University City was founded in 1906 by publisher Edward Gardner Lewis. City Hall still has that dome. The Delmar Loop takes its name from the old streetcar turnaround. Blueberry Hill, the Tivoli, and the sidewalk at 10 p.m. are what visitors remember.
Joe Edwards, who owns Blueberry Hill, started the St. Louis Walk of Fame in 1989. The first stars included Chuck Berry, Katherine Dunham, and James B. Eads. In 2011 an eight-foot Chuck Berry statue by Harry Weber went up on Delmar, in a plaza with lyrics set in the granite.
Skinker is the seam with St. Louis City and Wash U's Danforth campus. East of Skinker you are in the city. West of it you are in University City. South of Delmar, toward Clayton, the streets turn into tree canopy and brick that lives more like an inner-ring suburb than a music corridor.
Byte Café opened July 13, 2026, at 8620 Delmar inside the Avenir apartments. Daytime use on that stretch is newer than the Duck Room.
University City Schools are their own decision, separate from whether you like Delmar. Clayton sits immediately south. Some U City streets feel a block from Clayton and still sit in University City Schools.
Why people stay
- The Loop is a night you can walk to, then leave when you want quiet.
- Wash U and Forest Park sit at the east edge of the same week.
- Heman Park and the older sidewalks make a car optional for part of the day.
- Clayton is the next city south if that line is the one you need.
- Brick houses and newer Delmar apartments give you two ways to live here.
Homes here
Homes for sale University City MO include Loop-adjacent brick and quieter streets toward Clayton. A St. Louis realtor treats those as different products. The St. Louis County guide puts U. City next to the rest of the inner ring.