Old Valet Parking Picture Upsets

On the photo sharing site, Flickr,I have  16,000+ images, posted since January 2007.  People find these through Google and other search engines.  So long after a picture has been posted I get an out of the blue comment.  Such was the case recently with this image from the Post-Dispatch:

I uploaded the above on January 16, 2007 – the same day I did a post about valet parking.  The picture has been viewed 271 times on Flickr.  A couple of weeks ago someone made the following comment about the picture:

The Picture shown above is so old and not even relevant. Why its still up on any site is beyond me. Midwest Valet is a good company and works with local business and non for profit organizations to make valet in St. Louis easy and accommodating. Midwest Valet appreciates its clients.

Clearly this person has a bias in favor of one of the companies I found most frustrating as I tried to prevent them from coning off all the public parking spaces in areas where they are working. I was out late Saturday night and valets had their orange cones out on Washington Ave. again to prevent the public from parking in public spaces on the public street.

In Atlanta, one hotel guest got a $284,000 lesson about using the valet:

Businessman Eric Vargosko thought nothing of it when he handed the keys to his rare Lamborghini Gallardo Spider to the valet at the InterContinental in Atlanta’s tony Buckhead section about two months ago, according to Atlanta TV station WSBTV. But by the time he checked out the next morning, the car had vanished.

It was found a month later – damaged. (source: USA Today)

Ouch!

Valet service is good to have but these companies need to be more respectful of public space.

Saving Money and the Environment

Improving the environment takes all of us evaluating for ourselves what we can each do to reduce our own personal carbon footprint.  What works for me may not work for you and vice versa.

Often my pro-environment techniques come out of a desire to save money.  One simple way to save money and the environment is to stop using paper towels.  I’ve had a paper towel free home for years now.  When my parents would come visit me from Oklahoma they’d always bring a roll of paper towels because they knew I would not have any.  It seems everything they did in the kitchen required a paper towel.

I have a couple dozen basic cloth napkins for use at the table.  These were purchased either on sale or in a thrift store.  They last forever.  When heating, say, a frozen burrito that recommends being wrapped in a paper towel I go for one of these napkins instead.  After having friends over for a meal these just go right to the washing machine for the next load.

I keep dish towels around as well to replace paper towels for uses like wiping off the counter.  Paper towels, of course, replaced cloth items in the kitchen.

If you have raw chicken in your kitchen or other sources where it is important to stop the spread of germs do some investigating before giving up paper towels.  Using a dish towel to wipe up raw chicken juice is fine as long as it goes into the wash immediately (I guess).  I’m a vegetarian so I don’t have this issue.

Friends this weekend said they often have left-overs when eating out so they take their own containers with them. This doesn’t save money but it does cut down on the amount of garbage you have.  As we apprach Earth Day 2009 (April 22nd), what are things you do that both save you money and help the planet?

Five Candidates Seek Three Positions on School Board

Tuesday voters in the city will vote for their Alderman (a few contested odd-numbered wards, Mayor and select three members for the school board.  Remember the elected school board as opposed to the board appointed in 2007 to run our school system?  We still must elect a school board.

Seven candidates had filed but two, including Bill Haas, withdrew in February.  The terms are for four years so it is possible the three we elect tomorrow will be part of the governing board once the state turns the schools back over to local control.

I must admit I’ve paid little attention to the schools these last two years.  List of school board candidates here.

Book Review; ‘Historic Photos of the Gateway Arch’ by NiNi Harris

I recently received a review copy of a new book that should interest many of you: Historic Photos of the Gateway Arch by NiNi Harris.  The hardcover book features 199 photographs ranging from images of the area before being razed to today.

The book is well organized into sections on the riverfront from the 1840s – 1940s, 1947 (when the monument competition was held), 1948-1959 when various obstacles delayed construction, 1960-1967 for the construction and finally 1968 to present.  I’ve had a hard time getting past 1940.

I should disclose that I’ve been friends with author NiNi Harris for nearly 15 years now.  This book is her eight and biggest work (200+ pages) to date.  In August of 2007 I reviewed her book, ‘Unyielding Spirit, the History of the Polish People in St. Louis.’  Here is her official bio:

NiNi Harris’ ancestors settled in St. Louis, near the site of the Gateway Arch, before the Civil War. As a grade school student, Harris was awed by construction of the Arch. Her father, an engineer, had impressed upon her the challenges in building the towering monument. Historic Photos of the Gateway Arch is Harris’ eighth book about the history, architecture, and heritage of St. Louis. Harris lectures at local colleges, universities, and continuing education programs.

Here is the publisher’s description of the book:

St. Louis’ Gateway Arch rivals the monuments of the world in its simplicity, scale, elegance, and symbolism. The shimmering, stainless-steel
ribbon forms a catenary arch 630 feet tall and 630 feet across at its base. Its design amazed the civic leaders determined to construct a great monument on the St. Louis riverfront. When it was completed, it wowed not just St. Louisans, not just Americans, but also visitors from around the world. Its sleek geometric design and engineering was a creation of the Space Age, but the Arch was a monument to America’s frontier heritage. The Gateway Arch commemorated St. Louis’ riverfront as the Gateway to the West.

Historic Photos of the Gateway Arch chronicles the St. Louis riverfront from its days as a fur-trading post, to the creation of the Arch. From clearing the site to welding the first section into place, to the breathtaking moment of inserting the keystone—the photos tell the story.

If you love old photos this is a volume you will want to get.  The AIA Bookstore at 911 Washington Ave has the book in stock.

Poll, Street Vendors in St. Louis

One of the great things I love about dynamic cities is the diversity of choice when it comes to dining. These cities have a range from affordable street food to cloth napkin fine dining.   Here in St. Louis we’ve got the latter nailed but we are lacking on the former.  Street food, in my view, is a prerequisite for achieving the 24/7 downtown our leaders speak about.

Last year around this time I wrote on the same subject.  My intro was:

Bustling sidewalks and numerous food vendors are hallmarks of great urban streets. Food vendors sell everything from hot dogs, pretzels, nuts, ice cream, water/soda, kabobs and all sorts of other street food. In St. Louis our laws severely limit food & other street vendors leaving our sidewalks less than lively than they could or should be.

Downtown St. Louis has a limit of 10 vendor permits.  Outside of downtown there are only a couple of spots where vending can legally take place.

This week’s poll (upper right of main page) is about street vendors.

So take the poll and use the comments below to share your thoughts on the subject.

Street vendors come in all shapes and sizes.  Some form of regulation is certainly necessary but I feel we’ve gone too far by limiting the number of permits to 10 for the central business district.  I’ve never seen all 10 out at the same time.

If you agree that downtown and other parts of the city could benefit an increase in the number of street vendors, please take a moment and contact 7th Ward Alderman Phyllis Young.  Politely ask her to introduce legislation before the Board of Aldermen to allow more street vendors so that we can begin to activate our sidewalks.

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