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St. Louis: Where will I have the smallest chance of being murdered?
Dioltas
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
Alright, so this morning I found out that I was accepted to Teach for America in St. Louis. Huzzah! Now comes the hard part - I have to find accommodations in St Louis starting mid July. However, I have never been there and thus have absolutely zero clue where I should be looking for apartments. This is where the brain bank of you, the PA forums, comes in.
Necessary facts:
-I have no idea where within the city I will end up being placed, so I need to be somewhere that is just more or less accessible to everywhere.
-I will, through some dark magic or another, have acquired a car by the time I move down there, so the place has to have parking but does not necessarily have to be near any public transportation.
-I enjoy dense urban areas more than suburbs and have a weakness for beautiful architecture and trees.
-I will be in St Louis from June 1-5 to scope things out (and possibly sign a lease?).
And my questions as they stand right now:
-What neighborhoods are the nicest? Most fun to live in? Best for a young 20-something to be living alone in?
-I'm looking for a 1br or a studio, although it may come to pass that I have to get a roommate and a 2br or something. What can I reasonably expect to pay for this?
-Utilities - rape-tastically expensive there or reasonable?
-On a similar vein, internets: what providers are there and who is the lesser evil?
-I hear that St Louis is fond of its murder. Where in the city should I be least/most worried about this?
I think that's all I have right now. Of course, if you have any tips on teaching science to high schoolers, I am all ears.
TIA
Necessary facts:
-I have no idea where within the city I will end up being placed, so I need to be somewhere that is just more or less accessible to everywhere.
-I will, through some dark magic or another, have acquired a car by the time I move down there, so the place has to have parking but does not necessarily have to be near any public transportation.
-I enjoy dense urban areas more than suburbs and have a weakness for beautiful architecture and trees.
-I will be in St Louis from June 1-5 to scope things out (and possibly sign a lease?).
And my questions as they stand right now:
-What neighborhoods are the nicest? Most fun to live in? Best for a young 20-something to be living alone in?
-I'm looking for a 1br or a studio, although it may come to pass that I have to get a roommate and a 2br or something. What can I reasonably expect to pay for this?
-Utilities - rape-tastically expensive there or reasonable?
-On a similar vein, internets: what providers are there and who is the lesser evil?
-I hear that St Louis is fond of its murder. Where in the city should I be least/most worried about this?
I think that's all I have right now. Of course, if you have any tips on teaching science to high schoolers, I am all ears.
TIA
Dioltas on
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Anywhere in the city is ten minutes from anywhere in the city if you take a car. St. Louis doesn't have viable public transportation (the Metro system is a novelty, and a relatively dangerous novelty at night), so a car is a must.
Not a problem, parking in STL is dirt cheap compared to most metro areas.
Downtown, Central West End, U. City, and The Garden District, in that order.
$500 to $650 in the Garden District, $750ish in the CWE, $800 to $1,100 for a decent little loft downtown.
Depends on what you're used to. Not prohibitively expensive or anything, but bear in mind that we have weather all year. 104f summers, 12f winters. Air conditioning and reliable heating are both mandatory.
I understand FiOS is available in some neighborhoods (be sure to double-check). Even if not, I've had both AT&T DSL and Charter cable internet, and both have been fine.
Stay out of East St. Louis, and try to avoid the north side (anything north of Delmar). While there's honestly nowhere in St. Louis I wouldn't stop for gas or anything, I'll come right out and say it; the crime rate is only especially high in the black neighborhoods.
Also, you didn't ask, but:
+ Coffee Cartel is the best coffee place in the CWE
+ The Missouri Botanical Gardens are the best place to walk around
+ The St. Louis Zoo is arguably second only to the San Diego Zoo
+ Pointers is the best pizza place (and don't trust anyone who likes "St. Louis Style" pizza)
+ Almost anyplace on The Hill is the best place to eat
+ Cicero's is a great "first date" restaurant
+ The Amtrak station is the best place to get mugged
+ Don't rent from The Byron Company
+ When someone says "Farty", they mean "Forty", it's an accent thing
+ Familiarize yourself with a band called "The Urge", it will come up, trust me.
+ I'm moving back there this summer, and will buy you a beer if you'd be so inclined.
Good luck!
Pretty much this
East/north St. Louis are pretty much responsible for the "most dangerous US city" title.
The crime in the Delmar Loop isn't too bad, pretty much just robberies and muggings. Although a cop was murdered there last year.
I have friends that live there, but they're students so the conveniences for the outweigh the risks for them. I believe an apartment for them was like <$700.
A lot of students live around there so you would have a lot of people in your age group.
