Why STL Rising?

Because we are rising from decades of abandonment and decay, that left ruined buildings like this one...

...to a city that is being rebuilt block by block. It's a place of possibilities, that has room for believers and doers. Naysayers are being proven wrong on a daily basis.

Columbia Bottoms

This place is sort of a mystery. It's the name of the large flood plain across from St. Louis that lies between the Mississippi River and the bluffs to the east.

The area is dotted with small town places and rich farmland. It's right next to downtown St. Louis. There are opportunties for development and redevelopment.

The Confluence Greenway project includes much of the area. Some of the riverfront is old, abandoned industrial. There are great views of downtown.

Crossing the Mississippi can be a pain for commuters, but if you know the shortcuts (Eads and MLK Bridges), you do alright.

It's also home to the world's tallest fountain. If you look closely, you can see the reservoir for it at the bottom left of the image above.

Around noontime, the fountain shoots a column of water over 300 feet in the air. At the free Hootie and the Blowfish concert on the 4th of July, the fountain was going the whole time.

Riding Against Traffic

For the past few weeks, my route to the office has been changed to drop off kids at a summer school program near Forest Park. As a result, I'm getting on eastbound Highway 40 at Kingshighway.

Three times now, I've passed bicycle riders heading westbound on the shoulder of eastbound Highway 40. I've seen them in the vicinity of Market Street/Bernard and Vandenventer.

As odd as it is to see these wrong-way bike riders during rush hour, the cyclists appear totally at ease.

In some states, there are rules that if a highway is the shortest route between two points, you can ride your bike on the interstate, but always with the flow of traffic.

Typically you see highway bike riders in rural areas where alternate routes are not available. That's not the case in the city of STL. We have literally thousands of alternate routes.

If you're on east bound Highway 40 in STL, keep an eye out for these highway bike riders.

Warning: MoBot Koi Attempting to Swallow Babies and Small Farm Animals

Just kidding, but you've got to admit, in such a beautiful place, the sight of all those gaping fish mouths is a little incongruent.

Shaw's Garden in STL is one of the most beautiful places on earth. But take a group of little ones, and their favorite thing to do is feed the fish in the Japanese Garden at the far back corner of the Garden.

To get there, they must first walk through Shaw's entire garden wonder. You don't suppose he planned it that way, do you?

Walsh Street Landing Strip?

That's a shot of our backyard. Note the smokehouse-inspired garage. I often wonder what those circa-1932 builders were thinking building such a small garage when most cars those days were the size of navy gunboats.

The vegetation is teeming with Missouri wildlife. Our hound-mix has made it her job to clear the yard of these native species. Last nite, around 1:15 AM, she made noises indicating it was time to flush the wildlife out of the yard.

There is a Target-issue gazebo on the patio. The mosquito netting makes it a nice , insect-free place to relax. As the dog patrols for rabbits, mice, birds, squirrels, and possum, I sometimes try to get a little sleep on one of the lounge chairs under the gazebo.

I must have dozed for about an hour. When I awoke, the dog was beside me on her own lounge chair, the yard now apparently free from the invading horde. Presently, there was a low roar overhead. I quickly unzipped the mosquito netting, and leaped out of the gazebo for a look skyward.

The sound was increasing. Then above our house, no more than a couple thousand feet in the air, a full-size airliner was cruising by very slowly. I've never seen a large plane fly so low over our neighborhood before. It was about 2:20 AM. Could it be with such late nite flights, pilots have permission to fly their planes at much lower altitudes?

It was a like a scene out of Close Encounters. It didn't bother the dog at all, nor any of the other neighbors. Every one else was probably asleep.

Outdoor Air Conditioning

Over the past twelve years, I've been an occasional pedestrian walking along Locust Street in downtown STL. For most of those years, the walks would be lonely ones, down empty sidewalks, past empty buildings. Today, there is a noticeable difference in the feel of the street.

The new sidewalk cafe at the Old Court House was filled to capacity. Heavy equipment was operating in the early phases of the $80,000,000 Syndicate Trust rehabilitation. A twenty (maybe thirty)-something couple crossed the street at 10th and Locust, where the lady asks the gentleman, "and what's happening here?", nodding toward one of the corner buildings. He began describing the beginnings of another adaptive reuse development.

