On Janaury 16, 2009, the Board of Aldermen for the City of St. Louis voted to bestow the honorary title "Barack Obama Boulevard" on Delmar Boulevard and to spend money on new street signs for the six intersections impacted by the name change.
Now, I can see some rationale for this change. He was the first African-American elected President. However, I don't remember any streets being changed in honor of John F. Kennedy who was the first Irish-American and Catholic President.
Although Barack Obama is my President and we do have his picture hanging in the broker's office (which is tradition), I don't see why this particular honor has been bestowed. It is premature. I have always believed that the honor of having a public street, building, etc. named after you should be awarded as follows:
- It should be based on objective (as opposed to emotional) criteria.
- It should be awarded posthumously and should have a waiting period.
- It should be based on the individual's significant contributions at the local, state and national level.
If this was the only part of the story, I might not be so offended. The problem is that there are similar proposals pending:
- 4500 block of St. Louis Avenue - Jessie Taylor Avenue (unknown)
- 1300 block of Talyor - Samuel Moore, Sr. Avenue (father of alderman)
- Elliott Avenue - Rev. Joe L. Bryant Avenue (local pastor)
- 11th Street - Barbara Abelyn Street (crime victim)
- Howard Street - Jeff Patel Street (crime victim)
I challenge anyone to describe the significant local, state or national contributions made by these individuals that warrants these honors. I am not saying that they didn't make any contributions. I just question whether such an honor should be bestowed (or more accurately whether there are others who more deserve the honor) and whether the public taxpayer should pay for changing the street names.
Well, we have had stadiums where the name is auctioned off. Why not extend this idea to streets? It can't be worse than the current trend in St. Louis. So, if and when I have the opportunity to propose that a local street be renamed "ActiveRain Boulevard", I hope that my friends and colleagues on ActiveRain as well as my readers on Localism.com will contribute $1 each to secure the naming rights and make ActiveRain a St. Louis landmark.
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PREA SIGNATURE REALTY
PREA Signature Realty is a full service brokerage located at 1709 Park Avenue in the Lafayette Square neighborhood of the City of St. Louis. PREA Signature proudly serves the following city neighborhoods: Lafayette Square, Soulard, Benton Park, Benton Park West, Downtown Loft District, Forest Park Southwest, Central West End, Tower Grove East, Tower Grove South, Compton Heights, Shaw, The Hill, Dogtown, Carondelet, Holly Hills, St. Louis Hills, Dutchtown, and the Other Historic Neighborhoods of the City of Saint Louis, Missouri.
The opinions expressed herein represent the opinions of the author only and do not reflect the opinions of PREA Signature Realty. All photos and written content were produced by PREA Signature Realty. All Rights Reserved - PREA Signature Realty (2009). This content may not be reproduced or reprinted, except for Active Rain re-blogging, without express written permission of PREA Signature Realty.
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