tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-40831162024-03-13T07:51:53.385-05:00Ramblings by Joe Frank, urbanistThis is the weblog of <A HREF="http://artsci.wustl.edu/~jgfrank">Joseph Goeke Frank</A>, Saint Louis MO USAJoehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14185823164539776639noreply@blogger.comBlogger493125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4083116.post-29771483167467967282009-09-10T22:30:00.003-05:002009-09-10T22:35:42.028-05:00On the Value of Professional ConferencesSo, I'm at yet another conference this week -- the Governor's Conference on Economic Development. At least it's at the Hyatt Regency so I can walk there from the office.Likewise, I attended (and technically was on a planning committee for) the National Institute of Government Purchasing (NIGP) Forum also held downtown, at America's Center about 2 1/2 weeks ago.I really can't complain that much --Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14185823164539776639noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4083116.post-5652225501477565532009-09-03T16:20:00.002-05:002009-09-03T17:20:19.229-05:00I am back, probablyHello world!OK, so I know I've been non-blogging for too damned long.I finished my dissertation this past April and graduated from WashU on May 15.So that represents my magnum opus of commentaries on St Louis politics, which occupied most of my 'free' time over the past two years or so.Of course, I hope my future does not hold the same fate as that one other guy who was a STL native and got a PhDJoehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14185823164539776639noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4083116.post-33609770103232054832008-09-09T19:07:00.002-05:002008-09-12T17:09:34.050-05:00Train NutCorrection: Thanks be to Tom Shrout for pointing out the last transit tax election was in 1997, not 1998.------------------------------------------------------------------------------Most readers know that I'm a transit geek, despite that -- gasp! -- I've been driving to work for almost a year now.I can console myself for this treachery against transit, only because:Since June, I've been Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14185823164539776639noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4083116.post-30116525133279104192008-08-05T10:12:00.001-05:002008-08-05T10:13:57.810-05:00Patriotic Fervor -- Generations AgoBack in 1918 -- ninety years ago -- about half a dozen streets in St. Louis were renamed from "German" names to "American" names due to anti-German sentiments during World War I.The St. Louis Street Index compiled by the St. Louis Public Library lists these cases, and the history behind many other street names, in great detail.It's been ninety years. Why can't we change some of these names back?Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14185823164539776639noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4083116.post-24454333653095965752008-08-04T18:55:00.002-05:002008-08-05T12:05:13.984-05:00August Primary: It Snuck Up on Me!EDIT 8/05/08: I totally spaced on the AG Office race. I voted for Margaret Donnelly.OK, so I admit I've been extremely busy lately, between my work duties, my home duties, and my dissertation toil, so it's been a bit difficult to keep up with the political scene.But I do feel competent -- thanks in part to the great work by the Saint Louis Beacon-- to make a few endorsements of my own:Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14185823164539776639noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4083116.post-39111584520320294502008-07-17T09:30:00.000-05:002008-07-17T09:33:07.067-05:00Where Is "Downtown"?Whatever you think about the present and future state of (re)development in downtown St. Louis, it would help if the media and the general public -- particularly suburban and ex-urban residents -- would get the approximate location right!I recall some years back there was much consternation because Mayor Bosley's staff counted the jobs at Anheuser-Busch (without the InBev part of course) as part Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14185823164539776639noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4083116.post-60720541430691292172008-06-26T16:30:00.000-05:002008-06-26T16:31:47.412-05:00The Gateway Geyser and Mississippi River OverlookToday, for the first time, I was driving across the Eads Bridge and actually saw the Gateway Geyser in full operation! It must have been about 1:10 pm, since it only operates twice daily (12:00 to 12:15 pm and 1:00 to 1:15 pm).Sadly, I was not able to get close enough to take a photograph until it had already stopped running.But I did manage to drive alongside of it -- it is fenced off with signsJoehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14185823164539776639noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4083116.post-63295981402952422152008-06-23T17:10:00.000-05:002008-06-23T17:17:23.713-05:00Classmates.com May Need a Little Help Understanding St. LouisOK, so I checked my Yahoo! Mail this afternoon. Most of the mail I get on that account these days that is not spam, comes from one of the local railroad enthusiast email lists: [4staterailfancommunity], [stlouisrailfans], and [stlouisrailroadinfo].So, today I got a message from classmates.com. I rarely check my classmates.com account, so most of my communication from them borders on