For more than 200 years, St. Louis has been the dominant city Missouri. It’s the home of St. Louis University, the University of Missouri-St. Louis and Washington University. After the steamboat era, St. Louis grew westward away from the riverfront, which deteriorated into slums. This original center of the city has now been redeveloped as the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial. Recent redevelopment of downtown and the riverfront is revitalizing the city, with the contemporary Lumiere Place Casino opening on the riverfront and attached by walkway to the Four Seasons Hotel St. Louis. Busch Stadium brings St. Louis Cardinals fans into the downtown area and the rehabilitated Union Station offers visitors a vast shopping experience within a restored turn-of-the-century railroad station that was one of the nation’s most magnificent.
