The area now comprising Benton Park proper was first used as the City Cemetery, from 1842–1865. The cemetery was converted to a City Park and named after Thomas Hart Benton. Benton Park was one of the neighborhoods that filled out in the Mid-19th Century as St. Louis became the 4th largest City in 1870 at just over 300K people. By the 1880s, the neighborhood was mostly built out. As Benton Park grew, it attracted several breweries due to its location above a system of caves and St. Louis’s large German immigrant population creating many breweries with a strong European character, many of which are still standing along or near Cherokee St.
Because Benton Park was mostly built out by the 1880s, it has a very mixed-use character with many restaurants and bars mixed into the residential parts of the district. The Neighborhood, like most of St. Louis, experienced decline and vacancy in the post War Era but finally hit bottom in 2010 and has increased modestly since then. Benton Park has experienced a resurgence in the past several decades and has managed to retain much of its historic mid-late 19th residential fabric and now hosts an attractive mixed-use district along Cherokee St, also referred to as Antique Row, with a wonderful array of historic commercial and brewery buildings. For Benton Park to become a top notch urban district it needs to return to its historic density which is likely 3 times the amount of its 10K per square mile density mark. Benton Park also needs to focus on re-urbanizing the awful stroad running along Gravois and to a lesser extent Jefferson Ave. The neighborhood could also use better public transit, bike infrastructure, walkable schools, and more crucial retail amenities.
Click here to view my Benton Park Album on Flickr
URBAN STRENGTHS:
- Gorgeous mid-late 19th century brick architecture throughout the neighborhood.
- Overall a pretty same community with some crime issues. Pockets of blight still remain in the community.
- Solid sidewalks but ADA curbs and almost all outdated.
- Solid park amenities with several well dispersed small & medium parks with Benton Park as the crown jewel, which contains a rec center.
- Solid tree canopy throughout most of Benton Park.
- Overall urban form is pretty good in Benton Park including the very in tact and historic Cherokee St. But Gravois (old route 66) is a pretty terrible stroud with lots of autocentric bldgs and surface lots. Jefferson Ave is a mixed bag.
- A fair amount of rental options with a good mix of price points. 1-beds generally rent in the low 1Ks, 2-beds in the mid 1Ks, 3-beds from the mid 1Ks to mid 2Ks.
- Nice array of for sale price points. Some 1-bed condos and small SF homes sell in the 100Ks, 2-beds btwn 150K-300K, 3 & 4 beds btwn 300K-500K.
- Nice array of restaurants, bars, and cafes along with a local brewery in a historic brewing bldg. Also a couple local performing arts theaters, a local house museum, and a couple live music venues.
- Several boutiques, gift stores, and antiques/home good stores especially along Cherokee St known as antique row. Also a couple book stores, several salons & barbers, a local post office, a health clinic, a couple churches, anda couple dessert joints.
- Good mixed-use through the neighborhood including plenty of restaurants, bars, a and cafes located on predominately residential streets.
URBAN WEAKNESSES:
- So so public transit for an urban district.
- Pretty good density but assuming given the typology and age that this neighborhood was at least double this density in its prime.
- Bike infrastructure is limited to a pair of dedicated bike paths running down Gravois. Limited dockless bike or scooter options in Benton Park.
- Limited modern in-fill and what does exist is generally unattractive auto centric uses.
- No walkable schools within Benton Park and not many good schools in adjacent neighborhoods.
- Missing several key retail amenities including a public library, pharmacy, grocery store, hardware store, banks, etc.”
Evaluating our Urban Communities [with a focus on America] 