Texting/Talking on the Phone While Driving

Last week the issue of texting while driving got a high profile new policy:

Oct. 1  — President Barack Obama banned the nation’s almost 3 million federal employees from texting while driving as part of an effort to fight motorist distractions that may have caused 5,800 deaths last year.

Obama’s executive order tells workers not to text while driving federal vehicles, using government-supplied communications devices or in private vehicles on official business, the administration said in an executive order announced today.  (Source: Bloomberg.com)

Since I have good use of only my right hand I cannot drive & text — or even drive and talk on the phone.  I have, before, talked on the phone while driving. Currently I pull off the road to talk on the phone.  Texting or viewing maps on my phone is limited to when I’m not moving — at stop lights, for example.  To be honest, if I had full use of both hands I’d probably drive & talk at the same time.  But with both hands I’d still be driving a scooter, not a car.  Even on a scooter I’d talk on the phone, either holding the phone with one hand or wedging the phone under the helmet.

To me either talking on the phone or texting is  a safety issue because of distraction more so than having a hand busy. I’ve ridden with people who, while talking on the phone, change their driving habits.  They were into their conversation a bit too much.  Using a hands free device would not eliminate the danger from distraction.

The poll this week (upper right sidebar) asks your thoughts on the dangers of talking & texting while driving.

– Steve Patterson

The Port of St. Louis

We all know that St. Louis owes its existence to the Mississippi River.  We’re all well aware of our interstate highways and most of us are aware of the railroads that are an integral part of our urban fabric.

What turned out to be somewhat of a surprise to me, as a newcomer, was just how big a role the Mississippi continues to play in our local economy.  Part of it is “out of sight, out of mind”, part of it is the low profile many of its users keep.  But the statistics are pretty impressive  – the port extends for twenty miles, with 16 public terminals and “over 100 docking facilities”, there are no locks or dams between here and New Orleans (unlike going upriver), and it’s the “third largest inland port in the Midwest.”

Unique resources like this are where we can differentiate ourselves from our economic development competitors, and I’d like to see more of a push to do so.

– Jim Zavist

A.G. Edwards to Wachovia Securities to Wells Fargo Advisors in Two Years, Blog Anniversary

Two years ago today A.G. Edwards became Wachovia Securities.  From the Post-Dispatch on the vote the Friday before:

In five minutes it was over.

That’s how long it took Friday for shareholders of A.G. Edwards Inc. to approve the demise of the 120-year-old St. Louis-based brokerage when they voted overwhelmingly in favor of a $6.8 billion purchase by Wachovia Corp.

The final shareholders’ meeting, before a standing-room only audience in the company’s main auditorium, was little more than a formality to announce the results of voting that took place earlier.

Just over a year later, in December 2008, Wells Fargo bought Wachovia.  It was not until May of this year that the Wachovia Securities name was dropped.  Post-Dispatch:

On Friday, the company officially changed the name of the unit from Wachovia Securities.

Wells Fargo bought ailing Wachovia Bank in December, and the securities unit came with the deal. It employs 4,800 people in metro St. Louis, mainly at its Jefferson Avenue headquarters.

The company plans to roll out its new moniker over the next few months. The website will be renamed in June, statements will change in July and the signs on the buildings will switch after that, with the transition completed early next year.

The headquarters on Jefferson now has survived two big mergers without large-scale layoffs. Originally the home of A.G. Edwards Inc., the firm was sold to Wachovia in 2007.

One of my earliest posts was a review of the then A.G. Edwards campus.

On November 22, 2004 I wrote:

We are stuck with a campus better suited to a greenfield site in the hinterlands. The employees drive in from the ‘burbs, park and return to the ‘burbs at 5pm. Of course, some of their employees live in the city but it is likely they drive to the campus. I saw no bike racks – not even at the visitor’s entrance. It is possible employees walk to Union Station or perhaps the Tap Room for lunch – both locations are about six blocks East. I’d be willing to bet most employees either stay within the campus or drive to a lunch destination. When I’ve got a free lunch hour I will observe the comings and goings of the campus during the lunch hours.

Rather than give A.G. Edwards awards we should be shaming them and their long term architects, Raymond E. Maritz & Sons, into changing their ways. This is unlikely to happen. Instead, city life will naturally avoid this vacuum. East of Jefferson a wonderfully urban area is blossoming along both Locust & Washington Ave – extending all the way East of Tucker. West of Jefferson life is quickly emerging along Locust. A small real estate developer on Locust has done more in two years to generate life than Edwards has done in over 30 years at the current location.

