This is a follow up to my tour of the St. Louis Central West End neighborhood. St. Louis has another very active and fun commercial district called Delmar Loop that offers many lessons for Buffalo in its efforts to rebuild vibrancy. Before getting into this I want to clarify something. I am not holding St. Louis up as a city with its act together or a city with no issues, no problems. Quite the contrary. St. Louis has all the problems that Buffalo has but is amplified in spades by its larger size. Its larger size also gives it a leg up on Buffalo in creating great urban experiences. An extra million or so people adds a lot of critical mass to the city. That being said there is no reason that Buffalo could not replicate the exciting big city urbanism that is on display on Delmar Boulevard (See future post on Madison WI).
Delmaar Loop is not actually inside the city of St. Louis. It is in neighboring University City. As is often the case with older cities, inner ring suburbs can be just as historic and urban as the central city. University City is very urban and very dense with clusters of dense Victorian residential neighborhoods lining each side of Delmar. This is how the area is described on the neighborhood web page:
A vibrant six-block entertainment, restaurant, and shopping district. An energizing and eclectic entertainment and shopping district, The Loop offers six blocks of exhilarating retail, restaurants, live music, café culture, and even a Walk-Of-Fame. A century ago at this location, streetcars from downtown "looped around" to return to the city, which gave the area its name. That movement and momentum continue today, as The Loop expands into the City of St. Louis with the exciting new growth and development that have made it a destination.
When they say 'vibrant' they are not exaggerating. I was there on a weekend summer night sharing the sidewalk with throngs of people, many of whom were simply there to stroll and people watch. This shopping and entertainment district was clearly a regional draw. Its 6 main blocks hold over 148 commercial establishments, 46 of which are restaurants. There are 13 live music venues on the street. This street is wider and has more traffic than the Central West End neighborhood making it much more comparable to Buffalo's Elmwood in its makeup. The website notes that rejuvenation of the neighborhood began in the 1970's when special legislation was passed which encouraged unique owner operated local businesses to open. I believe that they also widened the sidewalks at the time. In the 1990,s a nearby MetroLink train station opened. I first discovered this neighborhood about 12 years ago and remember it as an interesting but somewhat sleepy area. There is no way to call it sleepy anymore. This is a dynamic and fun street to experience. Sidewalk cafes line the street one after another and are often freed from the cow-fences that are ubiquitously wrapped around outdoor diners in Buffalo. I should mention that the Washington University campus is also in the Delmar neighborhood. As is the case so often, a large university campus can inject tremendous life into a city (not so much when isolated in a sea of grass and parking). The neighborhood continues to grow and prosper and is creeping its way over the border into St. Louis. Plans are in the works to bring back a 2.2 mile fixed track trolly and namesake tuning-loop to the street as a further neighborhood enhancement.
So again we see here a very busy, very popular business district in close proximity to quiet residential streets and large institutions - lots of people, lots of entertainment and lots of restaurants mixing successfully. It is the very thing Buffalo needs. I am sure there are times when this commercial strip and local residents come into conflict. There was a very noticeable presence of police in the district and several of the residential streets where closed off from the commercial strip (although again many of the streets are the private type, common in the St. Louis area). My point? Buffalo cannot be afraid to make itself vibrant. It needs lots of people walking and lots and lots of businesses for them to go to. It needs diversity of use - it needs big buildings and small buildings, new and old. Sometimes it might need to be noisy and crowded, and parking might be difficult . But is noise from Acropolis really the problem in the Elmwood Village or is it the crappy gravel parking lot next to the crappy Wilson Farms parking lot that is the problem?
I have NEVER seen Elmwood looking this vibrant. Again, I want to dine here. Thanks Steel!