Swapping Boxers with John Hickenlooper

In an article on downtown areas in the September issue of the Commerce magazine, Chris Leinberger, visiting fellow, Metropolitan Policy for the Brookings Institution, relates the story of how Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper, brought 32 suburban mayors into the Wynkoop, his LoDo (Lower Downtown) Denver brewpub/restaurant, got them lubricated, and then convinced them to support a $4 billion light rail system for Denver.Leinberger's story didn't surprise me at all. I had the opportunity to spend an evening with Hickenlooper back in the ‘90s when he was still putting LoDo on the map. His equal in our town would probably be Joe Edwards, but Hickenlooper is a LOT less shy and self-effacing than Edwards.

Through a hospitality magazine I owned at the time I was producing a beer dinner at the Denver Athletic Club. My original presenter for the dinner, the CEO of the brewers association, developed a conflict and asked Hickenlooper to sub for him. I should have known that I was in for a wild ride when John showed up with a handler in tow who turned out to be his ex-wife.

After the dinner he invited me to hang with him for the evening at the Wynkoop. When Hickenlooper arrived at the Wynkoop a party atmosphere erupted. I'm not exactly sure how it happened, but the next thing I knew Hickenlooper had agreed to swap boxer shorts with another guy in the bar. John ducked into the restroom and came out waving a brightly-colored pair of boxers.
John Hickenlooper's taste in clothing has apparently evolved a little bit in the past decade (he appeared in Esquire magazine), but his "let's do it" attitude has proven infectious in Denver - whether he's supporting mass transit or early childhood education. In 2005, two years into his first term, Time magazine named him one of the top five "big city" mayors in America.

In November we've got the opportunity to show that our industry has the same kind of can do creativity displayed by John Hickenlooper when he invited the suburban mayors to his brewpub. The Greater St. Louis Transit Alliance, a coalition of business, labor and transit users advocating the passage of Proposition M. Proposition M will ask St. Louis County voters on the Nov. 4 general election ballot to approve a half-cent tax to fund Metro operations and future expansions. Construction industry supporters of the Transit Alliance include AGC of St. Louis, Missouri Growth Association, St. Louis Labor Council, and St. Louis Realtors Association.

If the ballot measures passes, Metro will have a stable funding source and will plan for major system expansions such as: increased express buses, high-speed bus service and bus rapid transit lines, and an expanded Metrolink line to north and west St. Louis County.
If Proposition M fails, Metro will be forced to eliminate 28 of its 60 existing bus routes, including all service west of I-270. Metro could eliminate all express routes and night service in two years, if new revenue is not found.

Nobody is asking you to drop your boxers: But I AM asking you to consider - particularly in light of the pressures from fuel costs that are not going away - the repercussions that the lack of decent mass transit can have on our St. Louis region. We need to do everything we can to support this measure.

Thinking Green

If you're interested in what some of the world's most prominent "green thinkers" have to say, check out this video site posted by the Washington Post.

I was particularly taken by the comments of Richard Branson. His Virgin Group began with Virgin Records and is now in everything from travel to wine. He is known for his stance on social responsibility. Branson is putting all the profits of Virgin Airlines into coming up with a clean airline fuel.

Crunching Consumer Credit

Tuesday Shaun Hayes, who is stepping down as president of Missouri Operations for National City Bank, spoke at an RCGA breakfast. I've known Shaun a bunch of years and he was, as usual, very funny in a self-deprecating way and very insightful. He was also very concerned about the continuing effects of a consumer-based economy.

Shaun grew up in Thayer Missouri, a town of about 2,000 people south of Rolla on Route 63. He told the crowd that he comes from a family of entrepreneurs and attorneys. He started what became Allegiant bank with about $300,000 and several million dollars raised from 82 investors. The bank sold for half-a-billion dollars and assumption of its debt. Yesterday he talked candidly about what he did right and what he did wrong in that business.

He has always been an enthusiastic entrpreneur. It's what you would expect from a guy who earned $20,000 a year while in College running a fireworks stand for six weeks a year, then turned around and loaned the money (at interest) to his fraternity brothers.

But for someone who's made a lot of money he's also always shown deep respect for the people who work for him and those who have less than he has. He's worried about Americans spending more than they make. Shaun's the small town guy who recently told me that the television sets in his house come from unclaimed inventory in his sister's pawn shop in Nashville, which he buys from her for his family and friends (a story he didn't share with the audience Tuesday).

