STL Rising: Strategic Planning for the SLPS

On Saturday, I was part of a 1000+ person effort to carry out strategic planning for the St. Louis Public Schools. The effort is being led by the Special Administrative Board of the St. Louis Public Schools, supported by hundreds of volunteers.

The SLPS is embarking on an effort to increase the district's performance according to the 30 MSIP (Missouri School Improvement Program) benchmark measures. The event took place at Vashon High School and opened with introductions by SAB members Rick Sullivan, Melanie Adams and Richard Gaines. Gaines is heading up the strategic planning process.

Participants were divided into groups, each focusing on a different area of school performance. I was placed in the "Reading at Grade Level" section. Under this section, meeting standard means one of two things: either a student is reading at grade level, or he/she is placed into an intervention program to improve reading ability. In the SLPS, approximately 20 percent of students are rated at reading at a proficient or advanced level.

Our reading subgroup consisted of about 30 participants, assisted by a facilitator. We began by identifying strategies. Then we voted on the strategies to be forwarded to the SLPS for possible implementatation. The commitment by the SLPS is to keep the community informed of the results of the strategic planning process and the success in implementing the plan.

Our group voted to endorse five strategies (in no particular order):

1. Provide reading labs and specialists
2. Increase professional development for all teachers
3. Reduce class size, and provide in-class differentiation based on student ability (cost factor to do this a concern)
4. Test students before they start first grade or kindergarten to determine reading level. (MAP testing begins in third grade)
5. Focus more resources on k-2nd grade students.

In attendance at the event were many community leaders including:

Aldermen Dorothy Kirner, Jeffrey Boyd, and Craig Schmid
State Rep. Jeanette Mott Oxford
Many former SLPS board members
The Sup't of the Normanday School District
The CEO of Energizer (Chairman of the Education Committee of Civic Progress)

A very positive video was shown at the start of the day, with the theme, "One Community, One School, One Child At a Time".

For more info on how you can become involved, please click here.

Blogs and citizen involvement

Blogs have opened a new channel for citizen communication, and St. Louis has a lively blogosphere devoted to urban issues. Nonetheless, most people don't read blogs, so information exchanged over the internet is missed on the majority of citizens.

While blogs are an excellent, free, and widely available option to distribute information, to fully engage the community, we need a diverse communications program that does the best job of reaching as many citizens as possible.

Neighborhood priorities are often set through citizen groups working together the old-fashioned way-in face to face meetings, usually held one evening a month. The internet is a fast paced way to distribute information, but it's doubtful that it will ever take the place of neighbors getting together in person to work on community goals.

Eminent Domain Forum Tomorrow

(From the flier)

The St. Louis Public Library, in conjunction with the League of Women Voters of St. Louis, is proud to sponsor an Educational Forum on Eminent Domain and Affordable Housing.
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The forum will address the meaning of eminent domain and how it may impact housing. The audience will become familiar with government and private organizations that support housing developments in the metropolitan area.

Panelists include Jim Holtzman, Director of the St. Louis County Office of Community Development; Terry Kennedy, Alderman of the 18th Ward, Bill Malek, President Gateway Capital Mortgage Corporation; Avis Laden-Hill, Family Support Manager, Habitat for Humanity; Attorney Anthony Martin, Ombudsman from the State of Missouri; and Rick Bonasch, Director of Technical Assistance of the Regional Housing and Community Development Alliance.

Light refreshments will be served from 9:30 - 10:00 a.m.

Saturday, April 5, 10:00 am to 12:30 pm

Schlafly Branch | 225 N. Euclid Ave. | St. Louis, MO 63108+1505 | 314.367.4120 | www.slpl.org

Neighborhood Vignette

This weekend we had guests from southwestern St. Louis County stay for a couple of days. They are young musicians working on a project with us. Since the project started, they've been spending more and more time in our area.

I asked what their impression was comparing our city neighborhood to the suburban area where they are more familiar. These are two high school aged young men. Both of them liked it a lot.

Prior to getting started on this music stuff, neither of them had really spent any time in the city at the neighborhood level in their lives, and these two are lifetime St. Louis area residents.

They liked the style of housing, they liked the way there were lots of neighborhood kids their age to meet and hand around with. And they liked the way it was much more walkable. They liked it alot. What the heck! If it takes putting up with some head banging music once in a while to convert the youth of St. Louis into a better appreciation of city neighborhoods, it's worth it!

Preservationists and urbanists rally to save CWE building

The San Luis Apartments, located just west of the New Cathedral on Lindell, is slated for demolition by its owner, the Archdiocese of St. Louis. Concerned St. Louisans are working to prevent the demolition and preserve the building.

Meanwhile, reports around the blogosphere are that the Archdiocese plans to replace the building with a surface parking lot. The Archdiocese has a major presence in the city's Central West End. The timeframe for the proposed demolition is unclear. Whether the San Luis Apartments has any remaining residents is also unclear.

The story has been well covered in the blogs, however, there has been minimal if any mention of this plan in the St. Louis Post Dispatch. It has been hard to find information presenting the Archdiocese' side of the story.

Ultimately, the building may come down. There will be those in favor of the demolition and those opposed. The built environment, especially in an old city like St. Louis, presents us with many choices, and there are wide differences of opinion on how to do things.

It will be interesting to see how the Archdiocese responds if there is a strong grass roots movement emanating from the community to preserve the building.

Opening Day 2008 Ballpark Village Update

In what promises to be a very interesting season in Cardinal baseball, there are a number of concerns facing Cardinal Nation.

In the latest of a series of troubling developments, Centene has backed out of its commitment to build at Ballpark Village. There is no firm plan for construction of the project.

City leaders have been patient with Ballpark Village proponents, but based on the latest news reports, that patience appears to be running out.

While the ownership group commits to building Ballpark Village, opening day is about a week away, and the site continues to be a visual blight on downtown, sitting right next to the new Busch Stadium. To the casual observer, Ballpark Village appears more like a Superfund site than a prime development opportunity.

STL Rising encourages the Cardinals to begin 2008 by doing some spring cleaning at the Ballpark Village site. The current condition of the Ballpark Village site is not consistent with the Cardinals tradition of operating at the highest level of quality, class, and corporate citizenship.

While development projects are often more difficult and complex than expected, with the general public not aware of the many legal, financial, and marketing challenges ongoing, the public is very aware of the physical state of the site.

The Cardinals are seriously hurting the image of their team by failing to maintain the Ballpark Village site in a presentable fashion. Many are calling for the Cardinals to do something now with the site.

The question is, what should be done? What about bringing the site to grade, removing the Ballpark Village Parking Lot", planting sod, and building one or two small diamonds for amateur games?

New Soulard Forum

Certain to entertain...

http://gumbotheforumforsoulard.blogspot.com/

One LRA Building

I remember back in the 80s when we first moved to St. Louis and we lived in West County. I worked in Clayton, and was a loan officer making a lot of FHA loans. I heard stories about "$1 houses" being for sale in the City.

Having come from California, that was hard to believe. Especially for solid brick houses! How could it possibly be true? It turned out it wasn't. Maybe urban legend, maybe truth. However, if there was ever a time in the City of St. Louis where you could buy homes for a $1, I never saw it.

The City has an agency responsible for dealing with the inventory of abandoned real estate, the Land Reutilization Authority, or "LRA". LRA was created as a state chartered redevelopment agency with the purpose of receiving properties acquired through public foreclosures, typically for the failure to pay real estate taxes.

By the time the LRA gets a building, it has truly hit rock bottom. The city regularly holds tax sales, and like mortgage foreclosure sales, these are public auctions. They are advertised in the newspaper.

Anyone can bid at these sales and buy the properties for the back taxes. The ones no one purchases wind up being transferred to the LRA. There they are held in inventory. There are a lot of them. They range from complete buildings to tiny, remnant, unbuildable parcels.

For the most part, there is very little demand for these properties-evidenced by their failure to draw a bid at the tax sale. The demand for LRA properties can be increased when they are packaged together into a group as part of an overall redevelopment program.

The idea of a $1 building? It doesn't mean much when the cost for renovation is substantial, and often, on an LRA building, higher than the after rehab value of the property. Nonetheless, the LRA does work to maximize the sales prices of LRA buildings.

Which gets to the point of this post. What about one LRA building? How can we guage the best use of a single LRA building? The answer depends a lot on who you're talking to.

If you're the neighbor of an abandoned, LRA building, you might want it demolished for public safety purposes. If you're a preservationist, you might want to see it stabilized for historic preservation purposes. If you're a rehabber, you might want to buy it for rehab to either live in, rent, or resell.

If you're a commercial developer, you might want to buy it for a $1 to tear it down as part of a new strip center. If you're a new home builder, you might want to buy it for a $1 to tear it down and build a new "green" home. There are lots of possibilities. How about the city tearing it down to create a new greenspace, park or "bio-swale"?

The truth is, there is no one answer. It all depends. What are the circumstances involved beyond the building itself? They are what really determines the future of that one LRA building.

Neighbors to assist with Islamic community center repairs?

Update: Info corrected thanks to comments provided below. Thanks to the anonymous commenter.

On the Southampton listserve, there is discussion concerning the vandalism which has been visited on an Islamic Community Center located in the 5400 block of Lansdowne in the City's Southampton neighborhood.

