I am thankful for...

It's a bit late, I know, to be spouting off uplifting Thanksgiving messages.

But I am thankful for strip retail centers with rear parking.

That is why the new retail center at Chippewa and Lindenwood (west of Hampton Avenue) just doesn't bother me. Sure, it likely won't house any local retail (UrbanSTL forumers report that it's a future AT&T store-Qdoba combo).

But, walk, drive, bike, scoot, or Metro by this somewhat autocentric portion of Chippewa and take a look at the effects of placing parking in the rear. The squat, one-story, sparely designed commercial building becomes something of an urban building, despite the odds.

Unfortunately, I don't have pictures of, well, anything from my brief return to St. Louis for the holiday. Regardless, check it out for yourself. It's truly a St. Louis first. (On a sidenote, I wonder how the residents along Lindenwood feel about visible surface parking from their front yards. Even though the parking technically faces the alley, some street trees or shrubbery should be planted to make this less visually disruptive to the quaintness of the adjacent residential neighborhood).

By the way, this blog will probably be pretty scant in posting until Tuesday, Dec. 9th--my final class of this long, long, difficult, time-consuming semester.

Nevertheless, I will have more on my return home later for you.