Poll: readers mostly in unison on green living

A majority of readers in the poll last week seem to be well matched with mates who feel as they do about living a green lifestyle. (Poll: Your household divided by a green line?)

Poll: Does a green line divide your household? Between those who choose to live green and those that don’t?

1. No problem, we’re on the same page: 52 [57%]
2. I live alone: 20 [22%]
3. Mildly irritating: 11 [12%]
4. Other answer… 8 [9%]
5. Divisive with resentments and arguments: 1 [1%]
6. I want an eco-divorce, our values aren’t the same anymore 0 [0%]

The first two “other” responses represented a couple of readers who are probably expressing  “green fatigue,” the U.K. term for the eco-backlash to a barrage of green moralism. While other comments divided evenly between support for a diversity of opinion and certain resentments:

• I’m tired of being told to be green.
• Get over it, never been green.
• They are willing to go along as long as I do the work.
• I’ve been green for years.
• Live with lazy parents.
• We respect each other’s opinion and live accordingly.
• We have eco-tension.
• Platonic homeowners here – with a divide. Non-divisive.

There are many things that may have affected the outcome of this poll. City dwellers are probably a little more eco-conscious to begin with since the decisions that lead to an urban lifestyle (walkable neighborhoods, commutes by mass transit, and multi-family housing) are in and of themselves environmental choices.

Age may also play a role as younger couples may have taken eco-values in consideration during their courtships, while older couples may have more conflicts since eco-values weren’t a part of the equation when they originally selected their partner.  At any age, eco-conversions can be painful when one partner adopts a green lifestyle while the other partner clings to the same-old ways of living.

Then there is the bias of geography. Eco-tensions would be dealbreakers in Seattle or Portland; a violation of strong, commonly held social norms. Here in St. Louis, not so much.

Given all the other things that can drive a wedge in a relationship—money, children, unemployment, ill health—eco-concerns pale in comparison. The bottom line is that most people don’t consider a difference of opinion about green living as a serious enough breach to jeopardize their partnerships. At least for now.

– Deborah Moulton

Test run for removal of mile stretch of I-70

For a while now myself and like minded individuals have been pushing the concept of removing a mile stretch of what is currently marked as I-70.  This stretch runs from the Poplar Street Bridge and Cass Avenue, creating a barrier between the city and the Mississippi River to the East.

Once the new Mississippi River Bridge opens in 2014 this stretch of road will only serve local traffic.  A tree-lined roadway would better serve the needs of the city.  In a few days we will get the chance to see what life without this stretch of highway might be like:

ST. LOUIS – The Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) and its contractor Fred Weber, Inc., are scheduling two weekend closures of Interstate 70 in St. Louis City in February to knock down two bridges over the interstate.
The department will close the interstate, and all ramps, between the Poplar Street Bridge and St. Louis Avenue.
MoDOT currently plans to close the interstate the weekend of February 5-8 to knock down the Cass Avenue Bridge and close the interstate the weekend of February 19-22 to remove the Madison Street bridge, weather permitting. The interstate will close at 8 p.m. on each Friday and will be reopened no later than 5 a.m. on the following Monday for each weekend closure. The work is being done in conjuction with constructing the New Mississippi River Bridge to relocate I-70 across the Mississippi River.
Additionally, the department will close I-70 reversible lanes on February 3 and keep them closed until late April to allow crews to construct the middle portion of the Madison Street Bridge over the interstate.
To get around the interstate closure, drivers must use a combination of Broadway Street, Washington Avenue and Memorial Drive. The detour around the work will be marked. However, since much of the detour is on roads with signals, drivers should make every effort to avoid the area, if possible.
“If people don’t use alternate routes to travel to downtown, the detour for the I-70 work will take a long time,” said Gregory Horn, P.E., project director for the Mississippi River Bridge project. “We are encouraging people to avoid the area by using other routes. For example, people can use the Chain of Rocks Bridge on I-270 or the Jefferson Barracks Bridge on I-255 to get between Missouri and Illinois, use I-270 to get around St. Louis County, or use I-64 to get into downtown St. Louis.”
An estimated 70,000 vehicles travel on I-70 through downtown St. Louis each weekend.

Here is the official map of the detour:

Furthermore:

MoDOT to close reversible lanes to build Madison Street bridge
(Department plans to close reversible lanes for two months)
ST. LOUIS – The Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) and its contractor Fred Weber, Inc., will close the Interstate 70 reversible lanes February 3 for two months as part of constructing the Madison Street bridge over the interstate.
Closing the reversible lanes will help crews construct the middle support structures needed for the
bridge.
The work is being done in conjunction with constructing the new Mississippi River Bridge to relocate I-70 across the Mississippi River.
After the lanes reopen in late April, they will remain open until about mid-June before MoDOT crews need to close them for another six weeks to construct the St. Louis Avenue bridge.

Interestingly the reversible lanes haven’t reversed in more than a year.  These two center lanes of I-70 were originally Eastbound the morning and Westbound in the afternoon.  But for a while they have been Eastbound 24/7.

So we will soon see the impact on traffic as it is detoured on weekends.

– Steve Patterson

Stroke recovery as a model for cities

Two years ago today, at a month shy of age 41, my life changed dramatically:  not long after 4pm I had a hemorrhagic stroke – a vein in the right side of my brain burst and began bleeding in my skull.  Within 10 minutes I had to lower myself to my floor so I wouldn’t fall.  I was unable to get to my phone to summon help and my left side was quickly paralyzed.  I wasn’t sure what was happening.  One thing I knew was I was likely to die if I didn’t get help.   Somehow I managed to live and fifteen hours later a worried friend came to my loft and found me curled up in a ball on my floor.

