Suburban Design Attacked the West End Twice

First, post-World War 2, zero interest loans for new construction helped bait GI’s returning home away from the city. Scared by the opposite race, the homes further played into feelings of insecurity by facing away from each other back from the street and secured by fences.

It didn’t work out too well. Obesity, divorces, and loneliness are just a few casualties of the disjointed, cheap construction and lack of community integration.

Then, it came back to hit the West End with a vengeance. For some reason, it wasn’t enough that the migration eroded one of the most glorious neighborhoods in St. Louis. Not was it the same building style (or lack of) this time coming into the city, even the same companies that built the suburbs descended to take advantage of the vacancy they precipitated. They bulldozed block after block of historic buildings and plopped discount tract housing in their place.

It’s bad enough to have these structures made with cheap material incohesively forced into the existing built environment. But the most prominent feature of these houses are the garage and the driveway. No time or money to consider planting a tree out front, either.

The irony.