Whispering Oakwood, Reborn

I had been following the saga of the house that had been in various legal wrangles with the suburb of Ballwin for years. As I reported in the past, it had been foreclosed on by a New York bank, and then it was demolished, leaving a vacant lot. Much to our surprise, a new house…

North Second Street, East Side, Laclede’s Landing

We’ll first look at the east side of North Second Street, heading north. The two buildings on the right are the Greeley and Cutlery buildings, respectively. Back in 1980, the two buildings were shabby, looked abandoned, and the Cutlery Building was still sporting a fire escape like something you would see in the Lower East…

More Change East of Saint Louis University Hospital

I had looked at the quiet streets east of SLU Hospital and had been pleasantly surprised at the development that had been going on back in February of 2021. Spurred by a recent visit by Mark Groth over at St. Louis City Talk, I thought I would go back myself this last weekend. I was…

McRee Avenue, McRee Town, October 2022

The last time I strolled down McRee Avenue in McRee Town was back in January of 2020. After my recent trip to France, I have been finding that I have been needing a French pastry fix more often, so my Saturday sojourns have been leading to Patisserie Chouquette more often. The new construction is interesting,…

Massive Redevelopment, The Grove

Ah yeah, so Vista Avenue has changed a bit since I first looked at it back in August of 2014 when the Grove was still at the cusp of a major redevelopment explosion. The affordable housing above was just about complete in June of 2018, but things sure have changed. Basically all of the old…

Demolition Coming, The Grove, Part One

This row of houses on the south side of Manchester Avenue, just east of Kingshighway in the Grove, are slated for demolition for the now ubiquitous flimsy wood frame apartment buildings that are going up all over the neighborhood. Left vacant and unmaintained for years, of course they look a little rough around the edges….

The Ville, July 2022

I took a short look at The Ville on a bright and sweltering Saturday recently. Despite the frequent reports of doom and gloom, much of the neighborhood has a lot going for it. There are many streets that are lined with some nice in-fill, and I hope can be built in the future. I definitely…

Penrose, July 2022, Part Two, Penrose Avenue and Environs

Continuing on Penrose Avenue, more or less, we see more housing stock that reminds me of the Greater Ville, which of course is not very far away, just south of Natural Bridge Avenue. I’ve always been intrigued by these little one-story houses with the false roof on the front façade. But then, we see a…