Frippy introduced me to a real great comic.
A tree grows in Detroit (out the window of an abandoned house)
I just stumbled across a five-year-old Metro Times article about ghetto palms in Detroit, here: Ghetto palm. The term ghetto palm generally refers to the ailanthus altissima tree, but I’ve heard it used to apply to other urban weed trees as well.
Ghetto palms are trees that can grow and thrive in even the harshest conditions, and one sees them around low income neighborhoods where infrastructure and public spaces are neglected. They grow from facades and roofs of long-abandoned buildings, and even sometimes grow inside of these buildings. Growing on and in buildings, they’re a potent symbol of decay. I read about the recent rehab of a long-vacant Detroit skyscraper in which the cutting down of the skyscraper’s lone rooftop tree was a big, symbolic event that garnered its own news article.
But ghetto palms are more numerous along edges where lawnmowers can’t quite reach, like along chain link fences or growing pressed up against the foundations of buildings. In a place where people feel ownership and agency towards the landscape and tend to look after their property, these plants get weeded or cut down long before they can grow into anything more than a seedling. But in disenfranchised low income communities (you know, the ghetto), they can become shrubs and even mature trees, sometimes getting large and numerous enough to actually damage the foundation of a building.
Bill Keaggy has photos of local ghetto palms and other volunteer trees.
And this has nothing to do with ghetto palms, but I loved this quote from the Metro Times article:
“We thought it was depressing to stay in the suburbs, because the people were not nice, but hostile,” he says, laughing. “In Detroit, it was the complete opposite. If we needed to know something, we would go into a bar, and then we’d have an appointment the next afternoon. It was amazing. If the people didn’t know, they would say, ‘I know someone who knows.’ …I didn’t have a single bad experience in Detroit.”
I had a similar experience in Detroit earlier this year–the people in the city were so, so, so nice and helpful, and often very interested in talking about their city and comparing experiences. Folks who didn’t know the answer to a question would point us toward someone who did, or even take a moment out of their work day to get out their phone, call some friends, and ask. I can’t wait to get back to Detroit.
Drinks & Mortar: Combining booze with pews.
All the stalled projects Downtown gettin’ you down in the dumps? Need a reason to pick up yer chin? Wellsir, head yourself on down to DRINKS & MORTAR!
FOR THE MONTH OF JUNE, we will gather starting at 7pm on Thursday, June 26, at the Church Key, located at 4127 Manchester in The Grove. When we lost the battle to save St. Aloysius Gonzaga church from demolition, the pews and other architectural details ended up here. Quite the curiosity for archinerds. Non-smoking indoors w/smoking patio. They have pizza–try the pickle pizza!
I will buy a drink for any recently laid off architect who shows up.
yours,
Clairington
thee hostesss
Trivia question: glass houses
What two late-ish twentieth century buildings within the city limits (St. Louis, of course) were designed to look like the Crystal Palace?
I will buy a drink for the first person to answer correctly next time s/he shows up at Drinks and Mortar.
Metro cuts MetroBus and MetroLink; introduces new MetroCow
ST. LOUIS—Officials at Metro announced today that in the face of an ongoing budget crunch, MetroBus and MetroLink service will be replaced with a new, more economically friendly service: MetroCow.
“Frankly, our existing MetroBus service does not run frequently enough to be a viable way to get around the city, especially when a transfer is necessary,” said Metro spokesman Jim Sloe. “Realizing that any further cuts to service would make the system nearly useless, particularly after rush hour, we decided this was nearly as good.”
MetroCow service is expected to roll out as soon as next month. Saddle-wearing cows will wander slowly through the streets of St. Louis. Instead of fare cards and transfers, riders will be able to purchase lassos at any former MetroLink stop (now called “MetroCorrals”) or Schnucks store, which they can use to “flag down” their rides to work.
Commuters interviewed by this reporter at MetroLink and MetroBus stops about the new service mostly expressed resignation. “Of course I’ll ride MetroCow,” said Walnut Park resident Theresa George-Barnett. With service being what it is, it’s not like anyone who has a choice rides Metro, and I don’t have a choice.”
George-Barnett’s sentiments were echoed by Carondelet resident Andrew Van Doren Shaw, who commented, “Riding a filthy cow around the city at a couple of miles an hour to get home from the grocery store? Well, it’s probably not any slower than using buses that only run once an hour after 6pm. Better make sure I get apples while I’m at the store from now on.”
Image: In the coming weeks, Metro will phase in the MetroCow logo on signage, before removing MetroBus and MetroLink images altogether.
ooey gooey DEWEY drinks this Thursday
Hey y’all,
Dewey Decimal Drinks is this Thursday. Apologies on the late announcement–the 48 Hour Film Festival ate my brain and I’m just now getting other things done (This is why there is no flyer as of yet).
FOR THE MONTH OF JUNE, we will gather starting at 7 pm on Thursday, June 12, at Stella Blues, located at 3269 Morganford in Tower Grove South. There’s all sorts of yummy food (Check www.stellabluesstl.com for the menu) and if the weather’s nice, we can enjoy the patio.
I hope to see you Thursday! Woo-woo! Tell all the bookworms in your life!
always reading between the lines,
Claire-ian the Librarian
myspace.com/deweydecimaldrinks
What all my daydreams look like today
Fig. 1: Citizen Pioneer reaches for the Statue of the Republic, July 2007.
This is what I get for overlistening to Sufjan Stevens’s Come on Feel the Illinoise this morning. (Dreamy sigh.)
