Historical September 1979 report or notice. Dates, prices, contacts and institutional claims describe the source period; current availability has not been established.
The original suggestion for this article was to query a number of locally prominent people on the subject of the gentrification of the neighborhood — the rising property values followed by the rising income of residents followed by subtle and not so subtle changes in the social character of Skinker-DeBaliviere. That houses are selling for multiples of their prior purchase prices is not in dispute, but how to measure gentrification? By asking residents if they were planning to ride to the hounds or if their neighbors wore designer initials etched into their prescription sunglasses? To ask people to respond to the question of gentrification seemed to predispose them to acknowledge its existence in our neighborhood. I decided not to speak with people whose views were already well publicized and to try not to pose any leading questions. The best barometer of the character of a neighborhood seemed likely to be the people who live in it; accordingly
I spoke with members from two Washington Heights households, two from Rosedale and two from Parkview within the city limits. In each area I sought out a long time resident and a relative newcomer. This doesn’t purport to be a survey, just a sketch.
I would like to thank everyone who consented to tell me their thoughts about the neighborhood. Half were unknown to me before I began and though acquainted with the other half I was not familiar with their views.
I spoke with Alton and Blanche Reel in tandem.
They have lived on the 5700 block of Waterman for the past twenty-five years. They moved here because they wanted to graduate from apartment living and as Alton said, “I contend that I’M a city person. I’m not a county person.”
They have been an island of comparative calm in the midst of a quarter century of changes. They recalled the part played by real estate companies in fomenting panic sales of homes when the neighborhood was integrated. Alton said it was the panic itself that most disturbed him. They told of how they were called upon by a real estate company, advised of an unsolicited high bid for their property and encouraged to sell. But they weren’t interested in selling and they knew the offer was a fictitious one designed to make them agree to put their house on the market.
Blanche credited “the block units and churches, Grace Methodist, Delmar Baptist and St. Roch’s especially” for keeping the neighborhood from disintegrating — in both senses of the word. Alton says at this stage “Pantheon’s the stabilizing influence.”
Despite Washington Heights’ reputation as a more transient area, the Reels are the third owners of their home. To their east is only the second family that ever resided in that house and to the west just the third.
On the end of the block the original and sole owner of that house recently passed away.
When asked what they liked best about Skinker-DeBaliviere both exclaimed, “Convenience!” in unison.
When asked what they liked least about the area Alton said for him it was “an intangible, an attitude that lacked pride in the whole environment.” Blanche supplied the tangible examples: neglect of the alleys (Alton cited the installation of the dumpsters as the “best thing that’s happened since babies were born”), failing to move cars on street cleaning days and pets being allowed to wander by their owners.
Asked for his prediction of what the area will be like ten years from now, Alton replied, “If the current trend continues it will be an integrated and stable neighborhood.” He thinks a bonus in the way of new commercial enterprises, particularly needed grocery and drug stores, likely to be in our future.
Blanche concluded by stating, “I’ve never been sorry we moved here and I’m happier now that we stayed.”
Dock Gunn has lived with his wife, son and daughter on the 5700 block of DeGiverville for nearly three years. They had been living in the city in apartments and wanted to remain within the city limits when they purchased a home. That determination and a love of old houses drew them to their present address. They had watched the metamorphosis of the Bracey house (in the Rosedale area) and were inspired with a romantic desire for a similar undertaking.
After years of effort some of the romance is gone but Dock still enjoys the charm of their house and working on it himself.
When asked what feature he liked best about the neighborhood he said “the atmosphere.” He listed “good relations with neighbors and access to whatever I need” as components of that atmosphere. In response to the question of what he liked least he said he was satisfied and would have to “nitpick” to come up with any objections.
He characterizes the neighborhood as “on an even keel” but was cautious about trying to forecast its future. “I’d like to see it remain basically the same. I’d hate to see the residents uprooted by renovation and not able to return.”
Celestine Cunningham moved to the 6100 block of Kingsbury with her family on the hottest day in August the summer before Pearl Harbor. “Mother didn’t want to come to the city. We had always lived in Maplewood. I can remember when they had boardwalks there.” But they wanted more space so they moved and discovered a village within the city. “We have always had good neighbors — always known our neighbors. It’s been like a little tiny town.”
