“I imagine it has to do with our nostalgia for that sense of a central place where community (and business and politics and religion) all happened all at once, effortlessly,” Erika Conti, senior lecturer of Italian at Washington University, said by email.

Officially called Piazza Imo, the project on the Hill was paid for by private donors, including Edward and Margaret Imo, who donated the land, and many others with ties to the neighborhood.

“When people have pride in themselves and where they live, you can do anything,” said Catherine Ruggeri-Rea, who grew up in the Hill and helped manage finances for the piazza project. “Generation to generation to generation, they have kept that message and taught it.”

The Hill is one of the most popular tourist destinations in St. Louis.

Santo Sanfilippo, 69, of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, was in town for the Cardinals-Brewers series and said he’s toured Little Italy communities across the country.

“This one, honest to God, is the best,” said Sanfilippo, a retired fireman. “You have a community here, versus one or two streets.”

And he said there are a lot of Italian-Americans who live there.