Yet Another Neighborhood Celebration - Vegtabalooza at the North City Farmers' Market in Old North 4:19 PM

Source: Old North St. Louis Blog

Amazing St. Louis Neighborhood Photography 8:19 PM

Nick Findley's Flickr page features some great St. Louis photography--mostly architecture, but there are some quirks too, like numbers (as in addresses and such). Check it out!

Here's the Soulard tour, for example:

St. Louis Hills Street Art 5:59 PM

Nothing is more urban than mysterious street art and anonymous artists adding life to public streets and sidewalks.

While this subject is admittedly tame--Cardinals fever--the street art definitely adds some character to the neighborhood.

Source: Hills Street News

Fall Festivals Show Neighborhoods on the Rise 3:26 PM

Three fall street festivals are putting burgeoning business districts on display. Weather permitting, they're bound to show St. Louisans a trio of amazingly transformed neighborhoods.

Grove Fest
Saturday, September 19, 2009
4:00 - 10ish
Website
Now in its fourth year, Grove Fest is a multi-block showing of the food, culture, and nightlife of the revived Grove District along Manchester in Forest Park Southeast. The course of this neighborhood over the past four years has been incredible. Anyone who has followed the Twitter updates of the Washington University Medical Center Redevelopment Corp. (WUMCRC) knows that crime has decreased for nine consecutive years in this onetime no-man's-land and that major infrastructural improvements are on the way (new streetscapes, some mysterious but apparently groundbreaking lighting experiment in the neighborhood [again, see Twitter], replaced planters). I was surprised at the turnout at the first year's festival, in 2005, when I lived in the neighborhood. I'm sure the festival has only grown since then.

Street Fest (Midtown Alley)
Saturday, September 26, 2009
4:00 - 11:00
Website
As a lowly SLU student unwilling (and unable--let's be honest) to purchase a semester parking pass, Locust Street and its free-to-park intersecting streets were no strangers to me. Even though I observed a relatively intact business district along the old Automotive Row, I would never have predicted the quick rise of this once quiet stretch (which also includes Olive Street). "Midtown Alley", the new name for the area, is now home to a clothing store (Anatomy of Style), an art deco ice cream parlor (Fountain on Locust), and numerous eateries and nightlife options.

Street Fest is in its first year, so make sure you show up to support it. According to the website:

The Midtown Alley is not an “average” neighborhood … and this will not be an “average” street fair. The event is being styled as part street-party / part music fest/ part art extravaganza, with an urban/industrial theme; a direct nod to the history and location of Midtown Alley.

Sounds cool to me!

Morgan Ford in Motion
Saturday, October 3, 2009
Noon - 9:00
Website

Another inaugural event, Morgan Ford in Motion celebrates the progress of this human-scaled business district in Tower Grove South. It's hard to believe that a decade ago, A&M Cyclery at Arsenal and Morgan Ford seemed a strange holdout on a strip known only for its busy 7-11. Now, the strip is being declared "the New South Grand" by neighborhood residents. With its own independent grocery store, locavore cafe, furniture store, and cool bike rack/sculptures (in addition to some notable watering holes), who's to doubt that claim? The Post-Dispatch agrees, calling it one of St. Louis's "Hip 'Hoods".

As with Street Fest, make sure you show up to make sure this fledgling festival earns enough moolah to make next year's even better!

And, with all three, make sure to enjoy and return to the local businesses that lend these neighborhoods so much character and identity!

Lafayette Square Gets Its Second Coffee Shop 6:27 PM

I have contemplated starting a coffee blog for St. Louis. No, not one that discusses the merits of dark vs. medium roast. Rather, one that espouses the greatness and versatility of the coffee shop. You can study, hang out, chat with a friend or two, read, drink, eat, often hear poetry or music, all at once.

That's why I'll be excited to try out Lafayette Square's second coffee shop as soon as I'm back in town:

Rue Lafayette at 2024-26 Lafayette Avenue.

It's right across from the old Lafayette Park police station. The setting could not be more beautiful. Oh, it's also an antique furniture/gift shop!

Here's the building:

View Larger Map

Check it out and let me know what you think!

United States Postal Service To Close 9 St. Louis Area Post Offices; 5 in the City 5:32 PM

The Post-Dispatch has reported that the USPS is intending to close 9 St. Louis area post offices after initially generating a list that included nearly every office inside the Innerbelt.

The nine to be axed may be accessed here.

The five city locations are:

Baden, at 8390 N. Broadway.

Jefferson Memorial, 111 N. 6th Street

Jerome W. Chambers, 901 N. Garrison

Soulard, 1914 S. Broadway

Tower Grove, 3198 S. Grand

I get that the USPS is probably looking at consolidating offices for "efficiency" purposes. But I doubt they looked into the effects of the loss of walkable post office locations. The loss of the South Grand location--along the busy Grand South Grand stretch--is especially upsetting. So too is the blow to the Baden Business District, which just revived its neighborhood street festival, Badenfest. While Soulard's station was tucked away in east of 7th Street (actually the Kosciusko Industrial area), it was still walkable to that neighborhood's residents. It's a shame to see such community-based amenities go.

City Population Increases/Decreases by ZIP Code 12:51 AM

According to a new study of St. Louis Public Schools by the National Association of Charter School Authorizers (NACSA), St. Louis's population change from 2000-2008 shows a city with fewer school-aged children (an 8.4% decline), yet slightly more residents overall.

How does it break down by ZIP code (click here for a map of St. Louis ZIPs, or refer to my neighborhood listings behind each ZIP)?

2008 Population / Increase or Decline from 2000 / North Side (NS), South Side (SS), or Central Corridor (CC)

• 63101-02-03 (Downtown, Midtown): 7,200 / 11.6% / CC
• 63104 (Soulard, Lafayette Square, Benton Park): 21,000 / 5.9% / SS
• 63108 (Central West End): 20,700 / 5.2% / CC
• 63109 (St. Louis Hills, Southampton): 31,900 / 4.5% / SS
• 63139 (Dogtown, Lindenwood): 28,000 / 4.5% / SS
• 63116 (Tower Grove South, Bevo): 51,500 / 3.7% / SS
• 63112 (Skinker-DeBaliviere, West End): 22,800 / 3.3% / CC
• 63120 (Mark Twain, Walnut Park): 16,200 / Stable / NS
• 63147 (Baden, Northpointe, North Riverfront): 15,200 / Stable / NS
• 63106 (Old North St. Louis): 11,100 / -1.0% / NS
• 63110 (Forest Park Southeast, Shaw): 20,700 / -1.7% / CC, SS
• 63115 (The Ville): 24,700 / -2.6% / NS
• 63111 (Carondelet, the Patch): 20,400 / -3.6% / SS
• 63113 (Academy, Fountain Park): 17,200 / -3.9% / NS
• 63107 (Hyde Park, O'Fallon): 14,100 / -6.7% / NS
• 63118 (Benton Park West, Gravois Park): 27,800 / -7.0% / SS

Keep in mind that the population figure used for the City of St. Louis in 2008 -- 350,400 -- is lower than the Census's July 1, 2008 figure of 354,361, which is itself currently under challenge and will likely be revised upward. Still, it is interesting to get a sense of which neighborhoods may be gaining population and which may be losing. While I didn't present the school-age children numbers, they are perhaps suggestive of a yuppifying city somewhat swiftly losing families in favor of smaller households.