Post No Bills

I personally enjoy seeing the posters, flyers, rants, tags and stickers that are plastered along commercial strips and at active corners around the city.  Some advertise events, or simply an artist.  Others deliver a political message, often independent of the two major parties.  The number of handbills and flyers posted up is a cool measure of an area’s popularity and foot traffic (The Loop probably has more of this than any other district in the region).

Posted Bills on Cherokee

Cherokee Street has also seen a steady stream of new material.  Although many people strongly disapprove of this delivery method for ideas/messages, I consider it an important form of expression.  The bilingual flyer below prompted a written response, and probably quite a few conversations as well.

Gentrification and Surveillance

Graffiti is similarly controversial, but it has its place in my opinion.  There’s a difference between gang tags and street art.

Operation Frightside – Operation Brightside cleans up graffiti around the city

I might feel differently about this kind of stuff if I lived elsewhere, but in the City of St. Louis, pretty much any sign of life is welcomed.

For photos around town related to this topic, see my flickr photo sets Post No Bills and St. Louis Graffiti.

La Vallesana

Today, for the third time in a week or two, I decided to run down to Cherokee Street for a Torta and a Mexican Coke at La Vallesana.

Half of a Torta de Pollo

The radishes, carrots and jalapeños provide for a spicy accompaniment to a very spicy meal (even without the red or green sauce which spice it up exponentially).  I have been coming here regularly since I read several glowing reviews of this “Taco Stand” in the summer of 2008 (starting with this Sauce Magazine article).  I was initially drawn in by descriptions of “Tacos al Pastor” which combine pork and pineapple to create utter deliciousness, but recently it is the Tortas which have kept me coming back.

La Vallesana - Cherokee and California