Can anyone tell what to check out while in St. Louis. My girlfriend and I will be heading there this weekend. I have heard “The Loop” is an intersting location to walk around.
mmjohns, I know I have spoken with you before about other topics and noticed that you were from St. Louis. If you could point out some other must sees I would appreciate it. The reason I am asking is I am considering a position in the St. Louis area. The company is putting us up in Chesterfield.
I have also heard Wildwood, Ellisville, Ballwin, Manchester, St. Peters, and University City are nice areas to live. What are your opinions?
The main highway loop that goes around the city is I-270 and the main cross town highway is HWY-40. If you are coming in from out of town on the interstates then you are most likely coming in on I-70 to the north or I-44 from to the south. Find your way to 270 and you can get anywhere.
On the extreme west side is Chesterfield / Creve Coeur. This is an upscale residential area without any major attractions other than Chesterfield Mall which is highly skippable. There are some good restaurants but they are pretty common ones like PF Changs and California Pizza Kitchen.
From there you can take HWY-40 east towards the city. You are going to pass a lot of neighborhoods and hospitals but eventually you are going to come up on Brentwood Blvd. This is where the Galleria (huge mall) and a lot of other shops are. You can waste a lot of time here if your GF is into shopping and running around. The neighborhood also has a lot of good restaurants in the area and there is a new Crate and Barrell across the street.
Further down HWY-40 to the east you are going to see an exit for McCausland Ave. Exit there and take a left. After you cross Clayton you are going to head towards Forest Park (St. Louis version of central park). Forest Park is on the right and Washington University is on the left. If you go into the park there is the STL Zoo (free), STL Art Museum (free) and a little further in is the Science Center (partially free). Science center is cool with the old side on one side of the highway and the new side with IMAX and exhibits on the other. They are connected by a skyway with glass windows in the floors and radar guns for shooting passing cars. There are other things in the park too if you look around.
If you keep going past Washington U and the park you will eventually come to Delmar, this is the Loop take a left turn. There are a lot of trendy little shops here, cafes, bars, and one of THE BEST music stores in the country - Vintage Vinyl. They have everything. This used to be a bad area at night but people have invested in cleaning it up so its making a big comeback.
If you go back to HWY-40 you can continue east towards the city. Downtown there isn’t a ton to do but there are thigns like the City museum and some historic areas. If you exit on Kinghighway and take a left towards the massive BJC Hospital and the other end of the park, you can check out the side streets around Maryland, Euclid, and other for more neighborhood shops and cafes. This area is called the Central West End. If you have time you can ask for directions to the brewery and get some free Budweiser.
Other areas with good stuff are Kirkwood and Webster Groves. They are cool neighborhoods and centrally located with a lot of new development. If you want to have the most insane dessert every some night ask for a place in Webster called Cyranos. The Cherry Jubilee or World’s Fair Eclair are insane and huge. Regular food looks good too.
Otherwise I would just drive up and down 40 exploring the different neighborhoods. Avoid going too far north or south as the neighborhoods get worse the farther you go from the center.
Chesterfield is pretty boring (strip malls) - not much going on. My girlfriends parents live out that way (Wildwood) - really beautiful area but not more more to do than out-doorsy hiking and such.
Delmar- where mmjohns is telling you to go is cool- but their is not a whole day there - more like 1 or 2 hours (the main street -where vintage vinyl is- is about 3 city blocks long) Check out the “Pageant” and see if there is any interesting band in town to see- it is a pretty cool venue.
Check out the “Clayton” area- where they have their art fair. There are a lot of interesting restaurants and shops out that way (and it is right by the Galeria)
Other than that- be glad you are only there for a weekend…
What if I was to take the position. Are you trying to tell me it will be boring in the St. Louis area?! This is something I really must take into consideration.
I am a bit biased. It really depends on what you value.
I love the city life. New York and Chicago are my favorite places in the US.
This being said, even for smaller cities, STL is pretty desolate. There is not much going on. The “creative culture” (for lack of better wording) is almost non-existant. The entire metro area consists of 900k people- the city comprises of something like 300k. (thank you marketing department)
When you go there - really check out the area. It is certainly not my cup of tea- but some people like it. It is VERY inexpensive to live there.
There is only one ID firm there that I know of - Metaphase. Not sure if there are any others.
IF you have any questions, feel free to PM me - I go out there to visit almost once a month. Look forward to coming home to Chicago everytime
Ok, I understand what your talking about. You live in Chicago so thats why St. Louis would not excite you that much.
I currently live in Pittsburgh, PA not to much different than St. Louis. Pittsburgh doesn’t have much of a night life downtown either. It’s all offices, Monday - Friday. There are a couple of restaurants, theatres, and Pirates + Steelers fields across the river. The Southside, Station Square, and the Strip District are the hot spots for night life other than that there’s not to much.
I think the Landing is a cool little place by the dome.
Keep us posted on what you decide. I’m an outta towner & it’s always nice to talk to people that live in St. Louis that aren’t from St. Louis. I’ve been down here for almost 3 years already.