The building is located on the "Wherry Wedge", one of the main entry points to the Southampton neighborhood and the area's emerging Macklind Avenue neighborhood commercial district.

The Post covers the story here

At least seven, large plate glass windows have been broken. The cost for repairs will be significant, into the thousands of dollars. It was suggested on the Southampton Neighborhood listserve that local neighborhood associations and churches take up a collection to help offset the cost of damage.

To move this effort forward, it would help to set up an account with a local bank to accept donations. If you or someone you know might interested in helping out, please feel free to comment below or contact me at rbonasch@sbcglobal.net for more information.

We will update this site as more information becomes available. Thanks.

Hwy 44 through downtown to be extended?

Highway 44, part of the interstate highway system that replaced old Route 66, starts in St. Louis at Interstate 55 and runs southwest through Tulsa and Oklahoma City, where Interstate 40 then takes you the rest of the way to California.

In St. Louis, 44 ends when it meets 55. 55 then continues east and north, across the Mississippi and north to Chicago. For a short distance through our Metro East, 55 and 70 share the same road till they split at Troy, Illinois. The interstate in front of the Arch, including the depressed lanes, is part of Interstate 70.

With the new Mississippi Bridge, this may soon change. If 55 crosses the Mississippi at the Poplar Street Bridge, and 70 crosses to Illinois north of downtown at the new Mississippi Bridge, what will they call section of interstate including the depressed lanes in front of the Arch?

According to a lively discussion at the Urban St. Louis forum, the plan is to designate the stretch Interstate 44. The majority view at Urban St. Louis seems to favor removing the depressed lanes altogether, although there appears to be a lack of direction in how to do so.

According to an inquiry with the Federal Highway Administration, decisions to close sections of interstate highways are deferred to the individual states. So MODOT has the deciding voice in policy affecting the future of the depressed lanes.

If a St. Louis delegation of community leaders were to rally around a plan to vacate the depressed lanes in front of the Arch, the next step would be to seek the cooperation of MODOT.

How to make a good impression, part two

St. Louis has lots of organizations at the community level. There are lots of opportunities to provide input on all sorts of community initiatives. However, if you want to have a positive impact on the results, you need to apply your efforts in the most effective way possible.

With the internet, print newsletters, and countless other means of community organizing and public communication, where would you start if you were trying to influence change or policy in the community?

League of Women Voters to Host Eminent Domain Forum

Eminent domain can be a powerful tool for revitalizing distressed areas. Its use has also been at the center of controversies concerning the defense of private property rights, definititions of blight, and what constitutes a public purpose.

For many, public purposes are limited to public infrastructure like roads, schools, airports, and other public facilities. However, does the acquisition through eminent domain of a dilapidated, often vacant, privately-owned building, for a private redevelopment, either to return it to the tax roles or simply improve the health and safety of the neighborhood, also constitute a public purpose?

To shed light on the issue, the St. Louis League of Women Voters is sponsoring a forum entitled, "Eminent Domain and Affordable Housing". The forum will be held on Saturday, April 5, 2008, at the Schlafly Branch Library, Euclid and Lindell, from 9:30 to 12:00 AM. Yours truly will be serving as one of the panelists.

There will be no charge for the event, and it is open to the public. For more information, please contact the League of Women Voters of St. Louis, 314-961-6869.

Addition by Subtraction

We are taught in math classes that whenever you remove a negative, the net result is positive. When it comes to thinking about planning options, sometimes considering addition by subtraction opens up a whole new set of choices. The same idea can be applied to the I-70 depressed lanes separating the Arch grounds and riverfront from downtown St. Louis.

The image above is a computer generated perspective of the I-70 depressed lanes and Memorial Drive between the Arch grounds and the Adams Mark Hotel. The image shows that currently there are 12 traffic lanes between the Arch grounds and the Adams Mark.

If the depressed lanes were removed, there would be space for a 6-lane configuration of Memorial Drive, with valuable land reclaimed for redevelopment. With limited funding resources, developing the reclaimed space with a mix of commercial and residential uses would provide a source of revenue to help fund the capital cost of building the new Memorial Drive.

City Readies Commercial Site at 44/Hampton

The Post Dispatch is reporting that the City of St. Louis has completed the site assemblage at the northeast corner of I-44 and Hampton by purchasing the former MSD headquarters.

The site assembly paves the way for a 26-acre, mixed use development, at a high traffic count/good visibility/strong demographic location. The site was a diamond in the rough, housing City Street Department and MSD facilities for years. The City will offer the site for development proposals later this year.

With the new Drury Inn nearby, and the established Hampton business corridor as anchors, the redevelopment possibilities for this site are significant. Maybe even an IKEA?

How to make a good first impression

Thinking more about the idea of removing the depressed lanes between the Arch grounds and downtown, and looking at how such a plan might get community support, perhaps the most important aspects of the concept are the economic development possibilities for St. Louis.

If drivers entering downtown arrived on a newly aligned and landscaped Memorial Drive, at grade with intersections with the rest of the city's street grid, they would get a completely different first impression of our city than they do now.

Currently those drivers blow through downtown sunk in the depressed lanes of Interstate 70. What a negative first impression that is!

With traffic instead entering the city on a surface level roadway, slowing for signalized intersections, with views of the Arch, the Old Court House and the rest of downtown, drivers will have the sense of "having arrived". They are "in" the city instead of stuck on a highway. They have more choices. They could make turns down Washington Avenue, or Market Street, or onto Laclede's Landing, or park and tour the Arch grounds and riverfront and go on to explore downtown.

The thousands of cars now passing through downtown without even slowing down, are now possible visitors, customers, tourists, restaurant and hotel patrons in our city. There is no doubt more people would stop and visit. They would be lined up at our front door and we would have the welcome sign out. We could put up signs: "This is St. Louis, Missouri!"

The Land Between the Bridges

Yesterday's announcement that a deal has been reached to build a new bridge over the Mississippi river is big news for Missouri, Illinois, St. Clair County, and the City of St. Louis. The new bridge will relieve a lot of traffic congestion from the Poplar Street Bridge.

Drivers on Highway 70 travelling between Illinois and Missouri will no longer be required to drive through the depressed lanes through downtown St. Louis. Meanwhile, Interstate 64 drivers will still have direct access between Missouri and Illinois across the Poplar Street Bridge.

The rerouting of interstate traffic between Missouri and Illinois gives us the opportunity to revisit the purpose of the depressed lanes. Presently, they connect Interstate 70 drivers to the Poplar Street Bridge and connect Interstates 70/55 and 44 in Missouri through downtown St. Louis. Once the new bridge is built, the primary purpose for the depressed lanes will be to connect Highway 70 drivers to Interstates 55 and 44.

Downtown's connection to the riverfront and Arch grounds is negatively impacted by the depressed lanes. The depressed lanes are unsightly. They form a moat dividing downtown from it's greatest public resources, the Arch grounds and the riverfront. Hence, various plans have been discussed for years to improve the connection. None have yet been implemented.

The connection between our downtown and the Arch grounds/riverfront is not unlike Chicago's connection to Lake Michigan and San Francisco's connection to its waterfront. People are naturally drawn to water.

In Chicago, the interstate system terminates into Lakeshore drive. Parks and the lake are easily accessible throughout the length of downtown. Metered traffic signals and wide crosswalks create safe pedestrian access in the area. Now, as attractive as the Chicago lakefront already is, there is a movement on to further open up the area. Creating inviting public spaces in America's downtowns is a growing trend.

In San Francisco, the Loma Prieta Earthquake led to the removal of the Embarcadero Freeway along the San Francisco waterfront. The Embarcadero Freeway was an elevated interstate delivering drivers from the Bay Bridge halfway around the waterfront to Fisherman's Wharf.

After the 1989 quake, the Embarcadero Freeway was removed and replaced with a surface level promenade roadway. Writers likened the change to having the "braces removed" from San Francisco's watefront. There is no comparison between the before and after conditions.

The Embarcadero Freeway was a loud, big, shadow casting structure dividing San Francisans from their waterfront. It's removal brought daylight, quiet, room for landscaping and other beautification. A trolley car line has been added to the mix.

Imagine if we could do something similar with our Memorial Drive? Filling in the depressed lanes and replacing them with an attractive, landscaped, surface level promenade, with wide sidewalks and signalized intersections. Does the new Mississippi Bridge make that possibility more feasible?

The main change would be for drivers connecting to points north and south through St. Louis City. The traffic on 55/44 and 70 would be transitioned onto a new Memorial Drive surface roadway past the Arch grounds and Laclede's Landing. It would add a few minutes to the drive. Some people would oppose the change. However, with all the hype leading up to the Highway 40 closure, we have a good example, "right here in St. Louis", of how well drivers adapt to changing traffic patterns.

What do you think? Would it be worth a few extra minutes' drive through downtown (with a much improved view of the Arch) to improve downtown's connection between the riverfront and the Arch grounds?

Short lived title?

I heard on the news today that Los Angeles just won a world wide competition for having the best tasting tap water. Lousy air, but great tap water.

Huh? I thought STL just won the title for the best tasting tap water in the US not more than a month ago. This must be some leftover get-evens for the Rams choosing STL over LA.

