Rear Entry And Other Urban Niceties

Sorry for the provacative title to this entry, I just couldn't resist.  Entering businesses and people's homes from the back door is one of my favorite urban experiences. Parking in the rear, and entering a vintage building (usually built to the sidewalk) really hits home with me.  A couple examples of this kind of set up would be the South Hampton Barber Shop at 5423 Hampton; or Penzy's spices in Maplewood.  Pappy's, the U and the Buffalo Brewing Company in Midtown also have rear entry.  Garavalia's Hilltop Inn in Boulevard Heights has rear entry.  I'm sure there are many others yet to be discovered.

Other urban fixtures I am fond of:

1. fire escapes-fell in love with them in NYC, now I'm developing a photo album of ones in STL
2. Dining establishments with a bar set in front of large windows overlooking the street.  It's fun to enjoy lunch and watch pedestrians walking the sidewalks/streets.
3. alleys and alley dumpsters for yard waste and regular trash-I've never owned a home on an alley and I'm jealous of those huge dumpsters.  Our next home WILL be on an alley.
4. below level or downstairs bars/restaurants.  Labeebees DT on 9th street or the old Rosario's (?? is that right ??, memory is foggy) on Sarah are perfect examples.
5. High rise patios off condos (CWE, DT and Midtown have some excellent examples). Especially ones with elaborate gardens.
6. Train bridges in dense parts of the city-I love walking to Busch stadium from my free parking spot and hearing the slow rumble of coal freight trains above me.  At our previous home in Holly Hills, I loved living on a railway for Amtrak and the fancy antique trains that are rented out for weddings, events, etc. from Union Station. 
7. Windows that open up onto the sidewalk.  The gelato place on South Grand is a good example.  The former Chez Leon in CWE is another.
8. Sidewalk loading receptacles (sorry for the crappy description, I don't know what these are technically called).  You know, the metal panels that open up for the UPS guy to send boxes down a ramp to the receiving dept. of the buildings.

These are just a few things that remind me of why I like living in a big city as opposed to a contemporary suburb.  What are some of yours?

ps. what the hell happened to the spell checker on blogger?  You'll have to forgive my misspelled words for now....

Susan Elizabeth Blow (1843-1916)

I was enjoying a cup of coffee and a banana nut muffin with my lovely wife at

Broadway Bean

. She was reading

a book on Carondelet

and mentioned something about the first public kindergarten was in St. Louis. I was only half listening as males often do (sorry Shan); but it stuck with me somewhere in the back of my mind.

I was wondering where the school was and who decided to start a Kindergarten in St. Louis; after all, that was a German educational philosophy right?  The first Kindergarten in America was actually in

Waterman, Wisconsin

.  But the first

publicly financed

Kindergarten was founded by Susan Elizabeth Blow in 1873.

Susan Elizabeth Blow was an amazing St. Louisian and woman in general.  Here's the story on her privileged, but certainly not spoiled life (from Wikipedia):

The eldest of six children, Susan Blow was the daughter of Henry Taylor Blow and Minerva Grimsley. Henry owned various lead-mining operations, was president of the Iron Mountain Railroad, was a state senator, and was a minister to Brazil and Venezuela. Minerva was the daughter of a prominent manufacturer and local politician. The Blow children grew up in a deeply religious family surrounded by comfort, wealth, and high German culture. Her grandfather was Captain Peter Blow, the owner of the slaveDred Scott, who later challenged the slavery issue in court.

Due to her family's social status, Blow received her education from her parents, various governesses, private tutors, and schools. At age eight, she was enrolled at the William McCauley School in New Orleans, Louisiana; she attended classes there for the next two years. At age sixteen Blow and her sister Nellie enrolled in the New York school of Henrietta Haines but were forced to return home due to the outbreak of the Civil War. During this time Blow tutored her younger brothers and sister and taught Sunday school at Carondelet Presbyterian Church.

At age twenty, Blow met and fell in love with a soldier named Colonel William Coyle, but her parents found him to be unsuitable. When Coyle was discharged for medical reasons, her father took her to Washington D.C. and introduced her to another military man who was more to his liking. However, Blow chose not to marry.

President Ulysses S. Grant appointed Henry Blow minister to Brazil in 1869, and Susan went with him as his secretary. During the next fifteen months, she quickly learned Portuguese. Her bilingual ability helped to ease trade communications between Brazil and the United States.

In 1870, along with her mother and siblings, Blow went abroad to Europe. She first began studying the philosophies of Hegel and the American Transcendentalists. However, while abroad she came across the kindergarten teaching methods of German idealist and philosopher Friedrich Fröbel. Fröbel believed in "learning-through-play" and cognitive development.

