U.S. stopping oil shipments into reserve

In past commentaries I had suggested that dubya might try to do something (other than a tax holiday) to impact gas prices. Comments went like this:

“Can someone explain how the President has any effect on gas prices?”

He doesn´t. Only an idiot would suggest that he does. Oil prices, and by extension gas prices, are set on a world market. It´s that pesky supply and demand thing.

The sad part is, these idiots are allowed to vote, which is why we get the “leaders” that we do.

My response had to do with the federal strategic oil reserve, that two month supply of oil owned and stored by the feds. In the news last week:

Responding to congressional pressure, the Bush administration on Friday said it is suspending oil deliveries into the government’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve for the remainder of the year.

The move came days after Congress passed legislation requiring President Bush to temporarily halt shipments into the reserve in hopes of lowering gasoline prices. The president is expected to sign the bill.

It remains to be seen what impact this move will have on global prices, if any. Still, congress can tell their constituents they tried.

Meanwhile, in parts of the country (like Chicago) motorists are paying over $4/gallon for self serve and nearly $5/gallon for full serve.  Diesel is quite a bit higher.  While some can afford to continue filling the tanks on their Escalades many others cannot.  The working poor are most impacted but they are also most likely the segment of the population not adverse to taking public transit.

I don’t think stopping shipments to the oil reserve will have much of an impact — about as much as a federal gas tax holiday would.  Releasing the millions of gallons of oil in the reserve back onto the market— that could have an impact.

This is our new reality folks.  Do we listen to groups like MoDot and build more highways based on their prediction of more trucks or do we realize we must as a society do a better way of getting people and goods from place to place?

Help Welcome me back this Saturday from 5pm-7pm at The (smoke-free) Royale

As regular readers know, I was in three hospitals over the course of three months (February-April) following my stroke on February 1st. I received so many cards and emails of support it was wonderful. I know some of you came to see me while I was still in ICU at SLU and later while I was at St. Mary’s. Cards are great but nothing beats a face to face conversation. I think many others didn’t really know me other than as a reader and they didn’t feel comfortable showing up at the hospital.
When I knew when I’d be returning home some of my close friends wanted to throw a big party — at my place. I ruled that out quickly — I wanted something more casual and where everyone could just show up.

So this Saturday (5/17/08) I will be at The Royale at 3132 S. Kingshighway from 5pm-7pm. Weather permitting I will be on the back patio. Stop feel free to just stop by my table and say hello or even tell me how much you disagree with me. Get a drink at the bar and pull up a chair. I might even do special tricks like walking or moving my left arm!

The Gadfly is back!

Learn to Grow Your Own

With gas, food and other prices on the rise people’s budgets are being stretched. One way of dealing with this is to put your yard to work for you by growing some of your own food. If you toyed with the idea but didn’t know where to start then I hvae a workshop for you.

This Saturday May 17th the New Roots Urban Farm will present:
Home Grown, a backyard gardening workshop for city folk
10am to 3pm

Their description

a how-to vegetable production workshop that will cover basic soil science, backyard composting, no till
and raised bed construction, intensive planting methods, garden design, and more.
come prepared to create a garden plan and to get your hands dirty!
cost: $10-20 for those who live in Old North St Louis, Hyde Park, or St Louis Place; $45 for
any other city resident. Workshop, farm tour,lunch, and basic gardening supplies provided.

location: 1830 Hogan St Louis, MO 63116.  If you’d like more information or would like to register email molly@newrootsurbanfarm.org or call 314.664.2361  www.newrootsurbanfarm.org

This workshop funded in part by a Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education grant

Like expensive leeks?  They are easy to grow.  Eating produce you raised yourself is one of the most enjoyable things you can do.

Cherokee Street May Remain a “dry” Street

Ald. Craig Schmid (D-20th) is continuing his anti drinking establishment campaign in the 20th ward, which includes parts of Cherokee St West of Jefferson Ave. Schmid has introduced new legislation titled “Prohibiting package liquor in the 20th Ward.” (see BB47) The exception is for restaurants that get at least 35% of their revenue from food sales.

