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Illustration by Nathan Heigert
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Image of St. Louis skyline
But rather than tell you what you already know about St. Louis’ neighborhoods, we embarked on a phone blitz, calling city officials and neighborhood associations from Belleville to Wentzville. We asked about block parties, pools, schools and weird bits of history; what’s new (or what’s old and being rehabbed), where people hang out and why they love where they live. If you live in the bi-state area, you probably have at least a fuzzy sense of the rapid—and radical—changes our neighborhoods are going through right now. Empty-nesters from the county are snapping up downtown lofts. Young families with babies are moving into the single-family homes those older couples are leaving behind. North City continues to grow and recover; South City grows stabler by the day, one rehab at a time. St. Charles County is moving away from Levittown-style suburbs to embrace New Urbanism. St. Louis’ inner city is recovering as people rediscover the pleasures of urban life.
Throughout the metropolitan area, we sensed a newfound equilibrium between city and county, urban and suburban, new and old. In the Metro East, Belleville and Swansea are planning to build old-fashioned town centers near their MetroLink stops. And even though civic leaders have long been known to sink large sums of money into faddish development projects, somehow this feels a little different. It feels as if we’re tired of spending our lives in our cars ... worried about losing a sense of place ... and tired of this region not functioning as a healthy whole. Whether you’re looking for a new place to live or just eager to read up on your own corner of the world, we hope that this guide reflects the spirit of the places we choose to call home.
—With reporting by Sarah Baicker, Margaret Bauer, Jeannette Cooperman, Stacy Frankenberg, Matthew Halverson, Christy Marshall, Katie O’Connor, Jessica Oesch and D.J. Wilson.
Sources: U.S. Census, 2000; Multiple Listing Service; St. Louis City Information Network; St. Louis County Department of Planning; St. Louis Urban Planning and Design Agency; The Streets of St. Louis; Where We Live; Dog Parks of Greater St. Louis. Special thanks to Esley Hamilton, preservation historian, St. Louis County; Jill Hamilton, recycling-program manager, city of St. Louis; Karen Pecaut, assistant to the director, St. Louis Department of Parks, Recreation and Forestry; Hope Johnson, senior analyst, Metro.
Downtown and Near South Side: Benton Park, Benton Park West, Carr Square, Columbus Square, Downtown, Downtown West (Loft District), Fox Park, Gate District, Kosciusko, Lafayette Square, LaSalle, Marine Villa, McKinley Heights, Peabody/Darst-Webbe, Soulard
downtown & near south side
Benton Park, Benton Park West, Carr Square, Columbus Square, Downtown, Downtown West (Loft District), Fox Park, Gate District, Kosciusko, Lafayette Square, LaSalle Park, Marine Villa, McKinley Heights, Peabody/Darst-Webbe, Soulard
No one reckoned on a speedy recovery for downtown when improvement plans were drafted in 1999. Now lofts, galleries and restaurants have sprung up all at once, and we’re humming Petula Clark’s anthem about going where the lights are bright. Downtown’s newfound popularity has meant investment in the Near South Side, too. Coffee shops, corner bars and restaurants are opening in tiny neighborhoods such as Fox Park, and the number of rehabs in historic areas such as Marine Villa and Benton Park is growing steadily.
History: St. Louis stayed much the same between 1774 and 1804. At the time of the Corps of Discovery, there were only 180 houses, concentrated mainly on Main, Second and Third streets (which, at the time, had French names).
• In 1896, a tornado swept away huge sections of the Near South Side. In Lafayette Square, nearly all that remained standing was a statue of Thomas Hart Benton.
Architecture: Between 1865 and 1885, most Lafayette Square houses were Second Empire townhouses, the largest north of the park on Benton Place and Park Avenue. After 1890, architecture went Germanic: red brick, wide arches, turrets, classical-columned porches and iron balconies.
• The only remnant of St. Louis’ once thriving Real Estate Row is the Old Post Office, now dramatically renovated.
• Louis Sullivan’s Wainwright Building was one of the first skyscrapers in the world, combining a steel frame with an elegant ornamental terra-cotta exterior.
Hot spot: Downtown itself. Since 2000, 1,500 new residential units have opened, 1,500 are under construction and 1,800 are in development. There are 10,000 people living downtown now, with 15,000 expected by 2008. The new Roberts Tower luxury condos at Mayfair Plaza will be the first new high-rise housing here in more than 40 years.
In the neighborhood: Flower wholesalers in the 2600 and 2700 blocks of LaSalle Street … Soulard Farmers Mar ket, operating since the early 19th century … Cherokee Lemp, with its Antique Row, Honduran food at Los Catrachos, Bosnian concerts and swing dances at the Casa Loma Ballroom, booze-free rock ’n’ roll gigs at Lemp Neighborhood Arts Center and mind-blowing art shows at Fort Gondo Compound for the Arts. New to Cherokee is Tension Head Records, “St. Louis’ only punk/metal/hard rock music boutique.”
Between 2000 and 2005, Downtown's population increased by an astounding 238 percent.
Soon to come: The Arcade/Wright Building; the Bottle District; a mixed use project in the old Dillard’s building; renovation of the Kiel Center for the Arts; T. Roberts Design Center Lofts; and, miracle of miracles, a new Amtrak interim station to replace the ancient, embarrassing AmShack.
