Private place

The history of St. Louis, Missouri, and its near suburbs is significant in the development of private places.

Most were laid out by Prussian-born surveyor and planner Julius Pitzman, who conceived the idea around 1868 as a way for residential landowners to control real estate speculation and maintain property standards, in an era before the protections of zoning.

Vandeventer Place has been replaced by urban development, with the exception of the east gate, which was removed to Forest Park.

These privately controlled single-family housing communities in the midst of the city are legally organized somewhat similarly to condominiums, co-ops or homeowners associations.

[2] Although often associated with high-end communities, neighborhoods of various socio-economic natures have been structured as private places.