Shaun said that it is unconscionable that even the educated people in the room to whom he was speaking couldn't understand (and wouldn't read if they could) the pages of mumbo jumbo in their mortgage documents. He said that those who were practicing predatory tactics on the undereducated and poor should be prosecuted.

A Congressional staffer who was in the room somewhat antagonistically asked what it was that Shaun would require regulators to put in place. Shaun replied that the basic terms of every loan agreement should be spelled out in plain English on a single sheet of paper.

He said that the shareholders of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (not the bondholders) should lose all the value of their stock, and that those institutions should start over.

He stated that at some point in the not-too-distant future the consumer debt that this country has amassed is going to come home to roost when other countries that have fronted the money begin to call in their markers.

There's a great series in The Beacon website on "Facing the Mortgage Crisis" which deals with not only mortgage issues but with the overall consequences of consumerism versus saving.

The series mentions a blog which is worth taking a look at: "I've Paid for this Twice Already." "Paidtwice", is a 30-something married mom of two who writes that she has "a PhD in Genetics that sits in my closet and a 3rd degree blackbelt in taekwondo. What else could you want out of life? Maybe peace of mind. We owe lots of $$ and we’re getting out of debt a penny (or sometimes a dollar) at a time."

Her very-literate blog chronicles the things she is doing to reduce her family's debt, and the sense of empowerment that it provides.

Tom Suter Creates Beauty "Up on the Roof"

"When this old world starts getting me down
And people are just too much for me to face
I climb way up to the top of the stairs
And all my cares just drift right into space
On the roof, it's peaceful as can be
And there the world below can't bother me..."

From the song "Up on the Roof" by Gerry Coffin and Carole King

In early July a dedication ceremony was held in an unlikely location: the rooftop of a two-story storefront at the corner of Marconi and Bischoff in the Hill neighborhood of the city. Attending was St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay. The roof was blessed by Father Vincent Bommarito of St. Ambrose Church. Holding court on a corner of the roof was Hill "royalty", Rich LoRusso of LoRusso's Cucina restaurant, which catered the event.

So what brought Mayor Slay, Father Bommarito, and Rich LoRusso up on the roof? Sustainability, technology, and heck of a view all came into play. Tom Suter of Shield Systems, Inc. has transformed the building's roof into a garden with a sculpture, flowers, and herbs.

Suter has been an architectural representative in the St. Louis area for 30 years, specializing in moisture protection. His product lines include below-grade waterproofing, sealers for masonry and concrete, waterproofing systems for plaza decks and garden roofs, traffic membrane systems for concrete exposed to vehicular or pedestrian traffic and a full range of exterior and interior expansion joints.

About nine years ago Suter bought a boarded-up tavern in the Hill neighborhood. Doing much of the work himself, he has restored the building into offices for his own company, a salon, a caterer, and two apartments on the second floor. The rooftop garden was created as both a demonstration center for the green roof system that Suter reps, and as a tenant amenity.

The lightweight assembly allows the 2" X 12" roof timbers to carry five inches of lightweight growing medium. The first task in installing the green roof system was to remove the existing built-up roof and add decking to receive hot, rubberized, fluid-applied waterproofing. Ninety mils of hot rubber membrane was reinforced with scrim cloth. A second coat of hot rubber at 125 mils was then applied and a protection course was placed in the curing rubber.

To increase energy efficiency two inches of Dow Styrofoam was placed over the entire deck area. On the non-garden area pedestals were then used to level the deck area. In the pathway areas, precise pavers were placed directly on the pedestals in a similar manner to that used for raised computer flooring.

On the garden sections of the roof a heavy polyethylene root block material was installed, followed by the Dow Styrofoam covered by a reinforced scrim to help with loading.
An eggcrate-shaped drainage material with cups that collect and store irrigation and rain water was then placed on top of the scrim and covered with four inches of engineered soil, a lightweight material filled with organics.

"From an educational viewpoint I wanted a living a garden and an exhibit to be able to show architects and owners greenscapes roof systems," Tom Suter said. "And I wanted my tenants to be able to enjoy the space."

He said that the both the commercial and residential tenants appreciate the views and quiet afforded by the garden. The herbs grown on the roof are used in preparing food for the catering business.

A plaque on the roof dedicates the garden to Tom Suter's mother, Theresa Suter, who died a short time before the dedication ceremony.