Rituals: Mardi Gras, Fat Tuesday and Bastille Day in Soulard • Strassenfest • Taste of St. Louis • Saturday antiquing on Cherokee Street • monthly wrestling at the South Broadway Athletic Club
Hangouts: Soulard Coffee Garden • Copia Urban Winery • Shugga’s • Café Hebron • Gus’ Pretzels • Belas Artes • Shangri La Diner • Beale on Broadway downtown & near south side
Former TV broadcaster Al Wiman and his wife, Glenda Wiman, lived 23 years in a two-story colonial in Frontenac, and they'd just begun to think about a smaller place when they visited friends at the new Edison Condominiums downtown. On the drive home, Al said to Glenda, "You want to move? I'm calling your bluff. Let's live downtown." Now he's five minutes from his job as a VP at the Saint Louis Science Center, and she's five minutes from hers at the Washington University School of Medicine. "We want to go to a concert, we walk across the street," he says happily. "There are all these new restaurants. And you never know what's going to happen next. Floors five through eight are a hotel, so during the Final Four, you're seeing all the basketball players in the gym. It's like working out in a forest of redwoods." He chuckles. "People say, 'What about a grocery store?' I say, 'We never walked to the grocery store when we lived in Frontenac.'" The Wimans have made so many friends in the building, their daughter-in-law calls it "an adult dorm." Above all, Al says, "the sunsets are breathtaking. We never saw them from the ground; too much got in the way."
central west end/midtown
Academy, Central West End, Covenant Blu/Grand Center, DeBaliviere, Forest Park Southeast, Fountain Park, Lewis Place, Midtown, Skinker-DeBaliviere, Vandeventer, Visitation Park, West End, Wydown Skinker
Not content to be just the geographical center of St. Louis, Midtown has come to represent the cultural hub of the city as well: David Robertson’s baton rises and falls at Powell Symphony Hall, future great minds traipse across the Saint Louis University campus and art and animals collide in Forest Park. Of late, though, the area is gaining a reputation as a center for rebirth, as once uninhabitable neighborhoods such as Forest Park Southeast bounce back.
History: Drawn by the grandeur of Forest Park in the late 1800s, wealthy city residents migrated west and settled in the areas just north and east of the park, establishing Westmoreland Place, Portland Place and what would become Lindell. Private streets and cul de-sacs helped control traffic and establish a peaceful environment for the newcomers. The entertainment district of Gaslight Square reached its apex between the late 1950s and the late ’60s but eventually fell into disrepair and later all but disappeared.
Areas on the verge: “We have to do a better job of telling our story,” says Irving Blue, executive director of the Forest Park Southeast Development Corp. That story is the all-but-complete elimination of violent crime, prostitution and open-air drug trafficking that used to take place on Manchester and Oakland and the increase in safety and quality affordable housing. Blue’s nonprofit is in the process of rehabbing 16 residential buildings in the area, and he estimates that 70 new units throughout the area will be completed within 2006. A marketing campaign set to debut later this year will take advantage of the impending traffic snarls caused by the Highway 40 reconstruction project. “Part of that traffic will be rerouted to Manchester, and that’s going to give us the opportunity to show everyone what we’ve done,” Blue says. “And to people on their way out west, we’ll be saying, ‘If you lived here, you could be home by now.’”
Forest Park could have been even bigger. Controversial original plans called for 2,754 acres—more than twice the land the park ultimately covered.
In the neighborhood: Anchored by destinations, diversions and amenities of every sort, Midtown is almost best defined by what isn’t there, such as an overabundance of strip malls and chain restaurants. Culture junkies can choose from Broadway plays at the Fox Theatre and productions by the Black Rep at the Grandel Theatre to traveling exhibitions at the Saint Louis Science Center. The Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis is carrying on Midtown’s tradition of supporting a variety of artistic endeavors, and Jazz at the Bistro continually demonstrates why it’s widely regarded as the spot for jazz in St. Louis. You want boutique shopping? The Central West End has it, and commerce continues to grow east of Kingshighway. Next to the newly renovated—and ultraposh—Chase Park Plaza, the Maryland Plaza development is ramping up; home furnisher Design Within Reach, high-end pet pamperer Couture de Pooch and contemporary women’s clothier Girl are slated for completion this spring.
Did you know? When the Fox Theatre opened in January 1929, its 6,000-seat capacity made it the second-largest venue of its kind in the world.
Hangouts: The Majestic • Duff’s • Kopperman’s Deli • Atomic Cowboy • AMP • Dressel’s Pub • Coffee Cartel • The Grind • Llewellyn’s
Celebs: Josephine Baker • Sonny Liston • Tennessee Williams • Kate Chopin • Sara Teasdale • T.S. Eliot
Photographer/videographer Doug Macomber and poet Carl Phillips bought a house in the Central West End because it was the most diversified neighborhood they could find. "We feel comfortable here," says Macomber. "We love the sound of the basilica bells, the history, all these literary connections that are still in the air. It's a place that feeds creativity. And everywhere you look, there are dogs—how can you love a neighborhood if it doesn't have dogs?"
Phillips' words come more slowly, his candor deliberate: "In St. Louis, people prefer to divide off and pretend certain elements don't exist. I like the weird uncomfortableness of that mix—instead of living out in the county and having a kind of homogenized existence that you pay a lot of money for."
south city
Bevo, Boulevard Heights, Carondelet, Cheltenham, Clayton/Tamm (Dogtown), Clifton Heights, Compton Heights, Dutchtown, Ellendale, Franz Park, Gravois Park, Hi-Pointe, The Hill, Holly Hills, Kings Oak, Lindenwood Park, McRee Town, Mount Pleasant, North Hampton, Patch, Princeton Heights, St. Louis Hills, Shaw, Southampton, Southewest Garden, Tiffany, Tower Grove East, Tower Grove South
Just 15 years ago, South St. Louis was scrubby Dutch and whitebread; just 30 years ago, the Grand business district was sound asleep. Today, Vietnamese, Thai, Iraqi, Laotian, Afghan, Liberian, Filipino, Arab, German, Roma, Bantu and Somali cultures weave a path down South Grand. Cherokee’s business district mixes taquerias and bodegas with its funky antiques and historic Casa Loma ballroom. Dusty corner bars and boarded up shops have turned into Bosnian coffeehouses and international markets. And the value of those little gingerbread houses has shot through the roof.