spam. And Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14185823164539776639noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4083116.post-11717615485315682262008-06-17T15:30:00.000-05:002008-06-17T15:39:51.399-05:00Google Street View as a Solution to High Gas Prices?OK, so you probably know by now that Google Street View has arrived in St Louis.Not every street is completed yet, but large swaths of South City are done, as are pockets of North City, and most of Kirkwood and Webster Groves. In other areas, only major streets and roads have been photographed and uploaded.This seems like it could be a great tool for a lot of uses:Prospective home-buyers could Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14185823164539776639noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4083116.post-89186081881756751132008-06-11T17:02:00.000-05:002008-06-11T17:13:06.931-05:00Funny Title, Serious TopicI'm no Jay Leno, but this headline from the usually not especially interesting catch-all MU Info e-mail sent out weekly to all University of Missouri-Columbia faculty, staff and students was a bit troubling:Adults Who as Children were Exposed to Their Mothers Being Battered by an Intimate Partner for Research StudyIf that headline doesn't send mixed messages, I don't know what does. I will not Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14185823164539776639noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4083116.post-15217220212053490992008-06-03T14:35:00.000-05:002008-06-03T14:40:07.940-05:00Oh the Irony: STL Beacon Bash Same Night as Liquor License Town HallOK, so yesterday I posted about a town hall on the 20th ward liquor license moratorium planned for Tuesday, June 17th.And now I've realized that the new online publication the Saint Louis Beacon, started several months back by a group of former Post-Dispatch journalists, is having a big kick-off event that same night at.... The Royale.Of course, Steve Smith's The Royale is often cited by backers Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14185823164539776639noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4083116.post-24263145552502161332008-06-02T16:10:00.000-05:002008-06-02T16:12:23.318-05:00This Could Get Interesting: 20th Ward Liquor License Town HallTown Hall Meeting on Liquor License Moratorium20th Ward, City of St. LouisTuesday June 176:00 PMCherokee Place Business Incubator2715 Cherokee St., 63118(#93 Midtown-South County bus stops nearby, at the corner of Cherokee and Ohio)More information from Bill Byrd, Benton Park West Neighborhood Association president: You may or may not have heard about a change to the current liquor license Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14185823164539776639noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4083116.post-79960703131043076062008-05-05T14:30:00.000-05:002008-05-05T14:34:04.868-05:00Converter Box Coupons Finally Came!On March 4th, I ordered two coupons from the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) for $40 each towards the purchase of two digital converter boxes to pick-up broadcast signals.In case you've been living under a rock (or just don't have a TV, in which case, you wouldn't care anyway), on February 17, 2009, all the full-power broadcast channels will have to switch to Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14185823164539776639noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4083116.post-33500329420935281562008-04-22T15:30:00.001-05:002008-04-23T09:16:13.826-05:00WoolworthsToday I stopped by SLU Pius library to quickly return a few books, as I had only put 15 cents in the parking meter on Olive in a shady spot behind what I still call the Midtown State Office Building (now the SLU School for Professional Studies). Not that many years ago (1999 I guess), part of my job as a new intern with the City was working with DFS people in that building on a public-access Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14185823164539776639noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4083116.post-81809879964578034242008-04-21T16:58:00.002-05:002008-04-23T09:16:42.439-05:00Now Officially ABDOK, so I think I can now call myself a "PhD candidate" as on Friday I completed the defense of my secondary field paper, which nobody will ever read again (I hope), entitled "Politicizing Ethnicity: How Ethnic Identity Aligns with Patronage and Partisanship."Perhaps it helped that the 10:15 am aftershock from Friday's 4:30 am earthquake occurred during the middle of my defense.Now that that Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14185823164539776639noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4083116.post-53915531563596483712008-04-15T18:21:00.002-05:002008-04-23T09:17:01.899-05:00Lexington KYI spent most of last week in Lexington, Kentucky at a professional conference held at the Radisson hotel in the downtown. (My entire profession has only about 300 members nationwide, so we're not talking about a huge event.)Unlike many cities, no interstate highways penetrate the downtown area of Lexington. However, I-64 and I-75 are just a few miles north. Lexington-Fayette County is a Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14185823164539776639noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4083116.post-62904660933963028952008-04-02T16:15:00.000-05:002008-04-02T16:14:51.200-05:00We Own the Post Office!We Own the Post Office!OK, I must confess, this story on NPR's Marketplace last