The Kingsway East Neighborhood

Kingsway East is a St. Louis neighborhood located south of Natural Bridge Avenue, north of Dr. Martin Luther King Drive, east of North Kingshighway Boulevard and west of Marcus Avenue:

4,322 residents of Kingsway East were counted in 2000. That is a 14% decline from the 1990 census count. It's 98% Black. There were 2,162 housing units, 80% of which were occupied, 52% renters, 48% owners.

Another 18% of residents were lost from 2000-2010. Of the 3,542 people counted, 96% are Black, 1% white, 1% Hispanic/Latino and 5 Asians and 5 Native Americans/Alaska Natives.

Another 30% of residents were lost from 2010-2020. Of the 2.502 people counted, 93% are Black, 4% 2 or more races, 2% white and 1% Hispanic/Latino. 463 housing units were lost with an occupancy of 75%.

This place is tragically emptying out decade after decade. Housing is disappearing fast per the Census counts.

From the city website:

“This area exists within an historic section known as Arlington, which takes its name from John W. Burd’s Arlington Grove subdivision of 1868. A memorable disaster in the history of the Arlington area occurred in October 1916, when the Christian Brothers College building was destroyed by a fire, one of the worst in the City’s history, taking ten lives. Industrial activity in the area owes its development to the construction of the Terminal Railroad belt line about 1900. The convenience of rail access, combined with plenty of adjacent vacant land, resulted in the establishment of many industrial plants in the area.”

— https://www.stlouis-mo.gov/

The housing stock throughout the neighborhood is widely varied with a nice mix of shotguns, four squares, bungalows and a couple that stand out as true originals (make sure to note the updated photo of the bungalow with the green steps from 2022):

There are several streets which are beautifully maintained and cared for. These include Wabada Place, Northland Place and Maffitt Avenue.

Here are some of the typical homes and street views in Kingsway East:

There is a stretch of cool mid-century homes that are like none I've seen anywhere in the city so far:

There are quite a few dilapidated, crumbling and abandoned properties too:

The good news is there aren't nearly as many acres of cleared/demolished open land area as seen in many other North City neighborhoods, the original housing is largely intact.

Natural Bridge must have once been an amazing commercial corridor in St. Louis. There are several great buildings built in the late 1920's and early 1930's. Here are some things that caught my eye along Natural Bridge:

And this gem:

Some other miscellaneous cool sign relics:

There are quite a few open businesses in Kingsway East:

There is a nice 12 acre park at Euclid and Ashland that was quite active on the day of my visit. The park takes it's name from William Christopher Handy (1873-1958) who is widely known as the "Father of the Blues". W.C. Handy spent a brief period of time in St. Louis around 1893; enough time to inspire one of his best known works: "St. Louis Blues", one of the first blues songs to succeed as a pop song. The song was published in 1914 by Handy's own company. The song gained so much popularity that it inspired the dance step the Foxtrot. Here are the lyrics:

I hate to see that evening sun go down,I hate to see that evening sun go down,'Cause my lovin' baby done left this town.
If I feel tomorrow, like I feel today,If I feel tomorrow, like I feel today,I'm gonna pack my trunk and make my getaway.
Oh, that St. Louis woman, with her diamond rings,She pulls my man around by her apron strings.And if it wasn't for powder and her store-bought hair,Oh, that man of mine wouldn't go nowhere.
I got those St. Louis blues, just as blue as I can be,Oh, my man's got a heart like a rock cast in the sea,Or else he wouldn't have gone so far from me.
I love my man like a schoolboy loves his pie,Like a Kentucky colonel loves his rocker and ryeI'll love my man until the day I die, Lord, Lord.
I got the St. Louis blues, just as blue as I can be, Lord, Lord!That man's got a heart like a rock cast in the sea,Or else he wouldn't have gone so far from me.
I got those St. Louis blues, I got the blues, I got the blues, I got the blues,My man's got a heart like a rock cast in the sea,Or else he wouldn't have gone so far from me, Lord, Lord!

