'm thinking, hmm, I think I'd be happy with either one. However, for the two of them, it mattered. Chicken or steak was an issue.

The conversation made me think about our town. Some issues mean a great deal to one group of people and very little to others. Other issues have large groups of supporters, while some have very few. In our urban world, we read lots of articles ranging from things like pedestrian friendly design, historic preservation, "urban scale", public shools, charter reform, and so on.

But how many people really pay attention to these things? Last night, our son Matt and I attended an orientation for Matt's new high school. He'll be a freshman next year, and attending a Catholic high school in the middle of St. Louis County. During one part of the orientation, they had the incoming class take turns standing up based on their place of residence.

We were in the group that lives "east of the school". Then there were those from St. Charles County, North County, and West County. The kids were from all over. I'm wondering how many of the people there would get excited about pedestrian access or urban scale? They were probably more concerned about their jobs and their kid's educations. And who will get to do all that driving to their kid's new friend's houses all across the metro area...

We all have different priorities in our lives. Does St. Louis bring a passion out of you? What kind? Is it a luxury or a sacrifice to follow a passion? A little of both maybe? Does where you live make a difference?

Cherokee Now

Things seem to have quieted down along Cherokee since the 20th ward primary. There was buzz on the blogs for a while about getting more neighborhood involvement, especially for residents interested in the future of Cherokee. But that seems to have faded, at least by what you can gauge from local blogs.

Does anyone know a place online to keep up with the continuing revitalization of Cherokee, especially the section between Jefferson and Gravois? Please post if you know of any links. Or is it time to start a new free blog...just for Cherokee?

The St. Louis Paradox

The anonymous comment made in this post raises a question that must have an answer: If St. Louis has so many problems (as noted by the anonymous poster), how is it possible she is attracting so many new residents?

"College Town" Atmosphere Rising in STL?

Even though we have many fine universities in the St. Louis area, most people don't think of us as a "college town". And while we don't have an NCAA Division One football team, we do have Division One men's and women's basketball teams in the St. Louis University Billikens.

And soon, St. Louis will have Division One men's and women's sports played at an on-campus facility. Do you think that will change the atomsphere of college sports in St. Louis?

Downtown STL Reaching Critical Mass?

I've lost count. How many housing options are available in downtown STL? Yesterday, I saw the old Ford Apartments on 14th being gutted in preparation for a high-end condo development.

The transformation in the last ten years has been remarkable, and in the next five years we will have a downtown core that will be a model for urban revitalization.

Ballpark Village will be complete and thousands of new residents will be calling downtown St. Louis home. Revitalization of the Gateway Mall will likely be complete or in full swing.

City living has many advantages. Will St. Louis be the mecca for those seeking a hip, affordable, exciting, environmentally-friendly, downtown lifestyle? The groundwork has been laid, and now we are seeing the results of years of planned progress.

Supporters Raise Over $12,000 at Mullanphy Fundraiser

We attended the fundraiser for the Mullanphy on Saturday held at the Schlafly Bottleworks in Maplewood. It was our first time visiting this not-so-microbrewery, and it's good knowing there's one more reason to spend time in our city-friendly neighbor to the west.

When we arrived, the parking lot was jammed, and a goodly number of the visitors were there for the Mullanphy event. In total, there were close to 150 people in attendance for Mullanphy, and over $12,000 was raised, with more contributions arriving by mail. People in attendance could not remember any event in St. Louis history where more funds were raised so quickly to help preserve a local landmark.

We made a big dent in accomplishing our fundraising goal. There's a long way to go; however, this event was successful in expanding awareness, building momentum, and growing the financial base it will take to preserve the Mullanphy building.

Watch for more opportunities to get involved. If you couldn't attend, but want to help, the most important thing needed right now is financial support. How about hosting a coffee in your home to raise funds for Mullanphy? No matter what amount you an afford, every dollar raised in this appeal will go towards the preservation of this St. Louis landmark and Old North St. Louis neighborhood anchor.

The best part of the Mullanphy event at the Bottleworks was the bottom line fun and fellowship of St. Louisans from a variety of backgrounds all gathered together for the purpose of building up St. Louis.

A Dedicated Fund For Historic Preservation In STL?

How's that old saying go? "Better to have and not need than need and not have?"

Well, at the present time, we've got more of the latter than the former when it comes to dedicated historic preservation funding in St. Louis.