Wow.  It's kind of sad that Colonel William Coyle and Susan never got any further. 

Anyhow, the school was called the Des Peres school, located in Carondelet at Michigan and Iron.  Does this still exist?  I will try to go by there soon.

Susan Elizabeth Blow was an important leader in education from Missouri. She founded the first public kindergarten in St. Louis and ran it for eleven years without any pay. Blow worked hard to give young children a good start in their education. “If we can make children love intellectual effort,” she once wrote, “we shall prolong habits of study beyond school years.” (source)

That quote warms my heart.

St. Louis is a fascinating place with an amazing history.  Our citizens have made monumental contributions to our culture and society.  We need more pioneers with this kind of vision.  I like living amongst this kind of history. 

Vic Chesnutt

Vic Chesnutt died on Christmas day.  He will be missed in our home and in our hearts.  He was one of the most honest, funny, original musicians of my time and I'm glad I got turned on to him and saw him perform and will always listen to his music.  I am reminded of his song "New Town" from the About To Choke record released in 1996 when visiting new suburban enclaves:

new town reeks of lumber

new town beat the crowds

new town kittens discover

that the birds scrape the ground

and even the loneliest old ladies get social calls

where they dine and talk about their savior

and the grassroots effort to incorporate

elects a smiling mayor

new town Americana

new town rookie police

new town industries are wanted for the local employees

and a little bitty baby draws a nice clean breath

from over his beaming momma's shoulder

he's staring at the worldly wonders

that stretch just as far as he can see

but he'll stop staring when he's older

oh, new town

new town

new town

To me this sums up both the promise of new American towns as well as the eventual boringness and blandness that new towns leave behind as they age.  I'll miss you Vic.

Papa Fabarre's

Okay, I know I just did a post on the

DT

Macy's, but I had to go back to exchange a couple items and stopped into Papa

Fabarre's

on the second floor for lunch. First of all, this place is what it is. And by that I mean a true throwback. I think it rivals Crown Candy Kitchen and

O'Connels

for original, non-pretentious charm.

Check out the fully operational pulley's and belts that operate the ceiling fans.

My first job was busing tables at a

Belleville

, Illinois restaurant called

Riedels

. The food reminds me of

Riedels

. Good old unhealthy American comfort food. Grilled cheese and chicken on a pretzel bread were our choices. They are famous for their French onion soup which is served in a crock layered with cheese. Soup is a term used loosely here. I would say gravy would be more appropriate. But, people love this stuff. The place was filled to capacity on the Monday we were there. The hostess, waiter and cashier all confirmed that the restaurant will remain open after the reconfiguration of the Macy's down to 3 floors.

They indicated that the future of the St. Louis Room restaurant on the 6

th

floor is still up in the air.

This place is a trip; a great place to take out of

towners

and first timers.

Downtown Macy's Escalator Tribute

I am a big fan of the downtown Macy's. It's in a fabulous building, close to a

Metrolink

stop and is staffed by kind people. It's got a cool restaurant (

Papa

Fabarre's

), it isn't part of an annoyingly jarring indoor mall and is never overrun with people; no lines (good for customer, bad for retailer).

Obviously, I am happy that Macy's is going to keep this location open. Yet, I'm sad that they are downsizing it. Not because of the loss of goods and retail square footage, but because of the escalators. Man I'm a dork, I know it, but

damn it

, I will desperately miss the varied styles of

escalators

in this department store. From the old school wood to the brushed stainless steel art deco ones to the more modern glass ones like you see today. I fear these will go the way of the typewriter during the remodeling. I hope not, but I fear the worst. Here's my photo tribute to a department store and escalators that have soul:

My kids love getting Swedish fish at the candy counter:

I will miss the marble floors too.

Urbanstl.com

is anyone else twitching with withdrawal symptoms over the lack of urbanstl.com?

St. Louis Magazine's Report on North Side

I thought St. Louis Magazine had a nice, brief recount of the undertakings of Paul McKee's North Side project.