And from the long list of unsolved city mysteries, even when our STL weather is steaming hot, out from a metal grate in front of the US Bank Locust branch (across from the Lashley Baer law firm), pedestrians enjoy a steady blast of free cold air from some unknown source beneath the sidewalk.

The Eagle Has Landed

Thirty-five years ago, when Neil Armstrong and his Apollo mission safely landed on the moon, the phrase "The Eagle Has Landed" came to signify a turning point in American history. About this same time, the dark and lonely streets of downtown St. Louis could have been compared to a similar empty space.

Washington Avenue has come miles since the days of the early nineties when vacant buildings could be had for $.50 - $1.00 per square foot. Before the Missouri historic rehabilitation tax credit, there was no future for the glorious stock of historic downtown loft buildings.

The transformation of the Bogen Lofts at the corner of Tucker and Washington stands as testament to the renaissance of one of the region's hottest neighborhoods and one of our nation's most exciting downtown revitalization success stories.

12th Street Relic Rising

In front of the new King Louis Square neighborhood on the city's near south side, construction crews are removing the pavement down the center of 12th Street, making way for what appears to be another of the city's new attractive landscaped medians.

With the old pavement being removed by a depth of about 9 inches, workers are exposing the old streetcar tracks that once served south city. Head south from downtown on 12th Street (Tucker) toward Soulard to catch a rare glimpse of a (temporarily) visible relic of old St. Louis.

Reply: Scholar Shop. $5.

Compliment: Nice Tie!

Can't beat the place. Two locations: Webster and Clayton.

Talk about designer brands at discount prices. Tommy Hilfiger tie, $50-$60 department store price, $5.00 at the Scholar Shop.

Check them out. All proceeds fund grants and low cost loans for STL area college students.

Charm and the Anniversary of the Interestate Highway System

There was a story on the news today about the 50th anniversary of the Interstate Highway system.

One person interviewed reported how while the Interstate Highway system may have become the preferred mode of transporation in the US, it certainly does not offer travelers the "charm" experienced on road trips in earlier decades.

If it's charm you seek, consider St. Louis.

Back Streets of Affton

After visiting one of Affton's most popular local businesses, we took an interesting side trip through some of the back streets of our historic suburban neighbor, situated just along the southern bank of the River Des Peres.

There we discovered many well-maintained homes, mostly frame, some brick with studded stonework; quiet, tree lined streets; a hidden away neighborhood park; rolling hills; and even one house with a healthy mid-summer vegetable garden in the front yard, replete with multiple rows of corn standing about four feet high.

We look forward with much anticipation to our next visit to the interesting back streets of our charming STL County neighbor.

Secret Weapon = .500

Talk about being evenly matched...

At the start of the year, we set up two practice games at Tower Grove Park between Dorn's Pirates and our South Sox. The teams split the two games. Then in early season action, the Pirates beat our Sox in a close one, twelve to ten.

The Pirates and the South Sox had a rematch this past Saturday. Both teams entered the game with identical 4-win, 5-loss, and 1-tie records. A win would bring one team to the .500 mark, and drop the other to 2-games below .500. However, as the South Sox entered this pivotal game, we had a new, pint-sized, secret weapon on our side.

"Playing up" in youth sports means you're playing with kids older than you. All of the guys on our team are seventh graders starting eighth grade in the fall. You can see it in them: they're becoming young men. A couple have bested me in height this year(good for them), and Matt is getting close.

When mid-summer hits, it can be a challenge fielding a full team. Summer ativities wreak havoc on little league rosters. For this game, four of our regulars were out of town, and one was sidelined with a sore elbow.

We needed a substitute player. The boys had just the kid: little "C". Some knew him from alley Wiffle Ball. "C" would be playing up, being a sixth grader going into seventh. And he'd be looking up too. At around four feet three, and weighing 70 pounds, he would be by far the smallest player on the field. But in baseball, big size isn't much of an advantage; and, sometimes being smaller can pay dividends.

Being the new kid, we batted "C" at the bottom of the order. When he came up, the other team must have wondered where we found the littlest Sock. I enjoyed watching the expression on the faces of the opposing pitchers as they tried to find "C's" tiny strike zone.

In his first at-bat, the Pirate's pitcher worked "C" to a two-strike count. But "C" bore down, and drilled a line drive past the picther right up the box. Leading off from first, you could tell that "C" was a ballplayer. Taking his lead, he dropped his hands down between his legs, the ends of his fingers twitching. His baserunning savvy was raising immediate concern on the other team. For the day, "C" made it safely on base three for three times, scoring two runs.

