On California Avenue in between Osage and Keokuk streets, some detective work was needed. Why are the houses several decades newer than the red brick buildings around them in Dutchtown, and why are they subsiding so badly? Compton and Dry’s… Continue Reading
Starting at Gasconade Street and heading north on California Avenue, there is a wonderful row of Second Empire buildings, with a storefront on the corner, and then two houses next door. Above, on another corner of the intersection, some competent… Continue Reading
I’m tired of Dutchtown only being in the news for the wrong reasons, though I’m not going to pretend like it doesn’t have problems–it does. But on a recent Saturday morning, the sun was shining, the weather was cool, and… Continue Reading
I met new people all over North St. Louis this summer, including members of the congregation of the Original Friendship Missionary Baptist Church in the Ville neighborhood, on St. Louis Avenue. Better Family Life had organized dozens of churches to… Continue Reading
Benton Park West is easily one of the most beautiful and most balanced urban neighborhoods in the city of St. Louis. It is just the mix of densities to provide something for everybody. Its future and health will help determine… Continue Reading
Houses that had been abandoned for years have been rehabbed and occupied on Texas Avenue in between Pestalozzi and Arsenal on the east side of the street. A trend I am not happy about is the painting of the beautiful… Continue Reading
Crossing Lynch Street heading south, the east side of Texas Avenue has some peculiar Modernist in-fill; one is still occupied, while the other is abandoned. Then there’s this giant Second Empire house, which is a common form of housing in… Continue Reading
Texas Avenue is just one block west of Jefferson Avenue, but the noise of that major artery and Gravois to the north is largely blocked off by the storefronts on the other side of the alley on the east. Above,… Continue Reading
Starting at Ohio’s intersection with Gravois and Lynch, we head south, looking at the east side of the street, where there is the famous “One Night Stand” karaoke bar. It had been closed for a little while, with the whole… Continue Reading
I am continuously fascinated by the portion of Benton Park West north of Arsenal, bounded by Jefferson Avenue on the east, and Gravois Avenue on the northwest (of course, the whole of the neighborhood is a triangle). Over the next… Continue Reading