Trivia Night Ideas

St. Louis is home to trivia nights. Go to California, and they've never even heard of them. Trivia nights are a tried and tested money maker for worthy causes.

Trivia nights have been popular here for more than ten years, and they generally follow a set formula. Ten rounds, ten questions, celebrity emcees, free popcorn, and usually free beer. Not a bad formula.

However, more and more, it seems we are seeing the trivia hounds out in force, sandbagging the competition. They show up with a variety of specialists in an effort to ace each category. Really people, is it supposed to be so serious? Then when they win, the divvy up the $120 or so dollars in prize money to about $12 apiece. How about giving it back?

These are supposed to be fundraisers! Return the prize money. Isn't it enough to win with a score of say 96 out of 100? C'mon, loosen up a little! Okay, so here's a few suggstions to change up the trivia night routine ...

Reduce the number of rounds from 10 to say 5 or 7, max. Bring in a warm up band for the start, and then quit earlier so the band can play for a half hour or so, while everyone helps to clean up.

Create the option for random team selection. Go as a group, or drop your names into a hat and draw names out to form teams. Meet and greet. Mix it up a little.

Okay, I know. St. Louisans hate change. Maybe it's best to leave well enough alone...

City sales tax increase: pro or con?

City voters recently approved a sales tax increase to help fund costs of providing public safety services and pensions for city police and firefighters. The issue didn't get a lot of attention, and passed easily.

Since the vote, I've been thinking about the increased sales tax we pay in STL City. Are we pricing ourselves too high? Is there a limit to how much we can raise sales taxes before they start to hurt our economy? There must be, and I'm not smart enough to know how much that is.

So I'm thinking about the sales tax rate-ranging from 8.24-9.74%-and wondering, hmmm, maybe it's a cost worth paying in order to have the convenience of living close in to work and all the amenities we have in our neighborhoods and the city? City voters must agree.

On the other hand, say you live in an outlying area. There, sales taxes might be lower, but other costs enter the picture, especially related to transportation. In terms of a household's bottom line, higher transportation costs take a big bite out of the budget, so maybe things are about even?

Western states take big hit in housing slump

From Yahoo News:

The states suffering the biggest drop in sales in the fourth quarter were Nevada, down 44 percent and Wyoming, down 42 percent. Other states with big declines were New Mexico, down 39 percent, Oregon, down 38 percent and Arizona, down 37.6 percent.

STL Band Rising

Tell Tale Heart, a rock/emo band out of St. Louis, will appear tomorrow night at the Pageant.

Joel Dodson, lead vocalist and guitar player for the band, is a high energy, dynamic performer. Drummer Andrew Carter and bassist Alex Hammond both sing and round out the band's full sound. A sampling of their music can be heard at the myspace link above.

STL Rising has a limited number of complimentary tickets available. The show starts at 8:00 PM.

If interested, please email me at rbonasch@sbcglobal.net by 5:00 PM today. Tickets available on a first-come, first-served basis.

High tech marketing advances

Interested in marketing trends? Check out this virtual tour:

www.hooksell.com

Making the case

This morning I rode Metrolink to work. The cost? $2. Cheaper by far than driving and paying to park. Along the way, we had a relaxing tour of the inner ring communities of St. Louis. Some of the stations are decorated with public art. The train was pretty full. For us, it was wonderful, and the train certainly improves the quality of life for the places it serves. On the other hand, public transit critics will say that the cost per rider mile is not justified and that public transit is not cost effective. I'm guessing those same critics are really torn over the public art.

Some experts predicted that Y2K and the Highway 40 shutdown would lead to near apocalyptic events. Not so much. They tried to make the case, but their case did not hold up. It turns out they were mostly incorrect.

Back on Metrolink, between Savvis and the Sheraton, we passed the nearly completed Multi-modal transit center. It's looking wonderful and will be another gem in our civic fabric. It links many forms of transportation, in the heart of our region. Access for visitors will be improved, as will their experiences arriving and departing. Compared to Amshack, we have made a light-year improvement. Yet Amtrack is a consistent financial drain and struggles each year to stay in business. Why spend the money? Every year the case must be remade to do so.

Last night tragic events unfolded in our neighboring community of Kirkwood. Our thoughts and prayers are with the victims and their families. Many of these people are known personally to us and our friends. Based on news reports, a man with a lot of serious problems snapped and went on a killing rampage. People are immediately trying to create a connection between his neighborhood and race background and his actions last night. Given the heavy debt and serious business problems he faced, that seems a more provable connection.

Over in Illinois, a plan to build a soccer stadium and surrounding supportive uses is being considered. University professors are citing academic data evidencing that these developments are not good investments. Town leaders and many area business interests support the project. The ongoing narrative sounds similar to the debate over the new Busch Stadium. Looking at the impact of Busch Stadium, what we know for certain is that when the Cardinals are in town, street life downtown skyrockets. When there is no game, activity is way off and some restaurants are closed.

Historic buildings sit vacant in city neighborhoods. We have lots of these buildings. Attracting investors to rehab them requires a case be made that redeveloping the buildings is a worthwhile pursuit. The case can be made over time. Our job is to develop the foundation and build the case for sustained progress. What are we doing today to make things better tomorrow? Are we doing the right things? What else should we be doing?

Gateway to Community Involvement

Are you looking for ways to become more involved in your community? Do you have a desire to serve? The Operation Brightside program in the city of St. Louis is one of the best ways to get your feet wet in the area of public service.

While Operation Brightside works year round on community improvement projects, "Project Blitz" is their annual spring cleanup. Volunteers are needed across the city on eight Saturdays, beginning March 29. Now is the time to sign up.

Individuals or organizations can sign up to help. You can work in your own neighborhood, or help in another. There are special projects focused on downtown. If you want to get more civically engaged, Operation Brightside is a good place to start.

By participating in Operation Brightside you will meet lots of good people, good neighbors, all working together to make our communities better places to live. For more information, please call (314) 772-4646 or visit them online at Operation Brightside.

Feeling Young?

With voters headed to the polls today, the presidential primary races have boiled down to four top candidates: Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, Mitt Romney and John McCain.

For the republicans, McCain appears to have a big lead over all of his republican opponents. His overall victory today looks to be a lock.

On the democrat side, things are much less clear. Over the past few weeks, Obama has nearly drawn even with Clinton.

Do you think voters are swayed in the direction of candidates they most identify with on a personal level? Never mind the policy distinctions. Rather, if they consider themselves more similar to one candidate or another, do they pick that candidate?

I ask this question, because in this country, we have an obsession with youth and youth culture. We have a national obsession with being young, with prolonging youth, and with fighting off old age. As the popular expression goes, "50 is the new 40".

Given our cultural obsession with youth, does that help one candidate over another? Obama appears to be attracting younger voters. But what about middle aged voters? Do they choose Obama because he makes them feel young?

Green Remix

With years of disinvestment in some neighborhoods resulting in thousands of vacant lots today, we are presented with a unique opportunity. We get a do over and our timing could not be better.

As the nation gets behind the greening of our society, St. Louis, an old city, has the asset, vacant land, to rebuild our neighborhoods green.

Recently, I visited a LEED certified new home built in St. Louis. The builder is projecting a mid-summer electric bill on a mid-sized two story home at only $80 per month!

Can you imagine entire blocks built new with energy efficient, "green" construction methods?

Going green on a large scale would be one more way we could set St. Louis on a course for sustainable growth.

Middle Third Rising

Every year St. Louis is supposed to receive 19 inches of snow. It's been years since we've received our full share, and, to the dismay of school-aged kids all over St. Louis, an even bigger disappointment over the drought of snow days.

So far this season we've had one good snow, back in mid-December, ranging between 4 and 7 inches of heavy snow. Today and tomorrow, we're supposed to get another 6-10 inches. This snow will put us over 10 inches for the year, and most likely give kids across town day of sledding and no school.

With another two months or so of cold weather left this winter, maybe this year we'll see our full share of winter's white blanket?

Wanna see something cool? Check out how a covering of fresh snow makes the most forlorned, abandoned building look a little more loved.

Bad Mood Rising?

Michael Allen is reporting at Ecology of Absence that the city has denied an application for a demolition permit for the building located at 5286-98 Page. The building sits on the southeast corner of Page and Union, and is an important building contributing to one of our city's National Register Historic Districts.

The property is owned by the Berean Seventh Day Adventist Church. They are proposing to tear it down and replace it with a surface parking lot. Someday they may build on the lot.

City staff recommended denial of the demolition permit and the Preservation Board voted to uphold the staff recommendation. Now Allen is suggesting the next step may be a lawsuit by the church to force the city to issue a demolition permit.

The building is an attractive corner commercial building, with a substantial amount of its original metal work still in place. Lynn Josse wrote the original historic district nomination. She wrote of the pedestrian scaled nature of the old neighborhood.

Perhaps the current stand down over the proposed demolition will provide the opportunity for all sides to meet over a plan for preservation.

CSB Tree in Forest Update

Following up on a previous post re. downtown street trees in need of pruning, STL Rising is pleased to report that said pruning has been completed, the trees look excellent, and that our city's customer service system worked to a "T". Thanks to all involved.

