Nineteen year ago I started this blog as a distraction from my father’s heart attack and slow recovery. It was late 2004 and social media & video streaming apps didn’t exist yet — or at least not widely available to the general public. Blogs were the newest means of …
The new NGA West campus , Jefferson & Cass, has been under construction for a few years now. Next NGA West is a large-scale construction project that will build a new facility for the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency in St. Louis, Missouri.This $1.7B project is managed by the U.S. Army …
Book publisher Island Press always impresses me with thoughtful new books written by people working to solve current problems — the subjects are important ones for urbanists and policy makers to be familiar and actively discussing. These four books are presented in the order I received them. ‘Justice and …
This post is about two indirectly related topics: the new Siteman Cancer Center building under construction on the Washington University School of Medicine/BJC campus and an update on my stage 4 kidney cancer. Let’s deal with the latter first. You may have noticed I’ve not posted in three months, …
July 28, 2016Planning & DesignComments Off on Readers Impressed With St. Louis’ New Riverfront
The biggest group of readers in the latest non-scientfc Sunday Poll were “somewhat impressed” with the remake of Lenore K Sullivan Blvd.
Q: Impression of St. Louis’ new riverfront?
Very impressed 8 [15.09%]
Impressed 9 [16.98%]
Somewhat impressed 15 [28.3%]
Neither impressed or unimpressed 7 [13.21%]
Somewhat unimpressed 6 [11.32%]
Unimpressed 3 [5.66%]
Very unimpressed 0 [0%]
Unsure/No Answer 5 [9.43%]
More than 1 in 5 are neutral at this point.
The opening event didn’t work well for accessibility — they parked food trucks on the sidewalk. The end of the food lines were behind a curb. I too voted for “somewhat impressed” — I like the stainless steel railings and the raised streetlight bases.
July 27, 2016Featured, ParkingComments Off on The Things You Hear & See In An Urban Environment, Part 2
Last month I posted about seeing a car get repossessed from below our balcony, see The Things You Hear & See In An Urban Environment (w/Video). That event happened on the evening of Monday May 19th. A little over a week later, at 6:30am on the morning of Tuesday May 27th I saw & heard a tow truck in front of an SUV in the lot to the North. My thought was it was going to be towed away for non-payment.
View from our balcony, see in the upper left corner
Here’s a crop of the image above
I quickly realized the flatbed tow truck had dropped off the SUV on the lot!
By June 3rd I was surprised it was still there , unmoved. Not ticketed or booted.
Here we are two months later and it’s still there! No tickets, no boot!
The Democratic convention began in Philadelphia yesterday. The Republican convention wrapped up last Thursday with the nomination of Donald J. Trump and running mate Mike Pence. In a May 2015 Sunday Poll Trump didn’t even male the top 5!
Jeb Bush
TIE: Rand Paul/Marco Rubio
TIE: Dr. Ben Carson/Chris Christy/Rick Perry
But it was early in the race and the list of candidates was too long. Still, the polls here are non-scientific and participation was very low.
In the meantime, a week from today, Missouri has a big primary election. I voted absentee a couple of weeks ago, after researching the races and all the candidates in each, I applied my personal rules for voting:
If only one candidate, skip that office.
Don’t vote for the candidate favored by the political establishment.
Being likely win isn’t a valid reason to vote for or against a candidate.
Don’t dismiss a candidate just because they’ve never been elected to office before.
While I’m not enamored by the DNC, I did take a Democratic ballot.
Here’s how I voted:
US Senate: Cori Bush
US House: Maria Chappelle-Nadal
Gov: Eric Morrison
Lt. Gov: Winston Apple
Secretary of State: MD Rabbi Alam
Attorney General: Teresa Hensley
State Treasurer: Pat Contreras
State Senate: Dylan Hassinger
State Rep: only one candidate — skipped
Circuit Attorney: Patrick Hamacher
Sheriff: Vernon Betts
Treasurer: only one candidate — skipped
5th Ward Committeeman: Rasheen Aldridge
5th Ward Committeewoman: Megan Betts
On the Republican side the ads have been numerous and nasty in several races, I’m looking forward to reviewing the results. And to a break in political commercials for a month or so until the general election ads begin. Thankfully we have Netflix.
Two weeks ago I visited a building I’d been in many times before. The 6-story warehouse on the SW corner of Euclid & Delmar, known as the Euclid Plaza Building for decades, is being transformed into high-end apartments known as 625 Lofts at Euclid. I got a personal tour from the developers. I previously posted about this project in May, see: Delmar & Euclid Building Will Soon Have New Use As Apartments.
The following are gone:
The 70s/80s dated 2-story center lobby
Former offices, hallways, bathrooms, etc
The fixed windows
Freight elevator in SW corner of the building
The following were retained:
Three passenger elevators
Medicine Shoppe pharmacy
Three of five floors are finished, residents have begun moving in. We took a look at the display units, plus a couple units on a floor still being completed.
I was impressed with the quality/amount of cabinets, the finishes & appliances.
Units in the SW corner feature kitchens in the former freight elevator shaft, with exposed brick walls above the cabinets. The glass door + transom to the balcony wasn’t installed yet.
Each unit is unique compared to others on the same floor. One bathroom featured a rain shower head, for example. Due to construction, we didn’t get up to the roof. When finished, it’ll be fully accessible, but it wasn’t yet when I visited. Interior parking is wisely unbundled — you pay extra if you need a parking space.
The developers say they’ve had no problems leasing the units, anticipate full occupancy despite rents on the high side. I think it’s important for cities to offer a variety of housing options — at a variety of price points. Purchase & rental.
They leased the rough surface parking lot to the East during construction, hopefully the Roberts brothers will develop it or sell to someone who will.
625 N Euclid, on the left, with 6 floors, is about the same massing as the 8-story building to the North.
After they get all the 82 residential units finished and occupied they’ll push for commercial tenants facing Euclid. Euclid & Delmar is a corner to watch. If you’re in the market for a nice apartment check out their website and visit the leasing office.
AARP Livibility Index
The Livability Index scores neighborhoods and communities across the U.S. for the services and amenities that impact your life the most
Built St. Louis
historic architecture of St. Louis, Missouri – mourning the losses, celebrating the survivors.
Geo St. Louis
a guide to geospatial data about the City of St. Louis
The Democratic convention began in Philadelphia yesterday. The Republican convention wrapped up last Thursday with the nomination of Donald J. Trump and running mate Mike Pence. In a 
