Forest Park Southeast (FPSE) is a
neighborhood of
St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...
. It is bordered by
Interstate 64
Interstate 64 (I-64) is an east–west Interstate Highway in the Eastern United States. Its western terminus is at I-70, U.S. Route 40 (US 40), and US 61 in Wentzville, Missouri. Its eastern terminus is at an interchang ...
(
U.S. Route 40) to the north, Vandeventer Avenue to the east,
Interstate 44
Interstate 44 (I-44) is a major Interstate Highway in the central United States. Although it is nominally an east–west road as it is even-numbered, it follows a more southwest–northeast alignment. Its western terminus is in Wichita Fal ...
to the south, and Kingshighway Boulevard and
Forest Park to the west. Adjoining neighborhoods include
Kings Oak
Kings Oak was the fictional village in the television serial '' Crossroads'' which ran on ITV between 1964 and 1988. The show was revived in 2001, the main building being renamed a hotel. In 2003, halfway through the third comeback series, ratin ...
and
The Hill to the west,
Southwest Garden to the south,
Botanical Heights to the southeast,
Midtown to the east, and the
Central West End
The Central West End is a neighborhood in St. Louis, Missouri, stretching from Midtown's western edge to Union Boulevard and bordering on Forest Park with its outstanding array of free cultural institutions. It includes the Cathedral Basilica of ...
to the north.
The commercial district along Manchester Avenue, which bisects the neighborhood, is branded as
The Grove.
History
In the late 18th century, prior to the founding of St. Louis, present-day Forest Park Southeast was part of a region of communal French farms known as ''Prairie des Noyers'' ("Meadows of the Walnut Trees").
Following the
Louisiana Purchase
The Louisiana Purchase (french: Vente de la Louisiane, translation=Sale of Louisiana) was the acquisition of the territory of Louisiana by the United States from the French First Republic in 1803. In return for fifteen million dollars, or app ...
, the area's complex land titles were gradually assigned to private owners, who then sold to speculators.
By the 1820s, the area was part of a large tract owned by Samuel McRee (namesake of McRee Town, today
Botanical Heights).
A portion of this tract containing modern-day Forest Park Southeast was sold to
Henry Shaw in the 1840s, and the
Missouri Pacific Railroad
The Missouri Pacific Railroad , commonly abbreviated as MoPac, was one of the first railroads in the United States west of the Mississippi River. MoPac was a Class I railroad growing from dozens of predecessors and mergers. In 1967, the railroad ...
purchased its right-of-way at the southern edge of the neighborhood in 1850.
Despite the arrival of the railroad, the area remained undeveloped through the
American Civil War
The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states ...
.
The area was annexed by the city of St. Louis in 1876, when the city limits shifted westward from
Grand Boulevard to Skinker Boulevard.
In the following decade, multiple streetcar lines were extended westward into the neighborhood, spurring the development of Forest Park Southeast as a
streetcar suburb.
Gibson Heights, located in the northwestern quadrant of modern-day Forest Park Southeast, became the area's first residential development in 1880.
Between 1880 and 1900, the neighborhood grew rapidly, and a vibrant commercial district developed along Manchester Avenue.
While its proximity to industry and railroads made it less desirable than the affluent Central West End to the north, Forest Park Southeast was ideally situated to house a diverse working-class population of merchants, tradesmen, and laborers.
Forest Park Southeast was largely built out by 1910, and it experienced its final wave of construction in the mid-1920s as St. Louis's population continued to disperse to the west.
Beginning in the 1960s, deindustrialization and
suburbanization
Suburbanization is a population shift from central urban areas into suburbs, resulting in the formation of (sub)urban sprawl. As a consequence of the movement of households and businesses out of the city centers, low-density, peripheral urba ...
resulted in severe disinvestment in and depopulation of the neighborhood. By the 1990s, the neighborhood had developed a significant crime problem and a third of its population was under the federal poverty line.
Gentrification
Gentrification is the process of changing the character of a neighborhood through the influx of more affluent residents and businesses. It is a common and controversial topic in urban politics and planning. Gentrification often increases the ec ...
of Forest Park Southeast began in the 1990s with the arrival of
LGBT
' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity.
The LGBT term ...
-oriented bars and clubs along Manchester Avenue, establishing the neighborhood as a
gay village
A gay village is a geographical area with generally recognized boundaries that is inhabited or frequented by many lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBT) people. Gay villages often contain a number of gay-oriented establis ...
.
These nightlife establishments revitalized a largely abandoned retail district, which diversified into daytime restaurants and stores during the 2000s.
By the end of that decade, local business owners began branding the Manchester Avenue retail district as "The Grove", a reference to the historic Adams Grove residential development in the southern portion of the neighborhood.
The branding of the district was formalized in 2009 with the creation of The Grove
Community Improvement District (CID), which levies a special sales tax to fund public improvements within its boundaries.
The proximity of the neighborhood to the
Washington University Medical Center
The Washington University Medical Center (WUMC), located in St. Louis, Missouri, is a large scale health-care focused commercial development located in St. Louis' Central West End neighborhood. The Washington University Medical Center Redevelopme ...
and
Cortex Innovation Community
Cortex Innovation Community, or Cortex is a vibrant innovation community serving as an inclusive economic engine for the St. Louis region. We create equitable economic impacts by leveraging high quality facilities, developing a portfolio of progra ...
has accelerated gentrification.
The Washington University Medical Center Redevelopment Corporation (WUMCRC) has invested heavily in the neighborhood since the 1990s with the purchase and redevelopment of over 500 vacant or abandoned properties.
WUMCRC has partnered with local developers to build a mix of market-rate and affordable single-family housing on these properties, which are largely concentrated in the southern half of the neighborhood.
In 2017, a
form-based zoning code was created in order to regulate the
urban design
Urban design is an approach to the design of buildings and the spaces between them that focuses on specific design processes and outcomes. In addition to designing and shaping the physical features of towns, cities, and regional spaces, urban d ...
of new development in the neighborhood.
Demographics
In 2020 the neighborhood's population was 36.1% Black, 46.2% White, 0.2% Native American, 7.0% Asian, 0.1% Pacific Islander, 7.3% Two or More Races, and 3.2% Some Other Race. 4.7% of the population was of Hispanic or Latino origin.
See also
*
Botanical Heights, St. Louis, neighborhood to the east
*
Central West End, St. Louis, neighborhood to the north
*
Midtown St. Louis, the nearby area
References
Sources
* National Register of Historic Places - Nomination Forms
**
**
**
External links
Forest Park Southeastneighborhood website
Neighborhoods in St. Louis
{{StLouis-geo-stub