History: The Bevo Mill neighborhood took its name from the whimsical 60-foot windmill restaurant built by August Busch Sr. in 1916. Today, the old windmill is surrounded by Bosna Gold, the new Taft Street Bosnian restaurant, the Stari Grad bakery and the Europa market and cafe. At nearby Grbic, Eastern European master musicians play in front of a stone fireplace that used to warm the Bailey Farms Dairy. The venerable American Czech Educational Center now stands in the neighborhood with the largest concentration of Bosnians outside Europe.
Never changed: The Men’s Pinochle Club still plays at Carondelet Park, the Hat Mart on California has been open for more than a century and the beloved 131- year-old Carondelet Bakery still stands in the Ivory Triangle.
Architecture: South City has row upon row of small brick houses with pointy front gables and a storybook charm: “Hansel-and-Gretel,” “fairy-tale” or “ginger bread” houses. “We’ve been very fortunate,” says preservation his torian Esley Hamilton, “that so many of these rows are intact and not broken by teardowns or Permastone veneers.”
• Cyrus Crane Willmore developed St. Louis Hills, insisting on tile and slate roofs, stained glass and artistic landscaping. Look for the flamingos discreetly tucked into the rosebushes.
• Compton Heights’ streets curve gracefully to soften the traffic. Many of St. Louis’ early corporate leaders settled in these mansions.
• In Shaw Place, Henry Shaw re-created a street from Victorian England: an oval drive around a parkway with a fountain.
• In Carondelet, the Steins Street limestone row houses were built in 1851 by Ignatz Uhrig, proprietor of a local cave and brewery.
Rituals: Bevo Day Festival • yard sales • Pridefest • the Ancient Order of Hibernians’ St. Patrick’s Day Parade in Dogtown • the Pagan Picnic in Tower Grove Park • the International Festival • the Czech Festival • the Bosnian Festival • the Christmas Cookie Walk and Cinco de Mayo on Cherokee Street
Nightlife: Club Europa • The Famous Bar • Venice Café • Way Out Club • the bar at Gino’s • Erato Wine Bar • The Upstairs Lounge • The Royale • Mangia Italiano
Celebs: Yogi Berra and Joe Garagiola grew up on the Hill, and a young Jack Buck moved there with his wife in 1954.
Hangouts: Both Ted Drewes frozen custard stands are in South City, and nobody forgets it • La Tropicana Market • Amighetti’s on the Hill • the Italia-American Bocce Club • Trattoria Marcella • Hartford Coffee • Shaw’s Coffee Limited • MoKaBe’s • O’Connell’s Pub • The Pitted Olive • Plato’s Café
Kris Zapalac and her husband, Jerry Martin, gave up a grand mansion in Soulard to live in a converted carriage house south of Anheuser-Busch, on the river bluffs. "I never tire of the view," Zapalac says. "As a historian, I'm looking at the river that made a French village into the fourth-largest city in the country—and there aren't all that many places where one can see it out one's bedroom window."
Carol Fisher and her husband, David Fisher, director of the Great Rivers Greenway District, restored and 1878 house in Lafayette Square. It's unlike anywhere I've ever lived," she says. "We were here one month and had no fewer than five dinner invitations from total strangers, because we'd meet them in the alley on the way to the Dumpster."
north city
Baden, College Hill, Fairground, Hamilton Heights, Hyde Park, Jeff-Vander-Lou, Kingsway, Mark Twain, Near North Side, North Point, North Riverfront, O'Fallon, Old North St. Louis, Penrose, Riverview, St. Louis Place, Ville (and the Greater Ville), Walnut Park, Wells/Goodfellow
Once the site of some of St. Louis’ most vibrant neighborhoods, North City suffered a huge population loss in the 1950s, mostly as a result of white flight and later due to significant black flight. In the ’60s, it survived being severed from the rest of the city by the construction of Highway 70. For 40 years, the area hung on through redlining, population loss, decay and a shrinking tax base. Now, for the first time in nearly half a century, the North Side is not just surviving but beginning a comeback.
History: Bordered by Martin Luther King, Sarah, St. Louis and Taylor, the Ville is the Harlem of St. Louis. During the 1920s and ’30s, it went from 8 percent to 86 percent African-American, with professionals concentrating here— including Annie Malone, one of the first African-American women millionaires.
• In 1816, Old North St. Louis’ founders set aside three geographic circles as public space: Grace Hill, symbolic of spiritual health; Jackson Park, its ball field symbolic of physical health; and Webster Middle School, symbolic of intellectual health.
• The old Sportsman’s Park, originally called the Grand Avenue Ball Grounds, is now the Herbert Hoover Boys & Girls Club.
Did you know? The last surviving remnant of prairie inside the 270 corridor is located in Calvary Cemetery, overlooking the Mississippi River.
Fastest-growing area: “The hot spot for the next decade—the Lafayette Square of the 21st century—will be Old North St. Louis,” says Jim Shrewsbury, president of the St. Louis Board of Aldermen. “Young professionals are getting in at ground level, rehabbing good, solid brick houses that are five minutes from downtown.”
• North Marketplace, a housing development spearheaded by the Old North Restoration Group, saw its first residents when Ken and Tiffany Franklin moved into one of the display units last summer. The arrival of their baby in December marked the first birth on North Broadway in many generations.
In the neighborhood: The Black World History Museum is one of only two wax museums in the country dedicated to African-American history; the Smithsonian Institution brings traveling exhibits here.
Architecture: On Chambers, Madison, Benton and Warren, examples of New England Colonial architecture date back to the 1830s.
• At Kulage House, built on College Avenue in 1906, the devout Mrs. Kulage installed a 1,700-pipe organ, housed in a stone tower. The house now belongs to St. Louis License Collector Benjamin Goins.
• Just north of Hyde Park are two of the nation’s seven remaining standpipe water towers: the red tower at Bissell and Blair and the white tower on East Grand, considered the largest perfect Corinthian column in existence when it was built in 1871.