The original call was referred from the Foresty Division to the Citizen's Service Bureau ("CSB"). The CSB representative took down the information, assigned it a work order number, and referred the item to the appropriate city department. Within the allotted time frame (about two weeks), the work was completed, and the situation was resolved in a fully satisfactory manner.

If you're looking for assistance on a city service matter, the number to reach the Citizen's Service Bureau is: 314-622-4800.

Top Ten STL Historic Sites

What would you include? Here's my list:

1) Cahokia Mounds
2) Eads Bridge
3) Grant's Cabin
4) Jefferson Barracks
5) the Arch (not the grounds)
6) Clemens House
7) DeMenil House
8) Cambell House
9) Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet Convent Church and Reliquary
10) Lafayatte Square or Soulard neighborhoods-tossup

Scholarship Opportunity

Announcement:

Papa John's Proudly Presents:

"Officer Norvelle Brown Fundraiser"

DAYS: SAT & SUN DATES: 1/26/08 & 1/27/08

Order Papa John's in any of the St. Louis, St. Charles or Metro East Papa John's on the above dates and Papa John's will donate back to the The Officer Norvelle Brown 7th District Scholarship 20% of your total order.

Please be sure to mention that you are a supporter of the "Officer Norvelle Brown" when placeing your order.

Valid for Carry Out or Delivery

Fundraiser Valid at Any St. Louis, St. Charles & Metro East Papa John's Locations

Papa John's

Better Ingredients

Better Pizza

For more information, please contact the St. Louis area Papa John's restaurant of your choice.

Your neighborhood's voice

In our neighborhood city, we have a wide range of neighborhood types. Populations, businesses, and housing patterns all vary. What direction is your neighborhood headed, and is there a public voice communicating that message? In some neighborhoods, that voice calls for historic preservation and increasing small businesses activity.

In other neighborhoods, the call is for new housing and infrastructure development. In some neighborhoods, the area has been working for years to find its voice. In other places, it may be hard to hear or find the voice of the community.

Is it possible for there to be more than one voice? Can you think of situations like that? What about the quieter places, those where the voice is harder to hear?

What about your neighborhood? Do you think you know the voice of the community? Do you think it has one? How would you describe it? Is your own voice a part of it?

Where do we go from here?

One of the lessons I learned too late was the idea that in many situations, let's say most situations, when there's some kind of problem, or concern, or whatever situation, that we think is about us, it's maybe equally or even moreso about someone else. Whatever it is. It's not always about you! None of us are that important or irreplaceable.

Let me say that as of yesterday, I am now totally convinced that our mortgage servicer is definitely not irreplaceable, and that whatever the issue is between us and them, it's definitely not us-it's them!

Last October, the loan on our house was sold to one of the country's largest mortage holders. They are huge. HUGE! And ever since they purchased the loan, the servicing has been A JOKE! A HUGE JOKE! But it's not funny anymore. In fact, it's gotten so unfunny that yesterday I placed a call to the Consumer Affairs Department of Attorney General Jay Nixon's office.

You know what they told me? They get these kinds of calls all the time! Apparently, lousy servicing of mortgages is a growing problem for consumers. And we're trying to make our payments! Imagine if you're facing foreclosure? We're getting the runaround - trying to make our payments made. If you're struggling to make your payments, then what?

With all the trouble in the mortgage and credit industries these days, we need to be more aware than ever about the importance of good loan servicing, and how to find help when we need it.

Our problems started with ___________ (insert massive financial institution name with huge disfunctional call center system here) when we tried to get our payments set up to make online. You would think this would be a pretty simple process. But no!

I'm not much of a tech person. I've never bought anything online and I don't do any online bill paying. This blog is about it when it comes to my techie powers. My wife, Kerri, she's the tech-goddess of our household. She's does everything online. And before our loan was sold, we made our payments electronically every month, like clockwork.

So when it came to setting up our new loan online, we figured it would be no big deal. We figured wrong. It has been impossible. The Company apparently models its internal operation like a Keystone Cop brigade. When it comes to incomptence, they are amazing. The runaround has gotten so bad, it's become like a bad nightclub routine. On my last call to them I said to the nice lady on the phone, "Ma'am, you're making me feel like a comedian, and you guys are giving me LOTS of material!" Not funny.

And problems with mortgage companies are no laughing matter. They can wreak havoc on the national level as well as do damage at the local level. Today's news reports that Citigroup lost $20,000,000,000 through their mortgage portfolio (that's twenty billion dollars) over the last year with their stock price falling nearly 50%.

If you're facing concerns with your home loan, do not wait for help to find you. Take action! Engage the mortgage company as soon as you feel there may be a problem. Locally, Beyond Housing has teamed up with the Homeownership Preservation Foundation to provide assistance to homeowners facing possible foreclosure. They have set up a toll free number to call for assistance. For more information, dial 888-995-HOPE.

The earlier you contact the mortgage holder, the better. Lenders are motivated to avoid foreclosure, and the earlier you contact them, the more options you have to work out a plan to protect your home. Bringing in an expert advocate to assist you through this process can help you work out a solution together with the lender.

As for us, we're still trying to get set up to make our payments online. Maybe next month?

SoHa Pizza Rising

Soon to open at the northeast corner of Macklind and Finkman, in the city's Southampton/Princeton Heights area, is "Sammy's Pizza". Sammy's Pizza will reopen another of the surging Macklind Avenue commercial district's small-scaled, historic, corner-commercial buildings.

The operator is a member of the Racanelli family, known for their pizza restaurants in UCity and Webster Groves. Construction is underway this week. More information about the new restaurant is available in the current issue of Sauce Magazine. From the Sauce article, the owner is promising a family-style restaurant with a feel reminiscent of his Italian mom's dining room back in New York City.

From a walkability standpoint, within a half-mile walk of this location there are probably 1,500 homes. Maybe more. And that walk takes you past historic homes, down tree-lined streets, with many other interesting stopping places along the Macklind corridor.

A tree in the forest

St. Louis is blessed with wonderful resources. We have the nation's best tasting and highly abundant public drinking water. And we have a tremendous urban forest. Nearly every block in the city is shaded by mature street trees. And our parks are lush green landscapes.

One of those trees I pass by every day presents a hazard. It's a young tree, so the lower branches are at eye level. One might say "they present a blinding hazard". I want to bring a pair of pruning shears to work one day and prune the little branches out of everyone's way. That'd be quick, and no one would be worse for the wear, would they? The Forestry Department might rather a phone call to have one of their crews attend to the young tree.

We have good people working in many city departments. Yesterday I heard a presentation on new community centers being built in both north and south St. Louis. Plans are for these developments to incorporate "green" building techniques.

Working across the city, you see city workers fixing things, working with neighbors, and overall working as a partner with residents and businesses to improve the quality of life for all of us. On a tight budget, they do a good job. We can do more by supporting their efforts and working together. The upcoming Operating Brightside season is a good opportunity for city residents to work with city departments to keep St. Louis beautiful.

Meanwhile, the question remains, pruning shears or telephone call...pruning shears or telephone call...I'll make the call.

St. Louis Style

Ted Wight has some great historic STL house photos over at his blog.

Click here to see a photo of a home that once stood at the site of the Metropolitan Square office building.

Click on the image for a larger view. The picture provides a great look back into Old St. Louis.

Winter 1/2 Over: Annual Mid-Season Rites Passed

First: Registration forms for spring baseball signups arrived in the mail last week; competitive programs begin winter baseball workouts.

Second: The firewood guy from Southeast Missouri made his mid-winter deliveries to St. Louis. By the time the replenished wood pile is nearly gone, the zoysia should be starting to turn green.

Postscript: Are we St. Louisans lightweights or what? There's a front desk on the ground floor of our building. Everyone entering or exiting the building passes through the revolving doors, and by this desk on the way to the elevators. On this mid-January day, it's about 60 degrees with a strong breeze. "Brrr" the lady at the front desk said to me as she felt the breeze come into the building. "I don't like the cold."

Don't like the cold? If St. Louisans can complain about 60 degree temps in January, well, ya gotta know that this town has some high comfort standards....

Can you ever have too much information?

With the expansion of the internet, neighborhood groups have the ability to connect residents with computers to important neighborhood information. Sometimes the information includes sensitive subjects, such as crime reports, which makes some neighborhood residents uncomfortable. If you were thinking of operating a neighborhood listserve or website, would you moderate comments, limit content, or in any other way control the flow of information?

Hwy 40 Shutdown: The Mother of All "Traffic Calming" Devices?

Have you ever watched the water in your bathtub with the drain open? The water in most of the tub is barely moving, while the water headed toward the drain starts accelerating like crazy. That's the way it is with highway traffic.

With traffic dispersed throughout a large system, it has countless avenues back and forth, travels a little slower, and everything seems to be a little more relaxed. However, once it gets concentrated onto a single roadway (Highway 40), it speeds up, gets clogged if there's a blockage, and there's more friction in the system (sort of like what happens to blood cells flowing through the inside of a human artery with arterial sclerosis).

Yesterday we had a meeting out in the UCity/Ladue/Clayton area near the intersection of Delmar and I-170. So we took the new Highway 40 to 170 route back and forth. For the next year, inner ring Highway 40 drivers have most of the road to themselves.

