A good reason to move: sleep!

When we moved to a quieter, 2-way street with lots of shade we thought we found just right house. Great neighbors. Pretty brick houses. Great holiday decorations. Tops in block parties. Walking distance to everything. A lush backyard as seen in the photo above. We love the house and the neighborhood.

Lots of kids making friends with young son. Parks and churches nearby. People taking good care of their houses. What more could you want in a neighborhood? Everything seemed perfect. And it was! There's just one tiny problem. The place isn't just perfect for us - the wildlife likes it too. Too much. Not inside-outside!

All that lush vegetation in the backyard? It's the perfect habitat for rabbits, mice, squirrels, birds, possum, raccoon, foxes, everything. We're in the city, and it's living on the set of Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom. Which is okay. We like having wildlife in the area. This time of year the singing birds are everywhere. And it's neat to see the occasional fox. We love the rabbits. It's all good. All good except for one thing: our dog can't stand it. She's half beagle, half shepherd. To her, the situation is totally unacceptable. And she's made it her job to do something about it. And she does.

Every night, without fail, between 3 and 4 am, she gets up to get to work. And she can't do her rounds without someone with her, for if she does, she will bark to alert us humans of her successes in flushing the wildlife from the yard. And good neighbors that we try to be, we can't have her out there in the middle of the night barking at every rabbit and squirrel she rousts from the yard. So daddy gets to accompany her on her "job".

Now you know that a happy dog needs to have a job, right? They do. And we want our dog to be happy. So, bleary-eyed and half awake, out I go, wrapped in a blanket, toting a flashlight, and dozing on a folding chair, to accompany loyal Hollie, as she protects us from the invading hoards of field mice, squirrels, and cotton tail rabbits. It's all very sweet really. But it's wreaking havoc on my sleep pattern. Something's gotta give, and we certainly won't give up the dog. And I've got to be able to get at least six hours of sleep. So what to do?

It dawned on me this morning. The only solution is we move. Not because we have a kid "reaching school age". Or because we have an "old house". Or because of the "1% earnings tax". No, I guess we'd be moving because we love our dog too much. That's a good reason, isn't it. Or is it crazy? We move because we love the dog too much?

Love of dogs is something that must be pretty important to St. Louis. We've got our own Dog Museum, and we've got an amazing person in one Randy Grimm of Stray Rescue. STL Rising wishes to thank fellow St.Louisan, Randy Grimm, for his love of dogs and his selfless acts of service rescuing stray dogs from the streets of our region. For his years of effort, Stray Rescue was just awarded the $1,000,000 top prize in a national contest to continue its efforts.

According to the sponsors of the contest, one of the reasons Stray Rescue was chosen was the way the St. Louis community rallied around Grimm's Stray Rescue program. Thanks to Randy Grimm and Stray Rescue for all the good they do to help save dogs from the streets and bringing positive attention to St. Louis.

St. Louis getting national attention for pulling together as a community for a worthwhile cause....that's about the best kind of news we can get, isn't it? And so while we may need to find a different house on a block where the backyard doesn't transform nightly into a scene from Where the Wild Things Are, that's certainly no reason to move too far away. A downtown condo maybe? Or maybe one in a converted old school? Something along Metro? Pave the backward? Hmmm. I wonder if they offer "test rests"...

Online discussion looking for a larger audience...

Start on page 28 and read backwards...

A new project for Charlie Brennan?

When it comes to promoting the good things about St. Louis, KMOX's Charlie Brennan is a one-man PR machine. The historic red line downtown, books about St. Louis, and plaques like the one of Mr. and Mrs. Dred Scott in front of the Old Court House are just a few of things he's done to help tell the story of St. Louis.

We come to depend on people like Charlie Brennan to get the word out about this place. After all, we're not a very self-promoting sort of people. We tend to be humble, low-key, self-deprecating, and modest. And it's too bad really. There really are a lot of good things to tout about St. Louis. Like Forest Park.

