I’m in my 20th year in St. Louis. Although I have come close to moving elsewhere over the years at this point I don’t ever see myself leaving St. Louis. I complain daily about this and that but I do so because I care. If I didn’t I would have [...]
As I’ve written before, how we live in cities changes because of technology. The streetcar allowed cities to physically grow outward and the automobile took cities further and further outward. The mobile phone has allowed us to be away from a land line. The phone booth has disappeared. The notebook [...]
When downtown residents began planning a downtown dog run a couple of years ago it was known then that at least one potential member/user from an adjacent building uses a wheelchair.
November 11, 2009
So I was surprised when I heard last month the newly constructed dog run [...]
To some Christmas is about the birth of their savior, Jesus. But in the reader poll last week the majority of those planning to celebrate Christmas this year indicated, for them, the holiday was more about family & friends than the birth of Jesus. Christmas, it seems, has become a [...]
I’m a huge advocate of elected officials using Twitter to communicate with constituents. But for Mayor Slay to use Twitter to suggest a change in a department under his authority seems odd:
If I could text complaints to the CSB, I could attach photos taken by my phone. How about it, [...]
In 1947 St. Louis’ long-time planner (1916-1950) Harland Bartholomew thought the city’s population would exceed one million by 1970. Instead, between 1950-70, we lost 234,560 people to have 622,236. We had 38% fewer people than he thought we would!
Bartholomew also thought we should have 35 airports in the region because, [...]
Longer, wider, bigger has been the automotive trend for decades. Same with increased luxuries. Tata Motors has bucked industry trends by introducing the world’s cheapest car, the Nano. The base Nano, made in India, sells for the equivalent of less than $2,500. Yes, under $2,500! Before you dismiss the Nano, [...]
When Citygarden opened this past Summer it was an instant hit. Kids especially loved the various places to get wet.
The splash fountain was packed with kids. Adults lined the edges watching as the kids had fun.
Even adults got into [...]
Earlier in the week I walked past the Eden Lofts at Chouteau & 18th. The name of the firm that designed the building was proudly carved into stone near the entry. It is a beautiful building, I’m sure they were proud.
This practice should be mandatory. You [...]
Twenty Ten years ago today famed urban planner Harland Bartholomew died. From his NY Times Obituary, Harland Bartholomew, 100, Dean of City Planners:
Harland Bartholomew, the dean of comprehensive city planning in the United States, died Saturday at his home in Clayton, Mo., a suburb of St. Louis. [...]
Fifty-four years ago today a 42 year old (my current age) woman refused to move to the back of the bus in Montgomery, Alabama.  Of course the woman was Rosa Parks:
Her refusal to surrender her seat to a white male passenger on a Montgomery, Alabama bus, December 1, 1955, triggered [...]
Kurt Greenbaum didn’t like the repeated anonymous comment from a reader on the website of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. He saw where the comment came from (a school) so he contacted them - a violation of a portion of their privacy policy:
We will not share individual user information with [...]
I started this month talking about how Lisi Bansen was struck by a car as she traveled on Delmar using her manual wheelchair (post). There she had no sidewalk available. The city finally came through with sidewalks connecting accessible apartments and a store two blocks away - [...]
Thanksgiving to New Year’s Day is the holiday season in North America. For most this time includes Christmas. For the rest of us we often celebrate another holiday, such as Kwanzaa or Hanukkah. We have a diverse population in St. Louis so I’m curious to see how diverse my readers [...]
No matter how much you ate Thursday, you probably had uneaten food remaining. Some of you will save and eventually eat what was left. Much of the food will be tossed into the trash. Tucked into the trash bag it is out of sight out of mind. Your trash will [...]
A decade ago Apple depended on a few retailers to display and sell their computers. These retailers did a poor job, relegating the Macs to the back corner of the store. Apple decided they needed to open their own retail stores to get their products in front of consumers. May [...]
For nearly two years now I’ve been thankful every day that I am a stroke survivor. That moment when you are certain your life will soon be over is surreal. When I awoke from sedation in ICU almost a month later just the idea of still being alive was more [...]
In early November 2005 Elizabeth “Lisi” Bansen died a few days after being struck by an SUV as she was traveling the two blocks from the nearest store to her apartment. Lisi Bansen was disabled and using a manual wheelchair. She was in the roadway because what sidewalks existed were [...]
