Readers: Christmas is a secular holiday

To some Christmas is about the birth of their savior, Jesus.  But in the reader poll last week the majority of those planning to celebrate Christmas this year indicated, for them, the holiday was more about family & friends than the birth of Jesus.  Christmas, it seems, has become a secular holiday.

This has always been the case for me.  As a kid we’d go out to visit the grandparents on Christmas Day.  My maternal grandparents, both Mennonite, were deeply religious.  We’d have a single present per person, a big meal (with a prayer at the start) and spend time together.  They never had a Christmas Tree as far back as I can remember.  Too flashy.  Some years we didn’t bother to put up a tree either.

The poll results show those who view Christmas as a religious holiday are in the minority.

Q: December 2009 I will celebrate:

1. Christmas (Dec 25th/Family/Friends) 75 (46%)
2. Christmas (birth of Jesus) 59 (36%)
3. Festivus for the rest of us 9 (6%)
4. Winter Solstice 6 (4%)
5. Hanukkah/Chanukah 5 (3%)
6. Other answer… 4 (2%)
7. No holiday 3 (2%)
8. Kwanzaa 1 (1%)
9. The Hajj 0 (0%)

Of the 162 responses, 134 (83%) indicated they’d celebrate Christmas. But of those 134 celebrating Christmas, 59 (44%) indicated it was about the birth of Jesus for them.  This is just 36% of the total.  Total unique visitors during the poll period was 2,7,91.

– Steve Patterson

Mayor Slay uses Twitter to ask for change at a city department he controls

I’m a huge advocate of elected officials using Twitter to communicate with constituents.  But for Mayor Slay to use Twitter to suggest a change in a department under his authority seems odd:

If I could text complaints to the CSB, I could attach photos taken by my phone. How about it, CSB? #fgs 6:16pm, Dec 03 from TwitterBerry

Many of Mayor Slay’s tweets are written by staff but I’ve been told by his staff that tweets with the hashtag “#fgs” are by Mayor Slay himself.

CSB is the Citizens’ Service Bureau:

The Citizens’ Service Bureau is the customer service department for the City of St. Louis. Citizens may contact the Citizens’ Service Bureau to register complaints or compliments regarding City services or neighborhood concerns using the form provided at right.

I like that the mayor wants to make it easier for some of us to communicate a problem to the bureaucrats in city hall but I’m disturbed at the method he is using to express this to the bureaucrats under his control and located next door at City Hall.  The mayor’s office is room 200 and the CSB is room 234.  And asking rather than pulling together the staff to make change happen.  My guess is it was just a show to look like he was on top of the latest technology.

How can I register a complaint with the Citizens’ Service Bureau?

Call (314) 622-4800 Monday through Friday between 8:00 am and 5:00 pm and your call will be answered by a Citizens’ Service Representative or Click here to request City services electronically.

So the CSB has a weekday phone number and an online form.  I agree with the mayor that being able to send pictures would be helpful but texting of pictures seems very old fashioned. If the mayor wanted to really move St. Louis forward he’d forget texting pictures, he’d contact Boston’s Mayor Menino about licensing their technology that was announced back in July:

Boston City Hall, a drab concrete monument to 1960s Brutalism run by a self-described urban mechanic who despises voice mail, isn’t exactly known as a hotbed of technological innovation.

But within, a few young, tech-savvy aides are trying to drag municipal government into the age of mobile gadgetry. And they think they’ve hit on something big: a “killer app” that marries 21st-century technology with Mayor Thomas M. Menino’s old-school devotion to pothole politics.

City officials will soon debut Boston’s first official iPhone application, which will allow residents to snap photos of neighborhood nuisances – nasty potholes, graffiti-stained walls, blown street lights – and e-mail them to City Hall to be fixed.

City officials say the application, dubbed Citizen Connect, is the first of its kind in the nation. It was designed as an extension of the city’s 24-hour complaint hotline for the younger set, making the filing of complaints quicker and easier for iPhone users.  (full story: Boston Globe)

I downloaded the free app to see how it worked.  I’m not a fan of “pothole politics” but it rules here in St. Louis as in Boston.

Categories are few:

It uses GPS to pinpoint the location and allows for the user to add a picture.

You can post anonymously or leave your contact information:

This is how you bring city hall into the 21st century on the eve of 2010, not sending images via a text message.  And I’d suggest emailing Mayor Menino rather than using Twitter.

A benefit on the back end is using the GPS data to see where complaints are concentrated on a map.  Integrating with maps a department could easily see if several potholes are concentrated and could therefore be handled by a single crew on one trip.  Complaints received via phone/web would need to be added to the internal map tracking as well to ensure everyone received the same level of service.

In a recent poll here on mobile phones the iPhone was the most popular answer among smartphones with twice as many votes as the BlackBerry.  Many iPhone apps are being ported to other platforms such as the BlackBerry and Android so others could report issues.  Of course not everyone has a smartphone, for those you can call during the week or use the online form.

Such an app for St. Louis would also potentially start to break the habit of calling your alderman about petty problems such as potholes.  With improved customer service from the bureaucrats it would let the elected legislators legislate.  Now that is a radical idea!

Charter reform advocates point out our city has a weak mayor organizational structure.  True, but this is an example of a weak mayor.

– Steve Patterson

Much has changed in St. Louis over last 60 years, just not our zoning

In 1947 St. Louis’ long-time planner (1916-1950) Harland Bartholomew thought the city’s population would exceed one million by 1970.  Instead, between 1950-70, we lost 234,560 people to have 622,236.  We had 38% fewer people than he thought we would!