So, this Saturday, from 5:00 - 7:30 PM at the Schlafly Bottleworks in Maplewood, supporters of historic preservation are gathering to raise emergency stabilization funds for the Mullanphy Emigrant Home.

Maybe the conversation will include establishing a dedicated source of funding to support historic preservation around St.Louis?

If you're interested in promoting the cause of historic preservation, please join us this Saturday in Maplewood and be a part of the effort.

Neighborhoods Pulling Together on Mullanphy Effort

Organizers of the effort to preserve the Mullanphy Emigrant Home are reaching out across the St. Louis area to expand the base of support for the project by forming the "Historic Mullanphy Alliance".

Neighborhood organizations, professional associations, historic preservation groups and individuals are all joining the Alliance to become part of this collaborative effort.

Look for the launching of a new website which will provide links to all of the organizations signed on to the Alliance.

If your organization is interesting in becoming part of this pro-St. Louis, pro-neighborhood effort, please contact me at rbonasch@sbcglobal.net or the Old North St. Louis Restoration Group directly at 314-241-5031 for more information. Thanks.

For Sale Or Rent?

One of the debates in establishing housing priorities for neighborhoods on the mend is finding the right mix of rental and for sale housing. Given a choice, there is usually a preference for home ownership over rental.

However, at the present time, especially in areas with lower housing prices, financing programs to rehabilitate housing in historically designated areas often make rental developments more feasible.

If you were on the housing committee of your local community development organization, would you prefer a historically accurate, professionally managed, rehab of a 1-4 family building for rent, or a code compliant, non-historic, vinyl clad rehab of the same building for owner occupancy?

April 14 Mullanphy Fundraiser - See You There!

Let's Save This Landmark! (Click on the image for a larger view)

She Loves Her People...Too Much!

Every morning we wake up with our seven-year old Shepherd/Beagle mix curled up at the foot of the bed, keeping our feet warm. We adopted her when she was about six months old from a local humane society. Her name is Hollie and she's a small to mid-sized dog, weighing a little under 25 pounds.

Hollie has lots of friends. She wants to be everyone's friend. She is particularly devoted to little people. She loves children and other dogs. She does not love rabbits or squirrels.

She likes to go out in the middle of the night to flush the yard clear of wildlife. That is her job. It's one of the things she does to protect her people. With her Beagle nose, she finds every hiding rabbit or running squirrel and chases them out of the yard.

She barks to let her people know if there are any intruders. If I go outside with her, then she won't bark. So sometimes, in the middle of the night, I'll wrap myself in a blanket and lay back on one of our patio chairs while she makes her midnight rounds. When I'm outside with her, she doesn't bark.

When one of us leaves the house, she takes her place on the top of the sofa, looking out the front window. She stays there until we return. This is one of her people, and she loves them. When we come home, we see her little face and perked up ears looking out the window at us. Then she jumps down and greets us at the front door with her tail wagging happily. She does a little dance, jumping up and down in little jumps. She wants to be with her people.

And if her people bring new people in the house, then she wants to make them her people too, and she will love them even more, especially if they are little people - the tinier the better. She loves little babies. It is her goal in this world to serve and please her people. She lives to love and serve her people and to have companionship with other dogs.

If there is a dog barking somewhere in the distance, her ears perk up, and she trains on the sound. Then she barks in reply, in support of another dog serving its people.

Hollie has many voices. She sings and moans and makes pleasing clicking sounds from deep in her throat. Her name could be "Mona" for all the different sounds she makes. She makes her clicking sounds when she is the most content with her people. The clicking sounds like the kind of sound some higher intelligence, alien life form might make. Or like dolphins talking. She also makes a funny sound when she yawns.

When she's sleepy, she yawns and when she yawns, her Shepherd jaws spread open wide, revealing rows of big, sharp, white teeth, and you can see the pink and brown speckled roof of her mouth. Then, if she yawns a big yawn, sometimes she shakes her head a little and lets out a super high-pitched, 2 or 3 second long squeak.

When she yawns and lets out the little squeaks, it always makes her people laugh, even though they've seen it hundreds of times before. When she's done, her eyes sparkle and her head stops shaking. Then she looks at her people with her big brown Beagle eyes and they pet her or pat her on the head and give her big hugs. Sometimes then she will start making the clicking sounds, or moan if her people stop petting her.

But she doesn't like it when they touch her feet. And she cries when they clip her nails, but she always forgives them when it's done. And she doesn't like it when she sees a lone man walking down the sidewalk. Unless the man is a friend of her people, then she will wag her tail and love the man too much.

