St Louis Metro – Endless Possibilities, Endless Dreams

St Louis Metro – Endless Possibilities, Endless Dreams

Welcome to St Louis!!  I’m glad you’re here!

Today, the actual City of St Louis has 79 distinct neighborhoods (see map) that are officially recognized.  Each with it’s own “flavor” and attitude, many people chose where they want to live by the neighborhood first, then the homes in it.  Due to the number of them, I’ve put the links and information on St Louis’s neighborhoods on a separate page for you to use as you explore St Louis.  For general information on the City, check out it’s website.  Many areas of the city fall into Housing Conservation Districts that require building inspections and occupancy permits.  To find out if a home that you are interested in falls in that category, click here.

But the City is much much more than those 79 neighborhoods.  From it’s inception in 1764 as a fur trading post, the City of St Louis has had a rich history that has included a World’s Fair in 1904.  Today, the City of St Louis boasts world-class educational institutions, some of the top hospitals in the US, leading bio-tech industries and research, and major automobile plants, along with being a leader in the aerospace industry.

The City of St Louis has come a long way from the small village established by Pierre LaClede Liguest and August Chouteau.  The starting point for Lewis and Clark’s exploration of the West, it’s been a jumping off point ever since for those headed to the “Far West” for adventure, fame and wealth.  Yet St Louis has had plenty of it’s own fame over the years 

    • the first Olympics to be held in the US in 1904
    • the first Cathedral West of the Mississippi still stands today in the shadow of the Arch
    • The St Louis Merchants Exchange is the oldest grain exchange in the US
    • The first publicly funded kindergarten in the US was started here by Susan Blow in 1873
    • St Louis University was the first university founded West of the Mississippi in 1818
    • The Old Courthouse was the first Cast-Iron Dome to be built
    • The Dred Scott slavery trial was held in St Louis
    • The Ead’s Bridge was the first arched steel truss bridge in the world (built in 1874)
    • The Bird Cage at the St Louis Zoo (built for the 1904 World’s Fair in St Louis) was the first open enclosure for zoo animals in the world plus it allows humans to walk through the cage
    • The world’s first climate-controlled dome was the Climatron at the Missouri Botanical Gardens
    • Charles Lindbergh’s famous flight around the world was considered a St Louis triumph

 

While it’s history is important, St Louis is a forward thinking city.  Highly networked, it is home to Fortune 500 companies, high-tech start-ups and to solid family businesses.  But more than a center of commerce and business, it’s a city that’s about people.  As a result, St Louis abounds in educational facilities, museums, a world-class zoo, theaters (including the Fabulous Fox Theater)restaurantsparks, sporting events and tourist attractions for it’s residents and tourists.  If you would like to know more about St Louis’s History and traditions, check out the Missouri Historical Society.

 St Louis County 

 Referred to as “The Great Divorce“, in 1876, the City of St Louis withdrew from St Louis County, because the City felt that the County would be a money drain against the City’s finances. The end result was a City that was land and river locked and could not grow, while the County hasn’t stopped growing. The City of Clayton (in the County) became a second business and financial district for the area and over 90 municipalities were incorporated (with St Louis County still handling the unincorporated areas). Note: In recent years, some of those municipalities have chosen to dis-incorporate themselves due to their size and budget constraints bringing us down to 88. Today the City of Clayton houses the primary government centers for the County, but branches have been established in each of the geographic sections of the County (West, South, North and Central). Besides the County government, there are over 60 municipal police departments, 23 fire protection districts and 20 municipal fire departments located in St Louis County.  While each municipality provides some services to it’s population (some of which are encompassed within a City Block, while others have 50,000 residents), the County provides an excellent Library Services, Parks and Recreation Department, Community Colleges, and much more.  One of the outstanding items of interest is that the County Residents agreed in 1972, to establish a special Metropolitan Zoological Park and Museum District (known locally as the Zoo Museum District) taxing district which provides funds to help ensure that the Art Museum, Science Center, Botanical Garden, History Museum and Zoo which are located in the City of St Louis receive taxes from both City and County residents to help support them.  As a result, unlike many other cultural institutions throughout the US, our Museums and Zoos are either free or have very nominal admission costs for both County and City residents.

For reference, when you are searching for homes in the metropolitan St Louis area, one of the common starting points is the geographic area that you are interested in, as well as price, home amenities and school districts (we have over 30 school districts).  As a result, I’ve prepared the following “short-course” on what cities, towns and villages are located in what areas, and yes I realize that some towns and cities “overlap” into more than one area. Please note that some of our older areas were named for a local post office or railroad stop and while we consider them areas, were never fully incorporated, or were dissolved many many years ago. Other areas are designated census areas, but are not incorporated.  I DO NOT recommend searching by city, since doing that will eliminate pockets of unincorporated areas that may be totally surrounded by a city. It is best to search by zip codes or school districts as everyone falls into those, whether they fall into an incorporated city or not.