In both directions, travel on Highway 40 was smooth sailing. Traffic volume was easily cut by half. On the return trip from Delmar and 170, the southbound connection from 170 to east bound Hwy 40 felt like a trip on the Disneyland Monorail. No longer are drivers doing that crazy mambo at the old 170/Eager/Brentwood interchange.

Instead, southbound 170 drivers are swooped through a 2-lane aerial flyover ramp, seamlessly connecting to eastbound 40. It feels like the "Innerbelt" now runs all the way downtown. It's awesome.

We won't be doing much driving out in the area of 270 and 44, so others will have to report on how things are working out on the roads in the westplex. However, for those driving within the inner core of our region, the first year of the 40 shutdown appears to be more like going on a Sunday drive, seven days a week.

Highway 40 Perspective - Much Ado About Nothing?

If the Highway 40 shutdown turns out to be mostly a big non-event, St. Louisans will have firsthand proof that we live in a region with some of the lightest traffic conditions of any in the country. Close down a major highway, and hardly feel it?

We'll know on Monday. Change can be a good thing!

Repurposing the dead Kenrick Cine site

With the closing of the Kenrick Cine, a nice-sized parcel of ground has become available for reuse. Metrolink is close by, the city limits are a few minutes away, home values in the area are strong, and the site is generally central in terms of its regional location.

The building appears to be in good shape, so it could be reused. Or, it could be demolished, with new construction in its place. What future use or uses do you think would best serve the community?

One option to consider would be residential development. More rooftops in the area would support the retail uses all around the site. Affordable housing is another alternative, or perhaps a mixed income development?

BCS-2-MIZZOU:BCS-NOT-4U!

Missouri's blowout of Arkansas in the Cotton Bowl underlined nicely the snub of Missouri in this year's college bowl selections by "Bowl Championship Series" (BCS) officials. The BCS bowl games are the elite games, with the largest television audiences. Hence, they are very important to a program's recruiting efforts. The Cotton Bowl game started at 10:30 in the morning, St. Louis time, airing opposite the nationally televised Tournament of Roses Parade.

Nonethess, for Missouri, the Cotton Bowl is a good bowl. The Cotton Bowl is located in Dallas, Texas, just down the road from the home of Missouri quarterback, Chase Daniel. Strong recruiting out of Texas has played well into the resurgence of the Missouri football program.

In case you didn't see it, the Missouri Tigers trounced Arkansas in every aspect of the game, winning 38-7. Missouri running back Tony Temple ran for 281 yards and four touchdowns, setting two Cotton Bowl records.

Later in the day, out on the west coast, Illinois was trounced by USC in the Rose Bowl, leading the national broadcast team to openly quesion why 11th ranked Illinois was seated in a BCS bowl game while 7th ranked Missouri was not.

For years people have questioned the BCS bowl selection process, with more calls for a national college football playoff system, at least for the top 8-12 teams. This year's controversy involving the treatment of Missouri by BCS officials will add fuel to that discussion.

Congratulations to both Missouri and Illinois for great seasons. Illinois went from a 2-win season in 2006 to the Rose Bowl this year, and Missouri surprised everyone with the teams' first 12 win season in Missouri history.

Looking into next season, one question still up in the air for Missouri is whether the NCAA will grant St. Louisan Tony Temple one more year of college eligibility due to his previous redshirt status.

Predictions for 2008

With 2007 drawing to a close, now is a good time to make predictions for the year ahead. What are your predictions for St. Louis in 2008?

Here's a few to get things started:

The Cardinals will finish the year below .500, and worse yet, they will finish below the Cubs.

The Blues will make it to the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs.

A national housing trust fund will be created to promote affordable and green housing development in established communities.

The population of the City of St. Louis will continue to increase.

St. Louis will attract immigrants at an increasing rate.

The St. Louis housing market will see improvement faster than the nation as a whole.

Any others?

What about 270?

During the pre-Christmas rush, we did some freeway driving around the region. Travels took us down the newly restriped Interstate 44 through Webster Groves and along 270 from Highway 55 to Gravois. MODOT has narrowed the lanes and shoulders on Interstate 44 to add one more travel lane in each direction.

Beginning January 2, traffic from eastbound Interstate 64 will be diverted onto Interstate 270. Would it be possible to add lanes to 270? 270 appears to be as wide or wider than 44, with full size shoulders and 12 foot traffic lanes.

Highway 40 Closure Protests Rising

Concerned citizen and former St. Louis County transporation engineer, Joe Passanise, trying to mobilize public opposition to prevent the January 2nd shutdown of Highway 40:

Stop Highway 40 Closure.com

Regular guy "Jason"'s perspective, documenting life with 40 under construction, blog-style:

Highway 40 Insight

Brad Pitt is In the House!

CNN is reporting that Missouri's Brad Pitt, the movie star, is working in New Orleans' Lower 9th Ward. Pitt is spending his own money and taking it upon himself to help rebuild the area ravaged by Hurricane Katrina.

Neighborhood development efforts take lots of money, and charitable support is huge in sustaining work in places like the Lower 9th, where private market forces are weak.

It will be interesting to follow the long term results of Pitt's efforts. Key to the success will be how many other supporters join the work. Star power can't hurt!

More can be learned here

Quiet Transformations

While looking for but not finding the NY-styled pizza place on Morganford named "Mr. X", what I did find was an amazing number of historic storefronts under renovation.

It appears that nearly every original storefront commercial building between Chippewa and Arsenal is being reopened. Which gave me an idea, why not a "Most Enhanced Streets" award for St. Louis?

There are many good ones out there, and more on the way. Which do you think belong on the list, and which are the diamonds in the rough? Oh, and any help in finding the elusive "Mr. X's Pizza" would be welcome too.

SW City Pizza Vacuum Filled

The Suburban Journal is reporting that a couple from South City is opening a family friendly pizza and beer restaurant in the Southtown Centre at Kingshighway and Chippewa. The restaurant is moving into a 3200 square foot end space across from Starbuck's and Stone Cold Creamery.

The absence of a family friendly pizza place in Southwest City has been a major void in restaurant choices for years. Aside from the semi-new Talayna's franchise at Holly Hills and Gravois, there is no place south of Chippewa and west of Gravois within the city proper where you can buy a beer and a pizza in a primarily pizza house format. That's a huge, underserved market.

Per the Journal story, the new proprietors, noting the clientele frequenting the Starbuck's, see a major untapped market awaiting their new restaurant.

Demonstrating healthy STL regional pride

40-ouncers have their critics. However, the creators of this website, do a nice job of showing the world how locals like life in St. Louis.

Dubliner, Conv Ctr Cabbie, Fogerty Revival

Friday night we had tickets to see the John Fogerty Revival concert at Savvis. We arrived about 6:20 PM for the 8:00 show, and grabbed a parking space on the street in front of City Hall. With the 4:00 - 6:00 no parking restriction lifted, and 40 minutes to go until the 7:00 PM shutdown on meters, the meter was covered for fifty cents loose change and we were good to go.

With time to kill, and appetite for something beyond Savvis fare, we made the few block walk over to Washinton Avenue to try out the Dubliner. The Dubliner is an Irish themed pub, fairly upscale, with good food, drink, atmosphere. Bartenders tap bottles from an upside down system high above the back bar. The bartender holds the glass up under the bottle, a built-in sensor opens the bottle, drink served.

Lots of woodwork, private booths, interesting decor, good food and drink make the Dubliner a positive addition to the burgeoning life downtown. While eating dinner and enjoying a couple of pre-concert beers, it made me think how nice a downtown life might be, with bars, shops and restaurants all available just outside your door.

The night was chilly, so rather than hike all the way back to Savvis, we walked over the taxi stand at the Convention Center. We jumped into the cab, and enjoyed our cab ride through the slalom like bollard gates exiting the Convention Center drive. Whee!

$3.60 cab fare to Savvis rounded up to $5, with a drop off at the front door of Savvis is big city fun on a low cost budget. What's that they say about our ranking on the living well index?

Fogerty rocked. Since his heyday was pre-MTV, I'd never really seen any of his performances. Lead vocalists who are also stellar guitarists are a rare breed, so I had assumed Fogerty was the more typical lead vocalist, rhythm guitarist. Not so.

Rolling Stone magazine rates John Fogerty as 40th all-time greatest guitarist, and at age 62, he hasn't lost a thing. He was in great voice and played lead guitar on every song.

Savvis was set up in it's "Concert Club" seating layout, where they hang giant black curtains from floor to ceiling behind the stage, creating a more intimate atmosphere on one end of the arena. Guessing, there was probably 4,000 people at the show.

Fogerty had no warm up act, and played a solid 2-hour set. He ran through just about every Creedence hit, and was appreciative of the very positive reception he received from St. Louis fans.

With the show over at 10:30, and our car parked a couple of blocks over on Tucker, a zero-traffic hassle departure capped off a great night enjoying life downtown.

Rock Church Roof Rising

When driving along Dr. Martin Luther King, you can see a crane and construction underway on the roof of the fire-damaged Rock Church on N. Grand.

