Oops, the junky old tree in the backyard of the absentee-owned apartment building down the alley from me had an accident during the historic storm that hit the region on March 14. Somehow, amazingly, the power line did not snap. There is an epidemic of unhealthy, dead and dying trees in St. Louis in the…
Category: Commentary
Opinion pieces/commentary
A Totally Preventable Fire
Update: The house has been demolished and is now a vacant lot. 3113 Arsenal Street in the Tower Grove East neighborhood was gutted by fire on the night of November 12. It’s the usual story: the owner of an abandoned house who’s owned the building for decades deferred maintenance for so long that finally it…
6,000th Post
Let’s face it. I’ve been talking to a lot of people in South City and many of our favorite businesses (and not so favorite businesses) have been closing lately. There’s clearly something going on where there’s just not enough money going to locally-owned businesses and even national chains, and the result is that many commercial…
Your Favorite Posts
A major milestone is coming up soon here at St. Louis Patina, and I was curious if readers had particular favorite posts they liked or were their favorite. Copy and paste the URL in the comments section.
No Street Parking in Laclede’s Landing
Why is street parking not allowed in Laclede’s Landing? It makes the whole neighborhood just look dead, and it’s so funny just watching people drive around in circles on streets where no one can stop or anything. Yes, some of the streets are narrow but the north-south ones aren’t. And how are you supposed to…
About That Lynch Guy
Interest has renewed lately to place a plaque commemorating the infamous last location of Lynch’s slave pens at the northeast corner of Clark Street and South Broadway, now the location of the Stadium East Garage. Lynch operated this location for a relatively short time from around 1860 to 1861 or 1862 when the Union Army…
Wainwright Building for Sale
I’m sure by now many people have heard that the State of Missouri is vacating the Wainwright Building in downtown. Let’s not waste time on trashing the State of Missouri or Chesterfield, which will be the recipient of those government workers. I want to stress that from my understanding, forty years ago the State of…
Mound City Chronicle
I wanted everyone to know about a cool new photography book that’s come out recently published by my friend and frequent collaborator, Jason Gray. In Mound City Chronicle, Gray’s purpose: is more than a series ofimages of St. Louis. It is testament to a path made through thecity at this moment; a path meant to…
The Tragedy of the Commons and Alley Dumpsters
“For that which is common (shared) to the greatest number has the least care bestowed upon it. Every one thinks chiefly of his own, hardly at all of the common interest; and only when he is himself concerned as an individual. For besides other considerations, everybody is more inclined to neglect something which he expects…
Don’t Fence Me In, St. Louis Edition
I want to tell you about a man you’ve never heard of outside of a news story last week, who died anonymously for unknown reasons less than a block from the center of our city’s government. My coworkers and I never knew the name his mother named him, but his nickname around City Hall was…