Penrose Park features the velodrome, the only bicycle-racing track in St. Louis.
Celebs: Arthur Ashe, Dick Gregory, Robert McFerrin Sr., Grace Bumbry, Chuck Berry, Redd Foxx
Hangouts: Some of the regulars at Zack’s Lounge (the “Zackaroos and Zackarettes”) have been drinking here for decades. The Moose Lounge, near O’Fallon Park, is a popular jazz and blues spot.
Hot seller: “For the first time in 40 years, market-rate housing is being built in North St. Louis,” Shrewsbury says. “It’s creating a magnet for the black middle class—something we haven’t had in decades.”
Architect John Burse fell so hard in love with Old North City, he's now president of its board of directors: "Near the top of my list are the views of the Arch and the river—two things at the heart of St. Louis. Most important, though, is the energetic spirit of my neighbors. It's a wonderful thing to watch a young family begin a sweat-equity rehab project, breathing new life into the neighborhood by making a place of their own. Lights get turned on; the boards come off the windows."
For a decade, Freddie Brown has lived in a two-story brick house on the Near North Side, her aunt above her and relatives on both sides. "It's nice here, pretty decent; there's not any crime," she says. "We have very, very good neighbors; when we go out of town, everybody watches out for everybody else. The houses are roomy and well built—we don't have too much closet space, but we deal with it!"
clayton/university city
Not quite the city and not quite the 'burbs, Clayton and University City offer a comfortable mix of the two. Clayton’s Carondelet corridor is still growing, and it’s sure to be aided by the almost-finished MetroLink expansion. With the younger crowd drawn toward its hip amenities and proximity to downtown, University City’s diverse mix of residents is still growing.
History: Ralph Clayton and Martin Hanley’s donation of 104 acres of land in 1876 eventually spawned the minimetropolis of Clayton that has come to be known as St. Louis’ second downtown.
When Clayton was still in its infancy, Edward G. Lewis hatched his plan to develop the land to the north. The visionary publisher was the driving force behind what became U. City.
Fastest-growing area: The Loop continues to boom. Developments on Vernon and Westgate are catering to the influx of former West County residents who are moving into the area at a steady clip. “They want to be closer to a cosmopolitan environment,” says Lehman Walker, University City director of planning and development. Throw in rising gasoline prices and increased traffic times, he adds, and the appeal of living closer to the city is growing significantly: “Time is a very valuable commodity to these people.”
Trends: Condos, condos, condos. Developers are converting multifamily buildings in the Moorlands and DeMun from rentals to condominiums, and the same thing has been happening throughout U. City for several years now. It’s not only an exciting development for young professionals who want affordable housing in the cosmopolitan environment, it’s also cleaning up U. City. “Our experience is that those who own their home tend to comply with our laws regarding maintenance better than those who rent,” says Walker.
Not all of the spaces are rehabs, though. The nine-story Crescent condos, set to break ground this spring, will increase the luxury quotient, as will the still-growing Mansions on the Plaza project in U. City.
The area may also be poised to grow—and not just in terms of population. More than a year into a study that will determine whether a merger of Clayton and Richmond Heights is advisable, the Joint Study Committee is ready to start making decisions.
U. City's residents are the most evenly balanced mixture of races in the metro area.
In the neighborhood: Washington University’s Hilltop Campus covers nearly 170 acres just west of Forest Park and is home to more than 12,000 students.
University City is synonymous with the Loop, and the Loop is synonymous with Joe Edwards. His Delmar quartet— Blueberry Hill and the Tivoli, the Pageant and Pin-Up Bowl—anchors the hipster-paradise commercial district.
Copavilla, built Florida-style in 1953-'54, is the one distinctively modern street in U. City.
Rituals: The Saint Louis Art Fair ranks as one of the best art fairs in the country. The Saint Louis Jazz Festival draws big-name artists—not to mention hep-cat jazz fans. And culture lands in the Loop every fall with the Loop in Motion Arts Festival.
Celebs: Vincent Price, Kevin Kline, Rocco Landesman, William Burroughs, Walker Evans, A.E. Hotchner, Howard Nemerov, Harriett Woods, Nelly
Hangouts: Kaldi’s • Aesop’s Coffee House • City Coffeehouse & Creperies • The Brevé Espresso Company • Delmar Lounge
Marguerite Garrick’s father was TV-celeb zoologist Marlin Perkins, her mother animal-rights activist Carol Perkins. They moved to Aberdeen Place when Marguerite was 11, and now she’s married and back in the old neighborhood, her younger daughter enrolled in her old middle school. Garrick even agreed to serve as president of the Hillcrest Homeowners Association, overseeing the two gracious old streets, Aberdeen and Arundel, as they stretch seven blocks from Skinker to Dartford. “There’s an old-fashioned Fourth of July parade,” she says. “The kids decorate their bikes, and afterward there are snow cones and pony rides.” Then there’s the fall party for the grown-ups, and she has resolved to start a holiday-lights contest: The neighborhood crosses the city-county boundary, and the folks in the city blocks are outshining the folks in the county blocks. “The neighborhood doesn’t feel any different than it did 44 years ago,” Garrick says. “It feels exactly the same.”
inner ring
Brentwood, Glendale, Kirkwood, Maplewood, Richmond Heights, Rock Hill, Shrewsbury, Webster Groves
From the turn-of-the-century homes and shaded lawns to the block upon block of well-kept bungalows and Arts and Crafts homes, the inner ring represents some of the nicest small-town suburbs in St. Louis.
History: Kirkwood has the distinction of being the first planned suburb west of the Mississippi River. Named after James Pugh Kirkwood, the engineer in charge of locating, surveying and building the railroad, this bedroom community was meant to be haven from urban congestion and cholera.