The transformation of Forest Park is nothing short of amazing. It has gone from a tired, scary for some, expanse of green space - albeit dotted with interesting attractions - to a seamless place of beauty and serenity. At the heart of it all is the Grand Basin at the foot of Art Hill.

When you're standing there, in front of the Grand Basin, you're in the exact spot where the 1904 World's Fair took place. But would you ever know it? What about out of towners? Would they? They've possibly heard of the 1904 World's Fair (it's one of the few things we do talk about...). So they might know the Fair happened in Forest Park. But the park is so big, would they know where in the park the Fair was held? Probably not.

Is there a marker, perhaps a bronze relief with an image of the Fair, mounted atop a brick or stone pedestal, describing the Fair? Wouldn't something like that be a nice addition to the promenade that runs along the edge of the Grand Basin, from where you can look across the water, to Art Hill, and upward to the Art Museum?

"....Here in the summer of 1904, St. Louis staged the 1904 World's Fair. This Grand Basin and the Art Museum on top of Art Hill are the only remaining landmarks from the Fair. The Fair ran from April to December of 1904, and was the first place...." etc. For a town so proud of its World's Fair, I can't think of a historical marker in Forest Park memorializing it. Is there one?

If not, wouldn't that be an ideal project for Charlie Brennan? After all, isn't he our town's number one historical and civic ambassador? Maybe so, but the idea of electing Charlie Brennan to do the work is symptomatic of another St. Louis trait: We like other people to do things for us.

The blogosphere is a good place to see lots of people calling out other people to do things. But beyond the blogs, overall, it's part of how we are. We find problems. We cite them. Then we expect others to take responsibility. Maybe it's all part of human nature.

Volunteering others to do work is cheap talk. Ideas are free. Everyone has them. Accomplishing stuff takes time, resources, and commitment. That's where we are faced with choices.

Do you choose to make a difference? Where do you see the priorities for our time, resources and commitment?

NPS to Start Dialogue Re. Future of Arch Grounds

Did you know that the National Park Service controls the land under the I-70 depressed lanes? That's one of the things involved with any changes to Memorial Drive, the depressed lanes, or the Arch grounds. It's all under the control of the National Park Service.

Yesterday, the National Park Service announced that it will revisit the "management plan" for the Arch, a document that dates back over 40 years. A lot has changed in 40 years, so the National Park Service has decided to engage the public in a discussion about how to position the Arch and its surroundings for the next generation or two.

One suggestion is to build a "walkway" over Memorial Drive, however, the idea of ceding land from the NPS to the City of St. Louis or some other local authority was not expressly mentioned as part of the agenda.

It will be interesting to see how much is available for review and discussion, but the good news is that this is a start. The timeframe for receiving public input is estimated at 18 months.

KMOX Reports on North St. Louis Land Acquisition Activity

KMOX has picked up on the story of private land acquisitions taking place on the near north side. The pattern of land acquisitions suggests a development plan may be in the works. Reporter Kevin Killeen interviewed a state representative, however, he was unable to get any comment about the acquisition activity from the ownership group.

While the story has been covered widely in the blogs, and was featured in the RFT, the mainstream media has given the issue minimal attention. Perhaps with wider media attention, a major announcement of a development proposal may be coming soon?

Red Light Cameras Hard at Work

Over the past couple of years, "red light cameras" have been popping up at signalized intersections across the metro. The camera snaps a picture of cars running a red light, and then the owner of the car is mailed a violation notice with a fine. Based on the number of flash bulbs going off, the system is generating a lot of traffic fines.

A longer standing tradition here in St. Louis is the right of way given to cars driving in funeral processions. To newcomers, it's a little hard to get used to. Cars in parade formation drive right through red lights.

Yesterday, the two practices faced off right in front of me. The light was red, a funeral procession continued right through the red light, and there was the red light camera, busily snapping photos of every car driving through the light. There must have been thirty or forty of them.