By the Rockets' Red Glare

"I wanted to see what was worthwhile for men to do under heaven during the few days of their lives.

"I undertook great projects: I built houses for myself and planted vineyards. I made gardens and parks and planted all kinds of fruit trees in them...

" I denied myself nothing my eyes desired; I refused my heart no pleasure. My heart took delight in all my work, and this was the reward for all my labor.

"Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done and what I had toiled to achieve, everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind; nothing was gained under the sun."

Ecclesiastes 2:3-11

Yesterday's Fourth of July extravaganza was a time for stepping back. We attended the Webster Groves Community Days Fourth of July Parade, carnival, and fireworks.

It's been a wild ride for the past decade. The Fourth of July yesterday served to focus that entire journey for me. Ten years ago the we watched the Fourth of July Parade from the back parking lot of my old office building. Eight years ago I was riding in the parade as "citizen of the year." I walked to the end of my block for the parade. Two years ago our house was "on the parade route" and we'd have 50-100 people in our yard.

This year, Rachel and I went down to watch the parade. I ran into people I've known in various capacities over the last 30 years. Rachel and I hung out with Dave and Tanya, some of my dearest friends. They are among the close circle of folks who understand that for years I felt like I was carrying office buildings, and staff, and houses on my back, but didn't know how to get out.

Yesterday felt good. Rachel and I visited with folks during the parade, then walked to our car, drove home, and ate grilled cheese sandwiches. It was fun. Yesterday evening we ate rib tips at the Lions' barbecue, then met with friends with kids to do the carnival rides and catch the fireworks. It felt laid back and wonderful.

I used to dread the preparations for the Fourth when we lived on the parade route. I enjoyed smoking turkeys with David the night before and it was kind of cool being the host. But mostly it was lot of work and a big production. It was always a huge letdown when people left and there were chairs and tables to be hauled, flys to be taken down and folded, all in sweltering humidity.

Getting stripped of businesses, buildings, homes, tons of extraneous stuff, and all the baggage of "being that guy," allowed me to be in the moment yesterday, to be grateful to God for friends, family, and country.

No Rollin' Along the River

Yesterday I had was going to try to ride my bike up the Riverfront Trail. I figured that the Mississippi had gone down enough. Well, no.

I reached the foot of Washington Avenue near the Arch and everything was under feet of water. I cut through Laclede's Landing and behind the Lumiere Casino to the entrance of the trail, which was dry. Riding along the trail was really strange. The Mississippi was just a few feet away and the flow was really boiling.

About a quarter-mile down the trail was a spot where the trail was covered by water. I made it through that. Another quarter-mile and there was what appeared to be a similar spot. I went it and was immediately up to my pedals in water.

I turned around and headed up to North Broadway. I got to ride, actually at a good clip because it's really flat, through a part of old St. Louis that few people see, and I wouldn't much recommend to tourists. You could make out the old manufacturing businesses, most prominently the former Mallinckrodt facility that was bought by Tyco and spun off to find new life in the growing medical care field last year as Covidien.
Across the street from the plant is the old Bremen bank and a diner called Chili Mac's. There is wholesale commercial plant nursery, with everything laid out on asphalt, and a couple of bag companys. Further South is a closed sign company with an amazing mural on the wall.

The whole levee situation is concerning, but one that is being addressed... finally. Last August FEMA asked the Corps of Engineers if the Illinois and Missouri levees would fail in a 100-year-flood (which, since Global Warning have been happening about ever 15 years). The Corps said yes, indeed we could be up to our eyeballs in the Big Muddy.

This prompted some hand-wringing in Illinois, which feared that it would lose developers who couldn't get flood insurance. But it also prompted three counties in Illinois and the City of St. Louis to cut loose of dollars to fix the situation. In June, a levee conference with Corps of Engineers and local officials from Illinois to California was held here. Among the topics of discussion was what progress has been made here.

“Until August last year, we didn’t know a whole lot about levees or think about them much,”Les Sterman, executive director of the East-West Gateway Council of Governments said. “We had a rude awakening when we were told our levee systems are inadequate, and that the area would be subject to increased flood risk.”

Bye Baby...

Yesterday Adam, our 20-year-old who is in the Marines, arrived from South Carolina. At dinner Penny took a phone call, then returned to the table and turned to Adam with a very serious look on her face. She told him that the vet had called her back and that the two of them had agreed that Baby, our 18-year-old Australian Shepherd/Cocker Spaniel mix, needed to be put down.