Schmid’s attitude is summed up in the bill as legislative findings:

The existence of alcoholic beverage establishments appears to contribute directly to numerous peace, health, safety and general welfare problems including loitering, littering, drug trafficking, prostitution, public drunkenness, defacement and damaging of structures, pedestrian obstructions, as well as traffic circulation, parking and noise problems on public streets and neighborhood lots. The existence of such problems creates serious impacts on the health, safety and welfare of residents of single- and multiple-family residences within the district, including fear for the safety of children, elderly residents and of visitors to the district. The problems also contribute to the deterioration of the neighborhood and concomitant devaluation of property and destruction of community values and quality of life. The number of establishments selling alcoholic beverages and the associated problems discourage more desirable and needed commercial uses in the area. In order to preserve the residential character and the neighborhood-serving commercial uses of the area.

Wow, why do we allow such debauchery to run rampant throughout the rest of the city? Gee, maybe because he is operating under the false impression that prostitution will cease to exist if only people can’t buy a drink at a bar.

Oh but it gets better:

the Excise Commissioner shall have authority to:

(3) Issue a drink license only with the following conditions applied and enforced in an area with a Cherokee Street address from the west curbline of Iowa Avenue to the east curbline of Nebraska Avenue
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A. No package liquor and premises must be operated as a restaurant with gross food sales constituting at least 35% of gross sales; and
B. Operator of the premises must have and maintain at all times written permission to use a public commercial parking facilities within 350 feet of the premis:
with a minimum of at least 15 parking spaces (paved, striped, having a six foot good quality, sturdy ornamental metal fence surrounding it and adequate lighting, and with concrete wheel stops, all complying with City of St. Louis requirements); and if there is live entertainment or live performances, with a minimum of at least 30 parking spaces (paved, striped, having a six foot good quality, sturdy ornamental metal fence surrounding it and adequate lighting, and with concrete wheel stops, all complying with City of St. Louis requirements); and having at a minimum at least 30 additional parking spaces for every 1000 square feet of business space in excess of the first 1000 square feet of business space.

Well, there we have it. More parking in an urban neighborhood commercial district.

And we all love establishments with cafe tables — as long as they keep a clear path. But what about a cafe table behind a 4ft high fence?

J. Sidewalk tables for restaurant purposes only may only be permitted in accordance with an extension of premises permit with an appropriate 4 foot high good quality, sturdy, black ornamental metal fence separating the tables from the rest of the minimum 4 foot wide public sidewalk;

The reality is nobody is going to open a wine bar under such conditions which probably suits Schmid just fine.  This isn’t a class thing for Schmid — the person who downs a $2 bud is just as bad as friends that share a $40 bottle of wine.

To the business association this legislation would be an impediment to competing with other commercial districts where the rules are less restrictive.  To me Schmid only knows how to run off perceived problems — he hasn’t a clue how to bring life back to a once thriving commercial street.

The Future Outlook on Downtown St Louis

It is probably easy to think the good times are over downtown: Nearly a month ago I brought the city the news of the closure of prominent developer, John Steffen’s Pyramid Companies. The new modern high rise SkyHouse planned for 14th and Washington has been abandoned and Centene is no longer moving their HQ from Clayton to St Louis and Ballpark Village. Big deal.

Generations of all ages are seeking something besides typical suburbia — houses hidden behind garages, strip malls, big box centers, the indoor mall, the office/industrial park , etc… This doesn’t mean everyone wants to live in downtown St Louis because that is not the case. However the perception of downtown has changed considerably over the last decade or so. This is not to say the current mayor or the current crop of downtown civic boosters deserve all the credit. They deserve some but much of it is simply a shift in demographics and taste. Just as decades ago many people fled to the suburbs in large part because everyone else was too. Times have changed and in smaller and bigger towns all over the country inner city areas are seeing renewed interest while the edge suburbs are not the sure thing they once were. People want to be in real cities be that strolling down a downtown street or having your choice to walk over to a restaurant on Hampton or to a great urban park such as Francis Park.

Downtown St Louis will survive the latest setbacks if we allow it to. Over-hyping projects that are not yet sure things is certainly a good way to set up the public to be disappointed and perceive downtown as having failed again. The current financial market conditions will not allow the rate of growth we’ve seen in the last decade but we will move forward.

Many storefronts remain to be leased. Many. It will take some time for the market to absorb these spaces. Eventually something will open. The more we patronize our local commercial districts the better they will do. This includes locally owned and chain places — such as the new Sprint store at Tucker & Washington Ave.

So many factors are in the right spots for a good next 10-20 years.  The trick now is to not screw it up with bad decision making.  We should now be looking at form-based zoning to guide new construction downtown and the rest of the city.  Now is the perfect time to envision how we’d like to see our city develop over the next few decades.  We should take advantage of this financial break to plan for the future.