The Loop on Delmar is working its way East toward the MetroLink stop and beyond. In the process, millions have been spent on rebuilding much of the street between Skinker and Des Peres (MetroLInk). All in all, I love what they've done.

A few days I ago I was driving around the area just North of downtown - looking for some development opportunities. But I found something very disturbing.

Work is progressing on the redevelopment of the long vacant City Hospital site. The only problem I have with the whole project (so far) is the name - The Georgian. Give me a break on the retro names already.

I haven't lost my mind. I mean, parking for bicycles. Look around, how many bike racks do you see in city or burbs? Sadly, too few. It does little to no good to have striped bike lanes to encourage cycling if you don't have a place to secure your bike when you get there.

Before the rise of sprawl community centers weren't needed because the street served that function - neighbors seeing each other as the walked from home to work to store. As we began to drive more and more the idea of a community center to create some false connection between neighbors began to sprout. Most fail as they are artificial.

According to the sign at the new plaza and parking lot at 18th & Park Ave, it is the Heart of Lafayette Square. Silly me, I assumed the heart of Lafayette Square was actually Lafayette Square. Maybe someone voted to move the heart?

Businesses must have signage as part of their marketing. Suburban businesses are often set back so far from the road they must erect huge signs to gain the attention of drivers passing at speeds often in excess of 35mph. These signs are also meant to compete with all the other signs along the roadway as all those businesses are in the auto-dominated hell. So what happens when a suburban business owner buys a well-known restaurant in an urban area?

Yesterday St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay announced revised Census Bureau numbers for the City of St. Louis. The Post-Dispatch is reporting previous estimates "showed a drop of nearly 16,000 residents from 2000 to last year."

Lost among the election last week was the news a smoking ban took effect in one St. Louis area municipality. Yes, Arnold Missouri now has a smoking ban in public places. For those not familiar with the St. Louis region, Arnold is located on the Southern edge and is very white middle class. Very white. Blue collar. Very suburban - land of Wal-Mart and trucks.

I stayed up way past my bedtime hoping for some good news from the election. With few exceptions, I was disappointed.

Missouri voters are being asked to stop diverting funds from transportation to the general fund. This is simply misleading. The transportation lobby wants more money at Mo-Dot for road building. They don't want to work on mass transit solutions - just roads for cars. How does that help us in urban areas? We can't continue building auto-dominated regions.

Nearing completion is Kirkwood Station Plaza in the affluent St. Louis suburb of Kirkwood. The site was, for several decades, a huge parking lot and a Target store. Prior to the Target store it was the site of a historic hotel. Some in Kirkwood opposed the project because they thought it was too dense. I personally think the density is appropriate for the location. Like many projects this one had the right concept but falls short in the details.

The former site of the infamous Gaslight Square district is now a residential street. The Home Builders Association of Greater St. Louis held the 'Citirama' along a single block on Olive between October 8-24. Luckily, the presence of the existing street and alleys forbid the HBA and it's member builders from subjecting us with the types of developments currently being built on greenfields at the far edges of the region.

A month ago I was having lunch at Wasabi on Washington Avenue and I captured the essence of urbanity emerging in St. Louis.