Poll: What Name Do You Use For A Vehicle For Hire?

In the last 4-6 weeks I’ve taken 5 taxicab rides: a morning meeting, three parties, and to the ribbon cutting of Fields Foods on Friday.  That’s more rides than the rest of my 23 years in St. Louis combined!

What I’m curious about is the name people, and companies use, to describe the vehicle. Here are the three most common names:

• Taxicab
• Taxi
• Cab

To my knowledge, they’re interchangeable. To an extent, we probably use all three at one time or another. What I’m looking for in the poll this week is the name you use most often, the one you’d blurt out first. The poll is in the right sidebar.

— Steve Patterson

Readers: St. Louis’ Glass is Half Full

Going into 2014 most readers are optimistic about St. Louis’ future:

Q:  Is St. Louis’ glass half full or half empty?

1. Half full (optimist) 86 [76.79%]
2. Half empty (pessimist) 19 [16.96%]
3. Unsure/no answer 7 [6.25%]

Overall I’m optimistic, but I still get frustrated with the painfully slow rate of change. I wonder if Paul McKee can get enough developed in the next 6.5 years that we’ll have even a slight population increase in the 2020 census?  That would do wonders to change St. Louis’ narrative.

Have a safe and happy New Year’s Eve, see you on Thursday!

— Steve Patterson

Poll: Best Thing Expected to Happen in the St. Louis Region in 2014?

2014 will be a busy year in the region with a number of positive things:

• Stan Musial Veterans Memorial Bridge opens to traffic
• St. Louis celebrates 250th anniversary
• Phase One of Ballpark Village opens
• March Madness basketball tournaments
• Fields Foods opens

Some things that are controversial in some circles:

• Same-sex marriages begin in Illinois (mine’s June 8th!)
• Medical marijuana in Illinois
• Loop Trolley construction starts

The poll this week asks you to pick one thing you think is the best thing for the region. Because there may be other things happening I didn’t list you can add your own item in the poll (right sidebar).

— Steve Patterson

Poll: St. Louis’ Glass Half Empty or Half Full?

The poll this week is pretty straightforward, attempting to see if readers are more optimistic or pessimistic about the future of St. Louis.  The poll is at the top of the right sidebar, results will be presented on January 1, 2014. 

— Steve Patterson

Poll: Will Your Household Have a Christmas Tree? If So, What Type?

When my boyfriend moved in with me in February he said he’ll wanted to put up Christmas decorations, including a tree.  I’m atheist and he’s agnostic, but Christmas is one of his favorite holidays. It was a long way off so I agreed.

A Christmas tree in a non-Christian home? Sure, a recent study even showed that Christmas trees appear in some Jewish households too:

About a third of Jews (32%) say they had a Christmas tree in their home last year, including 27% of Jews by religion and 51% of Jews of no religion. Erecting a Christmas tree is especially common among Jews who are married to non-Jews; 71% of this group says they put up a tree last year.

Compared with younger Jews, those 65 and older are somewhat less likely to have had a Christmas tree last year. And relatively few Orthodox Jews, including just 1% of Ultra-Orthodox Jews, say there was a Christmas tree in their home last year. (Pew Research)

By ’73 or ’74 we stopped using the aluminum tree, we got a new green artificial tree from Montgomery Ward or Sears. We never had a cut tree. My maternal grandparents were very religious Mennonites, but they never had a tree of any kind. Probably deemed too flashy.

For budget reasons we got a very small white artificial tree for this year, adorned with four South Park ornaments I had. We also decorated our front door.  For next year I’m not crazy about a cut tree — what he’s used to. Why should a tree have to die just to hold lights & ornaments for a few weeks?

Next year I’d like to do a live Christmas tree, I just need to figure out where it’ll get planted after we’re done with it. Can it get planted in a city park?

The poll question this week asks if your household will have a tree and, if so, what type? The poll is in the right sidebar, results will be published on Wednesday December 25th.

— Steve Patterson