• The African-American community in North Webster traces its history back to the Civil War era. The Underground Railroad ran through Kirkwood, Webster Groves, Shrewsbury and Rock Hill. Kirkwood is home to Olive Chapel of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, one of the earliest African American congregations west of the Mississippi.
Did you know? The inventor of the loose-leaf binder lived on Vine in Maplewood.
Architecture: Brentwood has been dubbed the “City of Warmth,” Kirkwood the “queen of St. Louis suburbs.” Webster has won the Tree City USA Award for 15 years. Amid Webster Groves’ Queen Anne and frame homes stands a startling cluster of ’50s modern houses off Grant Road; young architects still vie to live there. Kirkwood has a Frank Lloyd Wright house in Ebsworth Park, and the 1853 Kirkwood train station’s architecture is Richardsonian.
Trends: The teardown trend has wreaked havoc on the quiet graciousness of Kirkwood. Vintage homes have been bulldozed to make way for oversized homes on undersized lots. Now the Kirkwood City Council is trying to reinstill downtown charm, and the city of Brentwood has a new comprehensive plan that is focused on preserving a small-town atmosphere, sense of place and quality of life.
In 2005, Webster Groves received $39,400 in drug asset-forfeiture funds, compared with $6,997 in Kirkwood; Kirkwood issued 7,301 speeding tickets, compared with Webster's 4,042.
Ritual: Fourth of July parades: In Kirkwood, tots and tykes in decorated wagons, scooters and bikes cruise several blocks before reconvening on the front yard of the original organizer to refresh with Popsicles. Of course, no Fourth of July parade is quite on par with the legendary one staged annually in Webster Groves...
Hangouts: If you’re looking for the politicos, hang out at McClain’s Corner Bar & Grill in Maplewood. Another hangout is Cousin Hugo’s, made infamous in the book White Palace. At night, the hot spot is Boogaloo or, if you’re a Jerry Garcia sort, the Grateful Inn ... In Richmond Heights, you’ll find the mall lizards at the Galleria; there’s an ostensibly more cerebral bunch at Borders in Brentwood Square ... You can tell that the seasons have changed in Kirkwood when families start heading for the Tropical Moose or the Custard Station after dinner.
Celebs: Novelist Jonathan Franzen, actress Marsha Mason and the Lofties Sisters (a cappella gospel singers) grew up in Webster Groves; Phyllis Diller perfected her shtick while living there. Former FBI and CIA director William Webster is, appropriately enough, from Webster, as are Russ Mitchell, an anchor for CBS news; author John Lutz; and Bunny Aryes Peck, Gregory Peck's mother. Poet Marianne Moore and jazz great David Sanborn were born in Kirkwood.
"I was born in Kirkwood in 1960, grew up on Lee Avenue," says Alvin A. Reid, city editor of the St. Louis American. "I really didn't think I'd end up back here—but I did. It's a marvelous blend of very affluent and middle-class and poor, and somehow we all seem to manage. I feel blessed that our daughters are going to get to grow up the same way I did, because I had fun. In college, the Turkey Day football game made national news. Somebody said, 'What's up with that?' and I said—it sounds smug, but I don't care—'You'd just have to be there.'"
west county
Ballwin, Chesterfield, Clarkson Valley, Country Life Acres, Creve Coeur, Crystal Lake Park, Des Peres, Ellisville, Eureka, Frontenac, Green Trails, Huntleigh, Ladue, Manchester, Maryland Heights, Pacific, St. Albans, Town & Country, Twin Oaks, Valley Park, Warson Woods, Westwood, Wildwood, Winchester
It was 1853, and railroad workers were laying track in the rocky wilderness. It’s said that, as they came around a bend, someone shouted “Eureka!” because suddenly the land was smooth and level—hence the town’s name. Life is smooth and level throughout West County, with median household incomes, educational levels and property values all higher than average.
History: We think of West County as new, but Chesterfield dates back to 1817 and Pacific (originally named Franklin but renamed for the Missouri Pacific Railroad) dates back to 1819.
• Ballwin was first called Ballshow, but John Ball thought better of the name two days later and gave it a more optimistic tag.
• Manchester Road was la rue Bonhomme and, before that, an Indian trail. Travelers drank at the mineral spring near the intersection of Manchester and Woods Mill.
• Before Ladue had a police force, it had Officer McGinnis, who patrolled in his own car. The only way to reach him was to call the St. Louis Country Club, where he stopped to pick up messages.
If the census counted horses per capita, Wildwood would top the chart.
Happy trails: Town & Country’s 11.9 square miles are crisscrossed with trails; Wildwood has more than 34 miles of trails; trails connect Ellisville’s 10 parks; and the trails along the Great Western Greenway will soon link the Meramec and Missouri rivers.
Architecture: At Olive and Hog Hollow stands what was once the general store for the town of Lake. Wildwood’s City Hall was an inn in the historic community of Grover; across the street stands the old blacksmith’s shop. Valley Park started life as a railroad station; then, in 1903, a glass company built itself a town, scaling the houses to their residents’ rank in the company. Empty since the Flood of ’93, the area is now targeted for redevelopment, saddening preservationists who say it’s the most complete company town in Missouri. A wonderful group of Tudor Revival houses is built into the hills in Glen Forest, just north of Fair Oaks in Ladue.
Rituals: There’s a party every month in West County, from Ladue’s Dogwood Festival in May to Ballwin Days in June, Town & Country’s Fire & Ice in July, Pacific’s Summerfest in August, and Manchester’s Homecoming in September (open swim at the aquatic center for dogs only).
Nightlife: From Busch's Grove to the Brewhouse and Backstreet Jazz and Blues • the Painted Pony Saloon • Trainwreck Saloon • Mike Duffy's • Harry's West • PJ's Tavern, Martini and Wine Bar • Aqua Vin • the Village Bar • Down Under
Celebrities: Artist Ernest Trova grew up in Ladue.
