McDonald’s, South Grand and Hummers

Apparently McDonald’s is now giving away toy Hummers in their Happy Meals:

This month McDonald’s is giving away toy Hummers — 42 million of them, in eight models and colors — with every Happy Meal or Mighty Kids Meal. That’s right: The fast-food chain that helped make our kids the fattest on Earth is now selling future car buyers on the fun of driving a supersized, smog-spewing, gas-guzzling SUV originally built for the military. Use the Ronald McHummer Sign-O-Matic™ to tell us what you think of this misguided marriage of two icons of American excess.

So this great site, Ronald McHummer, has a fun way to make your own McDonald’s sign. I thought I’d help them announce the new McDonald’s on South Grand that Pyramid Construction and Ald. Jennifer Florida lobbied so hard to move across the street to a site that once contained a large department store. Progress, St. Louis style.

– Steve

‘Mr. Smith’ Extended in St. Louis, Additional Cities Booked

The documentary of the summer, Can Mr. Smith Get to Washington Anymore? has been extended again through the end of August at Landmark’s Tivoli on Delmar in The Loop, a good five weeks. I saw it opening night on July 27th but I plan to go back before this run ends — I’m sure I missed some good parts with the quick pace of the documentary.

Producer & personal friend Mike Kime informs me interest in the film is expanding greatly and as a result a number of showings are scheduled in a number of cities (plus talks on another dozen or so):

Washington, DC – E Street Cinema; September 22 – 29

Palm Desert, California – Cinemas Palme d’Ore; September 29 – October 5

Concord, NH October 13

Hot Springs, Arkansas – Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival; Oct 20-29

Columbia, Missouri – Ragtag Cinema; October 22 & 23

Cambridge, Massachusetts – Kendall Square Cinema; November 3 – 9

Tulsa, Oklahoma at CircleCine; Nov.14 and 15

And for the teachers:

We are going to do a special program for schools and will hold a free showing for teachers in the next few weeks. If there are any teachers who want to attend, they can contact us.

– Steve

Come for the Pesto, Stay for the Documentary

September 16th is a very interesting sounding event, Pesto Feast! There are few things that I like better than a nice plate of fresh pesto but what interests me about the event is the documentary film, Ivory Perry: Pioneer in the Struggle Against Lead Poisoning.

Civil rights activist Ivory Perry grabbed S.t Louis headlines in the 1960s for his daring acts of civil disobediance, such as lying down in the street to stop traffic for the cause. He was shocked to discover that lead poisoning was ruining childrens’ health. By starting a movement to eradicate this silent killer, he was one of the first to call for environmental justice.

All the details are on the image at right. If you click on the image you’ll be taken to the event website which has even more information on the pesto and Mr. Perry.

– Steve

Place Matters: Metropolitics for the Twenty-First Century

I recently purchased Place Matters: Metropolitics for the Twenty-First Century from the Saint Louis University bookstore as it is a required text for one of my Fall courses in Urban Planning. The book is authored by three Professors; Peter Dreier from Occidental College in LA, John Mollenkopf from City University in New York and our own Todd Swanstrom from St. Louis University. Dr. Swanstrom just happens to be teaching my course which starts on Tuesday.

Yesterday I started thumbing through the book, as I do with any new read, but the first paragraph in the preface section really struck me:

This book grew out of our frustration with the stalemated debate about the condition of cities and our conviction that we can move beyond it. In Place Matters, we argue that because the problems presently facing America’s cities are largely political in origin, their solution also lies in politics. We focus on how public policies and the organization of our political institutions have fostered the growth of economic segregation in metropolitan America, which in turn damages both equal opportunity and economic competitiveness. We favor moving toward forming and delivering urban policy at a broader regional context. Such steps, we believe, are a critical ingredient for transforming all politics of urban policy and broadening the coalition in support of progressive urban policies.

One part is worth repeating;

“…problems presently facing America’s cities are largely political in origin, their solution also lies in politics.”

Interesting. I can certainly agree off hand that many problems I see facing St. Louis are “political in origin.” These include outdated zoning, racial and social segregation, and inadequate mass transit. However, the politicians still claim “the market” or “reality” as reasons for not changing their old ways of doing business. I look forward to reading and discussing concepts from this book and the long list of other reading materials in class this Fall. And as you might expect, I’ll frequently post on the various assignments and topics.