Adam was taken aback for a second by the abruptness, but agreed that it was for the best. Baby was Adam's (and essentially our four year old Rachel's) dog. So Baby had been around Adam for almost his entire life.

Baby has always been a quirky dog. He is (was) a beautiful mixture of Australian and Cocker, black and white, and very bossy. He would "talk" to people who came into our house, which could be off-putting because it sounded somewhat like growling. He hated to have his feet touched and didn't trust adult males, which was probably because of the abuse he suffered when he was a puppy. We had to get heavy water and food dishes to stop him from tossing them in the air to get us to fill them when they were empty.

Penny and Adam went to pick up a present for Adam's lifelong friend Luke's dog Sophie 16 years ago, and came home with a rescue dog. Luke was at the house last night and there were plenty of stories.

Baby was a smelly, grumpy old man the past few years (126 human years, to use the seven-year formula). He needed dental work and was arthritic. Penny was hoping that she would come downstairs some morning and find him gone, but it didn't happen.

I, because I was up early and on-duty when I came home from work, walked him with Rachel and let him out a lot. Rachel really took ownership of Baby. I mentally, and sometimes verbally, groused a lot about him. But his death is going to leave a big hole for such a little dog.

My "Favorite" St. Louis Food

My colleague Amy asked me, "As a 'foodie,' what do you think the best place to eat in St. Louis is?"

It's a cop-out I told her, but it depends, 'cause I'm an eclectic foodie

Roberto works his dining room

Tom's Top Ten (not really, except #10 really IS my favorite)

1.) Breakfast, the Boardwalk in Webster; Courtesy Diner or White Castle on Broadway when the blues bars are closing

2.) Mexican, Arcelia's in Lafayette; Lily's on Kingshighway; various taquerias on Cherokee and other spots

3.) Eclectic American, Iron Barley on Virginia; Big Sky, Webster; whatever Mike Holmes is doing lately

4.) Sushi, Nobu on Olive (U City?); Ichiban on Olive, Creve Coeur

5.) Chinese, Royal Chinese Barbecue on Olive in U City; Hunan Wok on Brentwood

6.) Pub Food, Square One, Lafayette Square; St. Louis Brewery Taproom, Downtown

7.) Fish, Old Warson Country Club (OK, I'm cheating because I published a club magazine for 18 years, but Aiden Murphy's a master chef and nobody does it better), Blue Water Grill, Kirkwood

9.) Italian, Trattoria Marcella* (see below)

10.) And my FAVORITE place to eat is in South County on Lindbergh. Roberto's Trattoria has incredible food, welcoming service, and the bonus that my son-in-law does the pastas and sauces. Great Story:Roberto is the son of a fisherman, born and raised in Italy and had a hole-in-the-wall near Gravois and Makenzie. He grew it and moved down to a bigger location at Lindbergh and Baptist Church Road. The only thing that Roberto loves more than food is women. He has ex-wives and kids spread from Italy to Affton. So he lost the restaurant in a divorce, worked for other folks, then his ORIGINAL hole-in-the-wall opened up and he started over. Three years later he is in a different location in the SAME shopping center at Baptist Church and Lindbergh. I have NEVER had a meal that was even slightly off. If you go there, ask for Sterling as your waiter if you make reservations. Sterling, who taught my son-in-law how to fly fish, is a former sous chef and his table service is amazing, but never cloying.

"So," I said to her, "sorry you asked?"

What Would Mr. Smiley Face Think?

First the scrambling Starbucks brought back its weird original two-tailed mermaid logo. Now, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is about to change one of the most familiar logos in corporate America.

After a very misguided venture into "upscale" two years ago, Wal-Mart redeemed itself by returning to its roots with "Save money. Live better."

Now, abandoning the familiar blue logo with a star "hyphen" bracketed by two red bars (building facades includes white letters on a blue background), the new look for signs and building facades features a burnt-orange background followed by a white starburst, according to an artist's rendering that the company filed recently with planning officials in Memphis.

The name will appear as one word: Walmart. When the company first started in 1962, the name was hyphenated by a dash. But in the past decade, the dash has been replaced by a star on stores and the corporate letterhead.

On the bottom of graphics accompanying the Wal-Mart application, the corporate logo is written in blue letters followed by an orange starburst.

It's difficult to understand the urge to mess with brands that work. One would think that "The New Coke" would have settled that question once and for all. The pressure to eke out percentage points in a tough market seems to be an irresistable force.

