Poll: Initial Reaction To The Updated Flying Saucer (Formerly Del Taco)?

Lsat year one of the big controversies was the threat of demolition of the “flying saucer” on Grand adjacent to the Saint Louis University Campus (the Del Taco tenant had just closed). In June 2011 I wrote a post trying to find justification for razing the iconic structure (see Pros & Cons of Saving the 1960s Flying Saucer at Grand & Forest Park), the following are selected quotes:

“I won’t lose any sleep if the Del Taco is razed but I will be mad as hell if some generic anti-pedestrian strip mall is built in it’s place.”

“I can picture the Del Taco structure gone, replaced with a high-design modernist structure to compliment the other buildings. But I don’t think that’s what we’ll get.”

“If I were developing this site I’d use the Del Taco building as a draw. Renovate the building and accenting it with great lighting, new pedestrian-friendly site design connecting to a new structure to the east on the existing surface parking lot. I can see the building not as a fast food joint but as a pub with a focus on great outdoor patio seating. This could become THE corner where SLU students hang out.”

“Most developers would kill to have such a widely known building to attract customers to their development! Certainly the 24 hour drive-thru is nice after you leave the bar but let’s face it, the use of the building can easily change.”

“Razing this building makes zero sense no matter how you try to look at it, believe me I tried!”

I couldn’t justify razing the building. Thankfully the developer changed his mind — or the demolition threat was just a clever way to demonstrate to prospective tenants the affection many in St. Louis have for the building. If so, well played!

To refresh your memory let’s go back a bit.

For the poll this week I want to get a sense of your initial reaction to the change to the building. The poll is in the right sidebar (mobile users switch to full layout). The poll will be open until Sunday October 7th and results will be presented on Wednesday October 10th along with my detailed take.

— Steve Patterson

Promote Your Local Nonprofit Or Community Event On UrbanReviewSTL.com For FREE

Do you run a nonprofit or an event in the St. Louis region? If so, I want to talk to you about giving you free ad space here to help promote your event or organization. You read that correctly — free.

The St. Louis region has so many nonprofits doing great work to better the communities they serve, I just want to help make sure more people are aware.  Same with events, from the Festival of Nations to MetroEast Pride, we have great events more should be aware of.

So what’s the catch? Just a few but they will hopefully make sense:

• Event/organization must have a unique URL so when someone clicks the ad they’ll get the page for that event/org. This means if you have a website (mynonprofit.org) and you temporarily put up the event info on the homepage without a unique URL (mynonprofit.org/greatevent) then I can’t help you with free ad space. I don’t want anyone clicking the ad to have to search for event info. Ads will not be linked to a Facebook event or page since not everyone is on Facebook. If your nonprofit doesn’t have it’s own web presence yet then getting that done should be a high priority — it’s almost 2013! I am happy to meet with you to discuss getting to a modern website.
• You must supply the actual ad image(s). Two sizes are available — 728×90 at the very top and 300×250 in the right sidebar.  Accepted formats are JPEG, PNG, or GIF. Flash isn’t accepted but animated GIF files do well.
• Black text on a white background  is too boring, use color and good graphic design to catch the eye.

• Contact me via email before creating the ad(s) to make sure your organization or event is one I’m willing to promote here, please include the URL the ad should link to. The region is large and in two states so I want to include everyone. That said, I wouldn’t be interested in promoting a Ladue orchid club, for example. A youth bike program in East St. Louis, however, would get my attention. Your church isn’t a nonprofit so don’t even try that. Regular readers know I lean to the left so a right-wing organization/event (i.e: gun training for babies) doesn’t stand a chance — my site, my time, my rules.
• Once ok’d the ads need to be submitted at least a week prior to the event date, 3-5 weeks is much better so the ads can be viewed by many more people. Ads for organizations should be able to be run for a full year without becoming outdated.
• Just because your business hasn’t made a profit this year, or ever, doesn’t mean it’s a nonprofit.  For-profit businesses can purchase ad space at very low rates but I have given ads to startup businesses. I especially want to help minority-oewned businesses  providing employment in the community. Let’s talk.

Why am I doing this? I often get requests to write a blog post about an event that hasn’t happened yet but for the most part I write about an event I attended or a place I visited — I like to use images I took myself and share my personal experience. Better than a single post about an upcoming event is weeks of exposure to thousands. I may still write a post about the upcoming Shaw Art Fair or MetroLink Prom because I’ve attended both in the past and have images to use, but if I do it’d be no more than a day or two before these events. Giving away ad space allows me to promote great events & organizations without dictating the schedule of my blog posts.