Bartholomew also thought we should have 35 airports in the region because, “developments in air transportation during the next few decades will parallel that of automobile transportation.” (source)  Born in 1889, Bartholomew hated our 19th Century “horse and buggy” street network.  His 1947 plan for the city has worked very hard to destroy the walkable city and to create the “modern” automobile city.  In his long career he advocated generous roads, parking and total separation of uses — housing, offices, etc should not be mixed in his view. He stood for the opposite of what cities are trying to accomplish today.

Bartholomew has been dead for 20 years now but St. Louis and so many cities follow his anti-urban thoughts simply because we have zoning he either authored or supported.  Local Aldermen will tell you that we change our zoning all the time.  True, on a case by case basis they’ll often change a zoning classification  — often to allow a better project than what the existing zoning allowed.  But rather than tossing out the 6 decade old vision for the city they cling to the power they have to support or oppose a request to change zoning.  So the ability for developers to do good urban projects comes down to their ability to grease the system to get the change they need or just accept the current zoning as a given and do a mediocre auto-centric project.

So what do we do? We begin the 4-5 year process to entirely replace our existing code.  Denver is nearing the end of this process now:

Denver, which currently has a zoning code dating to 1956, is the first large city in the country to undertake a complete rewrite of its zoning code and associated zoning map under a “form-based” and “context-based” approach. Because it will affect so many stakeholders, the AIA Denver Board of Directors and two AIA Denver committees have been following its development closely.

Of the intense four-year process of writing the code, putting it out for review, and revising, Brad Buchanan, FAIA, who sits on the Denver Zoning Code Task Force says: “We must be sure that the new code does not adversely affect the economic development potential in our city. In fact, this zoning code has the potential to increase economic viability while protecting the character both downtown and in our neighborhoods, which are the original economic engines for our city.”

From the city’s perspective, the new code is intended to support a growing economy, a sustainable environment, a diverse mix of housing, strong neighborhoods, and a high quality of life. (Source)

A new zoning code to guide future development is among the most important policy decision our Aldermen can make.  Of course, doing nothing is a decision.  From the Denver Post:

The 53-year-old regulations that guide land use and development in Denver are inconsistent, outdated and stifling growth, city planners say.

Now, after more than four years of work, Denver officials are on the verge of unveiling what they characterize as a cleaner, more user-friendly zoning code.

The post-World War II era, when the current code was adopted, was a time when planners were enthralled with the automobile. That era expected that much of the city’s existing historic architecture would get razed to make way for large-scale construction with extra space for parking.

But city planners now see value in old bungalows, Victorians and Four Squares that were written off in the 1950s. The current code has become an unwieldy mishmash of inconsistent, confusing rules and regulations that have the potential to actually harm neighborhoods, Park said. For instance, the existing code specifies that a new single-family home should be built on a lot of at least 6,000 square feet.

While that might work in “suburban-type” neighborhoods, it doesn’t conform to historic areas such as the Baker neighborhood, with smaller lots built on streets laid out in a grid pattern.

A more sensitive code

The new code will become more sensitive to the different characteristics that exist in the city and encourage development that blends in, Park said.

It will guide building forms and context for at least seven types of neighborhoods: suburban, urban edge, urban, general urban, urban center, downtown and special context. The regulations for those areas will differ depending on the existing characteristics of the neighborhoods.  (source)

Denver’s code can be viewed at newcodedenver.org.  The poll this week asks your thought — should we go this route and do a complete zoning rewrite or should we stick with what we’ve got?

– Steve Patterson

Downsizing American’s taste for automobiles

Longer, wider, bigger has been the automotive trend for decades.  Same with increased luxuries.  Tata Motors has bucked industry trends by introducing the world’s cheapest car, the Nano.  The base Nano, made in India, sells for the equivalent of less than $2,500.  Yes, under $2,500!  Before you dismiss the Nano, Tata Motors also makes Jaguar and Land Rover vehicles.

With a starting price of only 100,000 rupees ($2,150), the Tata Nano is the cheapest car money can buy. Already a huge hit in its native India, where it went on sale earlier this year, the Nano could soon be coming to Europe and North America. Ratan Tata, chairman of the Tata Group and Tata Motors, has said exports of the Nano are planned for Western markets within the next 2-3 years. (full story)

A hybrid model is planned but that will drive up the cost.

So will this car take off in North America?  It looks like a cute toy.  Like many toys this car uses a lot of plastics.  The Nano has already passed numerous European safety requirements.  This is not the car for highway driving but work and groceries? Sure, why not.  Tata isn’t going to cannibalize sales of Jaguars but a few transit dependent riders might become owners if they live in a place where they can afford to park it.

The private automobile is not going away from American cities but I do like the idea of more Americans buying smaller, cheaper & basic cars.

– Steve Patterson

Winter light show at Citygarden

When Citygarden opened this past Summer it was an instant hit.  Kids especially loved the various places to get wet.

The splash fountain was packed with kids. Adults lined the edges watching as the kids had fun.

Even adults got into the fountain and got wet, I couldn’t resist.

But when Fall arrived the fountains were turned off but they remain interesting. How can a turned-off fountain be interesting?

During the day you see a random arrangement of these white balls placed over some of the fountain heads.  Interesting.  But come back at night and it gets very interesting.

The lights that add interest to the fountain during the Summer illuminate the balls.  But the color is not static. The two videos that follow are very brief but they give you an idea of how they change:

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_rueLAw1Jbw

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ngOE3f9UcCY

The video doesn’t do it justice, it must be experienced in person. These two blocks continue to be interesting even during a time of the year an outdoor garden is not always so interesting.

– Steve Patterson