I’m going to make a broad generalization: readers of this and other local blogs care about their neighborhood, their municipality and their metropolitan region as a whole. I know I do and I sense that many of you do to. The poll last week confirmed my theory.
Q: How often do [...]
Friday I asked for help with information on 60 former pedestrian malls (see post). Readers responded with helpful information. Today I’m sharing my complete list of cities that have or had a pedestrian mall built during the period 1959-1984.  A few cities are listed twice because they [...]
It is not often an editor for our hometown paper, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, makes stories from coast to coast.
A school employee lost his job after he posted a one-word vulgarity in the comments section of an online article at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
According [...]
The topic of my capstone (thesis) for my Masters in Urban Planning is the pedestrian mall. I’ve taken on the ambitious task of documenting every pedestrian mall built in North America between 1959-1984. So far I have documentation on 135 pedestrian malls created during this 25-year period. Of those I [...]
Nothing defines “big box” more than Wal-Mart, take this recent bit from Iowa: “the Wal-Mart Supercenter will cover 150,000 square feet of land — around 40,000 feet fewer than the company originally planned.” (source) 40,000 feet fewer?
In the earlier days of our city we had the small [...]
The Coronado is known to many of you. The building sat vacant for many years until it was renovated into residences, offices and restaurants. Located across from Saint Louis University at Lindell and Spring (map) it is in the center of the action.
[...] Nearly 2/3 of the readers that voted in the poll last week have “smart” phones — small web-enabled computers that also send/received phone calls:
Q: What operating system does your mobile phone use?
Basic mobile/no idea of the OS 48 (36%) iPhone OS (Apple) 35 (26%) Blackberry (Research in Motion) 17 (13%) Android (Google) 12 [...]I often get emails from people wanting me to bring attention a problem/dispute they are having.   Such was the case on November 7th:
I live in the Jack Thompson Lofts on the top floor above Club Lure. I live with my girlfriend and her [9 year-old] daughter and the smoke from [...]
No matter where you live you are probably part of a neighborhood and that neighborhood very likely has regular meetings. They may be quarterly or they may be monthly. Some are casual while others can be more formal. Some can be very productive while others never seem to move forward. [...]
45 years years ago, November 1964, Patula Clark released Downtown:
In January 1965 the song made it to #1 in the United States. This was a time that downtown needed a positive image.
Linger on the sidewalks where the neon signs are pretty
Except [...]
Knowing what our elected officials are working on used to require attending monthly neighborhood meetings. Not bad if you are free when the meetings are held and patient enough to sit through the entire meeting to hopefully get a clue what they are up to. Not good if you care [...]
Last Sunday I was walking from my place to the London Tea Room. I went the long way to look at old cars lined up on 17th for the Veteran’s Parade. So I crossed through CPI’s parking lot which is just North of my building.
I noticed [...]
Cities are very good about finding money for capital projects. Money for operations and ongoing maintenance, however, is often scarce.
Citygarden splash fountain, August 2009
But when a leak was discovered under a portion of the splash fountain at the new Citygarden downtown there was [...]
My poll last week was not about a serious issue facing St. Louis. Instead the question asked readers to vote for their favorite St. Louis beer. The winner by a huge margin was Schlafly. For readers from out of town, co-founder Tom Schlafly is a nephew of Eagle Forum founder [...]
Very early this morning I found a blog that impressed me based on the comment system employed. In the footer I could tell the blog was based on WordPress just like this one. I had to have this system.
So tonight I made the change on how comments on this blog [...]
The City of St. Louis has hundreds, if not thousands, of beautiful urban buildings I’d like to see renovated. Significant buildings like the Arcade/Wright downtown, among them. But the one building I think I’d put at or near the top of my list is a 2-story building at the [...]
Remember the corner phone booth?
Source: Payphone-project.com
I can’t remember the last time I saw one much less the last time I used one.  As mobile phones have become commonplace, the once ubiquitous pay phone has disappeared.
Teenagers have previously lagged behind adults in their ownership of cell phones, [...]
Crepes in the City, a popular downtown eatery, closed last month month after only a year in business. New owners are taking over the space and plan to reopen with the same menu and name. Changes will be minor. For example, more comfortable seating, I’m told.
Each weekend the line was [...]
From my desk at home I can see Locust Street in my peripheral vision through the glass door to my balcony. As I see movement on the street I’ll glance over that direction. More often than not when someone parks at the on-street metered space they fail to keep their [...]
