Shannon and I were bumming around on a Sunday and stopped by the grand re-opening of Love Bank Park at Cherokee and Nebraska in the Benton Park West Neighborhood. This park has seen a major community-led investment that elevated a former greenspace and basketball hoop into an impressive space that is designed to be a community space that can “bank on love”, hence the name. The idea to elevate the park came to life in 2015 and the latest investment is an exciting addition to a perfect encapsulation of St. Louis soul and progressive Midwestern urban community. Here’s the vision from the Cherokee ..read more

The Missouri side of the Chain of Rocks bridge landing over the Mississippi River has seen a significant investment in safety and sustainability. We’ve visited this St. Louis landmark many times since moving here in 1994. Check out our story from 2015. We also discussed the bridge in the context of the Riverview Neighborhood back in 2011. This site once held an amusement park from 1927 - 1978. The bridge was also the backdrop for a scene in Escape from New York in the darkest days of St. Louis’ population decline and abandonment. Yet another change is upon us. This landmark is seeing an invest ..read more

We are still losing population. This is one, if not the biggest, issue facing St. Louis. I’ve been revisiting neighborhoods on the city’s North Side to update my neighborhood profiles originally posted over a decade ago. The results are obvious. North City is emptying out. Not just people, but the occupied or available housing stock is fading too. Black people, especially younger Blacks, are leaving St. Louis in droves. The last 30 or so years has seen a mass exodus of Black people out of North City. This is likely a combination of older folks either dying or moving to assisted living in the s ..read more

With the passing of urbanist blogger and photographer Steve Patterson, I wanted to share some memories and love for a friend who was a personal hero, mentor and constant source of inspiration. Steve was from Oklahoma, but moved to St. Louis in the 1990s. He started UrbanReviewSTL in 2004, a blog focused on city living, urban planning, pedestrian/cyclist issues and much more. He loved St. Louis deeply as his new home. He was also very critical, brave and unapologetic in his focused concern about people, planners and places that were wrong for St. Louis if we ever want to be a civilized city. St ..read more

We are visiting every St. Louis microbrewery to help highlight the variety, quality and fine spaces we have to enjoy a fresh beer in our fair city. We stopped at the Urban Chestnut Midtown Brewery and Biergarten at 3229 Washington Avenue in the Covenant Blu/Grand Center Neighborhood. This is the first of two brewing locations from Urban Chestnut Brewing Company (UCBC) which opened in January, 2011. It is is housed in a former 1920's automotive business. Here’s a pic from Isaac Sievers from November, 1932. Photo Source: Missouri Historical Society Bays visible from 1930’s photo. Historic reno ..read more

We are visiting every St. Louis microbrewery to help highlight the variety, quality and fine spaces we have to enjoy a fresh beer in our fair city. We stopped at the Schlafly Tap Room at 2100 Locust Street in the Downtown West Neighborhood. The strong microbrewery scene in St. Louis owes Schlafly for much of its success and freedom to operate. They were the first brewery to open post Prohibition. Setting up shop in 1991, a time when Anheuser-Busch, still a family run business at the time, Schlafly fought the AB status quo legal and distribution landscape to pave the way for small breweries onc ..read more

We are visiting every St. Louis microbrewery to help highlight the variety, quality and fine spaces we have to enjoy a fresh beer in our fair city. We stopped at Bluewood Brewing, 1821 Cherokee Street in the Marine Villa Neighborhood. This wonderful brewery is in the former Lemp Stables or Corner Gates building. Per city records, it was built in 1892. You can enter on Cherokee Street into the open air and incredibly cool patio space. The building is amazing, truly “St. Louis” in look and feel. The place is cool and is a true local gem. There is a small stage that brings in the sounds ..read more

We are visiting every St. Louis microbrewery to help highlight the variety, quality and fine spaces we have to enjoy a fresh beer in our fair city. We stopped in Rockwell Beer Company at 1320 Vandeventer Avenue in the Botanical Heights Neighborhood. Now, Rockwell has another St. Louis location, tucked in Francis Park in the St. Louis Hills Neighborhood. The latter is a fantastic venue that I covered back in December, 2021. But, the main brewery is on Vandeventer in a creative build that heavily utilizes shipping containers in the outdoor area. Here’s what the property looked like prior to Rock ..read more

We are visiting every St. Louis microbrewery to help highlight the variety, quality and fine spaces we have to enjoy a fresh beer in our fair city. We stopped at Perennial Artisan Ales at 8125 Michigan Avenue in the Patch Neighborhood. This brewery is a gem. Their space is within a historic building called the Temptor Lofts, a former Coca-Cola syrup plant. Well, actually it started as Temptor Fruits and Product Company and then eventually became the Coke syrup plant. The city website lists it as built in 1920. I wrote about this project back in 2011, with work starting around 2010. In addition ..read more

We are visiting every St. Louis microbrewery to help highlight the variety, quality and fine spaces we have to enjoy a fresh beer in our fair city. We stopped at Wellspent Brewing Company at 2917 Olive Street in the Midtown Neighborhood. North of Harris Stowe University, east of St. Louis University and just west of Downtown West’s recent uptick of activity including the new MLS City Field, Wellspent is in a good location even if there isn’t a lot of housing in this particular part of the neighborhood. This is part of the Midtown Alley, an impressive stretch of businesses, retail and restauran ..read more