Weird things are happening in the streets “East of Compton,” which is short hand for referring to the part of the neighborhood that was built earlier than the houses that line the streets around Tower Grove Park (the latter which frequently go for around $400-500K). The houses in Tower Grove East on Michigan, Minnesota, Pennsylvania and Nebraska avenues are from the 1870s-1890s, and they’re smaller, built unfortunately on a few karst sinkholes, but they’re finally being snatched up by “flippers,” their sale prices changing from below $50,000 to over $200,000 in the span of six months.

Is this good or bad? You be the judge. It certainly is bringing more property taxes into the city, which I believe is the only hope for the successful revival of St. Louis. Every successful city in the world has more revenue than expenses, and these houses are not receiving tax abatements, so the in-fill being built above, and any rehabs in this area are revenue-positive. I think some of the rehabbing is cheap, low quality, and will not last, but the real estate assessor doesn’t seem to mind.

But regardless, these houses are coming down; there is just not a way to save these houses from the inexorable pull of Mother Nature (who always wins in the end in her battle against humans), as sinkholes reopen under their foundations.

But the housing stock is beautiful, as can be seen on Michigan in the following pictures; these houses are still affordable a wide variety of people for the time being.

And here we switch over to Minnesota north of Pestalozzi Street going north.