I was shocked to discover that the beautiful house above, one of a pair on the west side of Nebraska Avenue in between Gasconade and Osage streets burned at some point after I photographed them in October of 2019 (fourth and fifth photo down, the burned house is in the fifth photo). But what matters…
Category: Commentary
Opinion pieces/commentary
An In Depth Look at Laclede’s Landing, Fall 2022
Laclede’s Landing has been in the news a lot lately, and while I’m not going to wade into the controversy that’s been going on concerning crime, homelessness and whatnot, I thought it was time for me to revisit what is perhaps one of the best known neighborhoods in the region. When reviewing old posts, I…
Some Final Thoughts on Paris
OK, we’re done with Paris. I did want to give some final thoughts on the French capital, and share some things that St. Louis could learn, and also be honest on some other matters. First of all, it’s sort of unfair to compare the two exactly because with any world capital, particularly a European one,…
Who Controls the Past Now Controls the Future
Who controls the past now controls the futureWho controls the present now controls the pastWho controls the past now controls the futureWho controls the present now? I’ve been thinking about the lyrics of this song by the band Rage Against the Machine, which are based off the novel 1984, after having gotten back from Paris….
Some Random Impressions of France
First off, perhaps I would like to start off with some impressions of Paris, and France in general. This was my twelfth trip to Europe, but my first to France. Many people were surprised that I had never been, and that was a major reason I chose to finally go. As I remarked to someone,…
Checking In On Mark Twain and Central High Schools
St. Louis voters recently overwhelmingly passed Prop S, which will allow the St. Louis Public Schools to issue bonds for much needed improvements to buildings, most of which are now over one hundred years old, though as anyone who will admit it, are extremely well built and will last for centuries if properly maintained. The…
Northside Regeneration and the Future of North St. Louis
Update: There’s some great news to report on these two houses. For once this is not land speculation but rather the Sisters at Alpha Kappa Alpha rebuilding a founder’s home as part of what will be a museum and community center. Heading east on St. Louis Avenue just east of Garrison, I spotted a strange…
Half Century Old Problems
Update: The motel was in fact closed by order of the City of St. Louis. It reopened illegally in February of 2023, and was ordered to shut down again in September of 2023. Its future remains uncertain. On the night of January 9, 2024, the motel was severely damaged by a major fire. I revisited…
A Tour of the Sites Mentioned in the Federal Indictment
Update: As of August 26, 2022, all three former aldermen plead guilty to the allegations made by federal prosecutors and have been sentenced by a judge. The text of the following post has been updated to reflect the changes from allegations at the time of the original writing to guilty pleas. By now I’m sure…
Fifteenth Anniversary of Saint Louis Patina
I started this website fifteen years ago today, and we’ve come a long ways since then. Three reboots, two crashes, and hopefully now it looks better than ever due to the hard work of around twenty WordPress technicians back in January and February of this year. Thankfully, there are still plenty of new things to…