Carondelet Park Rec Plex-Grand Opening

The city just became a better place to live and raise a family. This place is amazing. I trust the YMCA will take care and run this facility with professionalism and fairness. I can't say I would trust the city to staff/run a clean, safe, professionally organized facility. We walked in today to many familiar faces, neighbors, friends and Loughborough YMCA acquaintances. Everyone was stoked about this place. Check it out:

There are bike racks in two separate areas:

There are 3 kids areas. One is for infants and toddlers, up to 4 years old; there are cribs, padded floors, etc. The second is for 5-7 year olds. There are legos, blocks, slides, computers and a wii with guitar hero. The 3rd is for kids 8 and up with foosball, rock climbing wall, dance dance revolution, computers, etc:

The cardio and weight area is huge with lots of natural light:

Indoor track, 11 laps = 1 mile:

Double gym for volleyball, basketball, etc.:

Indoor pool area has 2.5 story waterslide, lazy river, zero entry kids splash area, steam room, sauna, lap lanes, hot tub, whirlpool, family shower/locker rooms:

Outdoor pool has kids area, swim lanes, diving area, concession stand and a waterslide:

Ballet/yoga/pilates/etc:

Senior area with fireplace:

Meeting rooms:

Check it out for yourself, comment with your opinions.

Daydream # 382

You have a 12% chance of meeting a true St. Louisian in this metropolitan area.

St. Louisians account for 354,361 of the total 2,871,421 citizens of the metropolitan area.

For what it's worth, I feel a general bond with my fellow St. Louisans. In very general terms, I feel like we're all on the same team, aware of the same pluses and minuses that the city has to offer. It doesn't matter which of the 79 neighborhoods of the city you live in, you are a St. Louisian and I can get behind that.

Proposition N and a St. Louis City Talk Flip-Flop

One of the things I hope I'm transparent about as the writer on this blog is that I change my opinions and stances quite often. Please don't fault me. To me this is part of learning, aging and striving to be an objective viewer of life. Remember when the Republicans skewered John Kerry in an act of solidarity during the 2004 presidential election? "Flip" "Flop" over and over, all in unison. I think that really hurt Kerry in the minds of the average viewer. They made it seem shameful to change your mind....and in politics that can be deadly. However, in real life it's okay to flip flop on issues even if you have the power to leverage action on one side or the other.

With all that said, I'd like to announce a flip flop on anti-smoking. Back in August, 2008 I laid down a smoke em if you got em Libertarian rant.

At the time, I was fresh off the heals of being smoke free for nearly 9 months. My wife and I vowed that once we quit, we wouldn't be among those holier than thou anti-smoking judgemental types. Hopefully we've been true to that commitment. Yet, being smoke free has been great. As a non-smoker, going to a see live music in Illinois is better than Missouri.

I recently went to a week night show at Off Broadway (Camera Obscura) and it was smoke free, and much more enjoyable. The older I get the worse the hangover becomes from second hand smoke. That's just a fact. Anyhow, I hope St. Louis someday goes smoke free. It's just better and healthier for all of us.

High and lonesome

I recently learned of a 2008 documentary about American beat poet/writer Jack Kerouac entitled "One Fast Move or I'm Gone: Kerouac's Big Sur." This story has St. Louis ties as local musician Jay Farrar (Uncle Tupelo/Son Volt) and Ben Gibbard (Death Cab For Cutie) recently collaborated to set Kerouac's writing to music and it's featured in the movie. The music is sparse and beautiful, truly an American sound...as American as jazz or blues or dixieland or traditional country in my opinion. Gibbard's voice is channeling a bit of Gary Louris from the Jayhawks, yet still original and true as always. And Farrar's voice and playing is spot-on as usual. If popular country music had half of this soul and emotion tied to the traditional American sound, I'd listen to it. But I don't think anyone could make the claim that contemporary popular country music has much authenticity or respect for tradition and culture.


Son Volt performs live at the Pagent on November 6th with support from one of my all time favorite (and most underrated) British musicians: Peter Bruntnell.

More on this project here.

And you can listen here.

It's all in the hands

I Cut Like A Buffalo Version II Video by Third Man Records - MySpace Video

Shared via AddThis

I approve on all levels. I wonder if she does Birthday parties? Damn.

2010 Census Data-a potential sea change for St. Louis

I cannot wait to see the 2010 U.S. census data for St. Louis. I hope to see a 10 year gain from 2000-2010. This would be the first decade gain for St. Louis since the 1940-1950 post war increase of 5% when we peaked at 856,796 residents. The estimated population of St. Louis in 2000 is 348,189. That's the lowest since the late 1870's...pretty depressing, eh?

As I research St. Louis' 79 neighborhoods, I am using 2000 census data as my source for tracking resident changes over a 10-year span (1990-2000). In all 7 neighborhoods I've looked at so far there were drops in residential populations. This is evident in the nice and not so nice neighborhoods alike. So the question arose in my mind, did any neighborhoods see an increase in population from 1990-2000?