I hope to hear from many of you soon.

— Steve Patterson

Readers Have Two & One Person Households

The weekly polls conducted here aren’t scientific but nevertheless I often find the results interesting. The post introducing the poll last week contained information on the increasing trend toward single occupant households, I won’t rehash it again.

Here were the results:

Q: Including yourself, what is the size of your current household?

1. Two 42 [31.11%]
2. One 41 [30.37%]
3. Four 22 [16.3%]
4. Five+ 16 [11..85%]
5. Three 14 [10.37%]

More than sixty-percent live in a one or two person household. No major conclusions here, I just find this stuff interesting. The fact that more than twice as many indicated they have four+ vs three is interesting. I guess once a couple has one kid another one (or two) is likely to follow?

— Steve Patterson

Poll: Is Passenger Rail Service Important To America’s Future?

Passenger rail service, Amtrak, is a topic in the 2012 elections. Republican candidates vow to remove federal funding from Amtrak as ridership is increasing and stimulus funding is updating infrastructure. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 has invested billions in our national railroad infrastructure, working toward improved rail service for passengers and transporting goods.

Between New York and Washington, Amtrak said, 75 percent of travelers go by train, a huge share that has been building steadily since the Acela was introduced in 2000 and airport security was tightened after 2001. Before that, Amtrak had just over a third of the business between New York and Washington.

In the same period, Amtrak said, its market share between New York and Boston grew to 54 percent from 20 percent.

Nationally, Amtrak ridership is at a record 30 million people; the Northeast accounts for more than a third of that and is virtually the only portion of Amtrak’s system that makes money. (Frustrations of Air Travel Push Passengers to Amtrak)

I’ve taken numerous trips via Amtrak in the last few years and think it’s a great way to travel. No form of transit is without subsidy, we subsidize all other forms of travel.

Which brings us to the poll question this week: is passenger rail service important to America’s future? The poll is located in the right sidebar.

— Steve Patterson

Poll: Including Yourself, What Is The Size Of Your Current Household?

A recent story on CBS News caught my attention:

“I would argue that the rise of living alone represents the greatest social change of the last 60 years that we have failed to name or identify,” said NYU sociologist Eric Klinenberg. “This is a transformation that has touched all of us, whether we live alone or it’s just someone in our family or friendship circle who does.”

Klinenberg has spent years tracking the seismic spike in “solo dwelling.” He says today there are about 32.7 million Americans living alone. Clearly, if you live alone, you’re NOT alone.

“It’s an incredible number, and it’s a massive increase over where we were in 1950 when it was just four million Americans,” Klinenberg said.

One is no longer the loneliest number. Roughly four out of ten households are single-person homes, in cities like Seattle (42 percent), San Francisco (39.7 percent), Denver (40.4 percent), and Cleveland (39.9 percent). (CBS News — Live alone? You’re not alone)

I’ve lived alone for 21 of the last 24+ years.  I have zero desire to live with a significant other or ever have a roommate again. I know others who feel the same way but I know just as many who enjoy living with others.

In 2000, 1-in-4 households consisted of one person living alone, a significant increase over the 7.7 percent in 1940. This type of household increased each decade over the 60-year period from 1940 to 2000 (see graph).

In recent decades, renters have been much more likely than owners to live alone. However this was not the case back in 1940, when one-person occupancy rates for owners and renters were not much different. The one-person occupancy rate for renters climbed rapidly from 1940 (8 percent) to 1980 (36 percent). The greatest disparities between renters and owners occurred between 1960 and 1980, when renters were more than twice as likely as owners to live alone. There was a small drop in the rate of renters living alone between 1980 and 1990, but it rebounded with an increase in 2000. (US Census)

Where does St. Louis rank?

Here’s the full rundown:

1. Atlanta: 44.0%
2. Washington: 44.0%
3. Cincinnati: 43.4%
4. Alexandria: 43.4%
5. St. Louis: 42.6%
6. Pittsburgh: 41.7%
7. Arlington: 41.3%
8. Seattle: 41.3%
9. Cambridge:40.7%
10. Denver: 40.6%

(Source: Business Insider)

But the CBS News story at the top that said; “And then there’s Manhattan, an urban island where almost HALF of all households are made up of just one person – where millions of people seek safe harbor tonight in an empty apartment.”  I’m not going to resolve the conflict now. Instead, the poll this week asks the size of your household (upper right sidebar). Meanwhile I’ll keep looking for answers, I’ll share what I find when I post the poll results on Wednesday September 12th.

Further reading: The Atlantic — All The Single Ladies 

— Steve Patterson