According to a 2005 Warren Poll, 96 percent of Creve Coeur residents rank their town as a "good" or "excellent" place to live, mostly because they feel safe (98.5 percent).
Hangouts: The Starbucks at Mason & Clayton • the Daily Perc • the Pointe • Des Peres Lodge • Big Bear Grill • Sportsman’s Park • Schneithorst’s Kaffee Haus
Points of pride: Town & Country has its own symphony, and Wildwood’s contracting for wireless Internet service.
Florence Shinkle, former feature writer for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, lives on one of the satellite properties around St. Albans, a 7,000-acre community that was created in the 1920s and has been recreated around a new golf course. Everything is new—and little has changed. "There's a lot of gossipping, just as there always was," Shinkle says with a grin. "But there are not the economic distinctions that sometimes keep people from talking to each other. And the old customs have survived, like allowing people to cross your land, even on horseback, and not worrying about liabilities. The whole notion of this place was written down in the 1920s. It is most unusual." She reads aloud from "The St. Albans Colony," written in 1923 by one of the founders, architect Theodore Link: "Each member and invited friend shall have the free use of the entire property." She pauses. "It was an idea of community that was actually put into effect. And I still feel it."
south county
Affton, Bella Villa, Concord, Crestwood, Fenton, Grantwood Village, Green Park, Lakeshire, Lemay, Mackenzie, Marlborough, Mehlville, Oakville, Perrless Park, St. George, Sappington, Sunset Hills, Wilbur Park
Huge chunks of easygoing South County are unincorporated, yet you always know where you are. Affton has a small-town feel, its brick homes built before World War II and often occupied by three generations of the same family. Lemay has an old riverside urban industrial edge and a lot of local color. Crestwood is full of couples who outgrew homes in South City. As you move south, the communities turn more residential and you can smell fresh drywall—Mehlville boomed in the 1960s and ’70s, but Oakville’s exploding now, with new, larger houses and a high percentage of young families.
History: A military barracks opened in 1826, built on 1,700 acres bought from Carondelet for $5. On July 4 of that year, Thomas Jefferson died, and the name was promptly changed to Jefferson Barracks.
• Affton started as the plantation of Kenneth MacKenzie, a Scotsman—but it was named for its first postmaster, Johann Aff, who ran a general store at the Ten Mile House.
• Lakeshire was one of St. Louis’ first true suburbs.
• Between 1950 and 1960, Crestwood jumped from 1,645 to more than 11,000 in population. (Crestwood takes its name from a tree at the crest of a hill—and the tree still stands, at 845 Diversey.)
Hot news: Pinnacle Entertainment’s new $375 million River City Casino & Hotel will bring thousands of jobs and the gift of a multi–million-dollar community center to Lemay.
Landmarks: The Federhofer Bakery sign and the giant ice cream cone from Velvet Freeze, restored and now standing in front of Mesnier School.
Architecture: Hunting an Art Deco house? Try Gravois Gardens, at the southwest corner of Gravois and Weber.
• The Wilbur Park area has street after street of Hansel-and-Gretel houses.
• One of the best collections of ranch houses in the area is the group set in an oak forest at Grantwood Village. The neighborhood started as summer homes for the well-to-do and includes the Ulysses S. Grant historic site and Grant’s Farm.
Actor John Goodman grew up in Affton.
Shifts: Many Bosnian immigrants are now moving from the city to South County. The Bayless school district is 38 percent Bosnian, the Affton district 25 percent. The St. Louis County Planning Department and the University of Missouri–St. Louis just received a $200,000 grant to study ways to integrate new Americans into these stable older populations.
• Much of South County’s housing stock was built in the ’50s and ’60s, and city planners expect a major shift as the original homeowners—now empty-nesters—move into more manageable living arrangements and young families buy up the single-family homes. In anticipation of this shift, Crestwood spent $11 million reconstructing its subdivision, feeder and arterial streets.
Rituals: In Heege Hills, the men of the neighborhood all help each other put up all the holiday lights, and one dresses up like Santa and stands on a corner on weekend evenings, giving the kids candy canes. People started giving him money, saying, “Buy some more lights”—and when no more lights could be strung, the guys started donating the money to needy Affton families. Last year they gave away $3,000.
Hangouts: Perk It Up • Helen Fitzgerald’s • O’Leary’s • Phil’s BBQ • Growler’s Pub • Gianino’s • J.P.’s Corner • Cusanelli’s • Elmo’s Café • Tsevis’ Pub & Grill • Minnie Ha Ha, a new park in Sunset Hills
Mujo and Dula Toric came here from Bosnia 10 years ago. “There, the neighborhood was like a family,” says Mujo. “When somebody worked on their house, people came and worked free; you didn’t even have to call them.” Here, the Torics chose a peaceful subdivision off Butler Hill Road. “I am the younger guy in my neighborhood,” Mujo says, “but I fit right in, because I like quiet. We lived first in a flat in the city, but here, there is less traffic, less noise, less headaches. We have a brick ranch house. It’s something that you pay for and own, something that belongs to you.”
north county
Bellefontaine Neighbors, Berkeley, Bel-Nor, Bel-Ridge, Bellerive, Beverly Hills, Black Jack, Breckenridge Hills, Bridgeton, Calverton Park, Charlack, Champ, Cool Valley, Country Club Hills, Dellwood, Edmundson, Ferguson, Flordell Hills, Florissant, Glasgow Village, Glen Echo Park, Hanley Hills, Hazelwood, Hillsdale, Jennings, Kinloch, Moline Acres, Normandy, Norwood Court, Olivette, Overland, Pagedale, Pasadena Hills, Pasadena Park, Pine Lawn, Riverview Gardens, St. Ann, St. John, Spanish Lake, Sycamore Hills, Uplands Park, Velda City, Velda Village, Vinita Park, Wellston, Woodson Terrace
North County is not just a postwar suburb; people have been living here for centuries. Bridgeton’s original 15 blocks were plotted in 1794, when it was known as Marais des Liards. Florissant’s Taille de Noyer House dates back to 1790. And Hazelwood was home to Indian settlements in 4000 B.C. North County integrated early and successfully, and today its diversity and wide range of housing stock (from ranch houses to Victorian two-stories) is attracting a new generation of young families.