– Steve

What Happened to Wireless Internet for Downtown St. Louis?

In 2003 St. Louis made national news when it announced it would be making all of downtown a free wi-fi zone. Everyone, myself included, as all a buzz about what this might mean. From a July 2003 AP story:

ST. LOUIS (AP) — The city of St. Louis is setting up what could be the nation’s largest, free, wireless Internet network in hopes of drawing techno-savvy businesses, tourists and residents to the downtown business district.
The city has teamed up with a local company, O2Connect, to offer the service in a 42-square-block area.

On Wednesday, a city crew mounted and activated the first of six antennae that will transmit an invisible, high-frequency radio signal that can be used to get online. The rest should be in place by month’s end.

“It’s symbolic that we’re really up-to-date downtown,” said Jim Cloar, president and chief executive of the Downtown St. Louis Partnership, a nonprofit group that promotes economic development and urban living.

“And it gives us one more sales tool. We’re just being more technologically proficient, being more customer-friendly and making downtown a better place to do business and a better place to visit, either as a conventioneer or just as a (tourist),” he said. “You won’t have to worry about having the capability to stay in touch, either by e-mail or using the Web.”

City officials said the project should help St. Louis build a high-tech reputation — and business sector.

“The mayor’s expectation is that we will make St. Louis a competitive global technology center,” said Chris Dornfeld of the city. “It’s a great challenge, but when you look at the breadth and density of technology in St. Louis, you can quickly realize it is achievable.”

Locally the St. Louis Business Journal ran a similar story:

By late July, O’Leary [O2Connect’s Tim O’Leary] said he plans to have wireless nodes, which are antennas, installed on several traffic lights in the city. The nodes will run from the riverfront along Broadway west to the mayor’s office and up and down Washington Avenue, all of which will encompass about 72 square-blocks. Broadway will be the east border, the west side of Tucker Boulevard will be the west border, Washington Avenue will be the north border and the south side of Market Street will be the south border.

Though the signal from a node likely will reach about 1,500 feet, O’Leary said that would vary because the signal is like a radio frequency, which can change from day to day. The Internet service should be accessible by the end of July.

O2Connect is providing the services and the equipment to install the nodes free of charge to the city. The contract was approved in June. Chris Dornfeld, chief of information officer for the city, said he sees the service O2Connect is providing as a great step for downtown St. Louis.

“It helps position downtown and the city of St. Louis as a technology leader,” Dornfeld said.

So where are we today? The city’s website of development projects shows the project as in the planning stages:

O2Connect is providing free wireless internet access in the downtown area, between Broadway on the east, Tucker on the west, Washington Ave on the north and Market Street on the South. Wireless access for personal laptops and PDAs will be provided through nodes installed on traffic lights, which should provide signals for up to 1,500 feet. Access was to be made available during 2003. O2Connect is reported to be providing this service with no charge to the city or to internet users.

While in planning it also indicates above that “access was to be made available during 2003.” The page shows it was updated in July 2005. So what gives? I made inquires to O2Connect, the Mayor’s office and to the Downtown St. Louis Partnership. Jim Cloar of the Partnership, despite being out of town, sent a very prompt response:

Good question, Steve. It was being set up by a private entrepreneur who offered it to the City. I know that it was established at about 5 locations (two at Kiener Plaza and three along Washington Avenue, as I recall. The taller buildings blocked out service in the core. I don’t know what happened but I’ll will be happy to check when I get back in town. Some of my counterparts in other cities have suggested that growing concerns about security and increased availability at individual sites have lessened the “demand”. I’ll see if that had relevance here.

I’ve attempted to connect to the internet at Kiener Plaza a number of times. I always manage to get a network connection but it has no internet behind it, making it useless. I will have to try along Washington Ave to see if I get anything. I personally think the idea of having wireless running around the downtown streets would be helpful. As it is, the only free wireless place I know of in that entire area east of Tucker is the St. Louis Bread Co.

I will continue to inquire with Mr. Cloar and others about what happened to this agreement and what is being planned. In the meantime, share your thoughts on downtown wireless internet. Good idea past its prime? Something we should keep working on?

– Steve