ST. LOUIS HILLS (8)
Click [ HERE ] for the PDF version.

LOCATION
The St. Louis Hills neighborhood is situated in southwest St. Louis. It is bounded by Chippewa Street to the northwest and north, Hampton Avenue to the east, Gravois Avenue to the southeast, and the city limits to the southwest.

HISTORY
The vicinity in and around St. Louis Hills represents one of the last large expanses to be developed within the City of St. Louis' 1876 boundaries. Although this area was included among the earliest French colonial land claims, it remained largely undeveloped or agricultural for one and one half centuries. It was Cyrus Crane Willmore who provided the impetus for finally launching the area's urbanization. He envisioned a modern (1920s) middle-class and upper middle-class neighborhood with significant commercial and industrial uses within the area bounded by Chippewa, Hampton and the River Des Peres. At the center of this community would be the 60.3 acres of park land (Francis Park) donated to the City of St. Louis by David R. Francis in 1917.

Time and circumstances, in the forms of the Great Depression and World War II among other factors, somewhat altered the content and timing of Willmore's vision. For example, industrial development never occurred and the pace of housing construction was spasmodic. Nevertheless, the bulk of the area filled in with high-quality, all-brick residential development during the 1930s through the 1950s. Care was taken to preserve key sites for schools and churches. Commercial activity was basically limited to the Hampton and Chippewa corridors.

Much of the natural floodplain along the River Des Peres became the 105-acre Willmore Park in 1947, named in honor of Cyrus Crane Willmore as well as in recognition of his 70-acre land donation for creating this handsome facility. The area between the River Des Peres and the City Limits was developed in the 1940s and 1950s as a mixture of single-family and apartment homes. Today, it includes the Parkway Gardens and Villanova areas south of Chippewa.

Since the 1930s, the St. Louis Hills neighborhood has matured into one of the most desirable residential settings in the City of St. Louis. Although large numbers of apartments in small to larger structures were always a part of the mix, substantial owner-occupied single-family homes set the dominant tone from the beginning. The recent trend (1970s onward) of converting apartments to condominiums has strengthened local home ownership. Moreover, individual property owners have been upgrading their homes to keep pace with contemporary tastes.

Demographic hallmarks of this area have included a largely affluent population with a high degree of social stability. The local crime rate is usually among the lowest in St. Louis for residential neighborhoods. Notwithstanding a large proportion of older residents, younger households continue to flock to this historically white area. The population, however, has become somewhat more diverse in recent years. Bosnian immigrants, in small but growing numbers, are among the most recent arrivals.

CHARACTERISTICS
By virtually any standard, St. Louis Hills ranks among the highest echelons of St. Louis's neighborhoods by virtue of its sound, well-built brick housing stock, top levels of private and public maintenance, two large well-developed parks, extensive and effective resident community involvement, and general affluence. It affords a positive environment for children, young and mature families, and older adults. As both a place and a community, it successfully blends the best features of an established suburban setting in a central city context.

As previously indicated, it is overwhelmingly residential with narrow commercial strips along Hampton and Chippewa. For practical purposes, there is no vacant land and demolition usually occurs only as part of commercial redevelopment. Recent new development has included a Walgreens on Gravois at Hampton and a Car-X auto repair shop on Chippewa. The Buder Branch library relocated to a modern Hampton Avenue structure in 1998.

By and large, the housing stock is in excellent condition. Vacancy rates are low. Those long-term residential vacancies that do occur are usually due to legal problems related to the institutionalization or death of an older adult.

The 1990 U. S. Census determined that there were 3,701 dwelling units in the area. Over half of them (52.8 percent) were single-family houses, with the largest part of the balance (36.5 percent) consisting of two- to four-unit structures. Most of the balance comprised structures of up to 49 units. The total population was 6,788 in 1990.

About four of every seven households were homeowners in 1990. Since then, home ownership has increased as more apartments have been converted to condominiums. The 1990 vacancy rate was 3.9 percent.

St. Louis Hills residents are active participants in the area's present and future. Neighborhood organizations include:

• St. Louis Hills Neighborhood Association
• Parkway Gardens Improvement Association
• Villanova Neighborhood Association

In addition, the Southwest St. Louis Landlord Association is active in this area. The River South Restoration Area Task Force is exploring possible improvements for the green space along the River Des Peres. The Hampton-Chippewa Business Association seeks to maintain and improve the local commercial environment. There are no community development operations or tenant management associations in the area.

INSTITUTIONS AND ORGANIZATIONS
Institutions play important roles in neighborhood life. The Nottingham and Bush public elementary schools serve children from many parts of St. Louis. Nottingham also functions as a more localized adult community education center. Other elementary schools are church-related. They include St. Raphael's (Roman Catholic), St. Gabriel's (Roman Catholic), Word of Life (at Ascension Lutheran), and the Trinity Christian Center School. The Bishop DuBourg High School (Roman Catholic) is the largest local educational institution. As previously noted, the Buder Branch library recently moved to a St. Louis Hills Hampton Avenue site.

There are as many as nine churches of various sizes and denominations in the St. Louis Hills neighborhood. Most serve congregations that extend well beyond the immediate area. Among the more active and locally oriented churches, three stand out: St. Raphael's (Roman Catholic), St. Gabriel's (Roman Catholic), and Ascension (Lutheran). These same institutions are among the key local social service providers. There is also the St. Louis Hills Senior Assist Center on Chippewa.

The local community organizations noted above have individualized interests but share the broad objectives of the ongoing maintenance and improvement of the neighborhood. To that end, they are vigilant activists relative to public and private property standards. In recent years, for example, the upkeep of some of the four-family flats along Chippewa west of Jamieson has generated ongoing concern. There is also some sentiment that the local Hampton and Chippewa commercial strips are looking a bit dated, as well as suffering from spot problems such as residential-to-commercial conversions, more marginal businesses, more frequent vacancies, and so forth.

PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT
There has been no recent large-scale planing for the St. Louis Hills neighborhood. In part, this is a tribute to Cyrus Crane Willmore and other individuals who planned well years ago. Moreover, there is a virtual absence of the kinds and degrees of problems (crime, physical decay, environmental pollution, disinvestment, and so on) that challenge other St. Louis neighborhoods. Under these circumstances, "fighting for a better status quo" can be a viable strategy.

It is also difficult to see how new large or bold projects could be fitted into the community. There is no vacant land of any consequence. Expansion of nonresidential uses for commercial or institutional purposes, such as deepening the Hampton and Chippewa strip corridors into quiet back streets, would be vigorously opposed by local residents. In this context, the incremental change of a relocated public library or a new car wash (on an old restaurant site) are the kinds of change that can be expected. Soon, the Target store at the southwest corner of Hampton and Chippewa expects to be expanding within its existing site. This sort of change is welcomed in the St. Louis Hills neighborhood.