I'm sitting here in St. Louis waiting on Eric.   Soulard is an old part of the city. Where I am right now is called State Streets.

A lot of the buildings here are falling down or crumbling. There are some nice ones, though. But the facades, the colonnades, boarded up windows, the roofs... they're all sagging or leaning.

There are very few people on the street at 7:00 in the morning here. I see a few walking around.

There's little traffic.

Other than that... nothing but birds and squirrels.

The distance between the buildings here is 3, 4, maybe 5 feet.

There are feral cats roaming the alleys.

I'm surprised (and I'm not) by the cars parked on the street.

There is a new Audi in front of me, a Dodge Challenger across the street, an old Toyota with replaced doors and fender up the way. There are a few pickups, a van.

Why do people live like this? Is it easier to live in the city than it is to live out in the suburbs? Or even in the country?

Is convenience that important? Is it even convenient?

Do people choose to move here? Or do they just kind of slip into it?

Are these people really living? Or are they merely existing?

The guy living next to where I am working comes out about 9:00 and sits on his porch the rest of the day with a bottle of clear liquor.

It's a sad thing to see the dashed hopes and dreams that I observe so often.

Photo taken somewhere on Minnesota St., St. Louis.