Homeless Need Housing Longer Than Overnight

Over the years many have said us downtown loft dwellers don’t want to see the homeless, which is why we want to close Larry Rice’s overnight emergency shelter NLEC. This view many be valid for some of my neighbors, but it doesn’t apply to me or most no doubt, it is heart-wrenching to see people sleeping in doorways, carrying all their possessions in a trash bag. What the solution?

Overnight shelters, like NLEC, do provide a cot, a sandwich, and perhaps a shower — for 12 hours. The next morning they’re sent back out into the streets. The cycle repeats without getting to the root problems that caused the person to become homeless. To me keeping the homeless just above water is cruel.

The homeless can’t do it on their own, none of the world’s deities are going to help either. It’s entirely up to us — baloney sandwiches and an overnight cot aren’t enough.

Only from the stability of a small apartment can they hope to get substance issues under control, learn to prepare meals, be able to get/hold a job. This is unlikely on the street.

Emergency overnight shelters are still necessary when the weather is extreme, but only as a short-term solution. The total cost per person is less when they’re in an apartment vs on the street.

Everyone benefits — except those whose business model is based on hundreds remaining on the streets.

— Steve Patterson

Forget About Lane Detection Warnings — Properly Adjust Your Side Mirrors

Last month I attended the massive Chicago Auto Show with my husband. The amount of technology in ordinary new cars is simply astonishing: rearview  cameras, automatic braking, and lane detection warning. For those of us unable to afford a 2015 car until 2020 or later I can offer a cheap tip to make up for a lack of lane detection: properly adjust your mirrors. When I took my driver’s exam at 16 I don’t think my mom;s 1974 Dodge Dart even had a passenger mirror.

YOU SHOULD NOT SEE YOUR CAR IN YOUR SIDE MIRRORS!

Here’s a visual guide:

If you think I’m just making this up, see:

• AAA
• Car Talk
• Esurance
• WikiHow

You can also just watch this brief video:

Even if you have a new car with lane detection warning go ahead and adjust those power heated mirrors so you can see vehicles in the next lanes — you don’t need to see your own car.

— Steve Patterson

Sunday Poll: Which of the following best describes your political views?

The question for today’s poll is pretty straightforward: Which of the following best describe you political views?

Here are the options, in alphabetical order:

• Consistently conservative
• Consistently liberal
• Mixed
• Mostly conservative
• Mostly liberal

They’ll be in a random order in the poll — see top of right sidebar to make your selection.

— Steve Patterson

Former Harbor Light Emergency Shelter Now 58 Apartments

It’s Friday so I like to end the week with some good news. This morning the Salvation Army will cut the ribbon on their 3010 Washington Apartments project:

For more than a century, the property at 3010 Washington Boulevard has been synonymous with transforming lives of those in the greatest need in St. Louis.
Today, The Salvation Army will provide a pathway of hope, deterring homelessness for individuals with special needs in the St. Louis area with the development of 3010 Apartments.

Joining the Veterans’ Residence as a part of the Midtown project, 3010 Apartments houses 58 one-bedroom units universally designed for individuals with a variety of special needs. Each apartment features a full bathroom, kitchen and living/dining area.

The facility itself also includes amenities such as a computer lab, laundry and 24-hour security. Listed on the National Register of Historical Places and located near culture hub Grand Center, the 3010 Apartments will provide residents with a safe space to incorporate and build lifelong skills.

It’s nice to see a previously-shaddy emergency shelter becoming renovated apartments for the homeless.

A home, now matter how small, is better than a temporary cot without security or privacy. I’m looking forward to touring this facility today.

— Steve Patterson

St. Louis’ Low Standards Turns A Once-Proud City Into A Suburban Office Park

We can all agree St. Louis must retain existing employers and attract new ones. Unfortunately, St. Louis has a habit of forgetting about urban design along the way.   Let’s take a look two examples; one within the proposed 100 acres site for the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency and one to the immediate West.

First is a warehouse currently occupied by Faultless Healthcare Linen.

I remember when this was built in 1991 — I’d just moved to Old North St. Louis and passed it daily on Jefferson.  One street was closed, the rest are faced with blank concrete block walls.

The next example is Pharmaceutical company Sensient Colors Inc., their 30-acre campus at 2515 N. Jefferson is to the West of the potential National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency site.

Never heard of Sensient? I hadn’t either, but you’ve likely seen their products — on your plate.

Most of the world’s largest food and beverage manufacturers use Sensient colors and flavors to make their household brand-name food and beverage products. (St. Louis Business Journal)

Now, the demand for natural colors is suddenly outpacing demand for synthetics, and Sensient, which makes both, is responding. It has sophisticated technology it won’t explain (it does mention doing “supercritical CO2 extraction”) to pull the coloring agents from botanicals. It has a Fusion Precise Natural Color system that lets customers specify not just a particular color, but also a subtle shade of that color. And it has a head start: 60 years’ experience with natural colors. (St. Louis Magazine)

I get it, they have trade secrets. Still, in a city people do walk to work — especially from public transit. I believe we can retain/attract employers without turning our city into a suburban office park.

— Steve Patterson