Clayton, MO, meets the city of St. Louis border to the west of the glorious Forest Park. It also shares some of the prominent Washington University’s campus to the west, with one of St. Louis’ larger suburbs University City.
Clayton is a city in and the seat of St. Louis County, Missouri. The population was 17,355 at the 2020 census. Organized in 1877, the city was named after Ralph Clayton, who donated the land for the St. Louis County courthouse.
So, why does Clayton matters?
Clayton is the county seat of the metropolitan St. Louis county, in which St. Louis divided from in 1876. Yet it is still all in the MSA of St. Louis. Clayton is part of what helps the St. Louis market grows.
I am not saying that we would be nothing without towns like Clayton, but some of our dominating Fortune 500 companies are situated in downtown Clayton. In the photo gallery below you will see that the sometimes ambivalent Centene headquarters’ campus dominates the already bustling downtown skyline of Clayton.
Clayton is very impressive with it high rise towers and condos, but for whom? In my opinion, it is for those who wants to pretend they are in a city life, without the troubles you might find in downtown St. Louis or anywhere.
Sure Clayton will never be a city like Beverly Hill/Los Angeles, or a neighborhood Buck Head/Atlanta or even St. Louis’ larger cities (suburban) Florissant or Chesterfield (story coming soon), but hey it is part of us, even if they think that it is not.
So, who are they:
- Corporations who do not like big city living or are denied tax incentives
- Wealthy people who despise downtown St. Louis’ crime or diversity
- Yuppies, who wants to be away from larger urban areas, but want the shops, offices close by and restaurants, that they know are too expensive for everyday people.
- People who want expensive homes and apartments that they know will keep the others who can’t afford it away.
- Did I mention corporations, well also corporations who want downtown living, but don’t want to be near a competitive business?
In addition, if you are not old school money or old school tenants of the St. Louis metropolitan area. Then you would be the one arguing that Clayton is not part of St. Louis, and it is a city Internationally accreditable.
As a result, Clayton is just like all the other 91 municipalities of St. Louis, who wanted their own identities, yet they are still part of the St. Louis market.
Clayton is not even the riches of St. Louis:
What is the richest suburb of St. Louis?
St Louis County’s Most Expensive Cities-Avg Price-Homes Sold In Past Year
| Rank | City | Zip Code |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Huntleigh | 63131 |
| 2 | Ladue | 63124 |
| 3 | Frontenac | 63131 |
| 4 | Town and Country | 63017 |
Overview:
Downtown Clayton median real estate price is $737,076, which is more expensive than 96.7% of the neighborhoods in Missouri and 82.5% of the neighborhoods in the U.S.
The average rental price in Downtown Clayton is currently $1,853, based on NeighborhoodScout’s exclusive analysis. The average rental cost in this neighborhood is higher than 86.1% of the neighborhoods in Missouri.
Downtown Clayton is an urban neighborhood (based on population density) located in Clayton, Missouri.
Downtown Clayton real estate is primarily made up of medium sized (three or four bedroom) to small (studio to two bedroom) apartment complexes/high-rise apartments and single-family homes. Most of the residential real estate is occupied by a mixture of owners and renters. Many of the residences in the Downtown Clayton neighborhood are relatively historic, built no later than 1939, and in some cases, quite a bit earlier. A number of residences were also built between 1940 and 1969.
Are there any blacks in Clayton?
In the Downtown Clayton neighborhood in Clayton, MO, residents most commonly identify their ethnicity or ancestry as Irish (27.8%). There are also a number of people of German ancestry (26.1%), and residents who report Asian roots (11.8%), and some of the residents are also of English ancestry (6.2%), along with some Yugoslav ancestry residents (6.0%), among others. In addition, 11.5% of the residents of this neighborhood were born in another country. HMMMMM?
From the 1800s to the 1950s, Clayton was home to a flourishing African-American community. The area’s black residents were pushed out of the area through rigorous “urban renewal” zoning policy to make room construction of the vaunted commercial center of the suburb. The black community in Clayton all but disappeared.
The neighborhood was bounded by Hanley Road and Brentwood Boulevard, and even more densely populated between Hanley and Bemiston Avenue on Carondelet and Bonhomme avenues. Today, 8 percent of Clayton’s population is African-American.
Displaced and Erased, A short documentary, part of the St. Louis Filmmakers Showcase
In retrospect, I get it, Clayton will be Clayton. And people wants to live in a safe environment and free from the ills of big city’s inadequate mechanisms. However, don’t discredit what you all are a part of, and use it only when there is that need to feel significant.
References:
https://www.neighborhoodscout.com/mo/clayton/downtown-clayton