Rituals: Florissant’s Valley of Flowers festival in May • Kinloch’s anniversary picnic in August • Woodson Fourth of July Fireworks at Woodson Park • Terrace Days and Olivette’s Summerfest in July• Overland Days and Ferguson StreetFest in the fall
History: Natural Bridge Road, which dates to the 1700s, was named for a natural limestone bridge that spanned Rocky Branch Creek near the intersection of 23rd and Palm streets, east of Fairgrounds Park.
• In the 1920s and ’30s, underworld gangsters Egan’s Rats hid out in an Olivette home known as the Maxwelton Club; neighbors complained about the noise and flying bullets. Today, the Olivette Police Department is directly across the street.
Hot spots: The unincorporated area along the Lindbergh and Howdershell corridors is booming, with houses in new developments selling for $500,000. NorthPark, a $380 million mixed-use project, will include offices, retail and light industry; NorthPark Partners are also making major improvements in the surrounding area. Taylor-Morley’s 64-acre Bellefontaine Estates, under construction in extreme northwest St. Louis County, will include homes, villas and condos; the site plan has already won a Homer Award.
Saturday mornings: The volunteer-run Ferguson Farmers’ Market was named Missouri Farmers’ Market of the Year 2005 by AgriMissouri.
• The historic Grand Staircase at Fort Belle Fontaine Park leads straight down to a riverfront trail. (The “beautiful fountain” in the name refers to a natural spring.)
• Charbonier Bluff, in the St. Stanislaus Conservation Area, offers a challenging hike on 600-foot river bluffs and diverse habitats (wooded ridge, creek bottom, prairie, wetland) for bird- and wildlife-watching.
Florissant has 41 sites on the National Register, more than any other St. Louis County municipality.
Architecture: This spring, Pasadena Hills—the only neighborhood in the state whose entire municipality is on the National Register of Historic Places—finishes a $2 million project restoring its decorative 75-year-old streetlights, entrance tower, fountain and streets.
• Old Ferguson West’s historic Victorian and Craftsman homes are being rehabbed at a furious clip.
Hangouts: Crest Bowl, Hendel’s Market Café and Cugino’s in Florissant • Soma’s, Corner Coffee House and Golden Greek’s in Ferguson • Charlack Pub in Overland • Kathy’s Bissell Lounge in Bellefontaine Neighbors.
Did you know? The album cover for Head East's 1975 album Flat as a Pancake was shot in the Olivette Diner.
Writer Martha K. Baker and her husband, retired philosophy professor John Clifford, live in "the village of Bel-Nor. That was a sentimental draw," says Baker, "the fact of living in a village. It's the Anglophile in me. The other draw was that the houses are charming and sturdy—like Holly Hills, we have lots of Hansel-and-Gretel houses, but for half the price. Archways, stained glass, two fireplaces, big old trees, people who've lived here for four generations, yet it's black and white, Jewish and Christian, gay and straight—and I don't see any tension. The downside? We can't get The New York Times delivered because there aren't enough subscribers."
st. charles county
Augusta, Cottleville, Dardenne Prarie, Defiance, Flint Hill, Foristell, Harvester, Josephville, Lake St. Louis, New Melle, O'Fallon, Orchard Farm, Portage Des Sioux, St. Charles, St. Paul, St. Peters, Weldon Spring, Weldon Spring Heights, Wentzville, West Alton
St. Charles County was first settled in 1541 by the Spanish, yet today it’s synonymous with all that’s new: subdivisions, cars, malls, babies. For the last 10 years it’s been the fastest growing part of the metro area, with O’Fallon leading the pack.
History: When St. Charles was founded in 1765 by Louis Blanchette, the territory was Spanish, the townspeople French. When the first wave of German immigration began in 1833, St. Charles became the site of the first German settlement west of the Mississippi.
• Daniel Boone’s four-story home in Defiance has seven fireplaces and a ballroom. Behind it, Lindenwood University is constructing a living-history exhibit.
• In 1802, St. Charles became the castor-oil capital of the world when the Millington brothers (both practicing doctors) planted 50 acres of castor beans and set up a factory to press them. The home where they lived is now a spice shop on Main Street.
Hot properties: Weldon Spring. Though 2005 home prices averaged about $200,000, this small city has several million-dollar homes.
Fastest-growing area: Wentzville beat O’Fallon for the number of building permits issued in 2005: 1,165 vs. 1,155. “The national housing economy has slowed,” says Bob Swank of Wentzville’s Office of Economic Development, “but we’re still holding strong—building hasn’t slowed down for us, which is really encouraging. The 2000 census had our population number at 6,896, but it’s estimated to be around 20,000 now. That’s a 208 percent rate of growth in five years.”
Sights to see: The Foundry Art Centre in St. Charles. Housed in a renovated 36,800-square foot train-car factory built in the 1940s, the Foundry hosts high-profile national touring shows but also hangs work by local and regional artists.
The Rau Garden in Blanchette Park was created in the ’30s as a WPA project, and its beds, planted with 100 perennials and 1,000 annuals, are constantly in bloom.
Did you know? St. Peters incorporated in 1910 but didn't get electricity until 1927.
Experiments: WingHaven, a carefully planned community in O’Fallon, was designed to be quaint and neighborly. Houses come in different sizes and prices to encourage a diverse population, and along with the shops and spas there’s a community garden, bocce lanes, even a farmers’ market. Now there’s New Town in St. Charles, and its old-fashioned houses and walkable streets hint that future development may be inspired as much by Old Town St. Peters as by postwar bedroom communities.