November 3rd voters in St. Louis County approved a clean air bill covering their county (65% yes). Prior to their vote the Board of Aldermen in the City of St. Louis passed a bill doing basically the same thing in the city, which is separate from St. County.
Both will go [...]
The poll last week received responses from a little more than 6% of the visitors to the site (174/2,848). Of those that responded the message is very clear: the status quo is not good enough.
Q: St. Louis City has 28 wards. Many think the number should [...]
This post is to welcome Maggie Campbell to St. Louis. Campbell started work yesterday as the new President and CEO of the Partnership for Downtown St. Louis. The following is from a September 30th St. Louis Business Journal article:
Campbell has been president of the Arlington (Texas) Downtown [...]
Four years ago today Elizabeth Bansen was struck and killed by an SUV as she returned home from the market two blocks East of her apartment. Although the accident occurred around 6pm driver didn’t see Bansen in her wheelchair on the street. On December 6th 2007 I posted on the [...]
For generations St. Louisans have been brewing and consuming beer. From the biggest to the smallest, and everything in between, the number of breweries in the St. Louis area is impressive.
The poll this week asks your favorite local brewery. I’m not asking which you consume the most, but which is [...]
Today is the fifth anniversary of this blog. Five years! My life has changed dramatically over those five years, partly because of the blog.
On a personal note my great-nephew was born just after I started the blog, an early post included a pic of him just hours old. Both of [...]
This Tuesday voters in St. Louis County will determine how soon much of the Missouri side of the region goes smoke-free. Well, mostly smoke-free.
If passed, Prop N would prohibit smoking in enclosed public spaces, including bars, restaurants, concert venues and indoor and outdoor sports facilities. It would also ban smoking [...]
Current 9-1-1 systems were developed decades ago before mobile phones became popular replacements for landlines. Each year an increasing number of households, like mine, do not have a land line.
From Wikipedia:
Dialing 9-1-1 from a mobile phone (Cellular/PCS) in the United States originally connected the call to the [...]
Three years ago I did a post, Envisioning Smart Growth, that I want to make you aware of. Â In that post I featured some impressive photoshop work done by a California firm, Urban Advantage:
Before
After
My original post has two intermediate [...]
This sidewalk, heading South from Washington Ave. along the East side of 14th Street, has a number of issues. Most notably it is too narrow.
On the positive side, the trees and parked cars make a nice buffer between the pedestrian and passing vehicles. Since my stroke [...]
Last week I had two polls, here are the results:
1) A Louisiana justice of the peace refused to marry an interracial couple citing concern for any kids they may have. Thoughts?
This is not 1959! He should resign. 154 (72%) A legit concern even in 2009, he should keep his job. [...]Last week I rode the fairly new #99 Downtown Circulator bus with Metro employee Courtney Sloger. I had met Ms. Sloger a few weeks earlier as part of a panel with Dr. Todd Swanstrom of the University of Missouri St. Louis discussing transit for What’s Up Magazine. [...]
In looking back over the many posts I’ve done over the nearly five years I’ve been publishing this blog one of my favorite topics is local politics. Reforming the city’s charter is always a good discussion.
In 1950 the City of St. Louis had 28 ward-elected Aldermen representing 850,000 residents (30,350/Alderman) [...]
Often artists show the rest of us how undervalued items (objects, buildings, land) should be appreciated. High-end loft districts often started as dirt cheap studios for artists. Where there is art & artists there is transformation. October 30th is the opening of the Urban Alchemy/Gordon Matta-Clark exhibition [...]
Last week Rush Limbaugh was dropped the group seeking to take over the St. Louis Rams. Opposition was mounting locally, nationally and even within the NFL. Here is the poll question, answers and the final tally:
Q: Rush Limbaugh & Dave Checketts have bid on the St. Louis Rams. Reaction?
I [...]Developers, architects, engineers and politicians in the St. Louis region must collectively assume that 100% of the population drives their own private vehicle on 100% of their daily trips. They must, how else can you explain what passes for new development in the region? Only development that will remain more [...]
It is nice to see the St. Louis region make the New York Times, although of late it has done so for less than positive reasons (Limbaugh/Rams). The latest brings up interesting issues:
O’FALLON, Mo. - With three small children and her marriage in trouble, Pat Bond attended a spirituality retreat [...]
