Boulevard Heights

I'm usually a skeptic of new residential construction; but, for whatever reason, Boulevard Heights is shaping up rather nicely. Maybe it's that the homes are built to have a matching distance to the street as the older homes. And I never thought I'd actually see vinyl siding that I like. I guess the different colors seem to blend well and the nice garden area between the streets matches those seen in Holly Hills along Federer. Also, detached garages with an alley seem to match the neighborhood as well.

I am also interested in some of the homes currently under construction:

This is a fun project to watch develop.

My new favorite department store

I read of a huge sale going on at Macy's this past Saturday. I considered going, but then I cringed at the thought of going to the SoCo mall. Malls stress me out and actually make me angry, so I go to them as frequently as possible. But then my wife reminded me that Downtown has a Macy's. I've never been in that store, so I decided that I would head down there and try to cash in on the savings.

I thought my 3 year old daughter may like to ride the Metrolink with me, so we parked at the Shrewsbury stop and rode the train downtown. We got on the train at ~10:30 a.m. We were the first ones in the train car, and it soon started to fill up with Mardi Gras revelers. I actually forgot that the parade was going on, so it kind of took us by surprise.

Soon, the train was PACKED! Riders piled on at every stop. It was a nice, bustling atmosphere (minus the pre-noon beer odors eminating off many of the riders). It was like NYC's subway. Most got off at the Civic Center stop to catch Metro shuttles from Scottrade to Soulard. I read that it was a $5 fare for the shuttle (not bad for roundtrip).

I was happy to see so many people using the train. Usually, I have the place to myself. And, overhearing some of the conversations, this was the first time many of the riders have used the metrolink, another good thing in my mind. I overheard another rider comment on the comfort and quality of the padded seats. He mentioned how clean it was compared to the CTA el trains. It was nice to hear people complimenting the system and enjoying the ride.

Best of all, my daughter was in awe of all the people and excitement. She was just taking it all in and smiling. This was nothing she would have experienced had she been in the back seat of my car driving to the SoCo mall. I was happy that she was actually having fun during routine transit.

So, back to Macy's. We got off at the 8th & Pine stop. Again, I was reminded of NYC's subway system. We got to street level and just for fun, I asked the first person I came across to direct me to Macy's. They immediately gave me (correct) directions. That was the only other pedestrian we would see on our walk from the metro stop to the dept. store. Downtown was dead from a pedestrian standpoint. We entered Macy's on 6th street I think. We passed only 10 or so other shoppers in the whole store. Peaceful, I must say. We went to the men's dept on the second floor and had the place to ourselves. There was no shitty suburban top 40 music on the speaker system, there were no cell phone yapping spoiled kids in Hollister/Abercrombie gear in my way. It was just me, my little girl and an attentive staff of courteous workers on hand to help us.

It was the best department store experience I've had to date. I will be back. I left with my $6.00 flannels and $12.00 courderoys. The train was ontime and nearly empty on the ride back to South City.

Holly Hills Website

Holly Hills just upgraded their fantastic new website.

Check it out: Holly Hills Improvement Association

Click on the "Garden" tab across the top banner to learn about a project near and dear to my heart.

Oh yeah, and comment here, or email me if you are interested in volunteering or establishing your very own garden bed in our rapidly expanding community garden.

groth_stl@hotmail.com

Back in the saddle

I used to have a blog named South St. Louis City Talk. I had a lot of fun with it, but due to time constraints I decided to step away for awhile. Not a week after I deleted the blog and all it's past content, some other guy picked up the address and started operating his own blog under that exact same name and address. This aggravated me, but I'll chalk it up to an Internet lesson learned. Anyhow, at least the guy granted my request and posted a disclaimer that stated that I was in no way affiliated with what he would write or post.

To make a long story short, I recently decided to jump back into the STL blogging world. And this will be my second attempt at creating discussion around issues that are important to me surrounding this fine city (and occasionally random thoughts on tasty musical selections).

I originally got into the St. Louis blogging thing from reading an article in the South City Journal that mentioned these sites:
Brick City
Urban Review STL
Since then, I became a daily reader of these and a short list of other STL-related blogs.
I recently read/watched one of Steve Patterson's recent posts regarding Marine Villa:
http://www.urbanreviewstl.com/?p=3468
Check out the video if you haven't already. It's fantastic in that it shows how the entrenched STL old-guard operates. It shows how badly we need fresh blood and ideas in this town. But most of all, it shows how one person can make a difference and drive change. Without Steve's direct account of the proceeding, I would never have known about this.

We need term limits to aldermanic positions. We need balanced people who can be inclusive of all interested, logical and intelligent parties involved in neighborhood associations.

The original point I was trying to make is that, I have once again been inspired to write and hopefully raise awareness about the issues and opinions of a commoner living in South City.