St. Louis Needs True High-Speed Rail To Chicago

Earlier this month we learned of a St. Louis firm moving to Chicago:

St. Louis-based construction firm Clayco Inc. is moving its headquarters to Chicago, attracted by ease of air travel, proximity to clients, access to young professionals and the potential to land city business as Mayor Rahm Emanuel pushes ahead with public-private partnerships for infrastructureimprovements, its top executive said Thursday. (Chicago Tribune)

Clayco is keeping their St. Louis building and many employees:

Clayco’s founder Bob Clark moved to Chicago in 2010. He’s close with hard-charging Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel. Privately held Clayco will retain its large office on Interstate 170 but Clark and the company bosses will operate from their new HQ in a Wacker Drive skyscraper. (stltoday.com – Chicago lures Clayco with air connections and young professionals) 

Ah the consolation prize, for now.

Lambert airport just can’t compete with the number of flights from Chicago’s two airports. But we don’t have to just sit back and watch company after company leave St. Louis. Nor do we have to just sit back and do nothing as young talent graduating from our higher ed institutions leave the St. Louis region to work in more vibrant cities like Chicago.

We need a vibrant and urban city of St. Louis — not just a few urban blocks scattered about.

Transportation wise we’re not going to get Lambert on par with Chicago, but we can support efforts to connect to Chicago by high-speed rail:

Right now, it takes five-and-a-half hours to get from St. Louis to Chicago by train but the director of the Midwest High Speed Rail Association says a two-and-a-half hour ride should be the goal, arguing that it is critical to economic development. (KMOX)

A 2.5 hour train ride from downtown St. Louis to downtown Chicago with wifi the entire time would be a game changer, we’d be better connected to the Great Lakes Megalopolis.  Many are working to make this a reality, including:

• IDOT Illinois High-Speed Rail
• Midwest High-Speed Rail Association

I look forward to being able to quickly get to many cities via rail through Chicago. This connection will make St. Louis more attractive to young workers as a place to live and those seeking to hire them.

— Steve Patterson

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Readers Rarely Rent Cars

Nearly two-thirds of readers last week indicated they never or rarely rent a car (original post).

How Often Do You Rent A Car?

1. Never 18 [23.38%]
2. Rarely 32 [41.56%]
3. Occasionally 22 [28.57%]
4. Constantly 5 [6.49%]

St. Louis-based Enterprise is the largest in the rental car business:

Enterprise Rent-A-Car was established in St. Louis, Missouri in 1957 by Jack C. Taylor. Originally known as “Executive Leasing Company”, in 1962 Taylor renamed the company “Enterprise” after the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise, which he served on during World War II. The current company was formed in 2009 following Enterprise’s 2007 acquisition of Vanguard Automotive Group, the parent company of National Car Rental and Alamo Rent a Car. (Wikipedia)

But this month a new company started offering rental car service in Dallas’ DFW airport that may shake up the industry:

Booking a reservation is as easy as picking a location (for now, just DFW), and selecting a date and time for pickup and return. Users can specify their flight details, but it’s not necessary. This information can also be added on Silvercar’s website, including profile information or reservation info. But since using the service requires the app for unlocking the vehicle, potential customers shouldn’t try to book anything unless they have an iPhone or Android phone and can download the app.

Yes, the process is based around a smartphone app. Most likely anyone that can afford $110/day to rent an Audi A4 is carrying a smartphone. Many car sharing services also use the customer’s smartphone to unlock the car so extending it to airport rentals is a logical next step.

— Steve Patterson

Michelle Hutchings-Medina For 5th Ward Alderman

This post is about the 5th ward but first I want to mention that at 7pm tonight (1/29/2012) a mayoral candidate forum will be held at the Central Library (info). All four candidates were invited, three democrats and one green. Hope to see you there.

As a 5th ward resident I recently received a mailer, a “Good Neighbor Guide”,  listing phone numbers for various city departments. Inside was a message from  Ald. Tammika Hubbard, part caught my attention:

Sounds pretty good — but it’s a complete fabrication. Hubbard didn’t “spearhead” these at all, this taxpayer-funded mailer is meant to trick my fellow 5th ward voters into thinking she accomplished that which was done while predecessor April Ford-Griffin was in office.

