Page Ave. /Google Maps Twilight Zone...?? (St. Louis, Overland: houses, neighborhood, theater)

[KsStorm]

Last night we drove from Creve Couer along Olive Blvd. then to Page Ave on our way to City Museum. I was shocked at the number of run down, burned out, broken & boarded houses, in what looked like an area that used to be very affluent, from the looks of the architecture. At least almost half of the homes were in horrible shape. I made a mental note to check into the history of the area, as I loved so many of the old houses, although the majority were just in horrid shape. Took a Google Maps drive down Page Ave.... where did all the broken,burned & boarded houses go?? Did all that destruction happen since 2012 (when it says the pics were taken) ??? What is up?? I retraced my route over & over, am CERTAIN it was the same route.... WTF???

[aliasfinn]

Where on page ? Was it past Woodson ?

[KsStorm]

That whole road... we went as far as we could go on Olive east towards City Museum, then over to Page Ave./D. The pics on Google Maps from 2012 are NOTHING like the road we saw last night. So many broken /boarded up windows, burned out houses... just crazy.

[aliasfinn]

I used to go down that way pretty often and it was kind of raunchy back then.

[MUTGR]

Originally Posted by KsStorm

That whole road... we went as far as we could go on Olive east towards City Museum, then over to Page Ave./D. The pics on Google Maps from 2012 are NOTHING like the road we saw last night. So many broken /boarded up windows, burned out houses... just crazy.

Well, you must have gone down Olive until Skinker and then north to page and east from there. That is north St. Louis. The area has been declining for decades, so what you saw doesn't surprise me, although I have a hard time believing it has changed that much since 2012. I actually think if you went a little farther north to MLK and drove east from Skinker, I think it is much worse than page.

Some of this is a little dated, but this website tracked a lot of the decline of parts of St. Louis like north St. Louis (as well as some of the good things happening in other areas) from an architectural point of view:

http://www.builtstlouis.net/northside/map-overall.html

[Dawn10am]

You witnessed the results of North City's six-decade-long decline. It's pretty sad.

[Squeamish]

That part of Page is one of my favorite roads to drive down in St. Louis. I love looking at abandoned and dilapidated houses. Page is the best because it goes through the heart of the worst neighborhood with no stop signs (like MLK or St. Louis Ave. would have) so you can see all the abandoned houses fly by really fast which is fun.

[aliasfinn]

That part of Page used to be a lively area. Many years ago my mom worked at the National Personnel Records Center before that infamous fire,that monstrous fire,that mysterious fire that destroyed those military records forever.

1973 Fire



I remember when my brother lived on Minerva and we would always go to the Holiday Drive-In.
We would flip a coin and the winner would get to sit up front with the beer and snacks and the loser would have to ride with the spare in the trunk.

Holiday Drive-In in Overland, MO - Cinema Treasures

[mjtinmemphis]

Unfortunately the downside to St. Louis is the blight. Its a shame how they let part of the city go.

[flynavyj]

Originally Posted by aliasfinn

That part of Page used to be a lively area. Many years ago my mom worked at the National Personnel Records Center before that infamous fire,that monstrous fire,that mysterious fire that destroyed those military records forever.

1973 Fire



I remember when my brother lived on Minerva and we would always go to the Holiday Drive-In.
We would flip a coin and the winner would get to sit up front with the beer and snacks and the loser would have to ride with the spare in the trunk.

Holiday Drive-In in Overland, MO - Cinema Treasures

Really? The National Records Center...do you know how far away that is from the "end of Olive" where you'd go North on Skinker to reach Page...there are probably 10 municipalities between Overland where the records center was before you'd even reach Skinker.

I've driven down the Eastern portion of Page Ave in St. Louis City and it can be somewhat "sketch". I haven't driven up there since about 2012 though, but I remember plenty of abandoned buildings/homes that were in various stages of disrepair. Numerous vacant lots, and lots of people milling about on the street.