Starbucks actually thought we went to to their stores for the coffee. CDs, books, and reheated breakfast food were just "brand extensions". They didn't realize that what really floated our boat was the barista who knew us by name and knew what we wanted to drink when we walked in the door.

Wal-Mart has attempted in several ways to remake its image recently. First they showed Mr. Smiley the door. Last year, Wal-Mart also trashed bulky blue vests in favor of khakis and polo shirts. How's that for being out of touch with your core audience?

Here's the deal: Those of us who watch the Food Channel can figure out that Walmart and Sams are carrying quality food at a big discount off the corner grocery as well as other top end merchandise. I don't need a polo shirt to or an upscale logo to get me in the door. And Walmart risks alienating its core audience by once-again pandering to upper-middle income folks.

Praise Him in the Storm

"And I'll praise you in this storm
And I will lift my hands
For You are who You are
No matter where I am
And every tear I've cried
You hold in Your hand
You never left my side
And though my heart is torn
I will praise you in this storm."

From Praise You in This Storm by Casting Crowns

On Thursday, June 19th, I was listening to NPR's "Talk of the Nation" on a long drive back Downtown to my office. I heard this interview at the beginning of the show.

The woman being interviewed is a farmer who has lost most of her farm to the floods. I was able to record the interview, which is just over four minutes long. The part at the beginning, detailing the devastation from the flooding is interesting, but stuff that you've heard.

It's what the woman has to say at the end of the recording that is the "amazing" and truly wonderful part.

I sent a copy of the interview to my brother Pat, who is coordinator of faith formation and youth ministry for the Diocese of Davenport, IA. Over the years Pat has served in other capacities doing social outreach work for both the Davenport and Des Moine dioceses.

So when the floods came, Pat got out to see what he could do. The following is the story that he sent to me:

"Thanks for sending that sound clip along. It's a great report, all too typical of what's happened to so many farmers and others in our state. You're right... people hear the statistics, like that Iowa will take a $3-billion hit to our crops this year, or that thousands are homeless. But her testimony at the end is so powerful... She's bringing it strong about how God is big and will see us through and how everybody is putting their trust in God, and Robert Siegel responds 'Karen Schrock, Good luck to you,' and she comes back with, not in a corrective way, but just honestly, 'God's blessings to you.'

"I just got back from our Catholics in Action youth service retreat. It's a three-day experience we do every summer that involves over 100 youth and adults. This year, we really scrambled to help with flood response, which while the flooding has been all around us, was a real waiting game because the water has to go down and then homes have to be inspected for safety and for FEMA insurance purposes, so we mostly had to go upriver to Cedar Rapids to help out.

"The stories our youth were bringing back were incredible. I didn't get past the supply distribution command center on Sunday, as I had to help out with one of our kids who threw up. But on Monday, I went up and visited two of our crews that were cleaning out the home of a Laotian-American family in Cedar Rapids.

"The streets of the neighborhood were just lined with brown junk - couches and beds and appliances and other furnishings and clothes and just everything people owned. I spoke with the husband, who works for a printer, and the wife, who cleans hotel rooms. They'd lost pretty much everything, but their faith in God remained strong, and I really got the sense that our young people serving there gave them a sense of hope.

"I hadn't really planned well for this visit (my ministry during Catholics in Action is very much the 'behind the scenes' stuff) and I'd left my boots back at our home base. But I ducked down into their basement for about two minutes. I can only describe it as what one might imagine hell to be like... only wet. Fortunately, I'd experienced smells like this before in developing countries, so it wasn't so shocking to me, but it just didn't seem like America. I think it's more just a sense of 'how can this be Cedar Rapids?' It's just not right, but at the same time, it's up to us to make it as right as we can.

"This guy (the husband) who must've been in his late 50s and had this incredible integrity about him, just stood there and unloaded his pain to me in sorta-broken English, but it wasn't like a hopeless rant. He mentioned that he collected books (I can only imagine it was his only excess spending, as they raised 3 kids) and lost over 3,000 books, mostly history and religion books, in his basement. As a history and religion buff with far fewer books, I began to connect with the depth of his losses, not just home and possessions, but to some degree, sense of self.