Here are the facts, in chronological order:

• February 17, 2011: Application is made to rebuild McDonald’s at 1119 N. Tucker (permit info found here)
• July 12, 2011: Application for new National Sales Co. HQ made, permit issu
• July 14, 2011: Building permit issued for new McDonald’s
• August 16, 2011: Application made to demolish old McDonald’s
• August 24, 2011: Demolition permit for old McDonald’s issue
• September 1, 2011: Demolition of old McDonald’s completed, permit closed.
• September 16, 2011: Ald. April Ford-Griffin announces resignation from the Board of Aldermen, appointment to serve as director of the city’s Civil Rights agency (source)
• September 30, 2011: April Ford-Griffin’s last day on the Board of Aldermen (source)
• November 22, 2011: McDonald’s building permit completed
• December 1, 2011: McDonald’s on Tucker reopens (source)
• December 13, 2011: 5th ward candidate forum held at Vashon High School, Hubbard is the only one of the three candidates on the ballot to NOT show (source)
• December 20, 2011: Special election held to replace April Ford-Griffin, turnout was 10.4% (results)
• January 6, 2012: Tammika Hubbard sworn into office
• January 26, 2012:  National Sales Co. announces it’ll start moving employees into new headquarters next month, February 2012 (source).

The McDonald’s reopened nearly three weeks before the special election was held! National Sales Co.’s headquarters was nearly finished by the time Hubbard was sworn into office. This kind of politics really annoys me. Sorry Tammika, we’re smart enough to know better.

Hubbard’s major accomplishment in her year in office was a bill adding The Bottle District to Paul McKee’s NorthSide Regeneration, not surprising considering:

Hubbard is the daughter of Rodney Hubbard Sr., a longtime north St. Louis politico and executive director of the Carr Square Tenant Corp., the nonprofit that runs the Carr Square housing development.

And the tenant group owns a 2.5 percent stake of NorthSide Regeneration LLC, the McKee-led holding company that is proposing the project — much of which is in Hubbard’s 5th Ward — and has sought nearly $400 million in city incentives to help do it. (stltoday.com)

Unlike in the special election, we have an exciting & qualified candidate on the March 5th ballot for the 5th ward: Michelle Hutchings-Medina. I first met Michelle last year at 5th ward event, I was immediately impressed. I’ve since gotten to know her better and can say I’m not casting my vote against Hubbard, I’m voting FOR Michelle. She has presence.  She has ideas. She listens to various viewpoints. She is trustworthy. Michelle Hutchings-Medina is a leader.

The entire city should work to elect Michelle Hutchings-Medina to the Board of Aldermen, it needs more people like her working for a better city, not in the interest of just her family. Voter registration deadline is February 6th and absentee voting is open now.

— Steve Patterson

The Reality Is…

The phrase “the reality is…” is often followed by statements reinforcing the status quo. This is usually presented as a rational perspective, but I see it as justification for not rocking the boat. Those who take this approach dismiss those of us who vision something other than what we have now as merely academic exercises.

Take downtown as one example. A dozen years ago these same types said things like “the reality is…”

• “downtowns are dead”
• “if people wanted lofts they market would’ve responded”
• “Sure people want lofts in NYC or Chicago, but St. Louis isn’t either of those”

These naysayers are excellent at explaining why the rest of us can’t reach our visions, freely giving every reason why what we want won’t possibly work. They keep saying these things even when others get together and find ways to do things differently.  Smart money is in the suburbs, they’d say. But things change.

It is a terrible thing to see and have no vision. — Helen Keller

Downtown, and urban neighborhoods, are still getting investment while many suburban areas struggle:

The swift growth of suburban poverty is reshaping the sociological landscape, while leaving millions of struggling households without the support that might ameliorate their plight: Compared to cities, suburban communities lack facilities and programs to help the poor, owing to a lag in awareness that large numbers of indigent people are in their midst. Some communities are wary of providing services out of fear they will make themselves magnets for the poor.

In the suburbs, getting to county offices to apply for aid or to food banks generally requires a car or reliance on a typically minimal public transportation network. The same transportation constraints limit working opportunities, with many jobs potentially beyond reach and would-be employers reluctant to hire people who lack their own vehicles. (Soaring Suburban Poverty Catches Communities Unprepared)

And now these same folks are quick to point out why these suburbs can’t be rethought. With so many people lacking vision do we really need a few trying to speak over those of that do? The reality is what we make it out to be.

— Steve Patterson

Poll: Name New Bridge After Dred & Harriet Scott, Stan Musial or…?

In May 2010 I did a poll about naming the new Mississippi River Bridge and the results were interesting (see Readers say new bridge should be named for Dred & Harriet Scott). In that poll I didn’t include Stan Musial in the list of possible answers, of the 33 “other” answers submitted by readers only one was for Musial. Two were for Albert Pujols…

Yesterday St. Louis said goodbye to Stan Musial.Even though his last game playing for the Cardinals was nearly 50 years ago, he stayed in St. Louis. I fully expect most readers to vote for naming the bridge after Stan Musial, given how recently he passed away.

But do we need to step back and look at the bigger picture? What name will be lasting for generations so that in 50 years the name isn’t changed to honor someone at that time? Or do we sell the naming rights like with do with facilities to help offset the cost of maintenance? The poll is in the right sidebar.

— Steve Patterson