Interracial marriage remains an issue for some:
NEW ORLEANS (AP) - A white Louisiana justice of the peace said he refused to issue a marriage license to an interracial couple out of concern for any children the couple might have.
Keith Bardwell, justice of the peace in Tangipahoa Parish, says it is [...]
It has been nearly 20 years since the Americans with Disabilities Act became law. Much work remains. Nobody expected every place to magically become accessible overnight. Private buildings, especially those built since 1990, are pretty good.  A big chunk of the work to be done is in the public right-of-way [...]
On September 21st Forest Park Forever’s new Executive Director was announced:
Forest Park Forever, the nonprofit that maintains Forest Park, named Lesley Hoffarth its president and executive director on Monday following a nationwide search.
Hoffarth, currently the I-64 reconstruction project director, will join Forest Park Forever in January. (Source: [...]
We may get a boost in future convention business because we not a high-profile city like Las Vegas:
What happens in Vegas may be moving to Detroit, Denver or Dallas.
The public backlash against lavish corporate meetings and conventions in cities such as Las Vegas, Palm Springs and Hawaii is becoming a [...]
Some believe the distraction of conversation or texting is as bad or worse than having one hand off the steering wheel. Few of my weekly polls have been as evenly split as last week’s: Texting while driving is a current issue.
Pick the answer below that best describes your thoughts:
Texting [...]In the early 20th Century St. Louis, like many cities, was a crowded place. Nearly every foot of land had a structure. The public street (sidewalk + road) was packed with pedestrians, streetcars, horses, buses, trucks, bikes, and cars. Around the edges you could find relief in parks such as [...]
You’ve probably all heard the latest Rams news. From the LA Times on 10/6/09:
It appears conservative talk-radio host Rush Limbaugh wants to be an NFL team owner.
In a statement released today, Limbaugh said he’s partnering with St. Louis Blues owner Dave Checketts in a bid to buy [...]
In last week’s readers overwhelmingly favored breaking up the St. Louis political machine (89%). Sixty people indicated we need to break up the political machine.  In one answer option I suggested switching our municipal elections to non-partisan - only 25 selected this answer. The other 35 that agreed we [...]
Originally posted 10/6/09 @ 6:14pm:
My 3rd-party server space has been experiencing issues since last Saturday. It is back up now obviously. The problems were completely beyond my control. Hopefully the host company has the issues resolved.  To stay connected I suggest following the blog on Twitter at twitter.com/urbanreviewstl. Don’t [...]
Later this month the Center for the Humanities at the University of Missouri is holding an interesting a 2-day conference:
The Center for the Humanities invites you to the 15th annual What Is a City? conference. Join speakers from around the country and St. Louis in examining [...]
Last week the issue of texting while driving got a high profile new policy:
Oct. 1 — President Barack Obama banned the nation’s almost 3 million federal employees from texting while driving as part of an effort to fight motorist distractions that may have caused 5,800 deaths last year.
Obama’s executive [...]
Two years ago today A.G. Edwards became Wachovia Securities. From the Post-Dispatch on the vote the Friday before:
In five minutes it was over.
That’s how long it took Friday for shareholders of A.G. Edwards Inc. to approve the demise of the 120-year-old St. Louis-based brokerage when they voted overwhelmingly in favor [...]
For the fifth year in a row UrbanReviewSTL has been honored to make the annual RFT Best Of issue. For 2009 this blog was named by the editors of the Riverfront Times as the Best Blog in St. Louis (link).
Previous recognition:
Best Civic-Minded Blog, 2005 Reader’s Choice for Best [...]For less than 20 years 33 towers stood on 57 acres on the city’s near-north side (map). Pruitt-Igoe was a failure of massive proportions. The reasons are numerous and complex. The towers were razed over a two-year period starting in 1972. Since then [...]
I missed the news about this line when some bus routes were temporarily restored but as part of Metro’s Partial Service Restoration Plan includes a circulator bus downtown.
The route does a loop through the central business district along 4th & Broadway as well as a [...]
A recent poll on this site asked readers which professional sports league, if any, should be next for St. Louis. We currently have professional football (Rams), hockey (Blues) and, of course, baseball (Cardinals). Of the “major” leagues we lack only basketball (NBA). Other leagues we do not [...]