Ticket Prices Rising - MO Leg. Legalizes Ticket Scalping

It seems reasonable that ticket scalping should be legal. When I buy something, it should be mine to resell it for whatever price the market will bear.

However, I heard on the news that there is a possible move to repeal the new law since many entertainment venues have been developed with public assistance.

That's an interesting angle. Do you think there should be a legal connection between public subsidies of entertainment venues and ticket scalping?

For better or worse?

While patronizing a popular downtown eating and drinking establishment this weekend, I had a brief conversation with the long time store manager. He was expressing frustration about having to shoo off the homeless from his property. He says the problem with homeless people coming inside his place of business is getting worse every week.

We talked about the growth in the number of downtown businesses, and how the increase in homeless activity might be tied to the overall increase in activity downtown. He didn't look at it that way. He noted that from the business's perspective, it was just an annoyance and bad for business.

There's no doubt that downtown is changing. St. Louis is changing. There is progress all around the city. With change, comes new things. We were on the Hill Saturday night for the Missouri/Kansas game, and there we saw a fresh take on a Hill tradition that was a real surprise.

A couple of doors west from Milo's, someone has added a luxury second floor addition to a single story, brick shotgun home, replete with a walkout front balcony. The balcony provides a view of St. Ambrose church. Some might think reworking a vernacular shotgun house on the Hill is too much messing with tradition. I liked it.

Macy's Holiday Windows Drawing Crowds

The downtown Macy's has restored an old St. Louis tradition. For years, the display windows of the old Famous Barr had beautiful scenes during the holidays. Then at some point, many years ago, they stopped putting them up.

This year, Macy's has brought them back, and people are flocking to see the results. Over the summer, Federated installed new glass in all the windows. For the past couple of weeks, the windows were covered while workers prepared the scenes. Then on Thanksgiving Day, the curtains were pulled back, revealing the enchanting results.

Each scene depicts a historic holiday place and time. Some have the look of full streetscapes, others show the interiors of a room. All are done in great detail, some with moving figures.

Since their unveiling, I've been on the block on Friday at noon and last evening around six. Both times, people were headed to the see the windows, with holiday shoppers making their way around the building to see each scene. A long lost downtown tradition has returned. If you get the chance, be sure to make a trip to see them for yourself. Bring a friend!

The Newcomers Guide to St. Louis

To encourage people to put St. Louis on their list of places to live or visit, we need to make sure we are sending the right message. If you were in charge of marketing the St. Louis area to potential businesses, college graduate, or relocating households, how would you do it?

We developed the Cool St. Louis list, and it needs to be updated.

We now have an emerging riverfront, the Arch grounds on the mend, and Chouteau's landing.

If you come to St. Louis, you get your choice of slogans. My favorite is St. Louis: A beer town with a baseball problem.

Music halls are on the increase, including the Old Rock House and the Lucas School House.

We are an old city with many traditions. From football to wierd parades.

Alternative media is alive and well. And we have our share of paranormal activities.

From a marketing standpoint, there are lots of angles for good promotion. Maybe outlining things like chapters in a book would be a good place to start?

Cost of living driving regional relocations

High costs of living in coastal areas are helping to fuel growth in more affordable regions. From Julia Spezia, Executive Director of Housing California:

"An alarming trend is appearing in California's communities: We are losing our young adults (age 20 to 34). It's not surprising that when young couples decide to start a family and create a home, they look outside the state for an affordable place to live and work."

Poll: Do you rake or blow?

We rake. There are few things in life more annoying than the sound of a noisy, high-pitched leaf blower running on a beautiful fall day. I wonder if the noise they make is a violation of city noise pollution ordinances?

See also: City of St. Louis Ordinance 64566. See Section 4.9.

Going the route of government control is probably not the best way to reduce noise pollution from leaf blowers. Maybe promoting a healthy lifestyle through exercise would win more leaf raking converts?

One interesting thing about leaf blowers is the psychology involved. We rake once a week. By the time we're done raking, there are usually more leaves on the ground. That's okay, we'll rake 'em up next time. Not so for the leaf blowers...

The antiseptic efficiency of leaf blowing machinery has raised the level of what qualifies as "clean". So the leaf blowers will blow and blow and blow until the last leaf is blown out into the street. Then the leaf blower sees another leaf lying in the middle of the lawn. Back at it until that leaf is cleared. And another. And another.

It's a question. Do leaf blowing machines increase the level of OCD diagnoses during the fall season?

STL Rising: Lies, Damn Lies, and Statistics

St. Louis crime rates are always a favorite topic around water coolers or for Town Talk callers. In recent years, a report published out of Kansas City places St. Louis at or near the top of national crime rates for cities.

This year, the methodology of the report is being called into question by both local criminologists as well as the FBI. They note that due to the tight city-not-in-a- county geograpy of St. Louis, comparing our stats to most other metro areas around the country is not a valid comparison.

For a true comparison, statisticians would need to include places like Brentwood, Clayton, Maplewood, and Creve Couer in with the city proper to see how we stack up to other regions. On such a region-region comparison, St. Louis drops from the near the top to out of the top 50 in terms of crime rates.

But figuring out how to do such an apples to apples comparison isn't as much fun for the Morgan Quintos of the media world. Thanks to our local criminology professors, news reporters, and the FBI for bringing out this important aspect to these statistics.

The New I-64's Rising: Are You Ready?

Here's the home page for all the latest info.

Bank of America names ONSLRG "Neighborhood Builder"

In one of the region's top neighborhood development award competitions, the Old North St. Louis Restoration Group has been selected as a Bank of America Neighborhood Builder for 2007.

Congratulations to ONSLRG President John Burse, ONSRLG Executive Director Sean Thomas, and the rest of the staff and board for this wonderful award recognizing the tremendous progress underway in revitalizing Old North St. Louis!

Midwest Cities Top Forbes' "Living Well" index...

...and St. Louis is No. 4.

Minneapolis is first
Indianapolis is second
Cincinatti is third
St. Louis is fourth

Living near the beach is nice, but who can afford it? living next to movie stars in a high mountain village in Colorado or Wyoming is cool, but who can afford it? Urbanity in New York City or San Francisco is inspiring, but who can afford it?

For a foothold towards a well-lived life, the Midwest is getting noticed. The high numbers of immigrants bypassing the coasts and headed to the midwest is testament to that fact.

Have you notice all the California license plates on the roads around St. Louis? It's getting to the point where living in the midwest, and St. Louis, is even an enviable thing.

10 years ago, while attending my 20 year high school reunion out in the San Francisco Bay Area, I could sense the growing envy from those stuck in the rat race of living in a high cost, crowded region.

10 years later, we're seeing more and more businesspeople and real estate investors taking a serious look at investing here.

STL Rising: Saint Louis outranks Mizzou!

While Mizzou continues to climb in the AP and BCS College football rankings, at No. 6 or 7 depending on the index, Forbes Magazine just ranked St. Louis No. 4 on its "Most Affordable Places to Live Well" index! (They probably figured having a potential national champion college football team playing in our backyard didn't hurt!)

From the Forbes Article:

4. St. Louis

What makes St. Louis a desirable housing market isn't simply the 76% of homes that are available to the median buyer, but its relatively stability; The area isn't as bogged down in risky loans and defaults as other Midwestern cities. The Gateway to the West has a strong ratio of parks and restaurants to citizens, according to Sperling's, and is the 15th cheapest city in which to live, based on rankings of the top 50 cities by the Council on Community and Economic Research.

Authentic Drives - Southwest Avenue

A couple of weeks back we attended a fundraiser for St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church in the Central West End. At the silent auction, we came away with two items, one an Italian and the other a Spanish gift basket. The baskets included recipes, CDs, treats, and gift certificates. One of the gift certificates was for Boogaloo's restaurant in Maplewood. We tried it out last night.

The restaurant was good and fun. Check out the signature barstool swings hanging from the ceiling. This is a good people watching place. The hip storefront location is another sign of Maplewood's outstanding revitalization. Next door, check out Eddie's Guitars for one of the country's best music stores. After dinner, we were heading home via South Kingshighway. To get there takes you through some of our region's most interesting urban settings.

Heading east on Manchester to Southwest, takes you by the Tap Room's Maplewood location. Continuing east on Southwest, crossing McCausland, you enter the city, crossing River Des Peres and then under some huge concrete railroad bridges.

Climb the hill on Southwest and you get to the mixed up section of Southwest, one of region's most name-challenged historic roads. Am I on Southwest? Am I on Columbia? Just keep going, but follow the route along Columbia. If you do, you have a great view overlooking beatiful Clifton Park lake and its surrounding homes.

Continuing east on Columbia, you cross Hampton at Bartolino's restaurant, preparing for their upcoming move to their new home down the street at the new Drury Inn at Hampton and 44. Crossing Hampton and heading up the hill along Columbia, you're coming into the Hill. Soon you pass a huge old city public school, travelling along a narrow section of Columbia on the north side of US Bank, and then the theater-turned private residence where Columbia merges back with Southwest. Drive about a block on Southwest, then merge at a narrow angle back onto Columbia toward Kingshighway.

At Kingshighway, turn right heading south on Kingshighway toward Tower Grove Park. Pass the Royalw with its new "crown" headed marquis out in front. Now you're entering the heart of south city, with Courtesy Diner, Uncle Bills, G and W Sausage, auto row, and the neighborhoods of South City all nearby.