What happens now? Do these drivers have to fight the tickets? Will they get them? Do they assume when a long line of cars runs a light in succession, it's a funeral procession so they don't bother sending the tickets?

Blogger has a problem

The security codes to make new posts, the ones where you have to enter the anti-spam letters in the box, have become nearly impossible to read. For me at least. Has anyone else noticed this?

Why does blogger schmoosh the security letters so close together that they are nearly impossible to read? Sometimes it takes me four or five tries to get a post past the spam blocker. Is it just me, or is my increasingly advancing age rendering me more and more incapable of functioning in this (youth dominated/sight advantaged?) internet world?

(ps: I'm now on my third try to enter this post...maybe its an Apple thing?)

(okay, this is ridiculous,,,now its the fourth try...)

(the first round of editing has me back dealing with blogger's spam blocker gatekeeper..here we go again...)

Hillary for the win?

About 6 weeks ago, Barack Obama was looking solid to win the democratic nomination for president. However, since the whole Reverend Wright (sp?) eruption, the democratic nomination now looks totally up for grabs.

Hillary has a strong base in St. Louis. Our mayor endorsed her campaign early on, while Senator Claire McCaskill has been a strong Obama backer.

Both candidates offer new direction for the country. Would one be better for St. Louis?

Maybe we'll see an Obama/Clinton ticket? Does anyone believe that will be the ultimate outcome of the Democratic National Convention?

If it were, then do the democrats prevail versus John McCain in November?

Centene and the Art of the Deal

After a failed eminent domain attempt in Clayton, Centene offered to build its corporate headquarters at Ballpark Village. For reasons never fully explained, Centene withdrew its Ballpark Village plans, and is now once again poised to re-up its Clayton Missouri headquarters expansion effort.

Given all the recent history of Centene's site location efforts, real estate observers will be interested to follow the next round of negotiations. There is no question that the 1,000 or so Centene jobs are an attractive economic development opportunity for any community.

As a decision maker, where do you think the negotiation leverage rests now? Does Clayton offer tax incentives to re-lure Centene?

Impacting change

Outside of our professional lives, we face many choices about the issues that are important enough to us that we want to become personally involved. We all filter them through some sort of internal screening process to set our own priorities. Yet, if we are to positively impact the situation, we must come up with an effective approach. How do you decide how to proceed? A few examples...

Your neighborhood has a problem property. You want something done about it. What's the best thing to do?

There are lots of historic buildings in your community, and you're concerned about preserving them. How should you proceed?

The school near your home needs better athletic fields, but they are landlocked. How can you help them get a "home field"?

A local nonprofit does important work, but the funding to continue their operation is at risk. What should you do?

Every day we encounter different challenges and opportunities, especially in active communities like St. Louis. There are tradeoffs, positives and negatives, and lots of different perspectives and competing priorities.

If you have a goal to see some certain outcome, what is the best way for a single person to make a real impact toward achieving the desired result?

Do you have a pet project you'd like to see happen? For some, the preservation of the San Luis Apartments has become an important issue. There is a plan to tear the building down and create a parking lot to serve the needs of the Arch Diocese. Some would rather see the building preserved. Competing priorities, different perspectives. A neighborhood priority? Maybe, maybe not.

A pet project of mine? One is the revamping of the connection between the Arch/Riverfront and downtown. I believe it's a major concern impacting our city/region and that we can do better. A lot better.

However, it's also one of those things where a single person doesn't carry much weight. So why should I get involved? The Arch connection to downtown involves a myriad of public agencies, lots of money, and many institutions and individuals. It's a complicated situation, but that makes it more interesting! It could take years.

The only way something will happen is for the community to come together around a feasible solution. We want to build a better community, but we also don't want to waste precious time. Perhaps the real challenge is to figure out how to pick your battles?

