Hey St. Louis people--

I'm a KC native coming into town to spend the weekend looking around. My girlfriend and I actually have been considering moving over there, so I'm very interested in getting the run down of the urban neighborhoods, since I know next to nothing about how St. Louis is laid out and the characteristics of the different areas.

Can someone point me to a handy resource that maps where the various neighborhoods are located? Where are the sketch parts of town within the city? (i've seen some sweet row houses that are very affordable, but I don't know if they're in bad parts of town or what) I understand E. St. Louis is pretty shady. If anyone is familiar w/ KC now living in St. Louis, I'd appreciate some neighborhood comparisons between the two towns. I've been living in various places downtown, rivermarket, & midtown/ westport, and would like to find some nice urban neighborhoods that are comparable to say, W. 39th St. / Roanoke area.

What/ where is the "upscale retail area" similar to what you'd find at the Plaza here?

What/ where is Clayton?

Basically, all I know is downtown at the river appears to expand to the west to Midtown at Broadway, which continues west to that large park which i forget it's name at the moment...

I've heard and seen pictures of neighborhoods like Soulard, Dog Town & THe Hill, but don't know where they are in relation to downtown.

And lastly, which neighborhoods are best served by the Metro light rail and the expansion (green line?).

Thanks for any info!

Here you go, this link has a wealth of info.

http://www.urbanstl.com/viewtopic.php?t=1669

hey, thanks for the help

both good places to start...

kc_visitor -- welcome!



I'm still rather new to St Louis myself, and have found this forum to be a great resource. I tried to do a lot of research before moving here last year, and to be honest, nothing has been as valuable as actually BEING here.



I can't help you with any KC comparisons, though. Maybe if you described what you're looking for in more general terms (demographics, ammenities, "vibe", housing needs, costs, etc), more people here could help you find a suitable STL neighborhood.



The site that stlpcsolutions referenced is a GREAT resource. (Though some of the info on the individual neighborhood sites is a little out-dated or incomplete). Just as a jumping off point, the areas you montioned are on the map at these numbers: Soulard (21), Dogtown (42, 43, 44), and The Hill (12). Other notable neighborhoods to look into: Central West End (38.), Downtown (35), the Tower Grove area near South Grand (15, 25), Layfayette Square (32) ... and there are plenty others worth checking out! Just poke around the forum a bit to uncover all the great areas to live in the city. Lots of passionate folks here who love their own neighborhoods.



There are also a lot of areas that are going through "revival" currently. Depending on what you're looking for, there are a lot of excellent opportunities to help renew City neighborhoods on both the north and south sides.



Outside of the City limits (meaning, not covered on the Web site linked above) are -- in my opinion -- some rather nice "inner ring" suburbs like Richmond Heights, Maplewood, University City, Clayton, etc. But most folks here will point you to living in the City, I think. The farther you get into the County, the more suburban/sprawling it gets. U City has "the Loop" area along Delmar, which is a hot spot. Lots of activity there ... shops, restaurants, bars. Clayton has it's own "downtown" area with highrises and such (plenty of opinions around this forum to be found about Clayton).



Explore St Louis also has some helpful (though brief) info on neighborhoods, both in and out of the City.



And when you get closer to deciding on a specific location, I found the Safe City map to be interesting. It shows locations for police activity in the past several months; just type in a address to see what's going on in the surrounding area. Just take it with a grain of salt, though .. there are a lot of factors that go into determining the value of the data. And it certainly is no substitute for actually experiencing a neighborhood first-hand.



(For what it's worth, though I like living in Maplewood, it was more a matter of convenience for our specific circumstances than it being the top of my "favorite StL neighborhoods" list).

kc_visiter wrote:What/ where is the "upscale retail area" similar to what you'd find at the Plaza here?

The Galleria/Boulevard St. Louis is probably the best retail experience in St. Louis (this will be on the green line), the surrounding Richmond Heights area has a lot of amenities and I would consider it "semi-urban"



Clayton is just north of here, St. Louis's "2nd downtown" it's also very upscale (and will also be on the new light rail line)



I would recommend checking out U. City (more urban) and Maplewood (more suburban, but with a neat historic core). Both either have light rail or will be connected on the green line.



^ All of the above are outside the city limits.



Inside the City:



If you?re looking for an established urban neighborhood,



The Central West End is one of everybody?s favorites, it?s a good mix of cafes, shopping, restaurants, and historic architecture?depending on what kind of house you?re looking for, it can be rather pricey. (has light rail access)



The Soulard, Benton Park, and Lafayette Square neighborhoods are all close together and have a lot of row-homes and bars/restaurants.



Some of the neighborhoods around Tower Grove Park are also cool, with more of an up-and-coming feel.

thanks for the info, new-to-STL and stl555.

i'll have to look into U. City and Central West End.

We'd definately want an urban neighborhood where we'd be able to walk to some amenities (boutiques, restaraunt/bars, markets) and having access to good transportation (i.e. light rail) would be great.

We both love brick rowhouses, and would like a neighborhood where we wouldn't be in the minority as a young 20-something, college educated, urban minded couple. We don't want to live in a high crime area (obviously), but we also don't want a total yuppy area that's been completely gentrified.