 

The Mid-Central area includes: Brentwood, Crystal Lake Park, Des PeresFrontenac, Glendale, Huntleigh, Kirkwood, Ladue, Maplewood, OaklandOlivetteRichmond Heights, Rock Hill, St Louis County (unincorporated areas), University City, Warson WoodsWebster Groves

 

The West County area which includes: Allenton (now part of Eureka)Ballwin,  Chesterfield,  Clarkson Valley, ClaytonCountry Life Acres,  Creve Coeur, Des Peres, Earth City (primarily a commercial area)Ellisville, Eureka, FentonGlencoe (now part of Wildwood), Grover (also absorbed by Wildwood),  Manchester,  Maryland HeightsOlivette, Peerless Park, St Albans, St Louis County (unincorporated areas), Town and Country, Twin Oaks, Valley ParkWildwood, Winchester

 

The South County area which includes: AfftonBayless (no longer an incorporated area, it still has a school district that services the area),  Belle VillaCrestwoodFenton, Grantwood Village, Green Park, Lakeshire, MacKenzie (dissolved in 2018), MarlboroughMehlville (today a school district, not an incorporated area), OaklandSt George (no longer an incorporated area), St Louis County (unincorporated areas), Sappington, ShrewsburySunset Hills, Wilbur Park.


The North County area which includes: Bellefontaine Neighbors, Bellerive Acres, Bel-Nor, Bel-Ridge, Berkeley, Beverly Hills, Black Jack, Breckenridge HillsBridgeton, Calverton Park, Charlack, Cool ValleyCountry Club Hills, Dellwood, Edmundson, Ferguson, Florissant, Flordell Hills, Glen Echo Park, Greendale, Hanley Hills, Hazelwood, Hillsdale, Jennings, Kinloch, Moline Acres, NormandyNorwood Court, Northwoods, OverlandPagedale, Pasadena Hills, Pasedena Park, Pine Lawn, Riverview, St Ann, St John, St Louis County (unincorporated areas), Spanish Lake, Sycamore HillsUplands Park, Velda City, Velda Village Hills, Vinita Park, Vinita Terrace (now part of Vinita Park), Wellston, Woodson Terrace


Many of these towns and cities are small enough that they do not have their own websites.  Some will contract with the County or other municipalities to provide services such as Police and Fire Protection and even care and maintenance of their streets, while some will handle those type of services on their own.  Adding to the confusion, the US Postal Service has “regional” zip codes for some areas, resulting in cities and towns that share zip codes.  This periodically results in people presuming that an areas is in the wrong city based on it’s zip. Again, 
I DO NOT recommend searching by city, since doing that will eliminate pockets of unincorporated areas that may be totally surrounded by a city. It is best to search by zip codes or school districts as everyone falls into those, whether they fall into an incorporated city or not.To help you visual the metropolitan St Louis area, please refer to the following St Louis maps

 

 St Charles County 

St Charles County is one of the fastest growing area in the Metro St Louis Region.  With excellent School Districts (Francis Howell, Ft Zumwalt, St Charles, Orchard Farms and Wentzville), an easy commute to St Louis City and the entire Metro area via Interstate Highway 64/US Highway 40; the Page Avenue Extension, Highway 70 and Highway 367 and 364, their bridges this area boasts newer homes, a rapidly expanding job, commercial, industrial and retail base.

St Charles County is home to many wonderful cities and towns. Among them you will find, Augusta, Cottleville, Dardenne Prairie, Flint Hill, Foristell, Josephville, Lake St Louis and the Lake St Louis Community Association, New Melle, O’Fallon, Portage Des Sioux, St Charles, St Paul, St Peters, Weldon Springs, Weldon Spring Heights, Wentzville and West Alton.


If you take time to travel the Missouri Rhineland Weinstrasse (Wine Road), approximately 35 miles outside of St Louis, you will pass through several wineries in the Augusta, Missouri area along with the Augusta Brewery. Located in St Charles County, Augusta recently celebrated the 150th anniversary of it’s incorporation in 1855. Settled in 1836 by one of Daniel Boone’s followers, the town is noted for it’s German heritage, the town was originally known as Mount Pleasant and was a stop along the Missouri River for the many riverboats that plied the waters. A massive flood in the 1870’s changed the course of the river and left the town without any riverfront. Augusta has a number of homes, farmsteads and historic areas that are listed on the National Register, including the world famous Mount Pleasant Winery which was founded in 1859. Prior to the Civil War, Missouri was the leading wine producer in the United States.

This is an area that is rapidly changing from farming communities, to outer suburbs to a metropolitan area.  You’ll find casinos, concert arenas, sports teams and much much more in the St Charles area, along with solid businesses, wineries and breweries.  An integral part of the Lewis and Clark journey and the westward expansion of the United States, this area has grown from a frontier outpost with French and Spanish influences to a vibrant metropolitan area.