Benton Park West is a South St. Louis Neighborhood on the upswing welcoming an influx of new Hispanic families and young professionals looking for cheap housing in a hip and walkable urban district. The neighborhood hosts St. Louis’ largest concentration of Hispanic owned restaurants and businesses along Cherokee Street. Historically, the neighborhood likely saw significant population loss in the post WWII era but rebounded in the 90s likely due to an large influx of African Americans from the North St. Louis. But this was short lived as the neighborhood lost 18% of its population btwn 2000 and 2010 but this trend appears to have been reversed as Hispanics and young professionals have increasingly moved into the neighborhood since 2010.
This is a solid urban district from an urban perspective and I’m glad that the commercial district along Cherokee is in tact and vibrant, uplifted by a large influx of Hispanics since 2010. Other attributes of Benton Park West are its racial diversity, decent tree canopy, attractive late 19th century brick residential structures, affordable housing, and good retail amenities. What Benton Park West needs to become a top notch urban district is rebuilding its historic density and filling in the awful stroad along Gravois and to a lesser extend Jefferson St with quality mixed-use infill. Not sure the housing market in St. Louis is strong enough to support new construction in this part of tow yet but hopefully in a decade. Benton Park West also needs better bike and public transit infrastructure, more walkable schools, more parks, and renovation of a decent number of blighted buildings.
Click here to view my Benton Park West Album on Flickr
URBAN STRENGTHS:
* Solid sidewalks but ADA curbs and almost all outdated except along Cherokee St.
* Pretty good urban density.
* Solid urban street grid.
* Solid diversity metrics with great racial diversity about 40/40 white and black with a growing Hispanic population. Large working class population and poverty is under 20%. Lots of large families here.
* Decent tree canopy.
* Solid brick historic architecture throughout the residential streets of Benton Park West. Mix of late 19th century and early 20th century commercial architecture.
* Solid pedestrian activity esp. along Cherokee St.
* Good urban form along Cherokee St but a pretty terrible strode along Gravois. Urban form is hit or miss along Jefferson St.
* Great array of restaurants, bars, and cafes concentrated and several art galleries concentrated along Cherokee St. Also a couple night clubs & music venue, a couple community theaters through Benton Park West.
* Good retail amenities including a major Save a Lot, several grocerias, tons of boutiques & clothing stores, lots of gift and antique stores, a couple book stores, a pharmacy, plenty of bakery and dessert joints, a couple gyms & a local Recreation Center.
* Decent amount of rentals and pretty affordable. 1-beds lease btwn $850 & 1.2 K, 2-beds in the low-mid 1Ks, and 3ks lease anywhere from 1K-2.5K.
* Pretty affordable for sale options. Definitively a neighborhood, which attracts first time home buyers.. Some small SF homes sell in the 100Ks, 2-beds btwn 150K-225K, 3 & 4 beds btwn 150K-400K.
URBAN WEAKNESSES:
* Bike infrastructure is limited to a pair of dedicated bike paths running down Gravois. Limited dockless bike or scooter options in Benton Park West.
* Only a handful of walkable schools within Benton Park West and not a handful of smaller schools in adjacent neighborhoods.
* Parks within Benton Park West are limited and small but two large parks on the edges of the neighborhood (Gravios Park & Benton Park).
* Still some safety concerns and plenty of blight but neighborhood is improving has much less crime than it did a couple decades ago.
* Not much modern in fill and what does exist is unattractive autocentric uses along Gravois and Jefferson St.
* Missing some key retail amenities including a local post office, hardware store, and public library although there is a library just to the west of Benton Park West.
Evaluating our Urban Communities [with a focus on America] 