STL Rising: From the In-Box

AFRICAN-AMERICAN HERITAGE FESTIVAL

(forwarded with permission)

Dear Friends of the Community:

The "African-American Heritage Festival Committee" (AAHFC) proudly presents the Third Annual "African American Heritage Festival" at the beautiful and refurbished Fairground Park. The city's Northside has always been and will always be the cultural base for the Black community. With many former Northside residents spread over the metropolitan area, we invite you all to this festivity because you are still members of this proud community.

The AAHFC is planning this exciting event for Sunday May 18, 2008. The festivities will begin at 1:00 p.m. and we will party and play until 6:00 p.m. The ENTIRE FAIRGROUND PARK will be filled with plenty of action for everyone so come all and bring your entire family. There will be fishing, boat rides, games, sporting events, music, entertainment, booths and concession stands and much, much more!

Anyone wishing to participate in the event must RSVP to Ms. Harris via fax at (314)381-8534 or call (314)385-0145 to confirm your space. Booth space is now available but it won't be for long so you need to call to confirm your space by May 13, 2008. Time is of the essence. All booths and concession stands are $50.00. Please make checks/money orders payable to "African American Heritage Festival". Ms. Harris will provide all the information to obtain the permits for booths and concessions.

All proceeds from this event will be donated to the charitable organization of the Alderman's choice within the 1st, 3rd, and 21st Wards of your Northside community. Be proud of your community and its heritage. Come out to this wonderful event. This event is for YOU! Please call if you have any questions and we thank you for your support.

Sincerely,

Bennice Jones-King - Alderwoman, 21st Ward
Charles Quincy Troupe - Alderman, 1st Ward
Freeman Bosley, Sr. - Alderman, 3rd Ward

Metropolis STL Figures Prominent in 2008 STL City Schools Story

An article in today's Post about young city families with kids reaching school age highlights the stories of a number of former Metropolis St. Louis members.

The article is about the choices families face in trying to balance their desire to live in the city with finding suitable educational opportunities for their children. From homeowner to Special Administrative Board member, former Metropolis St. Louis members are making their stamp on the city.

KWMU To Feature Neighborhood Histories

Tune in to Don Marsh's St. Louis On The Air show today at 11:00 am, 90.7 FM, to hear a discussion about neighborhood histories as a marketing and economic development resource. It promises to be an interesting conversation. Marsh's teaser for the show didn't reveal any of the guests. Anybody know?

STL Cardinals: Community Partner

Being forever in search of sources to underwrite community projects, I just happened upon one you might want to check out for yourself. We're talking about the Cardinal's "consignment ticket sales" program.

If you have access to a large group of Cardinal fans - and in St. Louis, who doesn't? - you have the opportunity to make an easy $3,000 - $5,000 for your community group. Here's how the Cardinals explained it to me...

Make a plan to sell 300-500 tickets through your organization. Work out a game date with the Cardinals. The Cardinals then print out the tickets, and in 3-5 business days, they get them to you. You enter into a contract to purchase the tickets, but there is no payment required up front. About 2 weeks before the date of the game, on "settlement day", you make payment to the Cardinals for the tickets according to the contract.

Here's how it helps your organization. Depending on the face value of the ticket, the Cardinals discount the price. Discounts of up to $10 per ticket are available. Work it right, and your organization can clear $10 per ticket. Sell 300-500 tickets, and that translates to $3,000 - $5,000 to your program or project's bottom line. Not bad for a day at the ballpark!

Work out your arrangements early in the season - like now - for a game say in August or September, and you have more than 2 months to sell the tickets. That's not too hard. For your efforts, enjoy a fun night out with your group; your organization gets its name on the Busch Stadium scoreboard and perhaps a plug on KTRS radio; you bring in cash for your program or project; so it's a win all around.

Surely there must be limitations on such an offer, so for more information, call the St. Louis Cardinals group sales office at 314-345-9370 and ask about the "consignment ticket sales" program. It could turn out to be a real winner for your organization!

