ST. LOUIS - I am strolling through Tower Grove Park on a gorgeous
weekday afternoon in the heart of Missouri's largest city. I've
forgotten my hat, and if I'm not careful, the premier Victorian park
in the United States will very likely charm the socks off me as well.
Created in 1867 by one of the town's fathers, Henry Shaw, Tower
Grove Park is a living, oxygenating symbol of the St. Louis that once
was and, thankfully, is becoming anew. Shaw took this 40-square block
patch of prairie and filled it with more than 8,000 trees, seven
miles of meandering footpaths and delightfully oddball architecture -
including a set of faux ancient ruins and a bandstand surrounded by
busts of the great European composers.
Even if you're a St. Louis native, or you go there often, Tower
Grove Park is probably something of a unexpected pleasure. The travel
books would rather steer you to the city's more famous outdoor
venues: Forest Park, where much of the 1904 World's Fair took place,
and the Missouri Botanical Garden, another Shaw creation just to the
north of Tower Grove Park and a magnet for horticulturalists around
the world.
Likewise, out-of-towners tend to make a beeline for the
waterfront, close to the Arch, the riverboats, Busch Stadium and
Soulard, the home of Budweiser. (Soulard, with its jazz cafes,
eclectic antique shops and historic farmers market, is arguably St.
Louis's hottest neighborhood.) And at one time, perhaps, that
would've sufficed for the tourist.
Today, however, many of the older neighborhoods that once saw
their fortunes ebb, as its denizens pushed west to greener pastures
in the suburbs, are alive and kicking. Residents old and new, people
who equate venerability with virtue, give these places - the Hill,
University City, Central West End and Grand South Grand among them -
their own unique attractions and character.
"More than most American cities, St. Louis has experienced the
rise and fall and rise again of neighborhoods," writes Barringer
Fifield in his indispensable 1987 walking guide, Seeing Saint Louis
(Books & Books; Washington University).
Walking, in fact, was exactly how I saw much of St. Louis this
visit - simply hoofing it, city block after cityblock, past flora and
fauna, retail and restaurant.
When I wasn't on foot, I was on board the city's 4-year-old light
rail system, MetroLink, that runs 17 miles from Lambert Airport past
all of the downtown attractions, and across the Eads Bridge into
Illinois. One could also say, of course, that MetroLink runs from
Illinois to the airport, but that misses the point of this latter-day
streetcar, which pulls people into the core of the city rather than
push them out, as the highways and early streetcars of St. Louis once
did.
Now, thanks to public funds and private efforts, the rails are
returning to many of the neighborhoods they once served. But this
time, their purpose is twofold: not only as an alternative to cars
for local commuters but as the official tourist shuttle of St. Louis.
MetroLink stops at all three downtown sports venues, the Arch (at
Laclede's Landing), and Forest Park (home to the St. Louis Zoo as
well the St. Louis art and Missouri history museums).
MetroLink's rails were laid in existing right of way, much of it
formerly owned by the Terminal Railroad Association. This has helped
keep the system's costs down - by public transit standards, MetroLink
was a bargain - which is probably why the city's western and southern
sections are now clamoring for the line to be extended to their
neighborhoods.
For the out-of-towner, MetroLink outside of the downtown area
poses a moderate but not undaunting challenge. The train does not
penetrate the neighborhoods it serves so much as skirt them. At the
Central West End station, for instance, you're dropped off below
street level in the midst of two medical centers. Bring a street map
and be ready to walk anywhere from a few blocks to half a mile.
Fit to be tied
Seeking a more permanent reminder of my visit than a sunburn, I
exited Tower Grove Park at its southeast corner and discovered one of
St. Louis' latest renascent districts, Grand South Grand.
