<p>So I think it’s in the cards for me to move to St. Louis this August, but I haven’t the darnedest idea what St. Louis is like or where to start looking. I’ve never been there (or anywhere really close) and I’ve never lived directly in a city that big. </p>
<p>Is anyone familiar with St. Louis enough to tell me a bit about it? What the COL is like, climate, etc?</p>
<p>I will most likely be attending SLU for grad school and just kind of want to know what I’m getting myself in to. I will obviously be visiting beforehand but due to work and money restraints, I can only be there briefly. I’m going for an open house in February but my time will be very constrained. </p>
<p>I know this is vague but I’ve never moved somewhere on my own before- always bounced around from family to family. Any help? </p>
<p>Oh and I know this is early in the game but I’m a massive planner- bordering on problematic and my mind has been spinning with all the things I’ll need to do and consider before making my moving choices.</p>
<p>Here’s a link about St. Louis that was in the Parent Cafe last September. I used to live there and responded to a poster who was moving to the area and wanted to know something about it. Good luck.</p>
<p>Saint Louis University is right in the heart of St. Louis. Great campus, great school… not intended to scare you, but St. Louis is a dangerous city. I know, many are but St. Louis ranks near the top in a lot of bad categories. If you’re on campus at SLU, you’re fine. You just have to be careful where you venture off of campus…</p>
<p>General question- how is public transportation there? I’ve started looking at apartments but I’m not sure how far out to look without knowing how their transportation is (or parking as I do have a car lol). </p>
<p>I’ll be sure to look at those neighborhoods, thanks! </p>
<p>I don’t scare easily but I’ll be sure to take safety into account.</p>
<p>I can take hot, humid summers. I lived in the rain forest for months and LOVED it. I love that weather. I’m sick of the long bitter winters though. Do I avoid those in St. Louis? Lol</p>
<p>Winters in St. Louis are nasty- not as cold as MSP or Chicago, but cold and grey. St. Louis is one of my least favorite cities, since you asked. It does have nice areas (the park, Wash U) but I used to go there on business a lot and there was a crime problem right downtown where the nice hotels were. I was out running early one morning and a murder scene was taped off. I’m sure you will find a good area in which to live and school is school…</p>
<p>Hot and muggy in the summertime, cold, gray and damp in winter. But spring comes earlier than in Michigan, and fall lasts a little longer.</p>
<p>If you know your way around Detroit, you’ll do fine in St. Louis. It’s a high-crime, dangerous city; there are certain areas you’ll want to avoid altogether, and you’ll want to be careful even in the “better” areas of the city proper. But the city has the same kind of gritty tenacity that Detroit has, and Detroiters I’ve known who ended up in St. Louis felt immediately at home. Great baseball town, maybe the most knowledgeable, passionate, and loyal fans in America. Also a great music tradition (blues, jazz, ragtime, R&B, early rock & roll).</p>
<p>Coming from MI I think the OP will find the winters in St. Louis quite nice. It’s all relative. Summers are horribly hot though.</p>
<p>I agree, don’t live in St. Louis proper. It’s a great area to visit though. There is a lot of things to do in and around the area. Cost of living, from where we are, is down right cheap in St. Louis. It’s a place we would consider retiring to because of that.</p>
<p>Weather in the St. Louis area? Take a Wisconsin winter day, a Florida summer day, an Arizona fall day, and an East Coast spring day… and put it in one 24-hour period ;)</p>
<p>The comment around here is “if you don’t like the weather; wait 5 minutes: it will change!”</p>
<p>Congrats on the grad school acceptance! St. Louis is a nice blend of big city and small city, IMO. It’s too hot for me, too cold for my inlaws that live there. LOL. Relatively low cost of living, with plenty of options.</p>
<p>Transit: my kid has taken Amtrack to St. Louis. Very nice option if you’re coming from somewhere on the line. Their local transit site is [Metro</a> Transit ? Saint Louis | MetroBus, MetroLink and Call-A-Ride ? Moving the Community Forward](<a href=“http://www.metrostlouis.org%5DMetro”>http://www.metrostlouis.org)</p>
<p>Public transportation in St. Louis isn’t what it could be for a city that size. It’s also not a place I would WANT to take public transportation.</p>
<p>When were you last there, SteveMA? The people we visit there live in an older, multi-ethnic area (Maplewood), and I have yet to feel unsafe there. People do walk their dogs there.</p>
<p>Some of the areas immediately west are extremely pretty. Some are very affluent. And the West End has some hipness. Downtown is a drudge. Was once voted the worst downtown.</p>
<p>The weather can be amazing: you get the real hot of summer and these extreme cold blasts from Canada. When they say a “continental climate” runs to hot and cold, they may have St. Louis in mind.</p>
<p>They have a supermarket chain called Schnucks. I love that name. Nice markets, btw.</p>
<p>The buildings in Downtown St. Louis are beautiful though. I do like driving through there an seeing them. Not much open in downtown after business hours though. I just shopped at Schnucks a couple weeks ago.</p>
<p>St. Louis has tons of theater companies. It has a very vibrant theater community. SLU is just blocks away from the Fox Theater where lots of productions are brought into town. The St. Louis Symphony, which is the second or third oldest in the country, is also in the vicinity. </p>
<p>Forest Park is just wonderful. The Zoo is there and it’s free!! The Art Museum is in Forest Park, and it is also free. There are great restaurants especially on the Hill (the Italian neighborhood). The Central West End isn’t far from SLU, and it has some great restaurants.</p>
but St. Louis ranks near the top in a lot of bad categories. If you’re on campus at SLU, you’re fine. You just have to be careful where you venture off of campus…</p>
It does have nice areas (the park, Wash U) but I used to go there on business a lot and there was a crime problem right downtown where the nice hotels were. I was out running early one morning and a murder scene was taped off. I’m sure you will find a good area in which to live and school is school…</p>