Top 10 Things I Love About Warson Woods
A 1-Year Retrospective
My family of four [My husband, John, and I and our kids:
Noah (5 years old) and Ella (2.5 years old)] moved to Warson Woods
approximately one year ago. We moved from the wonderful St. Louis community of
Maplewood and previously had lived in Lafayette, Indiana and Belleville,
Illinois (my hometown) before that.
I have fallen in love with the Warson Woods community, so I
thought this sort of blog post cataloguing ten things I have grown to love
about Warson Woods might be fun.
1.
The Warson Woods Swim Club:
This is a pool that folks that live in the neighborhood can join each
summer. It’s a place where I know I’ll always see a neighbor and where our kids
can spend their events literally just hanging out. Many families order delivery
or bring dinner up to the pool and the Pool Board hosts events all summer long.
(By the way, we are also thankful for
The Warson Woods Swim Team: My son did the pre-swim program which
is a three times per week swim lesson for the six weeks of swim team. The swim
team practices almost every weekday and I always see kids riding their bikes
down for swim team in the morning. I know Noah will do that in a few years once
I let him out of my house without me on his bike
J)
2.
The
Warson Woods Running Club: This group runs a few times a week after meeting
in the pool parking lot. Contact Mike Normile to join the e-mail list. This group also hosts the
Trot through the Woods 5K the
Saturday after Thanksgiving every year.
3.
The
Warson Woods Fall Festival: My son has never been so happy as he was at
this event (held the first Friday in October at the tennis courts/park/pool
parking lot. We were surrounded by dancing music from the DJ, a bounce house
from the Glendale Fire Station, two great rides that were full all night, a
hayride, a bonfire, and lots of good friends. It was community living at its
finest. (Other annual events include the Ladies Ornament Exchange, Opening
Party at the Pool, and the nearby Rock Hill Fall Parade)
4.
Delicious
Nearby Restaurants: We are within a few miles of several great restaurants:
Hacienda,
Nacho Mamas, one of the four
Amighettis’ sandwich shops,
JGreene’s Pub (right in Warson Woods),
Breadsmiths for
coffee and breads,
Mi Linh,
Robust,
the Block,
Milagro….and several others in
nearby downtown Kirkwood, Ladue, Frontenac, Brentwood, and Webster Groves.
5.
Being
Within Walking Distance of….many things, including a Dierburgs, a pub, a
coffeeshop, several resale stores, a nail shop, a barber, a craft store, and a
dollar store (where they have Mylar balloons for $1! I can’t tell you how many
I’ve gotten on the way to birthday parties!)
6.
Having
Spontaneous and Planned Events constantly with Neighbors all year. My
neighbors are a real community for our family. We see them at the pool, grocery
store, school, and at church. We are constantly running into each other outside
of our houses and many an evening has been spent just hanging out in someone’s
driveway. We also host potlucks like it’s our middle name.
7.
The
Scenery: They don’t call us “woods” for nothing. I can’t help but notice
nature every time I drive or walk up Warson Woods Drive. It is stunning and it
is even more wonderful to be in the middle of a large city with such beautiful
surroundings. We really have the best of both worlds.
8.
Living
Near Great schools: Public (Hudson/Webster schools)/Catholic (
St. Genevieve du Bois)/Independent (
Rohan Woods)….we have three excellent
schools nestled into the neighborhood and within walking distance, plus a
couple of great preschools (
Carmelite
and
Next Door Discoveries) What more could we ask for our kids’ childhood to be
filled with memories from an honest to goodness neighborhood school?
9.
Daily
Walks: When I first moved in and didn’t see many sidewalks on my side of
the neighborhood, I wondered if no one took walks. Within 24 hours of being in
my house, however, I realized that literally a hundred people walk by my house
on any given day. It is honestly inspiring how many people take daily walks in
the neighborhood. There is a constant stream of adults and kids going up and
down the streets. It’s healthy living at its finest!
10.
Church
Bells: The church bells from St. Gen (as St. Genevieve du Bois is commonly
called around the neighborhood) ring every day at 12noon. It always makes me
smile.
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