Poll: The Best Thing To Happen In St. Louis In 2012?

Another year draws to a close so I’ve compiled a list of things that occurred throughout the year, in no specific order.

1. Local control of police approved by Missouri voters
2. Prop R to reduce the Board of Aldermen approved by STL voters
3. Rams fired Spagnuolo as head coach
4. St. Louis Central Library reopened
5. Bike parking ordinance enacted
6. Larry Williams decided not to run for another term as STL treasurer
7. SLU gets approval to raze Pevely building
8. New Grand viaduct/bridge opened
9. Starbucks at the Saucer opened
10. AAA to use round former HQ rather than raze it
11. Anti-eminent domain sign wins in court
12. St. Louis Public Radio (KWMU) relocated to Midtown/Grand Center
13. Washington Ave so popular crowd control becomes necessary
14. Downtown Partnership studying a modern streetcar line
15. MSD bond issue passed
16. City shut down riverfront homeless camps
17. Union Station sold to new owners
18. Last part of Highway 141 opened
19. Metropolitan Bldg opened as artist lofts in Midtown/Grand Center
20. SLU faculty & student groups vote no confidence in Biondi
21. Cigarette tax-hike proposition failed in Missouri
22. Sam Dotson named new police chief

I personally think some are among the worst things, but others may disagree so they are on the list. The poll is in the right sidebar for a week.

– Steve Patterson

Olive Street Is Streetcar Ready

Most days Olive St. is pretty much deserted even though it’s a major east-west arterial.

In each direction you have a parking lane, a bike lane, and two travel lanes. I don’t know the posted speed limit but the road design is for much higher speed. Any savvy urban cyclist will use Locust St a block north even though it lacks dedicated bike lanes because Locust is narrower and has much slower traffic.

Former director of planning Rollin Stanley had suggested a green median where you could jog down the middle of Olive St. I could never figure out why someone would want to do that.

If the Partnership for Downtown St. Louis has their way Olive St. will once again have a streetcar line. Their aggressive timeline calls for it to be operational by 2016. Great if it can happen but I’d be happy with 2020. Actually I ride the #10 MetroBus often along Olive and Lindell and I’m pretty happy with it.

Much of the potential new development along the eastern part of the route could happen between Jefferson Compton avenues. If the right land-use controls are put into place first this will be very urban a decade from now. If not, we’ll have an expensive streetcar line passing by vacant/underdeveloped land.

— Steve Patterson

Construction Closes Crosswalk At Tucker

I knew the day would come when I couldn’t cross Tucker Blvd. at Washington Ave., it happened Monday.

I’d prefer to use Locust to go from my loft east into the CBD but accessibility issues abound, including the sidewalk being blocked at NLEC (see Readers: Why Didn’t The Homeless Sleep Inside The Shelter Instead Of The Sidewalk?)

— Steve Patterson

Happy 5th Birthday To Flamingo Bowl

Five years ago today officials were all smiles as two businesses opened on Washington Ave. Good Works furniture didn’t even make it a year but the other, Flamingo Bowl, celebrates five years.

From the website:

Flamingo Bowl offers 12 lanes of bowling, as well as an extensive drink menu featuring classic, modern and signature cocktails. The full bar also offers a selection of beer, liquors and wine, while the kitchen serves up an eclectic mix of great food.

When Flamingo Bowl opened it permitted smoking but went smoke-free with most other public places on January 2, 2011. The hours are noon-3am 7 days per week.

— Steve Patterson

Readers: Climate Change Is Absolutely Affecting Weather In The United States

The latest way climate deniers are dismissing reality is they acknowledge climate change but deny that it’s caused by man. The latest example is Arizona Gov Jan Brewer:

“Everybody has an opinion on it, you know, and I probably don’t believe that it’s man-made,” she told Welch, who had posed the question in the context of her upcoming speech at an energy summit. “I believe that, you know, that weather and certain elements are controlled maybe by different things.” (Huffington Post)

Different things? Such as? But it couldn’t possibly be man and all our burning of fossil fuels! Other things…non-man things.

Thankfully most of the readers don’t try to split hairs on the cause of climate change, here are the results of the poll from last week:

Q: Do You Think Climate Change (Global Warming) Is Affecting The Weather In The United States?

1. Absolutely 89 [66.92%]
2. Possibly 19 [14.29%]
3. Not at all 16 [12.03%]
4. Unsure/No Answer 5 [3.76%]
5. Other: 4 [3.01%]

Here are the four other answers:

1. You would have to be a blind dumbass to think otherwise
2. Climate change is mostly a result of natural causes; humans may accelerate…
3. Yes, it is real but probably not manmade
4. Duh!!!!

Political ideology is preventing many from accepting that humans have altered our climate. Happy 12-12-12!

— Steve Patterson