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Neighborhoods
St. Louis is one of the more segregated and boundaried cities in the nation, and is home to the country's first private gated street - Benton Place in Lafayette Square. In one minute you might be driving down tree-lined avenues with large houses, and the next minute you might be in a low-income neighborhood. Though the region is now very racially and economically integrated, the road system still follows historic boundaries marking one area from the next. Hotels and most St. Louis guide books should have good maps of the layout of the neighborhoods of the City.
Note that St. Louis City is separate and distinct from St. Louis County - the City is really a city without a county, with its own government, school system, and other services. The City has just under 400,000 residents while the St. Louis County has just over 1,000,000 residents. The entire St. Louis metropolitan region has approximately 3,000,000 residents. Any study of St. Louis neighborhoods can be complicated and is bound to leave out some small (yet distinct) areas, but some of the more well-visited and larger neighborhoods in the metropolitan region are:
St. Louis City
- Downtown - The Central Business District of St. Louis, downtown is nearing the end of a decade-long multi-billion dollar revitalization. Featuring all three professional sporting teams' stadiums, dozens of hotels, corporate headquarters, trendy dining and shopping, entertainment, nightlife, and the Gateway arch, downtown St. Louis is now also home to tens of thousands of residents, many living in warehouses that have been converted to affordable and luxurious apartments and condominiums.
- Laclede's Landing - On the city's eastern edge, this is one of the oldest standing neighborhoods of the city. A former industrial area, the Landing has original cobblestone streets, horse drawn carriage rides in the evenings, live music, and restaurants and bars in converted industrial buildings.
- Soulard - To the immediate southwest of downtown lies St. Louis's oldest neighborhood. Today it is a perfect case study for traditional St. Louis red brick architecture, and also features the famous Soulard Farmers Market and many trendy restaurants.
- Lafayette Square - Although some may group this with Soulard due to proximity, Lafayette Square features its own distinct architecture (Victorian and French Second Empire) and demographics. Surrounding the oldest park in St. Louis are tree-lined streets with rehabbed townhouses, some shopping and dining, and bed and breakfasts.
- Benton Park/Brewery - Located just south of Soulard, Benton Park has recently come back from decades of disrepair. The area contains the Anheuser Busch Brewery and the old Lemp Brewery, in addition to a small eponymous park and working-class versions of the townhomes of Lafayette Square.
- Forest Park Southeast - Situated just where the name suggests, Forest Park Southeast is at the beginning of a revitalization. Younger professionals have been attracted to the area due to the popular bars, and have since settled down and contributed to the area's infrastructure.
- Grand Center/Midtown - Located going West of Downtown down an area known as the Central Corridor (that includes Forest Park and the CWE), Grand Center is home to a booming performing arts, theatre, and museum district. St. Louis University is located in this area.
- Tower Grove/South Grand - a few miles south of Grand Center is Tower Grove Park, a 19th-century Victorian walking park. The nearby South Grand strip has a variety of shops, coffeehouses, bars, service businesses, and the area's largest concentration of Asian restaurants and shops. An ethnically diverse, gay-friendly area with an active street life and turn-of-the-century architecture.
- Central West End - A very cosmpolitan neighborhood featuring stunning turn-of-the-century palace-like homes, upscale dining, and boutique shopping, the Central West End also contains an eclectic mix of antique shops, coffee houses, and art galleries. Located on the eastern edge of Forest Park, it also includes the world-renowned Medical School of Washington University.
- The Hill - St. Louis's Little Italy is home to a large number of locally renowned Italian restaurants, bakeries, and grocery stores. Its name is due to its proximity to the highest point of the city.
St. Louis County
- Clayton - The county seat of St. Louis county, Clayton has an important downtown business district that is also home to several hotels, many coffeehouses, and upscale dining. It is one of the older suburbs of St. Louis, and has many large 100 year-old-homes wonderfully preserved by old-monied families, while the area's nouveau riche help keep the area trendy. It has a great school system and is home to the main campus of Washington University. Clayton begins where Forest Park ends on the west.
- Delmar Loop/University City - Located just north of Clayton and beginning at the northwest edge of Forest Park is this culturally, ethnically, and economically diverse neighborhood of St. Louis. One of the more liberal areas of the city, it is a popular area for college students and post-graduates to live and interact. The Loop itself is one main street of storefronts, restaurants, music venues, bookstores, and a great independent movie theatre.
- North St. Louis - Home to Lambert International Airport and the historic African American neighborhood known as the Ville, much of North St. Louis is in great need of economic and infrastructure development.
- West County - This expansive, largely undefined region of St. Louis includes most areas west of Clayton, especially ritzy Frontenac, Ladue, Huntleigh, Town and Country, and Creve Coeur. Depending on the study, the area may include newer suburbia such as Chesterfield and Wildwood. The area has one of the highest concentrations of wealth in the Midwest, and home to the best (well, most upscale) shopping area in St. Louis - Plaza Frontenac.
- South County - A nebulous region primarily served by I-55, most of the towns dotting South County are largely indistinguishable and include a lot of new development. It is home to Webster Groves, a picture-perfect white-picket-fences kind of town that provides a nice small-town atmosphere great for families.
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