Donut Diversions

There's a little place I visit maybe once a week for an early morning guilty pleasure. It's a tiny, family run donut shop that makes what I think are the best donuts in town.

This week I stopped in and a lady in front of me was ordering 9 or 10 dozen donuts. It was the biggest order I've ever seen taken out of the place. I held the door for her as she made her way out, and had to find out where all those donuts were headed.

She said she works for a well known bakery on the Hill. She takes the donuts there, and then they fill them with more goodies (fruit, creams, etc), and then put them up in the bakery case to sell with their famous baked goods. An Italian stuffed donut. Gotta say I've never heard of that, but will have to investigate!

STL Rising honors chef's secret recipes, so we're not mentioning any names.

St. Lou ^ is

New CVC website gives voice to hometown pride.

Halloween Reports

Best little sister slam of her big brother:

We have our dog with us greeting the trick or treaters on the porch. Halloween is one of her favorite days. She loves people, and the younger the better, so she loves trick or treaters.

A brother and a sister come up the walk to trick or treat. The brother is wearing one of those highly realistic wolf masks, the kind with lots of fur, a long snout, and lots of teeth. He's ready to tell his joke for some candy. The sister, on the other hand, isn't much interested in candy; she wants to pet the dog and give her hugs. But the dog is mostly interested in the strange looking boy with the dog face. The little girl looks up and says to her brother, "She's only looking at you 'cause you're another dog!"

Best Halloween joke:

Q: Where's the best place to be during a tornado?
A: Inside the Edward Jones Dome because there are no touchdowns!

STL Halloween Traditions Invade NPR's Talk of the Nation

One of the nice things about living in an old city like St. Louis is the way old traditions are part of the culture. For some reason, St. Louis has very well established Halloween traditions.

If they indexed cities for the quality of their Halloween celebrations, St. Louis would have to be near the top. Yesterday, Amy Dickinson from the Chicago Sun Times Ask Amy column was NPR's Neal Conan's guest on the Talk of the Nation show. They were talking about Halloween celebrations. St. Louis callers flooded the program. Amy and Neil were noticeably impressed by the St. Louis showing.

One caller (not from St. Louis, but it sure sounded like St. Louis) talked about handing the first adults to come by with their kids a beer. Amy was a little taken aback by that idea. I don't know. We see lots of parents walking with their kids on Halloween. The kids go to the door, and the parents stay on the sidewalk, frequently next to a wagon hauling a cooler loaded cold beers. Maybe Halloweens up in Chi-Town are a little more staid than ours?

Amy and Neil talked about how its good for kids to get a little scared on Halloween, as long as its a safe kind of scared. We should have that covered. We get a block party permit, have kids from a wide area show up, half the houses on our block are decorated, maybe some deep bass from a theatrical sub woofer toning haunting riffs, and from 200-300 + trick or treaters.

The film Meet Me In St. Louis does a wonderful job of showing how our four seasons and holiday celebrations are a big part of life in our town. This online review has some more interesting comments about the film.

International Institute Blog

As seen on a click-through ad at Urban Review, the International Institute has started a discussion blog.

Join the conversation at: International Institute Blog.

Subdivision Trustees Blog

St. Louis is a city of neighborhoods, and for parts of our region a "subdivision" is the legal construct for neighborhood. For most of the city, the lines for "subdivisions" were blurred years ago, showing up now only in arcane legal descriptions on abstracts of title. Old farm tracts were subdivided into lots, and neighborhoods were built. Today, neighborhood organizations are the active community groups for many of these areas.

However, in lots of places througout our region, subdivision developers created their own neighborhood governing bodies. Subdivision covenants, or rules, were established, and are operated through locally elected subdivision trustees. These trustees are responsible for maintaining the standards as set out in the original subdivision codes.

A new blog is up discussing neighborhood issues from the trustee and subdivision resident perspective. Check it out at: subdivisiontrustees.blogpsot.com.

Pick One Project?

If you had to pick just one volunteer project to work on for the next three years to improve the St. Louis area, what would it be?

At last some rain!

Man, this rain feels good. How long has it been? It seems like its been dry forever!

I just went through a drive through, and had to pull away from the speaker because the rain was blowing in the window in sheets. So I pulled right up to the takeout window to place my order. The cashier opened the window and says, smiling, "It's been three months since I moved down here, and this is the hardest I've ever seen it rain!" Three months he said! We should get rain like this every week or two.

"This is how it usually is around here", I said to him. The water was gushing across the parking lot in little rivers. It was flowing down into the drainage inlet like a waterfall. All the rain and rushing water was making a lot of noise.

The rain was pounding down. You could hear it on the roof of the car. What a welcome sight. Finally, a big drink of rainwater for the garden!

Chouteau's Landing

Not deja vu, but rather another old riverfront neighborhood on the rise:

Chouteau's Landing

Holy Trinity MCU Meeting Set

Holy Trinity, the historic, twin-steepled, stone church facing I-70 and the Mississippi River in the city's Hyde Park neighborhood, Third Ward, will be the setting for a Metropolitan Congregations United ("MCU") meeting to discuss northside redevelopment efforts, including the ongoing activities of developer Paul McKee.

MCU has a history engaging civic issues in St. Louis. They started the "Holy Ground" movement, and worked to set a regional agenda on such issues as urban sprawl, economic development, and urban community development.

MCU's Holy Trinity meeting is set for 6:30 PM, October 25. From the intersection of Salisbury and Interstate 70, look southwest for the towering stone church. You can't miss it.

Blight for Eminent Domain?

The building above is an example of a vacant building some would consider appropriate for blighting and eminent domain.

If the property in the picture above was privately owned, with its property taxes paid, and no plans on the part of the current owner for its rehab, would you support the use of blighting and eminent domain for its redevelopment?

Should neighbors or local neighborhood organizations have a say?

STL Book Club

A couple of reading recommendations for St. Louis enthusiasts:

New book by local historian, Nini Harris, Unyielding Spirit: The History of Polish people in St. Louis

Website with lots of books about St. Louis: Books on St. Louis.com

Bump: Statewide Eminent Domain Coalition Leader Comments on ED Petition

Ron Calzone, the the Chairman for the Missouri Citizens for Property Rights, commented on the STL Rising Eminent Domain petition thread. His comments are linked here:

STL Rising eminent domain petition thread

The website for the group is:

www.mo-cpr.org

In his comment, Mr. Calzone discusses the concerns of residents living near problem properties.

Thanks to Mr. Calzone for contributing to this conversation.

STL Chronograph

Over 200 years of STL history in electronic form, courtesy of the STL Community Information Network.

Riverfront Reset

The editorial page of the Sunday Post Dispatch presented three very different concepts for remaking the riverfront and Arch grounds.

One plan suggested by a prominent local architect suggested creating a terrace facing the river just above the flood plain, where pedestrians could stroll, shop, and expand their experience of the riverfront. The terrace could be connected to the underground museum beneath the Arch.

The second proposal was for the floating island plan developed by an out of town architect and planner. The designer mentioned comparisons to a highly successful waterfront development in Spain.

The third concept was suggested by the president of the Downtown Resident's Association. This plan was less about redesigning the Arch grounds or the riverfront and more about reworking the road system around the area.

With plans for a new Mississippi River bridge still in the works, the writer suggested moving Highway 70 away from the Arch entirely, somewhere north of Laclede's Landing.

Next, dispose of the moat around the Arch created by the depressed lanes by simply filling it in. This approach would remove the connection of Highways 44, 55 and 70 in downtown and eliminate the need for a "lid" over the depressed lanes. The writer pointed out that such a concept would open up prime downtown real estate for new development and also better connect downtown to Laclede's Landing.

The three plans are all very different. What's your favorite option? Or perhaps a different suggestion?

The reworking of the Arch and riverfront connections to downtown is something we'll only get one shot at in our lifetimes. What is our best shot?

Delmar Loop Named one of Ten Best Streets

The revitalization of the Delmar Loop in UCity and the City of St. Louis is a good example of neighbors, developers, and government all working together.

The work has paid off. This year, the APA has named the Delmar Loop one of the nation's ten best streets. The links below show how some of the pieces have come together over the years.

Neighbors had a plan.

Private developers responded.

Local anchors stepped up.

Neighbors found partners in government.

Community organization provides a vehicle to leverage efforts.

Community development does work.

STL Trash Rising - New Dumpster and Alley Blog

With leaf raking season upon us, dumpster wars are about to get going, with neighbors vying for space in their yard waste dumpster. So today, in honor of our city's storied alley and dumpster tradition, STL Rising unveils a new blog: STL Trash Rising.

STL Trash Rising will take a light-hearted look at alley life and dumpsters. Got a funny alley or dumpster story? Tell it at STL Trash Rising!

STL Rising: Unfiltered FYI

Since reader comments on the Market at McKnight development in Rock Hill are continuing, STL Rising is bumping this post to the top of the page.

Missouri Eminent Domain Petition Question

Petition gatherers are circulating throughout the community seeking signers for a proposed referendum regarding the future of eminent domain in Missouri.

However, after speaking with two of the signature gatherers, it was unclear exactly what the petitioners seeks to change.