"Pulse" or "Linked In"?

As we get more connected through the online world, companies offering professional networks through the internet appear to be a growing trend.

To date, most of the inquiries I've received have been through the "Linked In" network. However, since Friday, I've had two inquiries from highly reputable people, on the "Pulse" network. Is Pulse trying to outwork Linked In? Is there a difference?

Online professional networks make sense, but I wonder which ones are the best. How many would you join?

Well, I just joined Pulse. (The system prompts said "Plaxo". Aren't they a part of "Big Pharma"?) Upon entering the Pulse system, there were many of my Linked In contacts!

Small world meets big world?

STL Rising: Earthquake Reports

We were already up - the dog was barking for no apparent reason - and then out of nowhere the whole house started to shake. My first reaction was that a massive gust of wind had just slammed into the house. The only curious thing was that it had lasted so long, twice really, first a short blast, followed by a second, longer one.

The shaking was violent; we could hear it. The next thing we thought was we had just had an earthquake. One's first reactions following an earthquake where everything seems okay are relief and possibly some excitement. However, in an earthquake, one's perspective quickly changes.

The likelihood is, wherever you are during an earthquake, things are probably worse somewhere else. Coming from California, we've felt a lot of earthquakes. This morning's quake was the strongest one I've ever felt outside of the 1989 Loma Prieta quake in Northern California.

We were attending the World Series game between the Oakland A's and the San Francisco Giants when the earthquake hit - that's a whole 'nother story - and sure enough, while the shaking was bad at Candlestick Park, it was much worse in other places. Living along the San Andreas Fault line, you live in wait for the "Big One".

Fortunately, our Midwest shaker ended before things got out of control. So far, there are no reports of serious damage. The quake is reported to have been centered 127 miles east of St. Louis, registering 5.4 on the Richter Scale. Compared to the California quakes we've been through it felt stronger than that. Hopefully things are okay in central Illinois.

I'm thinking the stronger shaking we felt from a medium magnitude quake has something to do with the solid bedrock spread out under this midwest.

Rock, Meet Bottom

There is a space in time in any musical performance where one beat falls exactly between two others. As part of the natural wiring of our brains, we feel that point. When a note is played slightly off beat, we sense that too.

John Bonham, drummer for the classic rock band Led Zeppelin, had an uncanny ability to hit that mark with perfection. The heavy beat behind all of Zeppelin's music was based on Bonham's signature rhythm. The bottom of something, like in music, is looking for a firm stop. It establishes a critical turning point for us to know that something is preparing to resolve in the other direction.

It is becoming more and more apparent that parts of our city have also found their bottom and are now coming back up. N. Grand is a good example. Yesterday, I was part of a group of about thirty people attending a meeting of the Federal Reserve's 2008 Exploring Innovation series. We met at the new offices of Justine Petersen, located at 1023 N. Grand. 1023 N. Grand was once an abandoned building owned by the city's Land Reutilization Authority.

Justine Petersen has renovated the former LRA building into an exquisite headquarters office to serve their homeownership and micro enterprise lending programs. In addition, the building has storefront space for lease fronting N. Grand.

The building is located about five blocks north of the Fox Theater in what some would generally consider North City, but what is also an expansion of the city's burgeoning Midtown district. The meeting was well attended, and many people parked their cars for free along the side street.

1023 N. Grand is a stately old office building, once housing doctors and lawyers. Much of the original charm is intact, especially noticeable when entering through the main N. Grand entrance. It is during the down phase of a community when such properties become abandoned, and a credit to the people at Justine Petersen for seeing potential in the same building and becoming a partner in the revitalization of another part of our city.

As in music, there is art in identifying that precise moment when things begin resolving in a positive direction. Petersen Housing made magic through their efforts. Around town, there is an increasing sense that more and more of our neighborhoods are going through the same positive turnaround. Can you feel it?

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.
------
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!