Hangouts: Blue Sky Café and Brewskeez in O’Fallon • Dog Prairie Tavern in St. Paul • Tuner’s on Main Street, Sally T’s Down to Earth Delite, Rumples Pub and the Riverside Restaurant and Bar in St. Charles • the Prancing Pony Café and Bookstore in New Town
Architecture: The first town on the Missouri River, St. Charles served as a stop-off for westbound trappers, pioneers, explorers and immigrants. As a result, it was bigger than most frontier towns—South Main is Missouri’s largest historic district. Architectural styles include colonial French and a French-German hybrid style that’s unique to the area.
Rituals: Festival of the Little Hills in August, Oktoberfest and Los Posadas Christmas procession in St. Charles • Augusta’s candlelit Christmas walks • St. Peters’ Kite Extravaganza and Olde Tyme Picnic in July • Wentzville’s French Renaissance Faire in May • the New Melle Festival in June
"My wife and I have always been city kids," says Michael Banks, vice president for academic affairs at St. Charles Community College, "but we moved here nine years ago with our twin boys. They have friends up and down the street. The public schools are excellent; they're always very highly rated. We hike and ride bikes at four parks, and we go to plays and concerts at the college, which is five minutes away. We're close to the boys' school, too, which gives us extra time with family and friends—time I don't wnt to waste behind the wheel of a car."
metro east
Alton, Belleville, Bethalto, Cahokia, Centreville, Collinsville, Columbia, Dupo, East St. Louis, Edwardsville, Fairview Heights, Glen Carbon, Godfrey, Granite City, Highland, Lebanon, Madison, Maryville, Mascoutah, Millstadt, O'Fallon, Pontoon Beach, Shiloh, Swansea, Troy, Venice, Washington Park, Waterloo, Wood River
The Illinois side of the St. Louis Metro region has been lightly dubbed “East County,” although that moniker isn’t entirely accurate. “West County” calls to mind not just an area but an image: middle class to upscale, with similar housing, stores and people. “East County”— let’s stick with “Metro East”—is far more polyglot: a group of booming towns surrounded by their own suburbs; blue-collar towns that are bouncing back; near rural towns such as Lebanon, Columbia, Waterloo and Millstadt; and East St. Louis, now showing signs of new life.
History: The two sides of the river have been linked since 1797, when James Piggott, (who went on to found Illinoistown, the precursor of East St. Louis) built a landing for ferryboats crossing over from Missouri. A Frenchman named George Blair founded Belleville in 1814, and Rufus Easton founded Alton, named for his son, four years later.
• The Cahokia Mounds are actually in Collinsville; they were built between the eighth and 13th centuries.
• Cahokia, founded in 1699, is the oldest town on the Mississippi River. It is the site of the Jarrot Mansion, which figured in Jarrot v. Jarrot, the 1845 case that ended slavery in Illinois. Upriver at Alton, the abolitionist minister and editor Elijah Lovejoy was murdered, his printing press thrown in the Mississippi River. Sen. Lyman Trumbull, the author of the 13th Amendment, which ended slavery, lived in Alton.
Architecture: There’s a bit of everything on the East Side, from whitewashed farmhouses to Alton’s Victorian ladies and Elsah’s Greek Revival and gray-stone French houses.
• At the very edge of Edwardsville stands Leclaire, a company town created in the late 1800s to soften the inequities of capitalism. Upton Sinclair called it a dream ahead of its time.
Granite City was founded as an industrial complex to support production of a revolutionary new household product called graniteware.
Trends: “Metro East may become the next St. Charles,” says Ken Stricker of the Jones Co., one of the largest homebuilders in the metro area. “People are figuring out that it’s a lot easier to commute from the other side of the river than from the far reaches of St. Louis County.”
“Town centers” are being planned along the MetroLink line. Last year, Belleville approved a $19.9 million housing and retail development, and Swansea is creating its own downtown.
Rituals: Belleville’s Art on the Square • Alton Block Party • Waterloo’s Porta Westfalica Fest • Collinsville’s International Horseradish Festival and World’s Largest Catsup Bottle Summerfest Birthday Party
Hangouts: Castletown Geoghegan in Belleville • Straight Home in Granite City • Fast Eddie’s Bon-Air in Alton • Josephine’s Tea Room in Godfrey • Gallagher’s in Waterloo • My Just Desserts in Alton and Elsah
Celebs: Buddy Ebsen was born in Belleville. Miles Davis was born in Alton and grew up in East St. Louis—as did U.S. Sen. Richard Durbin and the city’s poet laureate, Eugene Redmond. Tennis star Jimmy Connors was born in East St. Louis and later moved to Belleville. Cardinals player and manager Red Schoendienst is from the aptly named Germantown. Three-time Olympian Craig Virgin was born in Belleville and brought up in Lebanon.
Around 1100, a large Indian settlement thrived at what is now downtown East St. Louis.
"Elsah was originally a river town, and it still feels like one," says Chuck Wilcoxen, cross-country coach at Principia College, who moved here from Connecticut with his wife nine years ago. "At night we hear the diesel engines of the barges grinding against the current. Our two sons will stop talking just to listen to the steel hulls booming against sheet ice in the distance, like thunder. Even miles away, you can feel the hollows and streams pulling you toward the river."
Annette Eckert, a St. Clair County circuit-court judge, grew up in Belleville, went away to school but came back fast. She and her husband live in an Arts & Crafts house in historic Belleville. "The streets and sidewalks are brick, and it's lit with the old street lamps," she says. "It's very charming. And Belleville, unbeknownst to most people, is very literate and artistic: We have the second-oldest philharmonic orchestra in the country, and Art on the Square, and you can find blues or Irish jigs or theater right in our little downtown."