The gatherers were mentioning that the petition would give Missouri voters a chance to vote on eminent domain. However, they could not answer the question of whether that meant every time government wanted to use eminent domain, there would need to be a public vote.

Does anyone know the purpose of the eminent domain petition?

STL Rising: Resurrecting St. Bonafice

When the St. Louis Arch Diocese decided to consolidate some parishes, and close and sell some of their old city churches, historic St. Boniface church in Carondelet was on the surplus list. Apparently, the sale of the church carried with it some form of morals clause as a deed restriction.

St. Boniface Church is an anchor building in the recently created St. Boniface National Register historic district in Carondelet. Visit the area today, and there are a growing number of quality historic rehabs both completed and underway. Old St. Boniface, built in the 1850s, has been rehabbed and is re-opening as the "Ivory Theater". It's first show, "Sex, Drugs and Rock and Roll", is set to open this week.

However, today's news is reporting that the Arch Diocese is suing to block the opening of the show. The use restriction placed on the property prohibits activity in the building which would be deemed harmful to the community, including adult-oriented entertainment.

The developer agreed to the deed restriction, but was under the impression that the Arch Diocese was aiming primarily to prohibit strip clubs and other adult businesses from operating in the building. There is disagreement over whether the restriction applies to live performances such as the grand opening show, which some have described as barely "PG-13" in content.

The PD story is here.

UPDATE

An 11th hour meeting with top officials from the Arch Diocese averted a shutdown of the play, and observers noted that for its grand opening, the new Ivory Theater could have never afforded to pay for so much publicity.

"This city is on a roll!"

"Howard" commented yesterday that "this city is on a roll". While Centene prepares to spend hundreds of millions at Ballpark Village, Howard is getting a new dumpster for his alley. Today, the expanded St. Louis Centre "Mercantile Exchange" redevelopment is announced, adding another $600,000,000 downtown investment to the city's progress.

Ten years ago, no one would have imagined the things happening today in St. Louis. Downtown development has far outpaced the goals set in the Downtown Now plan. Taken together, the revitalization of the city is reaching astronomical proportions. Major out of town developers are adding muscle to the growth.

The turnaround has been nothing less than phenomenal. Projects are jumping off the drawing board and being brought to life. These are exciting times to be a St. Louisan. How far will the rebound go?

Even with all the growth taking place in St. Louis, as a region, we are still very affordable. Compared to the high-growth markets of the Sunbelt States, we are still a bargain. The housing crunch that is hitting hard in other parts of the country is relatively mild in St. Louis. We are one of the few markets actually recording price increases. Could it be that tough times in other regions will continue pushing growth in St. Louis for years to come? Why not? Growth is a magnet for more growth.

We met a young couple last weekend newly relocated to St. Louis from the San Francisco Bay Area. In California, they were paying $1,200 per month for a 750 square foot apartment. Housing costs in their San Francisco suburb averaged over $700,000. They accepted a relocation offer to St. Louis, where the husband manages an upscale retail operation. Sales per square foot at the St. Louis location are on par or higher than the California store where the man worked.

The couple purchased an Art Deco brick home in the City's Lindenwood neighborhood. Their house payment is less than what they were paying in rent in California. Meanwhile, the same home in California would have been priced around $1,000,000. They could never have dreamed of owning such a home on the west coast.

Is it possible that the national economy, and outrageous housing prices in the traditionally hot growth areas of the country will work to the long term advantage of St. Louis? Could it be that our well kept secret of a high quality of life at an affordable price is starting to get out?

How far might we go in our renaissance, and how should we keep building our momentum? Maybe we shouldn't change a thing. Right now, like Howard says, this city is on a roll!

Lists

Today's news is reporting that while FBI crime statistics still show St. Louis at the top of the list of US cities for major crimes per capita, crime is nonetheless way down in the City, with August crime the lowest since 1990. When you consider our city's skewed crime statistics due to our odd city not in a county status, it's hard to get too excited about the city's crime ranking.

The list I'm waiting for is Steve Wilke Shapiro's 50 things he'll miss most about St. Louis. That should be an interesting list. Given that we are twice relocated to St. Louis (we came, we left, and came back again), we know first hand how it feels to miss St. Louis.

When we moved away, we felt that pang of missing St. Louis every day. In fact, we missed it so much, we eventually moved back. Of the things we missed, most of all, it was the people. Next was the quality of life.

DT Rising: Ballpark Village Scores Centene!

They say "timing is everything", and for downtown's Ballpark Village, it appears the timing of the project is a perfect fit for the major expansion plans of Centene Corporation. Centene's planned 1,000,000 + square foot office, hotel and retail development will bring over 1,000 new jobs to downtown, and will be the anchor tenant of Ballpark Village.

It is difficult for mere words to communicate the magnitude of this announcement. For those seeking increased urban density, the Centene deal is a 1,000,000 square foot project to be located on less than one third of the overall Ballpark Village site.

In only two years, the impact of keeping the Cardinals downtown has been huge for St. Louis. In 2006, the Cardinals won their first world championship in over 20 years. Now in 2007, downtown St. Louis is announcing a major office relocation connected to Ballpark Village. Vision and dreams are becoming reality in the City.

With downtown St. Louis securing Centene over dozens of other potential sites across the country, could this deal represent the "tipping point", when local and national observers agree: The City of St. Louis is back!

Site Acquisitions Stall Webster Redevelopment Plan

Efforts to redevelop a 7.5 acre site on the west end of Webster Groves have stalled due to a lack of site control. The city had established a redevelopment plan for the area and issued an RFP for developers.

One development group offered a proposal for a $51 million mixed use project, however the redevelopment has been put on hold with landowners and developers unable to reach terms on land sales. The developer does not want to use condemnation for acquisition, and would prefer site control be established by the city.

The developer's plan was responsive to the city's desire for a high quality, mixed use project. More information about the effort is available online in a this story from today's Post Dispatch.

Kirkwood Historic Preservation Efforts

Some Kirkwood residents are organizing around the issue of historic preservation. Lately, more and more of Kirkwood's historic building stock is being demolished in favor of building expensive new replacement or "infill" homes.

The situation is similar to what the St. Louis region has witnessed transpire recently in Clayton, another historic St. Louis suburb. Just a few years ago, old town Clayton was a highly intact, historic residential area. Visit the old town section today, and you see more and more of the original homes being replaced with large, very high-end, new infill construction.

In response to this same tear-down-and-build-new trend, some in Kirkwood are working to establish local historic preservation codes. These new codes could place strict limitations on the demolition of historic buildings.

The issue is controversial. Not everyone believes such government restrictions are reasonable. On a personal level, we love visiting the historic sections of Kirkwood. However, is it reasonable for government to prevent a private property owner from selling a historic home so that a developer might tear it down to build a larger, more expensive home on the same site?

There are no signs pointing to an end to the controversy. To the contrary, this past weekend, outside Kirkwood's wonderful Greentree Festival, "Save Historic Kirkwood" signs could be seen in the front yards of historic homes all around Kirkwood Park.

One of the most appealing features of the St. Louis region is our historic neighborhoods, with parts of Kirkwood certainly among our best examples.

Youtube Extra: Free Music Lessons from the All-Time Greats

A long time ago, when I started playing guitar, we didn't have much sound equipment at home. My dad took our heavy old Magnavox hi-fi to an electronics shop and had it converted to play as a loudspeaker for the Yamaha box guitar we had mounted with a portable DeArmond pickup. The net result was an amp'd acoustic and that was about it. There was no stereo in the room, and cheap boom boxes weren't on the market yet.

My parents paid for me to take guitar lessons from 5th through 12th grade, studying jazz and popular music. It was all formal training, reading music, and working from one song to the next, with increasing difficulty over the years.

It wasn't until I went off to college that there was a stereo in the same room where I practiced. My roommate had the stereo and this would be the first time I ever played along with records. It changed everything. After 8 years of playing, it would be the first time I ever tried playing by ear.

At the beginning, it felt like I didn't know how to play. What note should follow what? All those years of practicing wasted, and I'm feeling like a total beginner again! Talk about frustrating! But then, after about a month of practice, it started coming together, and a whole new world was opening up for me.

Lots of formally trained musicians never learn to play by ear. They can be masterful classical performers, but have no trained ear for improvising. It's sort of a left brain/right brain sort of thing. Ear playing is all intuition and feel.

When you play by ear, you start instinctively recognizing various chord patterns and style. Good ear players can play most popular music on a "casual" (sitting in) basis, without rehearsals, fitting in with other players on their first set.

Which gets to the point of this post. Our son Matt has had formal music training since first grade on piano and trombone. However, his growing passion is the guitar. And he can't read a lick of music on one. For guitar, he is a pure ear player. Ask him what chord he's playing, and half the time he has no idea. But it's the right one.

He's been playing guitar for a few years now, and recently, his improvement has been incredible. Almost on a daily basis he is playing some new classic hit song. I'm asking myself, where is he getting all this material? Now I know.

He's getting free lessons from the all-time greats right off the internet. You can too. All courtesy of Youtube. Check it out. It's all out there.

Wanna learn from John and Paul? Click here.

Velvet Revolver and Slash more your style? Then try this.