In our last at bat, we were down by one run. "C" helped keep things going, working the pitcher for a walk and coming around to score. At the end of our half of the final inning, we were up by three, but down to none of our regular pitchers. After "C" scored his run, I asked him if he wanted to come in to pitch. He didn't need any convincing. He grabbed a ball and started warming up.

About this time, one of the parents from our team came up and asked, "who is the new guy?" I smiled and said he was friends with some of the boys. When our half of the inning ended, "C" took the mound, trying to secure the victory. I was wondering what the guys in the other dugout must have been thinking.

"C" got the first batter to pop out. The next guy up was safe on an error. On the next play, one of our infielders recorded the second out on a fielder's choice. The next batter made first on a clean single. With two on and two out and the tying run at the plate, "C" went into his motion. The batter swung and grounded the ball up the middle. Cooly, "C" fielded it. I heard one of the other dads in the dugout say, "that should do it". "C" turned to first, set himself, and made a perfect throw over to Johnny Boom-Boom at first. Game over. Sox win!

With three games left to play, the Sox improved their record to five wins, five losses, and one tie.

Back in the dugout, after the traditional post-game handshakes with the other team, one of our guys asks, "can we get 'C' on our team for next year?".

Next year. Already talking about next year. That's a good thing.

The Grove

Yesterday, after getting detoured and momentarily lost around Compton and Market, I made a wrong turn trying to enter westbound highway 40, and ended up near the upcoming "RBar" in the Forest Park Southeast neighborhood. Nowadays, the name "Forest Park Southeast" is quickly giving way to "The Grove".

How this name change occured will go down as one of the little differences in the renaissance of the neighborhood located roughly between Vandeventer, Kingshighway, and Highway 40.

Grove. It might have started with the Manchester strip that runs east and west, connecting the north and south sides of the neighborhood. Grove. It's root may come from "Adams Grove", one of the four individual neighborhoods that were grouped together under the name "Forest Park Southeast".

Grove. Add a letter and it spells "groove", fitting for the area's new status as a hip STL night spot.

Years ago, when the ground work was being laid to convert vacant Washington Avenue warehouses into loft apartments and condominiums, realtor Sarah Bakewell was a leader on the Housing Committee of the Downtown St. Louis Partnership.

So maybe it's a sign of more good things to come that today along Manchester in the Grove, in a newly renovated historic commercial building, there is a brand new Bakewell real estate office.

Bare Spots-Filled!

This past weekend I had the opportunity to visit one of those high dollar coastal communities. Exiting the crowded airline terminal to meet my ride, I was concerned he might never find me, let alone find a place to stop for a minute to pick me up. Cars and passengers were criss crossing everywhere. It was a crowded, disorganized C-F, if you know what I mean...

Over the weekend, we drove through some of the area's signature open spaces. I noticed how some of these once-pristine area are being plowed under to make way for new multi-million dollar housing developments. Earth movers are making deep cuts in the hillsides, probably to prepare underground drainage systems to prevent future landsliding.

Retruning home after the weekend, flying into St. Louis, our flight path took us right over our city neighborhood and then made a swing over downtown. There were clear views of the city streets, shopping centers, parks, and downtown's landmarks. Clearly recognizable were the bright red tile roofs of our parish buiildings. We touched down at Lambert a couple of minutes later. As we flew over Dellwood and Kinloch, my seatmate was astonished at the height of the trees in the neighborhoods.

Twenty minutes earlier, my ride had arrived at Lambert. She pulled into the 5 minute curbside loading zone and there were no other cars waiting. The nice security lady granted her permission to wait as long as it would take for me to deplane and retrieve my luggage. She waited undisturbed for over thirty minutes.

Driving home, we travelled the neighborhood streets, crossing through Forest Park and then into South City. We grabbed a quick meal on the Hill, and then headed home. That's when I could see that eighty percent of the previous bare spots in the front lawn were now filled with tall growing grass. The previous barespot challenge has been reduced to a barely noticeable twenty percent of remaining tough ground.

This week, a trip to the Botanical Garden for one of their low cost pH soil tests could hold the key to winning this mini-turf war.

2006 Seedlings Rising!

One of the wonderful features of our old block is the mature street trees that cool the neighborhood by at least ten degrees on hot summer days.