Here's a look at the 11 neighborhoods from 1990-2000 that gained residents (the remaining neighborhoods all lost residents) and the 13 worst for losing residents based on percentage:

Congratulations to Bevo Mill and Dutchtown who added quite a few people and topped the list. Having lived in Dutchtown as my first neighborhood in 1994 and now living just south of Bevo, I know that Bosnian immigration is the main factor behind the increases. Congrats to the other neighborhoods as well for attracting people and keeping things stable. Not sure why Near Northside and North Riverfront gained, I'll have to visit those neighborhoods sooner than later.

However, that's where the good news ends. Take a look at the massive declines in population across north St. Louis. What the heck is going on in Jeff Vander Lou? 3509 people moved out in 10 years. That's simply staggering no matter how you cut it.

I'll quote a line from Debravka Ugresic's book "Nobody's Home":

"The beauty of the city is in the eye of the beholder. The more beholders, the

more visions of beauty."

True, we need every beholder we can get.

More than lowering crime, improving the schools, increasing the investment $$, I think we need more PEOPLE calling St. Louis home.

If more people chose this place as their home, the other things will follow. If conscientious, caring, outspoken people fill the halls with their kids, the public schools will be forced to address the issues they have. The more people that are watching the streets, the less crime we'll have. The more courageous people who take the time and effort to report crime the better the police will become. The more people here, the more money spent here.

I look forward to the 2010 census numbers. If the numbers hold true, based on the 2008 estimate. We could have our first increase in 10 year population since 1950! No matter how smalll the percentage increase, this could be a sea change for St. Louis. I hope it would be a pshycological boost, if nothing else. Or on the other side of the coin, it could simply mean we hit rock bottom in the 1990's and there nowhere left but slight ups and downs around 350,000.

So move to St. Louis and help be part of history and positive change that is occuring all over the city.

My wife and I are doing our part, we've added 3 new city residents to the population in the last 7 years through the art of breeding. Every little bit counts :)

Wave that flag hoss!

St. Louis has a cool flag.

"The design submitted by Professor Emeritus Theodore Sizer, Pursuivant of Arms at Yale university, and now on file in the office of the City register is approved, adopted and designated as the official flag of the City. The flag with a solid red background has two broad heraldic wavy bars, colored blue and white, extending from the left top and bottom corners toward left center where they join and continue as one to the center right edge. This symbolizes the confluence of the Missouri and Mississippi rivers. Over the point of confluence a round golden disk upon which is the fleur-de-lis of France (blue) calling attention to the French background of the early city and more particularly to St. Louis of France for whom the City is named. The golden disk represents the City and/or the Louisiana Purchase. (Heraldically, the disk is a "bezant" or Byzantine coin signifying, money or simply purchase.)

The flag's colors recall those of Spain (red and yellow or gold), Bourbon France (white and gold), Napoleonic and Republican France (blue, white and red), and the United States of America (red, white, and blue)." Here's my source.

But my favorite might be the mighty flag of Belleville, Illinois; a place my parents raised me for 19 years.

Belleville is a fascinating city, one that I hope to profile soon in a post I'm working on. But until then, I've just got to appreciate that sweet looking flag:

This adopted design was the winning entry in a contest to create such a flag, which was sponsored by Belleville Carling Brewery Company in cooperation with the Belleville Chamber of Commerce as part of the Sesquicentennial Year Program.The design for the flag, submitted by Fredrick L. Lange of Belleville, features a large field of black, symbolic of the area's rich soil basin. Next to the black field is a bar of yellow, representing our mineral wealth. There is next a bar of green, standing for agricultural abundance; and finally, a bar of white, representing our culture and plenty. The white post horn, used in early European postal systems, notably in Germany, is symbolic of the heritage of our area's pioneers, and also of the Belleville Philharmonic Orchestra, the nation's second oldest. Here's my source.

Carondelet Rec Plex Update

As members of the Carondelet Family YMCA, we received a letter on October 1st from YMCA branch executive Dan Schulze.

The highlights are:

• the facility is scheduled to open in the afternoon on November 19, 2009
• the current facility will no longer be open after November 15, 2009
• our rates will increase $8/month, which will help the YMCA bring new and exciting offerings to our community through this state-of-the-art facility.
• we now have access to the South City YMCA on Sublette Ave.
• you can check out these new offerings at Sneak Peek Week: Nov. 7-8 and 14-15 from 10 am to 4 pm and Nov. 9-13 from 9 am - 7 pm
• there is a parade on Nov. 19 at 3 pm which will go from Loughborough and Vermont to Holly Hills then across the I-55 bridge to Carondelet Park Rec Plex. A ribbon cutting will follow.