Blight and abandonment have done more than a tornado could ever do on Evans Avenue west of Taylor. Nineteenth Century houses, mixed with a predominance of Early Twentieth Century upper middle class homes, now all collapse and stagnate together. One just notes the huge amount of garbage blowing around, or stuck in the weeds.

I had walked this street back in January 2012, and I didn’t feel like so many houses were abandoned. Maybe I was wrong.

I had even focused on this house back then, as well.

But then there will be a row of houses such as this below, and one gets optimistic, until you realize that many are abandoned, but still in good shape.

This house is one of many, perhaps hundreds that more or less like the same. They’re elegant, and would fetch a commanding price in South St. Louis. Alas, that is not where they are.