I Made the A-List

The July 2008 issue of St Louis magazine is out on newsstands featuring “115 picks for the best in…” Well they have all the usual categories such as various best of areas in dining and shopping. This year the editors named me “Best Blogger.” They wrote:

No one but urban gadfly Steve Patterson could write 50-plus blog posts about the McDonald’s on Grand, much less make said posts so completely compelling that we’ve clicked through them for hours on end (in our spare time, of course). The real-estate guru of Urban Review STL has written volumes about everything from farmers’ markets to building permits, scooters to city politics, averaging 28 posts per month across his blog’s 56 categories — and scarcely slowing down to acknowledge his disabling stroke this February. Honestly, we’re in awe.

Thanks guys!

Since starting the blog on October 31st of 2004 I’ve posted over 1,500 posts. Some have been guest posts. The guest commentaries always bring a new perspective to the discussion. When I was in the hospital my friend, Architect Dustin Bopp, was able to keep the blog going with updates on my condition and to post a number of guest posts. Thanks to Dustin, Margie, Jim and others for your contributions.

The blog has reached a milestone of over 15,000 reader comments. That is a lot of discussion! I see my role as putting the topic out there and taking a position and then letting others share their thoughts.

So thank you to all the readers out there and thank you to St Louis magazine for the recognition of my work.

OK, a little house keeping. Regular readers have likely noticed the missing right sidebar. I was trying to add in a graphic for the very cool walkscore.com site and something went very wrong that caused the entire sidebar to disappear. Of course I had a backup of the sidebar code but the software is not accepting it. I’m getting a programmer on the job as soon as they become available.

Something has also happened to my anti-spam code word plug-in for comments. As a result I’m getting hit with lots of spam. To combat this I’ve set it up so that any comment that has a link in it will be held for moderation. The good news is that I’m now able to read & approve comments from my iPhone.

I’ve got some interesting posts planned for the coming weeks and months. As I resume the Master of Arts in Urban Planning and Real Estate Development program at SLU this Fall I’ll bring you some of what we are discussing and learning. I’ve got a stack of books to read & review and a growing list of additional books that I want for my library.

Now is an exciting time to study cities and to write about urbanity.

Update 6/27/2008 @ 12:15pm:

I made a big omission in my thanks yous above.  My friend, Seattle Architect Rich Kenney not only contributed blog material during my absence (and before) but he also flew to St Louis within days of me being hospitalized.  Although I was sedated so I don’t remember him being here.  The missing beer & wine from my fridge and his picture of me in ICU is enough proof.  We’ve been friends for twenty years now and will be for another 20.     Thanks Rich!