The Hill
Little Italy in the heart of St. Louis
The Hill is the Italian-American neighborhood in St. Louis. It has been called America’s Last Little Italy. The neighborhood is fiercely proud of its Italian heritage, with Italian flag banners posted all throughout the neighborhood, and fire hydrants and crosswalks painted in the Italian colors.
The neighborhood’s slogan is “Improve, not move”, part of community outreach efforts to improve the neighborhood and homes within. This has encouraged people to stay and build instead of moving away and letting the area stagnate and decay, which has been very successful for the area.
There’s a nice mix of restaurants, delis, cafes, breweries, and other businesses intertwined with the homes in the neighborhood, making it a pleasant place to walk around. There are a few well-known, nice Italian restaurants such as Charlie Gitto’s, Anthonino’s Taverna, and Mama’s on the Hill. Of course, my favorite pizza club in the city, Nicky Slices Pizza Club is there, too.
I appreciate that there’s hardly a chain restaurant in sight in the neighborhood, and there’s a good amount of energy, with people sitting at outdoor cafes and walking around.
The real estate of the neighborhood consists of a lot of very small, brick-built shotgun style homes, with some newer builds beginning to pop up. A lot of St. Louis is vehemently opposed to new architecture as preserving the original 1900s architecture is a big part of the city character, so many residents add additions to their homes to match modern living expectations while keeping some of the old flavor.