Guess the Neighborhood 8:34 PM

How well do you know St. Louis?

Can you tell by a group of houses what neighborhood you're in with literally no other information?

Then where's the site below, captured by Google Streetview?

There are a few clues after all, I guess. For one, there are driveways present. That should narrow it down a bit. Secondly, the house in the center is fairly rare for St. Louis, with its pronouncedly concave roof eaves.

Which neighborhood is it? If you dare, which street/block?

Last Day to Show Your Support for Google Fiber in St. Louis! 10:38 AM

Contributed by Joseph Decepida.

Google is planning to build ultra-high speed broadband networks in a small number of trial locations across the country. The plan is to deploy 1 Gbps, fiber optic connections directly to people's homes and businesses. This connection would be over 100 times faster than what most Americans have access to today.

You can learn more about the project here: http://www.google.com/appserve/fiberrfi/public/overview

What will Google Fiber mean for St. Louis?

Securing ultra high speed internet infrastructure in St. Louis will provide strong momentum for the creation of next generation internet infrastructure services, companies, and jobs. Many of the internet-based services like YouTube that have come to be a part of our daily lives weren't possible until broadband. Google wants to accelerate the next era of innovation by testing fiber optic cable to the premises in a community. We think that community should be St. Louis! With fiber optic cable coming directly to St. Louis homes and businesses and the enormous media attention that could come with being chosen as a trial community, our City would strengthen its ability to attract companies, new talent, and capital.

What Can You Do to Help?

The City is responding to the Request For Information (RFI) released by Google. The deadline for submissions is March 26th. (EDITOR'S NOTE: YES, that's TOMORROW!) We will be competing with many other communities across the country to be chosen for this experiment.

One part of the RFI requires us to demonstrate our community support for this project. To this end, we've created the following website:

http://stlcin.missouri.org/googlefiber/

Please show Google we deserve ultra high speed broadband by doing any or all of the following:

1. Share the site and our effort via Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, or through your own email.

2. Embed a link to the site on your business or organization’s website.

2. Nominate St. Louis as a resident. (Note: You must be logged in to a Google account.)

3. Get an organization of which you are a member to support our effort.

4. Leave a comment of support on our map.

5. Upload a video discussing what an ultra high speed connection would do for you, your

    business or organization, and your community.

We’ll measure support through the number of  Facebook fans, re-tweets on Twitter, organizations who’ve added their support, and comments on our map. Don't pass this opportunity up. So far, we're just nearly breaking 1,000 Facebook fans. With all the pride and swagger the online community has when talking up St. Louis, now is one of those times where we really need to demonstrate it. Whether you're a die hard professional blogger or anonymous forum lurker, please show your support for the City of St. Louis!

If you have any questions, please reply to stlwantsfiber@gmail.com and the team will get back to you.

Fiber FAIL? St. Louis's Bid for Google Fiber Network Deemed "Lagging" 9:16 AM

KMOX believes that St. Louis is "sitting on the sidelines" when it comes to competing with its Midwestern peers for the coveted experimental Google Fiber network. Google Fiber would deliver home internet speeds over 100 times faster than anything available today. It's possible only one city will get to be the host of this trial network.

KMOX points out that Columbia, Missouri aired a pitch for the Google network with thousands of Mizzou basketball fans holding up signs in support of that city hosting the Fiber network on national television. As was mentioned in my previous post, Topeka recently changed its name to Google, Kansas. St. Louis's Facebook page for its Google bid  has just under 200 fans; Columbia has 5,342, while Topeka...err, Google, Kansas claims 14,777 Facebook fans.

What do you think? Is this enough evidence to show that St. Louis is truly lagging in its bid? The city's website is a nice gesture. What else do you think St. Louis should be doing? Why is our Facebook lobbying so far behind much smaller Columbia and Topeka?

UPDATE: Kudos to the St. Louis Social Media and Tech Report for finding a list of cities that have bid for the Google Fiber network. The competition is stiff--many cities large and small are already in the running.

What Would Jefferson Look Like with a Median? 1:21 PM

Discussion over at Urban St. Louis forums has been lively over how to improve the stretch of South Jefferson near Arsenal.

I thought I would do a quick SketchUp rendering of what Jefferson would look like with a median--which was proposed by one of the forumers. Pictured is the segment of South Jefferson just south of Crittenden. Mattingly Brewery calls the southeast corner of this intersection home.

Here is a current view, via Google Streetview. This view looks southeast toward Mattingly from Crittenden.

And here is a SketchUp view of the intersection with a median:

And here are some extra shots. If I had more time, I would have added streetlights, trashcans, another road segment, etc. This is all I have for now though.

The above renderings show Jefferson with one lane of travel in each direction as well as one dedicated parking lane. I'm guessing that this would substantially slow the flow of traffic on Jefferson and make the commercial spaces along the stretch much more inviting. In addition, the median would be a great placeholder until the proposed Southside Metrolink extension got here (so please excuse the old growth trees that I placed in the model!).

Beautiful Marine Villa Bookends 2:17 AM

View Larger Map

I had never been down this block where these three beautiful structures sit cheek to jowl. Check them out yourself on the 1900 block of President Street, two blocks south of Cherokee near the venerable Off Broadway.

Though it's technically not an "architectural ensemble" (matching buildings on each side), the visual effect is similar and not often seen in St. Louis