Top 10 things I love about Warson Woods by Rebecca Dohrman

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.