Moving to and through St. Louis

Last Tuesday, I stepped outside into the beautiful spring weather and walked from my apartment to the Delmar Loop station, a surprisingly charming MetroLink stop tucked away behind the overgrown and decommissioned Delmar Boulevard Railroad station. From there, I took the Red Line east to Union Station, the old central railroad station now home to the St. Louis aquarium and other attractions. After a short walk through the streets of West Downtown (featuring a novel 60 second pedestrian crossing signal), before me stood the openair awnings of CITYPARK, St. Louis’s brand new soccer stadium. CITYPARK is part of a resurgent corridor connecting Forest Park to the Gateway Arch that aims to revitalize St. Louis with locations such as the City Foundry, a manufacturing plant-turned indoor-outdoor hybrid market, and the Armory, a warehouse-turned beer garden and concert venue. This corridor is serviced by the MetroLink and is an integral part of the resurgent St. Louis culture, a phoenix rising from the ashes of deindustrialization and urban blight.

When I moved from Los Angeles to St. Louis as a freshman, I didn’t know what to expect. All I knew were the typical things incoming freshmen hear about St. Louis: the crime, the dying neighborhoods, the racial divide. These facts came to color my understanding of a city and community that I was not a part of. During my first year, I would tell people who asked, “Wash U is great, but St. Louis…” It wasn’t until I lived off campus as a junior and senior that I came to understand what it’s like to live in St. Louis, and in an unexpected way, not having a car helped me fall in love with it.

St. Louis is the embodiment of America’s history of urban planning with its suburban sprawl, car-centric infrastructure, and racially segregated neighborhoods. But hidden behind these barriers is an interconnected city, rich in culture and spirit, with neighborhoods full of connectedness and community. Not having a car has forced me to adapt to my circumstances, pushing me to walk further, take the MetroLink, and seek out experiences I wouldn’t have found otherwise.

But hidden behind these barriers is an interconnected city, rich in culture and spirit, with neighborhoods full of connectedness and community.

Growing up in Los Angeles, like in most American cities, getting your driver’s license is a big deal. Due to a lack of quality sidewalks, the busyness of the streets, and the distance between locations, I can count on two hands the number of places I’ve been without a car. Twenty minutes in traffic is preferable to twenty minutes of walking due to the lack of infrastructure that makes walking accessible, safe, and enjoyable. Two questions were unavoidable when anything was planned: Who’s driving and where do we park?

Many who move to St. Louis from other cities will lament its car-centric infrastructure. St. Louis’ many neighborhoods are, not unlike Los Angeles’, extremely spread out. While downtown is the center of sporting events and nightlife, much of the city’s culture exists in neighborhoods on the periphery. The spread of the city has necessitated the prioritization of cars in infrastructure investment and urban planning. Interstate 64 and 44 trisect the city along its east-west axis, running parallel to Forest Park and through the heart of downtown. This infrastructure both connects and divides the city and is emblematic of the access that having a car provides. Those without access to cars have to rely on the infrastructure that the city provides. Running along the same axis as the highways is the St. Louis MetroLink, which extends from the north and south ends of the metropolitan area to the west, converging in downtown and crossing the Mississippi river.

While St. Louis’ Metro system is notoriously limited, essentially running through the city in a single straight line, the MetroLink has been integral to my ability to traverse the city during

my time here. The MetroLink has brought me to sports games, night life, and community events such as Mardi Gras. Public transit is the cornerstone for cultural events that bring the community together, of which St. Louis has many, allowing the city to easily and safely congregate. With the resurgent corridor from Forest Park to the Gateway Arch being serviced by the Metro, it will only become more integral to the city and its interconnectivity. Forest Park is the heart of the city, and its easily navigable 1,300 acres allow people to get from one side of the city to the other safely and without a car. Forest Park is home to museums, zoos, and other event venues throughout the park that are accessible by foot. Expanding public transit out from the Forest Park-Downtown corridor would allow more people to access these great public goods and spaces, building on St. Louis’s unique culture and sense of self.

With the diversity of the city comes a diversity of problems. Different neighborhoods have different needs to be met by transit investment. In many places, St. Louis’s public transit has failed those who need it most. St. Louis’s most impoverished neighborhoods north of Delmar Boulevard — the infamous demarcation of the racial and economic ‘Delmar divide’ — do not have access to the metro system despite these communities being the most likely to rely on public transit.

Public transit is an investment in the vibrancy of the city and its culture. Public transit connects different neighborhoods, bringing people together.

However, the city maintains that expanding the metro system would not be worth the cost. Without sufficient revenue from public transit, the city cannot afford to expand it. But while public transit remains limited and does not serve people’s needs, they won’t use it. That being said, public transit does not need to turn a profit to be effective. Highways and roads are not directly profitable, but we understand the relationship between their maintenance and the economic and social health of the city. Public transit is an investment in the vibrancy of the city and its culture. Public transit connects different neighborhoods, bringing people together. It allows access to venues and events that people did not previously have, increasing business vibrancy. Furthermore, it reduces the need for parking, allowing more city space to be used productively.

With an expanded public transit network centered around the MetroLink, St. Louis could bring its communities together, amplifying their vibrant and dynamic cultures. The centrality of Forest Park makes St. Louis uniquely positioned to be a city that leans into its walkability and accessibility without a car. I have fallen in love with St. Louis during my time here because of its sense of community and its culture, which I have felt lucky to experience. Investing in St. Louis’s public transit further would be an investment in what makes the city thrive.

Will Pease ‘23 studies in the College of Arts & Sciences. He can be reached at wpease@wustl.edu.