Today also marks the start of the 5th anniversary month of this blog.  Halloween will mark the start of the 6th year of UrbanReviewSTL.  Throughout this month I will bring you my favorite posts from the last five years. I’ve had a blast these last four years and eleven months.  I look forward to the next five years.

– Steve Patterson

Urban Country Fair Saturday, Farm Aid Concert Sunday

This coming weekend the fine folks from Farm Aid will be in Town.  Sunday October 4th I will be out at the Verizon Wireless Amphitheater (aka Riverport) to see the annual concert featuring Willie Nelson, John Mellencamp, Neil Young, Dave Matthews and many others (see lineup). The concert can be viewed on DirecTV or streaming via FarmAid.org.

Saturday’s festivities are far away from the suburban concert setting.  Farm Aid will partner with local organizations to present an Urban Country Fair in Tower Grove Park in South St. Louis:

On Saturday, October 3, Farm Aid is inviting St. Louisans to roll up their sleeves and get their hands dirty.

The free HOMEGROWN Urban Country Fair, curated by Farm Aid’s online community, HOMEGROWN.org, will feature exhibits and workshops showcasing ways that everybody can get involved with good food. From urban farming to composting, beekeeping, home brewing and all things in between, the Fair promises a day of hands-on, interactive experiences. Farm Aid’s partners for the event include All Along Press; The Greenhorns; KDHX Community Media; Local Harvest Grocery, Cafe and Catering; and the Tower Grove Farmers Market.

The fair will feature vendors celebrating modern homesteading and the connection to good food, farmers and the earth. Fair goers will also enjoy live music by The Scotland Yard Gospel Choir and The Northwoods.

Exhibits will include:
The Burning Kumquat Urban Farm – Urban farming
The Greenhorns – Getting started in farming and seed cleaning
Organic Valley – Butter making and young farmers
Floating Farms – Aquaculture
Eastern Missouri Beekeepers Association – Beekeeping!
YellowTree Farm – Urban homesteading
Schlafly Beer – Home brewing
Upcycle Exchange – Crafting and repurposing
Earthdance – crowd-sourced mural painting
Rachel Bigler – Fermentation

WHEN: October 3, 2009, 10 a.m. – 2:30 p.m.

WHERE: Tower Grove Farmers’ Market, Tower Grove Park, West of the Pool Pavilion

Farm Aid founded HOMEGROWN.org to be a place where the love for food and the land evolves, deepens, and becomes something more fulfilling. The HOMEGROWN.org social network is a community of like-minded do-it-yourselfers who can share the bigger stories that food has to share.

Farm Aid’s mission:

Farm Aid’s mission is to build a vibrant, family farm-centered system of agriculture in America. Farm Aid artists and board members Willie Nelson, Neil Young, John Mellencamp and Dave Matthews host an annual concert to raise funds to support Farm Aid’s work with family farmers and to inspire people to choose family-farmed food. Since 1985, Farm Aid, with the support of the artists who contribute their performances each year, has raised nearly $36 million to support programs that help farmers thrive, expand the reach of the Good Food Movement, take action to change the dominant system of industrial agriculture and promote food from family farms.

– Steve Patterson

I’m Honored, Best Blog 2009

For the fifth year in a row UrbanReviewSTL has been honored to make the annual RFT Best Of issue.  For 2009 this blog was named by the editors of the Riverfront Times as the Best Blog in St. Louis (link).

Previous recognition:

• Best Civic-Minded Blog, 2005
• Reader’s Choice for Best Blog, 2006, 2007, 2009

Thank you to the RFT editors and to all of you, the readers.

I do want to correct one sentence from their flattering piece, “In 2008 Patterson had a stroke that left him paralyzed on his left side.” While my left side was paralyzed following the stroke, that is no longer the case today.  Tomorrow marks the 20 month anniversary of my stroke and I’ve been working hard to build new connections between my brain and my left side.   My brain once again controls my left side — shoulder, elbow, wrist, fingers, hip, knee and ankle.  Not toes, though.  I did have a nasty fall in August, fracturing my left arm at the wrist.  Full recovery takes many years but I’m well on my way.

Thanks again for reading!

– Steve Patterson