Back then there were no children tumbling out of the big old houses — it was all older people. For her, one of the most delightful changes during her period of residence has been the influx of young families and the resultant commingling of ages.
She echoed the Reels’ sentiment when she said, “The thing that has kept this neighborhood together is St. Roch’s Church. I may be Baptist but I don’t mind going over there to quilt.”
To her mind the best feature of SkinkerDeBaliviere is its “friendliness — the willingness of people to look out for one another.”
The biggest drawback comes not from within the neighborhood itself, but from a lack of cooperation on the part of the city with the things that contribute to the overall “humanity of the neighborhood.” She noted the failure to attend to decaying autos along the alleyways and the unkempt, unweeded condition of Skinker, particularly at Millbrook. She believes that strangers to our area associate it with the eyesores and that the city’s neglect is akin to red-lining. “We don’t have any more problems than any other part of the city and surrounding area, we just get the wrong publicity.”
Asked for her projection for the neighborhood for the year 1989 she said, “With the gas shortage, I think it will come back even more. I’d hate to see what some of these new houses will look like in ten years.”
Gail Hellan, her husband and two young sons have lived on the 6100 block of Kingsbury for one year. They had been living in University City and a bigger house was their first concern. “Price was absolutely a factor.” They were torn between U City and Skinker-DeBaliviere as hunting grounds when a friend showed Gail an ad for their present home in THE PAPER. They loved the house though they still had qualms about moving to the city. “We decided to try it as an experiment for five years.”
When asked if she would move here again if she had it to do over, she said, “Without a doubt.”
The most prized aspect of the neighborhood for Gail is “the neighborhoodness of it. Where we lived before the area rather smugly considered itself a neat neighborhood.” Here they didn’t have to make inroads — they immediately felt all avenues were open.
Responding to the question of what she liked least Gail said, “I am not comfortable with the public schools and I think that’s the biggest drawback in St. Louis city living.”
Her view of the area ten years hence includes “economic stability.” She predicts that the trend of moving back to the city will have passed its peak but will still be an attractive alternative to the suburbs. She thinks that because of the variety of housing the area can and will continue to house a variety of people.
Mary Watkins, her husband and five children live on the 6200 block of Waterman. They have owned their house for twenty years. They had been apartment dwellers and were looking for a home to accommodate their expanding family. They were attracted by the convenience of the area, affordable but large houses and a safe environment in which their children could play.
They have lived through two periods of change — one of decline heralded by an increase in crime — but in this past decade Mary says that the changes have been for the better. “I’m happier as years go on to live here and my kids are proud of living here.” She said her children had come to associate narrowness with the county and that they valued the variety intrinsic to city living.
To some neighborhood residents Skinker is seen as the de facto western boundary of the city, but Mary isn’t one of them. “We feel very much a part of the neighborhood as a whole.”
She cites convenience and the variety of people as her chief likes and the noise of traffic due to their proximity to Skinker as the thing which annoys her most.
As to the future she expressed concern about the area providing adequate services. for the elderly but on the whole, “I don’t see anything but good things for the neighborhood.”
Ed Baum has lived on the 6200 block of Washington for a little over a year now. He came to the St. Louis area from Massachusetts.
I didn’t ask the occupations of any of the people with whom I spoke but he offered his as a footnote which explained his particular slant. He is an architect who was drawn to the area by its “architectural consistency” — the treed streets, the houses, the “visual and social structure.” He said, “In a culture where everything tries to be different, I’m pleased with everything the same.” Would he move here again? “Sure.” He sees it as “one of the few places with enough coherence to have a neighborhood.”
What does he like least? The “ill-defined limits” that “peter out into tackiness.” He suggests that in the DeBaliviere area there is a “lack of visual definition,” that a sense of boundary is needed that might even be supplied by the erection of pillars as found in other parts of the neighborhood.
He foresees that buying a home in the area will become more expensive. Ten years from now there will be “high income ownership because there aren’t any more of these. They just don’t make them like this any more.”
Originally published in The Paper, September 1979.
Read this article in the original newspaper issue.
Original source: SD_Times1979_09.pdf, printed page(s) 3, 6; PDF page(s) 3, 6.