"But again, the faith of this couple was incredible. I left our crews some N-95 facemasks and about 20 of my old T-shirts to give them, along with a new "Catholics in Action" shirt for the wife. I was gone by the time our crews did this, but I was told that the husband took the shirt, yanked off his dirty shirt and pulled this Medium-sized shirt over his body (he was built pretty much like Dad!). Everybody had a good laugh... wish I'd have seen that!

"Anyways, there is great hope here, and yet great need. Wheelbarrows and rubber gloves and strong backs will do much, but only faith will get us through."

Back Up the Kriek

Last week my friend David invited me over for cigars. When I arrived he was over the moon with what he had found at new mega-store called Friar Tucks'. The store carries thousands of bottles of wine, a great selection of Scotch and other distilled spirits, and several hundred beers. In the beer section David found something that he had been looking for over several years: A bottle of kriek.

Years ago, at a time when I was homebrewing, David returned from a trip to Michigan and presented me with a flat of gorgeous cherries. While they could have gone into a cobbler, a pie, or my mouth, I instead decided to pitch them into five gallons of Belgian ale. In Belgium, the lambic style beers are a blessed mixture of skill and serendipity. In the old Belgian breweries the hot wort, or unfermented liquor from malted grain, would be pumped into the rafters of the brewhouse to cool. There, natural yeast, bacteria, and other flora and fauna would float into the beer.

It was this combination of elements, which could be considered faults in a German pilsner, honed over time, that produced beers unparalleled in their complexity, aroma, and flavor. Unlike other ales and lagers that can become stale in a few months, Belgian lambics can be aged for years and actually gain in complexity and depth.

The style of lambic that I wanted to produce using David's cherries is known as a kriek. After the wort had fermented, I innoculated the carboy with a special variety of bacteria. The cherries floating on top became coated in a downy covering of what looked like mold. There are a lot of parallels in brewing Belgian beers and making cheese.

Anyway, the kriek made from David's cherries turned out to be awesome. And the older it got, the better it got. We found a bottle in my old basement about five or six years after the fact and it just blew us away.

Then came the sad part. I was no longer brewing, and for a while the initial bloom was off the rose on microbrew availability. So David could no longer find kriek. Sure, there was framboise (raspberry) and peche (peach, which you either like or HATE). But no kriek.

So David's find was definitely cause for celebration. It called for a glass of Kriek and a great cigar.

Here's to David and to Belgium!

In the "Green" World, Old is New

Who knew? Linoleum and pile drilling are hot new sustainable technologies.

At the "Greening the Heartland" Conference earlier this week, it sometime seemed as if everything old is not only new again - it's often environmentally sustainable. Greening the Heartland, a regional conference on green building and sustainability in the Midwest, is being held through tomorrow at America's Center in downtown St. Louis,. The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) - St. Louis Regional Chapter is hosting this fifth annual event, which is geared toward people interested in greening their town, business, college campus or building.

In the event's exposition hall, Roger Gooch, south central regional manager for Forbo Flooring Systems, explained that his company has been making its "new" sustainable product since the middle of the 19th century. Linoleum is manufactured using linseed oil and wood "flour". It used to be made with cork, but the shortage of good cork is one reason why your favorite wine now has a screwtop. Another name for linseed oil - at least the kind extracted without the use of solvents is flaxseed, which you can buy at any health food store and put on your salad. The primary difference between today's linoleum and the product that readers of a certain age may remember, Gooch said, is the addition of UV coating, which seals the surface and improves durability and sheen.

At St. Louis' Subsurface Constructors, Inc. exhibit the sustainable product was "vibrostone columns". Subsurface has built a solid foundation (sorry about that) for a national business in the sustainable construction industry by combining a drilled, compacted piling system which reuses the onsite material and additions such as recycled railroad ballast. This system displaces minimal dirt on the site itself and piles on the points when an owner is seeking LEED certification.

Makes You Wonder...

I love the reaction of the British public to the idea, recently floated by their government, of creating a national motto. In short, they refuse to take the idea seriously. The winner of a contest sponsored by a British newspaper: "No Motto Please, We're British." The British have a sense of who they are -- and who they are not. St. Louis, by contrast is still searching for its identity after almost four centuries.

The closest we've come so far has been critic Joe Pollack's "St. Louis is where trends come to die."

What would it take for us to begin identifying ourselves by what we ARE as an area, instead of what we are not? Probably a little honesty to start with. We'd have to acknowledge that we are poltically and racially divided, that we are genetically resistant to change.

The thing is, admitting the negatives is the first step to defining what it is that we find positive about our home town.