One of the downsides of all the shade is the delicate process involved in getting the lawn to grow. In the past two years, we've removed a flower bed and ornamental tree which obstructed views up and down the block, redone the front lawn twice, and tried to get a full, lush lawn.

Still, we have bare spots. I've made making them green a personal quest. Like generations before me, it's been a typically determined, partially obsessive, south city lawn care struggle.

Last weekend, we repaired the ground and planted a "playground" variety seed. Today, an army of bright green seedlings is rising from the barespots. They are in that needle-thin, vulnerable phase.

The question is, will they survive the pending summer onslaught of trampling kids feet, and tossed down bicycles? The odds are not good...

A Perfect St. Louis Year

Right now, our alley is bursting in a colorful show of multiple varieties of day lillies in full bloom. They look like a miniature fireworks display, all at waist level. Drive the alley between Loran and Walsh, Clifton and Hampton for the next couple of weeks to see the show. It's a tribute to the former owners of the place...they did good gardening. We're just the maintenance crew.

To find the lillies, look for the yard with a tiny garage numbered "5864". You'll recognize it as the one that looks more like a Bevo neighborhood smokehouse than a place to park a car. How those early 1930s builders ever thought someone could park a car in the tiny brick building is a mystery. Maybe they always thought of it as more of a garden house. Bring scissors and a copy of this post, and feel free to take a few of the lillies home with you to decorate your place.

One of the neat things about St. Louis is the tradition of decorating houses. St. Louis people are so into decorating their personal space, you can even tell there's a St. Louis family when you're on vacation-they're the ones who start out by decorating their campsites. It's great.

Egg Trees in Spring. Patriotic decorations at the Fourth of July. Halloween and fall harvest displays. And then at Christmas it's a total house and yard decorating extravaganza. Maybe some of the tradition is owing to the tradition of Catholicism in St. Louis. We are very into physical displays of our spiritual identity.

So last nite, while under our Target-issue gazebo and gazing out into the wildlife habitate and lush foliage in the backyard, we thought of the perfect way to usher out the looming dog days of summer and send an early invite to our glorious fall weather. We're going to start our yard decorating rite a month early.

As soon as we pass the peak of summer heat, sometime around August 20, we will decorate the perimiter of the back yard with strings of twinkling white lights. The yard decorations will progress with more seasonal flow toward Christmas. Then, sometime after Thanksgiving, in addition to the decorations on the street-facing side of the house, we will put up multi-colored lighting on the trees and structures facing out to the alley neighbors.

Old, fat guys hurting "hip" scooter image?

Sporting those sleek, Italian designs, and enjoying a history of being popular with the young set, scooters have always seemed pretty fun and cool.

Lately, however, there has been a notable increase in the number of older, balder, fat guys riding scooters around the city.

Could this spell trouble to the burgeoning scooter business?

Reopen the Caves!

In the ongoing quest to raise St. Louis up to maximum possible coolness status, let's start a civic initiative to reopen the caves near Lemp and Highway 55 as a new-or very old- underground beer garden and music venue. New Years Eve in the Cave! Party down! Waaay down!!

St. Louis Opens Annual "Sweat Fete" Season

It's that time of year again, where in church parking lots and neighborhood streets friends and neighbors gather to sweat, consume mass quantities of A-B products, and have an old-fashioned, neighborly good time. It's block party, neighborhood festival, and parish picnic season.

Last nite was the Our Lady of Sorrows picnic, held on Bishop DuBourg High School's parking lot. This Saturday is the parish picnic for St. Gabriel's church. St. Stephen's always has a good one (anyone know the date?). The Polish Falcons sponsor a big party at their St. Louis Avenue home-always fun with good music and food.

These St. Louis traditions are among our city's best. Be sure to check them out, bring your friends and families, and enjoy the special charm and character of our neighborhoods.

City Schools To Teach Social Skills

Summer School in the city of St. Louis begins today for 14,000 city kids. Today's morning news reported that city school's chief Creg Williams will be emphasizing the teaching of social skills and improved study habits.

The radio news readers had different takes on the issue. One gave William's approach a "thumbs up", while the other had a more mixed response, believing that emphasis in school should be on academic subjects, not social skills. With such high enrollment, maybe the parents agree with the superintendent's plan.

Kids learn from adults all around them, both the good and the bad. Given that they spend so much of their time in school, doesn't it make sense to use the school setting to help develop their social skills?