Essentially a row of ethnic eateries and urban shops, Grand South
Grand offers the best Thai and Vietnamese restaurants in St. Louis,
according to a recent newspaper's reader poll. But I was drawn to
Siete Mares, a restaurant whose north wall is festooned with mementos
from Nicaragua, co-owner Sonja Trogler's home country. Even though I
accidentally ordered the repochetas for lunch - the Nicaraguan
version of grilled cheese sandwiches - they were redeemed by the
flavorful salad and rice on the side.
At the Vintage Haberdasher, a men's and women's resale shop, I
found dozens of excellent vintage neckties. The store's owner, Joile
Mackney, said she had operated a vintage shop for 11 years in Soulard
before coming here.
"I keep a lot of the same customer base because it's close by,"
said Mackney, who moved after losing her lease in Soulard. "It was a
hard decision. I absolutely loved Soulard, but there wasn't anyplace
with the space that I needed."
A better location for resale than Soulard? I asked. The store's
manager, who helped me pick out a dandy gold-on-brown cravat, circa
1960, shrugged and said, "I guess Grand is coming back."
Call me a cab
One neighborhood that didn't come back so much as stubbornly
refuse to go away is the Hill, a heavily Italian enclave perched on a
modest plateau in the city's southern section.
The Hill is one of two neighborhoods I visited (University City
being the other) that are not really navigable except by car or cab.
And provided you don't get the driver who took me to the Hill - the
surliest I've encountered in all my years cabbing around Chicago and
New York - you'll find this a wholly satisfying side trip to an
old-fashioned, unmeltable ethnic base.
Originally designed as temporary housing for Italian immigrants
who started clustering here in the 1890s, the houses on the Hill are
no great shakes architecturally, until you begin to look at them in
their aggregate. There they are, block after block of tiny brick
estates with their swatch of lawn (many of the yards are watched over
by Blessed Virgin Mary statuettes), and all of them in astoundingly
good upkeep. Walk around long enough and you'll see residents out on
their stoops, sweeping them off.
Despite numerous attempts to steamroll its residents - running an
interstate right through the neighborhood, as Interstate 44 does
here, is a tactic too often used in the name of progress - the Hill
survives. More than that, it thrives, having long ago learned to use
its isolation and homogeneity to great advantage.
I followed my nose into DiGregorio's grocery, one of several
excellent Italian food shops on the Hill, where I almost grabbed a
$ 10 replica of the Italian Immigrants statue that sits outside St.
Ambrose Church, the area's spiritual anchor. I did, however, pick up
some handmade pasta made just down the street at the Sacred Heart
Villa.
My next stop was at a bakery - again, there are several to choose
from, and St. Louisans each seem to have their favorite - and had a
sfogliatelle that tided me over the rest of the morning. The Hill's
restaurants are widely respected, if not especially revered; that
distinction goes to Tony's, a spendy Italian restaurant downtown. Then again, the modest shops and residences on the Hill seem more
worthy of admiration than adulation. Besides, where else but on the
Hill can you step out from dinner and stroll over to an outdoor bocce
garden, just in time for league play?
Found my thrill
One part of St. Louis that is definitely getting its due is
University City, also known as the Loop, northwest of Forest Park and
just north of the campus of Washington University. In a town where
sensible, if not sturdy housing prevails (even the garages are made
of brick), the cafes, galleries and entertainment offerings along
Delmar Boulevard provide a welcome burst of bohemia.
During the summer months University City restaurants - Ethiopian,
Lebanese, Pakistani, Japanese, Korean and Greek - open up to sidewalk
patrons. Dine there and perhaps your table will rest atop one of the
bronze stars that compose the "St. Louis Walk of Fame," every bit
as cheesy and arbitrary as its Hollywood counterpart (a star for
Scott Joplin, sure, but Marlin Perkins?).
University City is also home to the original Saint Louis Bread
Company - yes, it really did start with one store - and the newly
refurbished Tivoli Theater, a lustrous showcase for the arthouse
genre of movies it carries. These two establishments, the premium
eatery and the indie theater, perhaps best characterize the
transformation of "U City" from a marginal neighborhood into one
targeted to the well-funded alternative set.