Just be prepared like you would in any other major city and take the proper precautions.
Also, you'll learn to love the weather here. It sucks 9 months out of the year.
HAH, no worries there, I hail from St Paul. We understand the suck. Though I do have to ask - does it snow much there? I have also heard unsettling things about earthquakes - confirm/deny?
And Wasted Pixels, you are my hero. That is a crapton of useful information there. I would definitely be game for a beer once I get settled in. Would you mind if I PMed you later on down the line if I come up with any more pressing questions? You seem to know the area pretty well.
The earthquakes are minor- I've never actually felt one.
Depends on the year. Sometimes we get three or four light dustings, sometimes we get a solid foot of global warming. I wouldn't say we get heavy snow, but we do get frequent snow during the winter months.
Deny, so far. We get a little 4.0 rumbling every now and again, but there hasn't been a major earthquake since the late 1800s (I think!). That said, we ARE right on the New Madrid fault, and that one back in the day was pretty hardcore. It could happen someday, but nobody here loses sleep over it.
I was born and raised in the area (Metro East represent, ha), so while it isn't the most exciting place to be from, I know a lot about it, and I'm always happy to bitch and moan -- err -- provide insight about the city. PM me any time.
HOWEVER there is a fault nearby and there was that really fucking huge one in 1812, but no worries.
As for snow, it is probably not as bad as what you're used to. Sometimes we get hit decently, but lately its all about the ice storms knocking out power and whatnot.
In closing: Saint Louis style pizza is boss, haters to the left.
You are fundamentally wrong, sir. You do not put fucking Velveeta on a pizza, and that's what Provel ultimately is.
I'm from KC and when it comes to weather, you don't have to worry about the snow as much as you have to worry about the annual apocalyptic ice storm that makes life hell for a while if you're unlucky.
I'm not so pessimistic on the weather. January-February are definitely the apex of bleak winter misery. If you have a thing against outrageous humidity, Missouri is not a place for you to live in.
I would be more worried about accidentally having your car spontaneously explode in E. Saint Louis than earthquakes. I think my grandma felt a tremor once in the 1970s.
Also, don't believe anyone who says Imo's Pizza is "good."
My Little Game Blog - http://profundospielen.blogspot.com/
It's just expensive as fuck
The City Museum is an amazing way to burn an afternoon.
Kansas City here as well. The weather in this part of the midwest works like this:
Summer: Unbearably hot and humid. Highs will range from 90-110 with 100% humidity. You will start sweating as soon as you get out of the shower.
Fall: The two weeks of fall are really nice. Pleasantly cool and crisp.
Winter: Lasts from November through when it decides to be done. We had a snow storm that dropped 6 inches during the last weekend of March. Depends on the year on how bad the precipitation is. Sometimes you'll get lots of snow accumulation and other years you'll get frequent dustings that don't do anything. Be prepared for people to drive like assholes because they don't know how to drive in bad weather.
Spring: The two weeks of spring are really nice. Warmish and not humid. Lots and lots of rain.
Also, just be prepared for people to drive like assholes all the time. Folks in these parts like to concentrate on everything other than driving while they're driving.
Holy hell, yes!
And, before you think "man, that looks like a kids place" They have live music at night (edit: I remember going atleast once when they had live music, but I don't see that listed on their site) and beer served there.
edit 2: someone should verify this. I just realized I haven't been to the city museum in about 7 years things may have changed or I could be remembering them wrong.
DAMN I am SO glad not to live there anymore after hearing you guys talk about weather. The first apartment I got the AC and Heater would ALWAYS break. I was so cold in the winter I had to carry my space heater from room to room and sit next to it while covered with a blanket. And my hand would be so cold it would hurt when I'd stick it out to use with my computer mouse.
In the summer it was so hot I felt like I was going to die. I would have to take cold showers periodically to cool off, but the water wouldn't even get cold because the water tank for the building was on the top of the roof and made of tin and would warm up.
Run while you still can OP.
Hey now, there are some nice things to be said about our unique climate.
It's a good city, and I'm in a part of it that actually feels like living in a city, so that's nice. Plus, I'm a block away from the Royale and right across the street from Tower Grove Park, so lucky me.
BUT - City Museum is a lot of fun, the zoo and Forest Park are really nice. Get some Ted Drews frozen custard, explore the loop.
And really compared to other cities it's not that expensive, so you should be ok with going out, etc.
You'll be fine.
I agree with most of what others have said; stay out of East St. Louis (unless you want to visit a strip club, in which case, I recommend The Hustler Club), and north st. louis.
Central West End is probably the best place to live, but it IS expensive.
