Maplewood

Maplewood, MO: A Small, Walkable Suburb Built on Independent Businesses

Maplewood packs more than 200 independent businesses, breweries, antique shops, Strange Donuts, into just 1.56 square miles, all of it walkable from the historic bungalows around it. Two MetroLink stops make it one of the most transit-accessible suburbs in the region.

Quick facts:

• 1.56 square miles, about 8,269 residents
• Founded in 1826; grew into a proper suburb after streetcar service arrived in 1896
• Home to the nation's first Green Dining District, designated in 2014
• Served by the Maplewood-Richmond Heights School District

The Houses

Homes here are mostly modest, well-built bungalows and cottages from the early 1900s, many still owned by the same families for generations. It's a smaller, denser housing stock than the suburbs around it, which keeps prices more accessible without sacrificing the walkable, historic feel.

Downtown Maplewood

More than 200 independent businesses line Manchester and Sutton Avenues: craft breweries, antique shops, Strange Donuts, the vintage lanes at Saratoga, and a restaurant scene sustainable enough to earn the whole district a national first. Two MetroLink stops make most of it accessible without a car, which is unusual for a suburb this size.

The Vibe

Yelp and Realtor.com once ranked Maplewood among the top hipster markets in the country, and the label mostly stuck for a reason: it's walkable, independent, and genuinely a little weird in the best way. Families, longtime residents, and newer arrivals all claim it as their own, and none of them are wrong.

A Little History

Maplewood traces back to 1826, when James Sutton bought the land that would eventually take its name from the maple trees planted along its streets. Streetcar service arriving in 1896 turned it from farmland into a proper suburb almost overnight, marketed at the time as an escape from the city's industrial smoke. Most of its housing dates to that same building boom, 1900 to 1910, and a lot of it is still standing.

Who Maplewood Is For

• Buyers who want walkability and an independent business scene over a chain-store suburb
• Younger buyers and first-time buyers looking for more accessible pricing close to the city
• Anyone who wants MetroLink access without giving up a house and a yard
• Buyers drawn to early-1900s bungalows with real, lived-in history

Why Work with the Dawn Griffin Group in Maplewood

Partner with a team that's earned it: three-time A-List winner for Best Real Estate Agent in St. Louis (2024, 2025, and 2026), with decades of experience and over 1,000 successful transactions across St. Louis's most walkable, independent-minded neighborhoods.