"When we first got here, there were an awful lot of vacant
storefronts and a real problem with absentee landlords," said Alan
Suits, who has owned and operated the Coyote's Paw Gallery just down
Delmar from the Tivoli for the last 14 years. Now the absentees have
been rooted out and there's been "a precipitous drop in petty
crime," according to Suits.
"There are only one or two chain stores on this strip," he
added. "People here are fiercely committed to keeping businesses
private."
Except for the St. Louis Bread guy, right?
Suits laughed and recounted the time, several years ago, when the
store's founder came by his gallery and asked Suits if this would be
a good place to set up shop. "And I said, 'Can I buy stock in it?
I'll take all you've got! ' "
Aaron Barnhart, a veteran walker of Chicago's neighborhoods
before moving to Kansas City, is The Star's television writer.
Going somewhere
Getting around
MetroLink: The 4-year-old rapid transit line connects Lambert-St.
Louis International Airport to popular destinations. Visitors can
park and ride from the airport, Forest Park and other stations.
Ignore all the confusing buttons on the MetroLink ticket machines
and choose either the one-day ($ 3) or three-day ($ 7) pass. Both
include unlimited train rides and bus transfers. MetroLink
information is available at (314) 231-2345.
Shuttle Bug: You can catch a brightly-painted red bus called the
Shuttle Bug at the Forest Park stop every 15 minutes. The eastbound
shuttle weaves its way through the park, stopping at all the
attractions, arriving 23 minutes later at the majestic St. Louis
Cathedral and its 80,000 square feet of mosaic in the Central West
End.
Buses: Tower Grove Park and the Botanical Garden are best reached
by car or bus. From the Central West End MetroLink station, catch a
No. 13 bus heading south on Euclid and tell the driver where you want
to get off.
The neighborhoods
The Hill: Squeezed into a few blocks west of Kingshighway and
south of Interstate 44, the Hill is brimming with restaurants,
bakeries and local pride. I took lunch at Adriana's (Shaw and
Hereford), and other goodies from DiGregorio's grocery (Marconi and
Daggett) and the Missouri Baking Co. (Wilson and Edwards).
Forest Park and Central West End: An urban tandem, one supplies
scenery and popular attractions, the other a place to unwind
afterward. The area is navigable by MetroLink and shuttle (see
above). You can also walk north on Euclid from the MetroLink station.
You'll pass the Sunshine Inn, the city's top-rated vegetarian
restaurant, north of Forest Park Blvd. (314-367-1413) In a few more
blocks you'll hit the heart of the neighborhood at Maryland.
University City: No visit to St. Louis' funkiest strip would be
complete without a burger at Blueberry Hill (6504 Delmar,
314-727-0880) and a slice of the original Saint Louis Bread Co. (6309
Delmar, 314-726-6644). But a smorgasbord of ethnic varieties is here
too, including Japanese restaurant Seki (6335 Delmar, 314-726-6477)
and the innocuously named U City Grill (6696 Enright, 314-721-3073),
which serves Korean food.
Grand South Grand: Much as the Central West End and Forest Park
are joined at the hip, so are this neighborhood and Tower Grove Park.
King & I (Thai; 3157 S. Grand, 314-771-1777) and Pho Grand
(Vietnamese; 3191 S. Grand, 314-664-7435) lead the list of Asian
eateries. There's also Nicaraguan food at Siete Mares (3204 S. Grand,
314-776-7074) and scrumptious cakes at Dickmann's Boulevard Bakery
(3139 S. Grand, 314-773-7585).
Information
The St. Louis Convention & Visitors Commission hot line is (800)
916-0040. Call and request a "Great Getaway Packages" guide, a
Multicultural Guide, a MetroLink map and/or Visitors Guide.
(CORRECTION: Because of a reporter's error, an article Sunday in the Travel section described St. Louis as the largest city in Missouri. St. Louis is second-largest, behind Kansas City.)