Except one, all the elected officials from the City of St. Louis are Democrats. Local, state, or federal — if their district is in the city they are a Democrat. I firmly believe we need to break up the political machine in the city. Why? Corruption:
Another state politician from St. [...]
In the Spring of 1991, at age 24, I moved to a 3-room flat on Sullivan Street. It was quite a change from my first St. Louis apartment on Lindell.
14xx Sullivan, May 1991
My place was the one with the green shutters over the [...]
Myself and others are calling for the removal of the highway lanes that cut through downtown, dividing the CBD & loft district on the West from the Arch grounds, Laclede’s Landing and Mississippi River to the East. Too often the discussion about solving the division problem presented by the highway [...]
Paul McKee’s NorthSide project may, eventually, be a good thing for the City of St. Louis and the entire St. Louis region. But by that time most of us won’t be around. We’ve had a 60+ year decline (1940-2000) and it will take at least 60 more to recover (2010-2070) [...]
Smokers are noisy & trashy. So says smoking advocate Bill Hannegan in emails arguing against smoke-free public spaces. Smokers are so bad we are best advised to keep them indoors rather than unleashing, he suggests.
Recent communication to Gary Weigert, President of the St. Louis Police Officers’ Association:
I am writing to [...]
The norm in the St. Louis region is for roads to have lots of lanes and no on-street parking. On-street parking slows motorists and the traffic engineers will have none of that, it is all about speed for them. But multiple lanes of speeding cars are bad for cyclists and [...]
Many think population density is all bad or all good. To me it depends up0n how the population uses the land.
Much is said about St. Louis’ peak of 856,796 in 1950 and how over the last 50 years we lost over half a million people out of our small 61.9 [...]
Lucas Park, in downtown St. Louis, was used for years only by the homeless in the region. Map to Lucas Park. A year ago local residents began cleaning up and using the park. The homeless are still there, just joined by loft dwellers.
In the last year [...]
Forty-four years ago today the CBS TV series Green Acres was first broadcast. I loved repeats of this series during the 1970s. Part of me wanted to live in the urban penthouse while another part wanted to try the farming thing. The show started with Lisa Douglas [...]
A large majority of those voting in the poll last week support the idea of removing a section of highway downtown and building a boulevard as a pleasant way to move vehicles through the area. The total number of votes was 162.
The highway is now marked [...]
You couldn’t tell from our unusually pleasant St. Louis Summer, but the planet is slowly warming. It is this overall warming of the planet - mostly covered by water — that produced jacket weather in August. No heat, no humidity. I’ve seen numerous comments on Facebook and elsewhere saying Al [...]
After demolition of the historic Century Building began in the Fall of 2004, the lawsuits by two downtown residents seeking to prevent the demolition became a moot point. On April 19, 2005 the State of Missouri and the City of St. Louis, through entities, joined with the developer of the [...]
Budgets are tight at all levels of government. Monday I was part of an estimated 75,000 spectators along the 7.5 mile route of stage 1 of the Tour of Missouri:
Start/Finish line at 7th & Market, St. Louis
The tour came close to not happening [...]
Cleaning up the planet sounds good but what can one person do?
River des Peres at Gravois
A week from Saturday there is an event where you can make a difference:
September 19th 2009 at 8:00 am
The River des Peres Trash Bash will have clean-up sites throughout the [...]
The poll last week was about the November ballot measure in St. Louis County regarding the relatively weak smoke-free law (excludes casino floors, for example). The poll question was:
In November voters in St. Louis County have a smoke-free ballot item. My thoughts are:
I support the measure and believe it will [...]
For over 40 years I-70 has been a major barrier dividing downtown St. Louis from the the Mississippi River. Isolating Laclede’s Landing. Hovering over the Missouri side as you exit the historic Eads Bridge:
At the Gateway Arch the freeway dips into what us known as the [...]
Last Saturday night thousands of casual bike riders were on the roads after Midnight (Sunday morning) for the 46th Annual Moonlight Ramble:
Riders assembled on Market Street at 15th just before midnight on [...]In my first month of blogging I did a post on November 20, 2004 called What Washington Avenue is missing…
Here is some of that post:
The emerging loft district along Washington Avenue, as well as the blocks between Olive & Washington between [...]
Few things are more urban than walking down the street to the corner bakery to buy a loaf of bread that came out of the oven just an hour before. Sadly, few of us live in places where doing so is still possible. This post is, at the same time, [...]
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