These past two years I’ve had an amazing recovery although I am still disabled and I still have setbacks (such as falling 2 weeks ago).  As I’ve worked to rebuild my left side I have thought how my process can be applied to cities such as St. Louis.

St. Louis, like many older cities, hemorrhaged population for decades. In the last decade (2000-2009) the population bleeding stopped but the total loss has been steep.  Like me, cities could no longer function as they had before.  Time to begin the urban therapy.

Two years ago I was left handed, now I’m right handed.  The portion of my brain that controlled the left side of my body was lost forever.  In therapy I learned I had to rewire my brain so the surviving cells would take on the function of controlling my left side.  At first I awkwardly used my right hand to eat and brush my teeth. Like cities that look back and think “if only” I thought I’d one day get back the full use of my left hand as a left handed person.  I was so wrong.  I do use my left hand now and I push myself to do as much as I can with it as I know that is the only way it will get stronger.

Cities have been in the same situation, a stroke of massive population job losses.  This lost left cities unable to function as they had before.  But our therapy for cities has been hoping they’d regain lost function.  As I know function does return.  I can walk again but I can’t run, skip or ride a bike – yet.

Cities need to start with the basics, one step at a time.  Cities need to examine what no longer works and what can come back first.  In stroke therapy they leg returns before the arm.  Fingers come back very late.  I can barely move my left ankle and I still can’t move my toes on my left foot.  Cities, I think, have been trying to move their big toe rather than get their leg back first.

The therapy I would suggest for cities is to focus on minimal basics needed to function, focus on what makes a city a city.  Walkable.  Parking is on the street or behind buildings. Density higher than the edge.

By design a core city is very different than the ex-urban fringe.  One is old and one is young.  Age does matter.  I’ve met older stroke survivors that have a harder time regaining function.  Another factor is how quickly you get help. Older cities that haven’t had help for a long time are more a challenge.

It has been a long & hard two years — considerable effort on my part as well as many others.  I have years of work remaining and so does St. Louis.

– Steve Patterson

St. Ann’s speed camera begins February 1st

Starting Monday February 1st motorists speeding along Ashby road in front of Hoech Middle School (3312 Ashby Rd) will receive tickets from a new speed enforcement camera:

ST. ANN, MO (KTVI-FOX2now.com) – It’s a first of its kind effort in Missouri to try and cut down on speeding in school zones. St. Ann, Missouri, is putting up a camera to catch people who speed through a school zone. But not everyone is thrilled with the idea. The St. Ann program is similar to the red light cameras- offenders will be mailed a ticket with a picture of the speeding car and a fine.

[Police Chief] Schrader says speeders will receive a flat fine of at least $100, but he says no points will be assessed on a driver’s record if they’re caught.

That fact upset attorney Chet Pleban, “They’re a bad thing in my opinion.” Pleban has been an outspoken opponent of red light cameras and he’s against the speed zone camera as well.

Pleban says without assessing points, the program is nothing more than a money maker for St. Ann with big brother watching. “It’s a revenue producing thing that I think is in the long run dangerous,” explained Pleban. “Where does big brother stop? Where does big brother stop monitoring us under the circumstances for revenue production?”

The camera will be in use 24/7-so even when the school zone speed limit is not in effect, drivers breaking the normal speed limit will still get tickets.  [Source: Camera Will Soon Be (sic) Catch School Zone Speeders]

Just as numerous municipalities now use red-light cameras I anticipate we will see more of these throughout the region.  But is this a good thing?  Some would argue the idea is too big brother while others argue safety is the primary concern.  What are the alternatives?

A couple of years ago I was in a car with my brother in Edmond OK as we drove entered a school zone in front Cimarron Middle School (3701 South Bryant Avenue, Edmond, OK).  South Bryant, like Ashby Rd, has four lanes of traffic but the method of denoting the school zone was the most effective I had ever seen.  Small runway lights in the center line flash during the school zone period.  The following video from the City of Edmond shows the flashing in-road lights as well as other measures they use to improve the safety of their streets (the intro is cheesy but stick with it).

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R4kHXl5nORk

Edmond’s solutions are a good alternate strategy to using cameras to ticket speeding vehicles.

– Steve Patterson

Local restaurants getting head start on competition, going smoke-free before required by new laws

Some food & drink establishments are holding out until the very last minute, January 2, 2011, to go smoke-free.  In the City of St. Louis non-food bars under a certain size have until January 2, 2016.   Smart money, however, is on local establishments that are going smoke-free prior to the start dates of the smoke-free laws in St. Louis City & County.  By doing so they will have time to attract a non-smoking clientele before other places go smoke-free.

Two such recently smoke-free places are:

• Hodak’s
• Tap Room

A year from now all food establishments in the city & county will be smoke-free.   Addicted chain smokers will likely resort to the drive-thru because not smoking for a meal is just too difficult for them.  Non-smokers will likely stick to places they always go to while trying out a few newly smoke-free establishments.

Recently Mangia Italiano on South Grand put out an online  survey to get a sense if they too should go smoke-free prior to before required to by law.  The response must have been very positive because on Wednesday (Jan/27) they will be smoke-free starting March 1st:

“IMPORTANT NEWS: We are proud to announce that our restaurant will go Smoke Free on March 1! Thanks to all of our fans for your comments!”

If you own or manage an establishment that allows smoking understand that by waiting until the last minute to go smoke-free you may well have a hard time finding new customers.

– Steve Patterson