Toys for Kids but Cards for Adults This Recession

We asked some of our Patchwork Nation bloggers about any changes to holidays plans, their look back on 2009 and hopes for 2010. From Eric Madkins:

Spending for the holidays: I have been frugal as a consumer this Christmas with regards to spending. My main objective is making sure the kids enjoy the toys, games, etc.,on a budget of course. For adults, I've opted to Christmas cards and gift cards.

On Christmas, we will spend time with family, locally (St. Louis), and then drive to Oklahoma to visit family for New Years. Oklahoma is about 6 hours away from St. Louis.

2009 was a historic year. The economic challenges the country has faced are and will be enormous. I think the recession has taught us many valuable lessons. In my opinion, the most important of those lessons is that at the street level, financial management and budgeting is fundamental and necessary for every consumer and household. The recession has taught me to be more mindful of my spending habits, place a greater emphasis on saving, and have less dependence on credit. There are definitely signs of recovery, currently; but at the micro and macro level, the recovery will be incremental.

And lastly, Jobs, Jobs Jobs. For 2010, job creation is essential!!!

Eric Madkins is the Senior Housing Director at the Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis.

Recreating Downtown St. Louis - Citygarden

From the beginning, St. Louis has been a city somewhat defined by it's parks. Forest Park, home of the 1904 World's Fair, stands as the second largest urban park in America behind New York's Central Park. And the Jefferson National Expansion Monument (better known to everyone as the St. Louis Arch) is surronded by park grounds taken back from the riverfront warehouse district.

But Forest Park isn't really downtown, and the Arch? That's where St. Louisians take visitors from out of town. As downtown St. Louis looks to reinvent itself as place where people actually live, it now has an actual city park - Citygarden: