Wildwood/West County - wildwood was founded in 1997 and consolidated "grover" missouri with some unincorporated county land. it is very posh. it is not uncommon to see signs for new neighborhoods coming in which read: "IronHorseCreekManorTowne (or whatever) luxury homes from the 700s." the main arteries through this part of west county are Clarkson Rd. (similar to Roe in its mix of residential and commercial), Clayton Rd (same), and Manchester Rd., which is easily the biggest suburban clusterf*ck i have ever seen. for those not familiar with Manchester Rd., imagine the most built-up portions of Metcalf (i.e. from 114th to 135th or 92nd to college) stretching for 30 miles. incredible. i think every possible big box store and chain restaurant imaginable is on this street - at least 4 times. as sprawl goes, it is the worst, since everything is on this "strip" as opposed to the more grid-like sprawl of JoCo. either way it all makes me want to vomit. to be fair, there are lots of cool unique places in west county as well, including lots of great (expensive) restaurants like Paul Manno's, Annie Gunn's, and some hole-in-the-wall joints that are quite good. the housing stock is typical st. louis McMansion. whereas the typical JoCo McMansion is usually stucco or siding, the typical West County McMansion has a brick facade and siding everywhere else. this is lame, because if you're going to have a $750K home, it may as well have brick all over it. but i digress. West County is nice and rich and i am sure West Countians love it - except when they are sitting for 2 hours each way in the hellish highway 40 rush hour. you know sprawl is bad when 10 lanes of highway can't relieve congestion. VERDICT: nice, but i'd probably prefer JoCo sprawl to West County sprawl.
Inner Suburbs: Clayton/Ladue/Webster Groves - this is where St. louis has a definite edge on KC. since st. louis is so much older than KC and boomed so much earlier, it has a wealth of established, beautiful inner-ring suburbs. Clayton is essentially Mission Hills, but with a very large CBD with 15-20 story buildings. Clayton's CBD has a lot of law firms and big business, so money is in the air. nearby WashU gives the Clayton/U City area a certain Ivy League quality. it is very leafy and the homes are gorgeous. most date from the 1900s-30s. all suburbs can't be as rich as Clayton, but i think that all suburbs should use it as a model. it's dense, well-planned, well-groomed, and gorgeous. Ladue almost feels like a suburb of Clayton. while the amazing mansions and mid-sized Clayton homes are packed very tightly together on 1/4-acre or smaller lots, Ladue boasts turn of the century mansions and giant mid-century ranches sprawled on acre+ lots. the roads are narrow and windy, and many of the neighborhoods are on private streets. Ladue and Clayton serve as the homebase for many a CEO and old-money family. they are incredible. nearby Brentwood is like a smaller-scale Clayton in terms of housing stock, and serves as home to the Galleria and some big-box stuff. the plaza frontenac is another nearby mall that is actually quite impressive. the exterior is all brick, and the interior is marble and dark wood and is very elegant. this is where the locals come shop at Tiffany's, J. Crew, Neiman Marcus, etc. it is not as great as the Country Club Plaza since it is simply a very upscale enclosed mall, but it has some tenants that the Plaza does not. Webster Groves is a more down-to-earth inner suburb. it has a great little downtown with an upscale grocery store (Straub's) and other stores. very walkable. the homes range from Victorians to 1920's bungalows to 50s ranches to bland newer homes of all shapes and sizes - all on the same street! if i were a first-time home buyer in the burbs of st. louis, i'd probably look in Webster Groves. it has the feel of an old-line East Coast suburb in NJ or NY. very diverse housing stock. Kirkwood is also a favorite suburb, though it is a bit farther out in the county than the above. it has a very old downtown area and incredible old houses that are meticulously maintained. it feels like an old virginia town - lots of colonials and mature trees. the farmer's market in kirkwood is very quaint and picturesque, and the train station there is easily the most beautiful operating train station in st. louis. VERDICT: st. louis' old inner suburbs are amazing. i love cities, but if i had a family i'd definitely settle here. the only thing comparable in KC is Fairway, Mission Hills, Westwood/Westwood Hills, and extreme northeastern overland park. imagine that area, but about 20 times larger with vibrant business districts throughout. lovely!
University City: probably the coolest St. Louis suburb. it serves as a great microcosm of st. louis as a whole. there are leafy, beautiful streets with Clayton-style mansions and tudors as well as lots of St. Louis-style 4-plexes and small brick homes. as a whole, U City feels like Midtown KC. it's very urban, has a great bohemian district (the Loop is very much like our Westport), has great housing stock (like Hyde Park or Valentine), and also has a pretty gritty urban edge to it (some parts are rather ghetto). WashU is very close so i am sure U City is even more vibrant when school is in session and all the Wash U kids pack the clubs and stores.
St. Louis City: amazing. the stereotypes of st. louis usually say that it's burned-out, ghetto, dead, etc. i agree - but that's not the whole story. the City of St. Louis as a whole feels like a sleeping giant. when you travel through block after block after block of ornate 19th century architecture, you can really get a sense of st. louis' glory days. the architecture of st. louis rivals the best victorian/early20th century districts of DC, Baltimore, Cincy, etc. it is sad to see large areas of this architecture vacant and crumbling. empty overgrown lots abound. but you all knew that. what most people don't know or ignore is that st. louis' heart is still beating and it's getting better.
Central West End: an interesting district. old high-rise apartments and hotels line the streets (think the high-rises along the south end of the Plaza), and the streets are lined with unique shops, coffeehouses, and restaurants. very cool area! the Central West End also has lots of VERY old mansions packed tightly together. most are in very good shape and still serve as homes for old-money folks. others are snatched up by new-money folks and rehabbed back to their glory days. the homes are very ornate and unlike anything in KC. many of St. Louis' famous "private streets" are near the CWE. walking around these neighborhoods is like walking around in a Tim Burton movie. beautiful and unique and sort of a Gothic feel. if i were buying an apartment in the City, it would probably be in the CWE. it's walkable, it's vibrant, and the architecture is amazing.
downtown: honestly, i don't like downtown st. louis. i like the arch and the fact they have the downtown arena and stadium, but other than that i was unimpressed. the Washington Avenue nightclub district is great, however, and it is very apparent that lots of rehabbing is going on around downtown. like KC, a renaissance is in the air. and like KC, it has a long way to go. also like KC, downtown St. Louis has great "bones" to work with - lots of fabulous "canyons" of 10-story buildings, lots of great old warehouses, and loads of character. i did not go to Laclede's Landing, nor did i want to. if i want to rub elbows with aging frat guys, i'll stick to Westport (KC or St. Louis' Westport, either way). St. Louis' downtown has great buildings, but i think that St. Louis' soul is really in its neighborhoods.
Soulard/Lafayette Square/Old North St. Louis - amazing. these are the oldest parts of the city. they were (apparently) dead during the 70s/80s, but are all coming back in a big way. Soulard and Lafayette Square could just as easily be in New Orleans or DC. amazing 18th/early 19th-century townhouses/rowhouses in the french style. the quality varies widely from block to block, but these areas are seeing some serious rehabbing and are perfect for more. lovely.
South City: i love south city. well-maintained small brick bungalows and Tudors tightly packed into tight grids. it has a very urban quality. it looks similar to KC's Romanelli Gardens, but it has much more of an urban feel. it's much rougher around the edges. in South City you can talk to factory workers who grew up in the area as well as recent transplants looking for cute urban homes to fix up. it is very diverse as well, much like KC's Northeast side. lots of white people, lots of asian people, lots of african people, and everything in between. the bosnian contingent is very visible as well. a law school buddy of mine lives in South City and loves it. South City has really retained a sense of the "old neighborhood" communities of the early 20th century. whereas North St. Louis is largely a 1/2 vacant boarded up ghetto, South City has remained dense and pretty stable. there is a neighborhood bar on every corner, mom+pop shops everywhere, kids playing outside, etc. a great urban area. Tower Grove Park serves as the Loose Park of the area. i love south city.
i think that's about everything of note. i visited St. Louis Mills and other parts of suburban St. Louis, but they are very unremarkable. i preferred to stick to either the super-rich West County/Mid-County burbs or the gritty awesome city. the rest of st. louis feels like Independence.
at any rate, st. louis kicks ass. i think i like present-day KC better than present-day St. Louis, but once those ancient neighborhoods are brought back to life (and they clearly will be), i may change my mind. St. Louis' nice inner suburbs kill KC's though. i wish we had dense, beautiful urban suburbs like that. i guess it's just a function of age more than anything.
so yeah, that's chrizow's st. louis.