night had me totally snowed until the very end. Hilarious.The two best quotes:From Beverly Jaworsky, "Debt-To-Purchase Ratio Assessor" for the IRS:Well, we own the Post Office and they'll do as we say.From Clinton administration Secretary of Labor Dr. Robert Reich:[I]f the government ships a toaster oven to my Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14185823164539776639noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4083116.post-12990858863658939682008-03-31T22:10:00.001-05:002008-03-31T22:10:22.452-05:00Potemkin CityPotemkin CityNote: For some reason I thought "Potemkin village" was a slur against native Americans; turns out, it dates to 18th Century Russia.Lately, I've spent a lot of my weekend time visiting model train shows and searching out places to watch real trains pass.Something that strikes me is that our railroad corridors, historically central to the development of industry, are not just Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14185823164539776639noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4083116.post-50890003151200915482008-03-06T10:25:00.001-06:002008-03-06T10:25:59.907-06:00Megabus to Columbia MO!Megabus to Columbia MO!Starting March 13, 2008, the Megabus express intercity bus service route between St. Louis and Kansas City adds a stop at the newly renovated historic Wabash depot (now the hub of Columbia Transit service) in downtown Columbia, MO.This location is considerably more convenient to the Columbia College, Stephens College and University of Missouri-Columbia campuses than either Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14185823164539776639noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4083116.post-22297418894245570822008-02-29T15:58:00.001-06:002008-02-29T15:58:39.721-06:00Social ButterfliesSocial ButterfliesOK, so I admit I am no social butterfly. In point of fact, social situations often give me butterflies in my tummy.However, I have started to take a liking to some of the "social" networking websites.I now have a profile on Facebook, and one on LinkedIn.It's kinda neat to be able to connect with current and past colleagues, classmates, etc. and just see what it is they are Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14185823164539776639noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4083116.post-5641781516359276432008-01-24T17:47:00.000-06:002008-01-24T17:51:56.641-06:00"4Give Yo-self""4Give Yo-self""4Give Yo-self"That was the message scrawled across two separate buildings at Tucker and Chouteau this morning. Somebody else (more important than me, perhaps) must have noticed it, because about 8 am today there was a NestlePurina PetCare security truck parked alongside Tucker with its lights flashing.The security officer was standing on the sidewalk photographing the graffiti, Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14185823164539776639noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4083116.post-18398964386330341582008-01-03T16:50:00.001-06:002008-01-03T16:52:40.906-06:00IowaIowaOn Monday, January 24, 2000, I was in Burlington, Iowa for the caucuses. At that time, I was a lowly student intern working for free for Joyce Aboussie and her crew at the Gephardt-in-Congress committee office in Kenrick Plaza (a shopping center that has certainly taken a downward slide in eight short years).I started that day early, probably about 5 AM, holding an "Al Gore" sign while Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14185823164539776639noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4083116.post-10007606678098187022008-01-03T16:12:00.001-06:002008-01-03T16:12:53.313-06:00Lookin' at '07Lookin' at '07OK, so I have been AWOL for the past month or so. What can I say... the holidays are a busy time.And for that matter, 2007 was a busy year.On February 1st, I started a new job.In March, my alderman Craig Schmid was re-elected... but my even longer-time associate, Jim Shrewsbury, was defeated during the Democratic primary on 3/6. Later that month, my mother-in-law was injured, whichJoehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14185823164539776639noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4083116.post-4752551973091905912007-12-03T12:22:00.001-06:002007-12-03T12:22:15.260-06:003652 S Jefferson Ave3652 S Jefferson AveThe University of Missouri Digital Library now hosts a number of very cool high-resolution scanned image databases, including Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps from prior to 1922.Sanborn, of course, is still in business so their more recent detailed building-level maps, heavily relied upon by the insurance industry as well as by city planners, are still quite costly to purchase.But Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14185823164539776639noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4083116.post-19191296023535663522007-11-27T14:20:00.001-06:002007-11-27T14:20:17.602-06:00This Illegal Immigration ThingThis Illegal Immigration ThingBack in September and October 2000, I went on "spring break" while an exchange student at the University of the Western Cape near Cape Town, South Africa.All of the group had student visas glued inside our passports. I recall having quite a long wait that July for my passport to come back to me after I mailed it off to the South African Consulate in Chicago (even Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14185823164539776639noreply@blogger.com0