any old parts of the city left? (St. Louis, St. Joseph: best neighborhood, apartment)

[gameguy56]

St. Louis was the biggest city west of the Mississippi from it's founding until 1920.

Surely there are some historic parts of the city left, no?

[aragx6]

It's full of historic buildings.
Just drive around south city.

[anduarto]

There was an unfortunate period in St. Louis' history when the city leaders felt the best solution to urban blight was simply knocking old buildings (and, at times, entire neighborhoods) down. We lost more than a few treasures and a distressing portion of the city's old neighborhoods have been replaced by strip malls, quarter acre parking lots, and just plain vacant ones.

The good news is that St. Louis' architectural history is so strong that many wonderful buildings and neighborhoods remain despite the short-sighted culling.

The Central West End is a great place to start with stately homes and boulevards culled from St. Louis' gilded age. Soulard and it's neighbor Lafayette Square are both great spots to visit for architecture and character. And there are many more, less famous neighborhoods throughout the city where one can really get the flavor of storied urban life.

Many of the city's beautiful parks, Carondelet, Tower Grove and, of course,
Forest Park would have to be stops on any architectural tour of the area.

The big news recently, of course, is the revitalized Washington Ave district downtown. Once the home to many of the nation's shoe manufacturers, these huge warehouses sat empty in what was a depressed area for decades. Ironically, that neglect is what might have saved them from the wrecker's ball and those quarter acre lots I mentioned. Washington Ave has now become a major destination in St.Louis and an architectural triumph.
Nearby the Old Post Office is also a must-see.

Some of the older, more urban suburbs are also worth visiting. Most notably the Delmar Loop in University City.

All of this is just to get you started.

Obviously I love St. Louis' urban history. There used to be a great web site detailing the rise, fall and potential re-birtth of urban St.Louis called "Built St.Louis". Haven't visited it for a long time, but it's worth looking for.

[NoLove4MO]

LOL.... Are you serious?? The whole town is historic and stuck in the 1920's! Compared to all the other major cities I've visted, St. Louis is by far the most historic. I live in a nice building in the CWE that dates back to the 1910's. The last time this city had a construction boom was before the Olympics/World Fair in 1904. Just looking around my friend.......

[aragx6]

Detroit tore down far more buildings when the city started to decline.

[DC Stein]

There is a renewal and revival push in a district just north of downtown called the old north st louis area. It has great historical significance for the city, and can be researched in the book "from village to neighborhood A History of Old North St. Louis" Rectenwald/Hurley 2004 Missouri Historical Society Press. Its about 100 pages.Also, the soulard area reflects historically accurate architecture reasonably priced.Up the economic scale in terms of history would be the West End, Lafayette Square, The tower grove (shaw park), and in the middle of the spectrum, there is the whole central corridor along Delmar Blvd.But, architecturally, st louis has original buildings available in ALL states of (dis)repair. That may soon change, however, due to the developement trend of "erase everything and start over, building with the most economical (cheapest) materials." BY the way, didn't the building codes after the fire dictate the all brick construction? and why are all the new developements wood frame?For Original wood frame housing, Baden is still standing. It's birth was as a migrant camp and immigrant shot-gun shack neighborhood for the working class. Its not the best neighborhood right now, but it is historically significant as one of (if not) the oldest frame construction housing in St Louis. It escaped the fire, and all subsequent building was mandated to be brick.

[STLCardsBlues1989]

There's lots of historical areas in St. Louis, some of the buildings restored.

Old North St. Louis is one of those areas.

Detroit tore down far more buildings when the city started to decline.

They tore down their Statler Hotel in 2005 I think, whereas St. Louis still has their's.

[Northwoods Voyager]

Spent Sunday in St. Louis, my hometown BTW. Went to restaurant for Pizza and then to see the Blues. Talayna's on DeBalivere and Pershing. Now if you want to see some of the most beautiful old homes around, drive around Waterman, Pershing, Bartmer, Clemons, any of the streets from 4900 west in the central corridor. This is where I grew up. The apartment buildings are fabulous. the older brick homes with porches and dormer windows, great. St. Louis has a lot of history left. Just drive around and observe it.

The area around Washington University, Wydown & Skinker, Lindell Blvd. Forest Park, all worth visiting. South St. Louis, Cherokee area, and The Hill, also have older homes and storefronts worth viewing. University City wonderful for some stately homes.

[kshe95girl]

There are historic sites outside the immediate St. Lou area that are awesome, too! Downtown St Charles is wonderful, Hermann comes to mind. One of the best is Sainte Genevieve, about an hour south, the whole town is chock full of historic buildings. The oldest brick building west of the Mississippi is there, I could rattle on forever.....-sigh- now I have made myself homesick again!
Go Mizzou!

[northbayeric]

Yupper, I sure know what you mean as far as being homesick. Florissant native, moved to the north San Francisco Bay Area in 1986, it's becoming one of those "nice place to visit but I wouldn't want to live there" places, and my wife (native Californian) and I wanna move back to Missouri big-time. St. Joseph, to be specific. The historic buildings, mansions and Victorian-style homes are something to behold in St. Joe too, and I know what you mean about Hermann, St. Charles and Ste. Genevieve as well as right in St. Louis.

Real rock radio. Welcome aboard our MO forums, and hope you stick around! Happy 2008 to you!