She's been in our home for almost seven years now, and she keeps loving her people more each day, and she keeps getting more people. There is no limit to the number of people she can love and the amount of service she can give from her big heart.

There are lots of dogs with no homes or people of their own to love and serve. If you have a place in your home for one of them, and the time to share your life with it, please consider adopting a dog to let it love and serve you and your people for the rest of its life.

Cold Outside? Try Park and Ride!

The weather was a little on the cold side today, so, feeling a tinge of lightweight public citizen guilt, I took the low impact option, and drove the mile or two to the Metrolink Station, to give the park and ride option a try.

What's not to like? Ample free parking. Park your car right on the station lot and stroll over to the brightly lit, easy to access ticket area. Walk up the stairs to the waiting train. Have a seat in the comfy, heated modern rail car.

This is new life, uncomplicated!

STL Rising: Downtown Shortcuts!

Last night, we were driving into downtown via northbound I-55 to Memorial Drive. Meanwhile, ballpark traffic in the lefthand lanes of Memorial Drive was backed up all the way to the Poplar Street Bridge. Oddly enough, the righthand lanes were wide open.

We kept to the right, and made it all the way to the stoplight next to the Old Cathedral. Gridlocked traffic in the left lanes, waiting to make a left turn on Market past the Drury Inn, was waiting...and waiting...and waiting. Given the length of the line of cars waiting to turn on Market, drivers were probably waiting 20-30 minutes or more to make this turn.

It's a breeze to avoid this delay; remember, we have a grid street system! One block further north, south, east or west and you probably can steer clear of all sorts of traffic jams.

We circumvented the traffic by travelling one block out of our way, and had the car parked and were in our seats at the ballgame while some of the cars we had passed ten minutes earlier were probably still lined up on Memorial Drive.

Take a different turn! There are lots of ways to get from Point A to Point B!

"TOL"

Back in the day, people used to say "bad" for things that were cool.

A bunch of us studied German in high school, and we learned that the German equivalent for "bad" was "tol". Tol means cool in German, and according to Wiktionary, it still does.

Thirty years later, I'm finding a whole new meaning for tol, and this time, it's really cool...

TOL as in Transit-Oriented-Lifestyle. Since I started riding Metro last week, the lifestyle benefits have been amazing. Now we're figuring out ways to fit transit into more of our daily routines.

For $60 per month, you can buy an unlimited monthly pass on Metro. That $60 gets a rider unlimited access to the airport; downtown; Clayton; Laclede's Landing, the Riverfront, and the Eads Bridge; the Convention Center; Union Station; Busch Stadium; Maplewood; and, the Galleria.

I can be nearly free from the car and the hassle of driving, reduce a huge chunk of our $300-$400 monthly gasoline expense, eliminate $120 per month in parking fees, and save on car repairs. For the times I need to drive somewhere during the day, there are multiple options, including parking at one of the free, nearby Metro parking lots, and then taking a short ride on Metro to pick up the car. Walking back and forth to the Metro stations creates a built in exercise routine.

In addition to the savings, convenience, and health benefits, Metro is just plain clean and fun. The views are beautiful and the elevated sections along the new I-44 extension are like riding an amusement park attracton. St. Louis looks great from a skyway!

Now that's tol!

Mother Nature Raises Bar On Mullanphy Effort

Strong storms this past weekend have dealt a major setback to the efforts to preserve the historic Mullanphy Emigrant Home in the Old North St. Louis neighborhood.

What began last year as an emergency project to save one of the city's most historic buildings, became a fate uncertain now with the structural integrity of the Mullanphy severely weakened.

The Historic Mullanphy Alliance, an ad hoc coaliton of city organizations, formed this year to work together across neighborhood boundaries to preserve the building. The effort was gaining momentum just as this latest setback occurred.

The immediate future of the building is unknown. There will certainly be an updated assessment of its structural condition. After the initial damage in 2006, the building was nearly demolished for public safety purposes. Facing a huge challenge, the Old North St. Louis Restoration Group intervened, taking on the responsibility of the building and its preservation.

The effort to preserve the Mullanphy has significance beyond one building. The larger challenge we face is how to elevate the cause of historic preservation beyond ad hoc initiatives to one with sustainable funding and a physical development strategy.

Maybe there is greater potential for the Historic Mullanphy Alliance than we first believed?

(photograph courtesy of Michael Allen, Ecology of Absence)