Gravatar I was born and raised in the St. Louis area, and am moving back there this week after being away for 13 years. It's a good place to live: the people are generally friendly and accommodating, there are some wonderful neighborhoods, and it has a rich history for a Midwestern city, although sometimes you have to dig a little. It also has enough attractions to make a visit worthwhile as well.

Some drawbacks: late summer weather is awful, with temps in the 90's and high humidity. While it has more topology than you might think, it can't compare scenery-wise to coastal or mountain cities. Sprawl is a big problem with little in the way of public transportation, so its delights are scattered and it is not a walkable city at all.

How long will you be there? I'd be happy to provide some restaurant and activity recommendations if you'd like.


Gravatar Well, we won't stay long... we're trying to find a home in the St.Louis area, but we don't want to buy one without seeing it (and the neighborhood, etc) first. That's what the visit is for.

Now, if you happen to have some info about the various neighborhoods, that would be great...


Gravatar I'm moving into a short-term apartment lease and will be looking for a house myself in STL in the next few weeks. If you're interested in urban living, a good place to start is:

http://stlouis.missouri.org/neig.../neighborhoods/

The Skinker-Debalivere neighborhood and Dogtown are both up-and-coming places to live which are close to downtown. Also check out University City, near Washington University. More upscale areas are Clayton, Webster Groves, and Ladue.

A lot depends on where you'll be working. If you want to go into more detail off-comment, go ahead and email me. I'm going through the same thing right now and I'll be happy to relate my experiences, or even recommend a realtor if you end up looking in the same area I am.


Gravatar Oops, my email didn't accompany the last message. It's matt at dimmic dot net.