The blues have a strong history is St. Louis, one that I am fascinated by and you can really feel it. The blues and early country music were written to mix sadness with joy. A drive through Kingsway East today will likely fill you with the same emotions evoked by good blues, jazz and country; there are scenes of sadness and neglect mixed in with beauty and relics of the time when St. Louis was alive and kicking. Kingsway East is holding on.

***In October, 2022 I revisited the neighborhood and the following includes updated commentary and photos.***

Misses On Original Tour

I didn’t mention that the stretch of North Kingshighway bordering this neighborhood is the most civilized of any stretch in the entire city. They built a garden and narrowed the lanes and the vibe of drivers completely changes. Please do this to the entire stretch, or at least the majority. The large trees and gardens create a beautiful barrier for north and southbound traffic.

The answer to the insanity of South and Central City Kingshighway on display in North City.

As a casual observer and visitor, I cannot stand all the closed/gated streets along Kingshighway though. The residents likely love them but I wanted to mention how unfortunate it is from a “we” or larger city perspective. So inefficient and so many one way streets.

Other than that, I’m pretty satisfied with the original post. Nothing real to add other than some updated pics which I’ll include below.

I likely should have mentioned the Wade funeral home/florist/mortuary.

I also didn’t really show any of the many churches, so here’s one of my favorites.

Noticeable Changes

Okay, this is the most fun/challenging part of these updates. How do I say this without alienating other parts of the city which are equally important? I love this neighborhood and part of the city. It has its warts and blocks that are troubled and in severe decline. But, BUT, the incredibly stable, beautiful and highly populated parts are charming, gorgeous and so worthy of attention. Put many public eggs in the basket of Kingsway East. It is absolutely beautiful to me. So St. Louis. So on the teeter totter where the plank is stressed with weight on a downward decline toward the ground and landfill. If I were in charge, I’d pour substantial resources this way. And not social programs as much as low interest loans for legacy home owners and tax incentives to rehab first and develop second the scads of empty land. Quit tearing it down, start rehabbing. This is a classic, perfectly deserving neighborhood of St. Louis. So close, just needs a push, without sweeping changes, just make it easier for residents to fix shit up. It’ll thrive, the people here are good. I had several conversations today that made me think people here are nicer, happier and kinder to strangers than people in my own neighborhood that most say is “gentrified”.

I love W.C. Handy Park. It is a damn gem, clean as a whistle, in heavy use by little kids, surrounded by a fence that is actually open on the corners and long middles. One guy I talked to said he loves watching groups of kids go in and out of the park. It works, even if it is a bit sparse, but an open place to run and be a kid in a seemingly safe and cared for space.

Speed humps have been built. This makes a huge difference in the safety of the various streets they are on.

Natural Bridge has some traffic calming and pedestrian infrastructure investment. Now we just need logical, equitable, reasonable enforcement of the basic laws of the road that has been missing.

What Are The Future Needs?

There are several blocks on a few streets that are nearing complete vacancy Don’t knock em down, save them, you will have gold if you do. The alleys behind these properties are dumping grounds and quite shitty.

All resources, now! Fix them up and you double down on your community, your soul, your pride, your place. This place is largely solid, spic-n-span clean, healthy and homey. I love this place and hope the drastic exodus of residents that is fully evident in the Census counts does not continue.

Walk, ride or drive through this part of the city on a weekend when many are off work. BBQ smells, card games, adult beverages on front lawns, lots of social gathering of families and neighbors. Kids all over. They all want a ride on my scooter, but sorry little ones, I don’t have time. I did agree to a race down one street…he on foot, me on 49cc Honda Metropolitan…he won, because he was fast and gave it his all, but I didn’t push the throttle all the way down. He was waving bye in my side mirror as I sped off to the next street. Lovely sense of cool places and homes and community.

But things aren’t all wine and roses and cute kids playing and nice people on porches and front yards. The abandonment is getting intense on some blocks. Idiots and no-dignity people are on the scene. The time is now to pour the $ and real investment in. Build it. Rehab it. Help it.

The dumping and negatives are copious on clear display in parts. I bring this up and share photos not to shame, but to be real. This is all the current state of decades of population loss. Loss of people, any city’s greatest resource continues here.