DOPE CITY

Complete disclosure: I’m an old fogey. I don’t pretend to understand all the language of the young. Nevertheless, my understanding is that “dope” is a positive term these days. Thus, Dope City, referring to our town, may be a compliment. Yet the figure between the dollar and cent signs looks like a medication capsule. The red tagging characters under the top of the Arch spell STL (not that outsiders would know), and the red numerals to the right, 314, are the main local telephone code.           

CINDERELLA LEFT

Lots of cities have horse-drawn carriage rides for tourists. I’ve seen them in New York’s Central Park for as long as I can remember. We have them in downtown STL, although the scenery is perhaps not as opulent. I haven’t seen it before, but this empty, horseless carriage is parked beneath the railroad lines south of the Arch. I wonder if Cinderella made it to the ball - and whether we have one.                 

THURSDAY ARCH SERIES

Haven’t run this feature in a long time, but it’s hard to find something new to see in a 190 meter steel wicket after 30 years of photographing it. The huge billboard tower stands beside the major highway bridge over the Mississippi. Looks like ad biz isn’t so good.                

THE RAILS

 

All of the elevated trestles seen here are railroad lines, a block or two closer to the Mississippi than the building in yesterday’s post. Some of them will return to ground level, some will rise onto a bridge over the river. The line that comes in from the center of the right edge has emerged from a tunnel under the Arch grounds.                     

RUINS

 

South of the Arch, between the Mississippi and an elevated highway. Derelict commercial buildings that serve little purpose other than to support mobile phone antennas. A plan is being floated to turn this area and adjacent land into a multi-purpose office-commercial-residential district. I wish the developers good luck.