Fun places:
City Museum
Forest Park / Zoo
Botanical Gardens are pretty cool
There is lots of fun to be had in Soulard, especially after Cardinals games. Bars you'll want to visit Patti-O's, Hraboskys, Big Daddys, Harry's. There are some cool bars on Washington Ave, but the douchebag quota is pretty high (you'll run into a lot of people who probably make about 50k a year, trying to live like they make 6 figures).
Oh, and the weather sucks here.
I'm inclined to say that is a booby prize for having to live there.
I've never been to the one in town so... that prize may not exist :P
Wasted Pixels: I've got to know, why would you suggest living in either Downtown or by the Botanical Gardens? Unless things have changed drastically over the last couple years, downtown is dead as dead can be (there's not even a grocery store anywhere remotely close) . I guess they had the lofts go up on Washington, but they're really expensive and unless you just really want to go to the City Museum like every day, there's not a whole lot of reason to live there. I also had some friends that lived near the Garden and that place was most certainly a block by block neighborhood.
The loft district downtown is about the only part of the city right now with modern housing. If you want an apartment with luxuries like grounded outlets and water pressure, it's the place to be -- $800 a month is only "expensive" by St. Louis standards. And come on, if you're living in Metro St. Louis, you're hitting the burbs no matter what for groceries and shopping, it's just a question of east or west. I was clear from the get-go that St. Louis isn't a "car optional" city.
As for the garden district -- we're talking about the same neighborhood, right? South of 44, north of Arsenal, east of Kingshighway, west of Grand? I lived down on Russel for a bit, and it was fine. I can't speak for anything south of Tower Grove, but the gardens and the hill are both pretty good neighborhoods. Frankly, I worried a lot more about violent crime when I was living in the CWE -- you get a lot of unpleasant stuff coming down Kingshighway. The CWE Metrolink stop is the most compelling argument I've ever seen for concealed carry laws. :P
edit:
Re: Byron -- your mileage may vary, I guess. In my case, they went well out of their way to conceal serious problems with the apartment (tossing three-prong covers over GFCIs, concealing mold with paint and furniture, and telling me that AT&T was the phone provider -- but not mentioning that the phone jacks throughout the apartment were known to be non-functional). Pretty nearly went to court with them over terminating the lease. Horrible experience.
That's fair enough about the $800. My cousin used to have a loft there and for some reason I thought it was a lot higher than that, but like I said, my info is at least a couple years old. But as far as the grocery store goes, yeah you need a car, but living downtown means quite a longer drive than if you live anywhere else in the city. Also, there were new apartments and townhouses going up in Dogtown and at the old Arena site when I left town, so those should be modern and closer to shopping and probably work, unless the OP is working for AG Edwards.
Yeah, we're talking about the same place, though I've never heard anyone call if the garden district, everyone I knew, including the friends that lived there, just called it Tower Grove. The friends I was talking about lived on Shenandoah (I think, it's been a while) and their block was fine, but the next block over was full of condemned buildings. Admitedly, I didn't investigate the neighorhood that much, but just driving to their place, it looked like that was pretty much the norm for that area. But, that area should be much better now since they've basically torn down all the neighborhood north of 44 and doen a lot of work south of it, too.
A more reasonable request - does anyone have a good recommendation for a mechanic in the St Louis area who, at the very least, will screw me gently? As I said I am buying a car to take down there and at my price range, I guarantee I will need the mechanic sooner rather than later.
Creve Coeur is one of the pricier areas, but you'll be hard pressed to find a better maintained and safer (while still affordable) area in St. Louis.
Pixels and I have some friends who live in Webster Groves, and most of the people I know who've lived there say it's all rainbows and unicorns. I know nothing of it personally except that I've never really heard anything bad about it.
Downtown is unnecessarily expensive, if well-located.
As mentioned earlier, avoid north St. Louis (most of the area north of Delmar) and east.
Someone earlier mentioned the Metrolink: Funding's been cut recently, so it's running less often than it used to, but the areas immediately surrounding most stations are usually pretty sketchy. The metrobus is less this way, but still worth watching out for.
--- edit ---
Removed section on Dogtown, I'll defer to the more knowledgeable individual in the next post.
There's a cluster of shops in the center of the neighborhood where you will find the Seamus McDaniel's Pub. Very good food, my office orders lunch there quite often.
Also, if you decide to live there, I hope you like partying on St. Patrick's day, because you'll have a hell of a time leaving. It took me 30 minutes to go two miles that afternoon.
If you don't necessarily need to live in the city limits, Maplewood and Richmond Heights both have many apartments available and shouldn't be too expensive. I'm in Maplewood in an older 2 bedroom apartment for $540, but that's on the low side.