Earlier today, as I was walking across Euclid, I overheard the following question being posed as visitors peered into Lenox Place, "If you had the money, why would you want to live in this part of town?"
Nicki's Central West End Guide
an urban news journal
Nicki,
The same people who said things like that were the same people who would bring out the CWE as a trump card when they had guests in town. I remember people saying, “Oh, and we have the Central West End, it’s like a Gilded Age time capsule…the most gorgeous houses you’ve ever seen!”
There are very few places, outside of Newport, RI and the North Shore of LI, where houses like those in the West End can be found–and they certainly aren’t in Ladue.
Take pride in that. (I’m sure you already do).
Charlotte: I’m jealous.
That strangely provincial attitude and fear of anything diverse or different from the suburban neighborhoods is so unfortunate. After growing up in those sheltered STL suburbs, and then living in the CWE in the 70’s and 80″s, it was as though we’d moved out of state. And we had so much fun living there, learning about the REAL world- being Away! I will always miss that uniquely urban life- nothing like it anywhere since.
Coming home next week- to the CWE! Can’t wait! Yay!
Comments like these make this whole blog effort well worth it. Ryan’s account reminds me of an old acquaintance who said upon hearing what we paid for our house on Lenox Place in the ’70s: “…well, that’s because nobody wants them.” I’ve never forgotten that comment, and am so glad that Jim and I knew this is where we belonged.
I live in NYC now, but grew up in STL County. After college I moved back to STL and settled into the CWE for a few years. In the summer of 2000 I was out at Plaza Frontenac one afternoon and ran into a close friend of my mother’s. She asked, “Now where are you living, Clayton or Ladue?” Because, of course, there couldn’t possibly be any place else in the world to live! I proudly told her I was living in the CWE. With a mix of pity and horror in her eyes, she took my hand, paused and said, “Oh…I am soooooo sorry.” As if there had been a death. Part of me was seething, but I settled for an interior roll of the eyes.
A year later, after moving from STL, I met a woman who had relocated to STL County from Boston. She had just returned from Rome and had run into a STL neighbor at a chic restaurant. The woman apparently leaned in and said, “Oh…I bet you can’t wait to get back to STL…it is so dirty here.” Imagine. She’s in Rome, at a fantastic restaurant, in the midst of all of that history and culture and all she can see is 2000 years worth of grime.
It was those provincial, inept, smug attitudes that drove me and quite a few talented peers, out of STL, but I have NEVER found a neighborhood I loved as much as the CWE. Yes, there are lovely neighborhoods in Paris and some charming New England towns. And while I like the Upper East Side of Manhattan, with it’s stately buildings, access to Central Park, restaurants, shopping and dressing up, I truly miss the understated sophistication and charm of the CWE.
I promote the CWE to anyone who will listen and always show them the Julius Hunter book, “Westmoreland and Portland Places.” They are absolutely amazed and had no idea that STL held such a treasure.
My dream home sits on Portland Place (I won’t tell you which one–because it will be mine) and plan to return to once again make the Central West End my home. If you live there please enjoy it for me.
Thank you so much for your blog Nicki. Please continue your great work.
-Ryan
Well, ignorance is as ignorance does. I once worked with a guy who called anything inside of 270 “the city”. I’ve talked to people who said they moved out of the City because “the neighborhood was getting a little dark”. Foolishness is often a little like a disease, spread by ignorance, fear, and misinformation. This person is obviously a fool. Not evil, simply unwilling to open themselves to a truth right before their eyes. Probably not the only thing of which they are willfully and blithely ignorant. Oh, well.
Idiots.
I admit to being speechless after reading this post, but I’m grateful for Anna’s thoughtful expression of what I was thinking. I’ve been a CWE resident for just a year, but this neighborhood has long been my favorite in STL. The architecture, the shops, the restaurants, the kindness of the neighbors – I agree with Elizabeth: I often find myself thinking about how lucky I am to call the CWE home.
was it clear whether they were from outside the city or outside of the metro area? my guess is they were from the saint louis exurbs somewhere. it seems that visitors from other parts of the country appreciate our city more than those from our own counties. if they can’t drive through a starbucks it’s not civilization.
Thank you all for your heartfelt comments about the CWE. To Anna: We really miss you and Paul and wish Mezzanine was still around the corner–that would make our neighborhood even better!
As I was strolling home this evening, after a lovely dinner a few blocks from home, enjoying the warm breeze, window shopping and the smell of magnolia in the air, I thought to myself “what a lovely neighborhood this is. I’m so lucky to live here.”
”THAT” part of town has seen riches to rags and back to riches…I marvel at the updating and upkeep that has brought that part of town back from imploding…back in the 60’s when I had my apartment in “that” part of town, it was known as the DMZ…and now, regardless of size, the upkeep shows a stature that can only come from “class” and pride…if only “those people” that criticize would understand this simple truth.
Without tearing into a rant about all of the things that make the CWE so special and so unique, I will simply say that preconceived notions seem to be a problem in STL