I’m finishing off my fifty days of Hyde Park with a row of sad, forlorn and largely abandoned houses, some of which are in the process of collapsing.
But there is still hope, as these house are all still well maintained and occupied. There will have to be government assistance, equal to the government assistance that allows suburban sprawl, for neighborhoods to thrive in America. If there’s no money, no amount of hard work or “pulling one’s self up by the bootstraps” will matter.
Chris, do you think theses buildings are collapsing due to lack of maintenance/natural decay or are brick thieves a culprit?
Sara, I would say these houses are due to water infiltration and resultant spalling of brick when the ice expanded. The first house; the pediment is exposed to the weather. In the second house, where the back has collapsed, it might be brick theft, but most likely it is because those are doorways, with less brick to hold up the wall, and when the gutter and downspout fail or are stolen, those backs get battered by water. In the third photo, water came down the chimney and froze, and popped out the brick.
I’m 65 now and grew up in north St. Louis. Kindergarten at Dozier on Goodfellow, but most time at Walbridge where we lived across the street at Alcott and Lillian.
Enjoyed Toby’s piece up W Florisant. Good memories. And she’s right: they are prejudiced in St. Louis
Are there any areas of N St. Louis that are being gentrified
Yeah Hans, the prejudiced ones. You know nothing about St. Louis.