This may be asking for a lot in a neighborhood, I think. I realize StL isn't chicago, but from what little i've seen, I think it may come a bit closer to it than KC.

kc_visiter wrote:thanks for the info, new-to-STL and stl555.

i'll have to look into U. City and Central West End.

We'd definately want an urban neighborhood where we'd be able to walk to some amenities (boutiques, restaraunt/bars, markets) and having access to good transportation (i.e. light rail) would be great.

We both love brick rowhouses, and would like a neighborhood where we wouldn't be in the minority as a young 20-something, college educated, urban minded couple. We don't want to live in a high crime area (obviously), but we also don't want a total yuppy area that's been completely gentrified.

This may be asking for a lot in a neighborhood, I think. I realize StL isn't chicago, but from what little i've seen, I think it may come a bit closer to it than KC.

Sounds like the Loop (area of U City), CWE or the loft district of Washington Avenue in Downtown are your best bets. None of these areas are known specifically for row houses, but each has it's own unique feeling. The Loop has lots of flats/apartments/condos, but also farther off Delmar are single-family homes. CWE has a great mix of old mansions, flats and highrise condos & apartments. Downtown is all about loft living right now.



Soulard, Lafayette Square, Benton Park and the Tower Grove/South Grand area would also be good places for you to check out, based on what you're seeking. As stl555 mentioned, this is where you'll find row houses galore, along with a healthy mix of other housing types. Most (all? I'm not positive) of these neighborhoods (along with CWE) are in historic districts, so expect authenticity in architecture. However, I'm pretty certain the MetroLink (light rail) doesn't hit south City. The buses run everywhere though!



It also might become an issue of budget ... some of these neighborhoods can be pretty pricey (compared to other areas of the City). But most of them still have enough variety in housing stock that you should be able to find something affordable.



Plan a weekend trip (or two) and spend a lot of time walking around these areas. I think you'll soon discover which one(s) is right for you and your girlfriend. Hope you come to love STL as much as we all do!

New-to-STL, I don't mean to be obsequious, but I am quite impressed with how much you have learned about Saint Louis no longer than you've been here. You may (or may not) be shocked to know how many longtime natives can't find something as prominent as the A-B Brewery or Barnes-Jewish Hospital.



Anyway, kcvisitor, welcome to Saint Louis! I hope you enjoy your visit, and as much as I dig Kansas City, I think you'd be at least as happy living here! There isn't much I can add to the complete rundown that new-to-STL gave you above, or the other great suggestions offered by fellow forum users.



I don't recall anyone mentioning the Skinker-DeBaliviere area. It is just west of the CWE, the Metrolink runs through the neighborhood, and access to Forest Park is excellent. I don't know if there are bargains still to be had in the area, but the odds are better of finding one there than in the CWE. Still, I wholeheartedly recommend the Central West End based on your criteria, because it offers the amenities that interest you along with a great variety of quality housing stock.



If you're willing to sacrifice direct access to light rail, I'd recommend the aforementioned areas like Soulard, Lafayette Square, Benton Park, Benton Park West, Shaw, and the Tower Grove (East and South) neighborhoods.



All offer a great mix of dining and retail options, most within walking distance, and an interesting mix of architecture. As you move south and west of downtown, single-family homes (especially bungalows and two-stories) become more common, but there is a wide variety of appealing housing stock in varying price ranges depending on location.



Although I am sold on city living, I also recommend giving inner suburbs like University City, Clayton, Richmond Heights, and Maplewood a closer look. Maplewood in particular offers a lot of bang for the buck these days.



Enjoy your visit, and please come back with any questions or observations!

ThreeOneFour wrote:New-to-STL, I don't mean to be obsequious, but I am quite impressed with how much you have learned about Saint Louis no longer than you've been here. You may (or may not) be shocked to know how many longtime natives can't find something as prominent as the A-B Brewery or Barnes-Jewish Hospital.

Thanks, ThreeOneFour. I figured, if St Louis is going to be "home" for the next few years, the best way to feel comfortable here is to learn as much as I can, quickly.

again, thanks for all of the advice/ info...

sounds like there are many many places to check out! I probably won't be able to see them all in this initial trip.

Okay, so I'm slowly starting to learn things about StL, having read a lot about various neighborhoods on wikipedia and buzzing around the city on google earth. It all sounds very interesting, except maybe the high rate of crime per capita, but I suspect those rankings are a little inaccurate since StL doesn't have a lot of annexed suburban land like KC and some other cities do, which could "pad" the numbers.

Now, armed w/ a list of places to see, are there any places I should avoid? Sounds like with the exception of a couple neighborhoods, north StL above Delmar is still a bit rough around the edges. Is this accurate?

And thanks for the Skinker-DeBaliviere area tip, ThreeOneFour. That sounds great. Being near a large park is a plus, since both of us are avid joggers.

kc-visitor - Glad you had a nice visit. It is fun to hear about experiences of first time visitors. Especially from people like you that get out and see the neighborhoods. And you really can't experience St. Louis without getting out to the neighborhoods.