I am PUMPED about my move to St. Louis, few questions needing answers (Washington: best city, transplants)

[frozenpie]

I have recently lived in Memphis, TN, Denton, TX, and I am from Omaha, NE (where I live currently) I ADORED Memphis and I was looking for a city in between Omaha and Memphis. I just have a few questions. Would Memphis's Tree-lined streets and unique scenery be even comparable to St. Louis? I am under the impression that St. Louis has historical funky aspects while maintaining some sophisticated, urban aspects. Where would be a safe, older, area in St. Louis to live that has PLENTY of older trees? Would it be easy to meet young people? Are people friendly and welcoming? I am just curious about what to expect.

Thanks in advance

Edit- I forgot to mention, I am considering the Fairmont apartments, would this be a good selection based on the criteria I provided? Has anyone heard any positive or negative feedback on these apartments?

[CarrieNeno]

I recommend U-City and the Central West End. They are both super active and friendly walking communities with plenty of sophistication and GORGEOUS, tree-lined streets and parks! They are both centrally located with traditional architecture and a nice blended demographic (and a lot of transplants) thanks to close location to Washington University, SLU, and the hospitals. THey are pretty much located in the epicenter of culture and things to do in St. Louis...

[frozenpie]

I was considering both U-City and CWE for those reasons but are there any affordable apartments that you know of in those particular areas? Thanks for the input!

[BoomBoxing]

Yes, south St. Louis sounds exactly what you're looking for. Depending on your personal level of desired safety there are a ton of different neighborhood choices. In my opinion, the perfect blend of safe along with urban, tree lined, eclectic people/places is the neighborhoods around Tower Grove Park. In particular, Tower Grove South, Tower Grove East, and Shaw. The homes are mostly early 20th century brick, old 50 ft tall+ tree lined streets, and a plethora of young people, foreigners, aging hippies, vegetarians, and the like. Tower Grove Park itself is a victorian gem with a saturday morning farmers market and the South Grand business district has a wide variety of ethnic restaurants. This is an urban area so there is some crime, but it is not like there are daily shootings or anything. I'd say car break-ins make up the majority of crime in this part of the city.

Some links:

Shaw Neighborhood in St. Louis- Welcome!

Tower Grove South | An active and vibrant neighborhood on St. Louis' near south side

TGHNA: WELCOME TO OUR NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATION

South Grand Community Improvement District (CID)

Welcome to Tower Grove Park: A victorian gem in the heart of South St. Louis

Other parts of town I would definitely check out include Benton Park, Soulard, U.City, and the Central West End. They fit what you said you were looking for pretty closely too.

[stlcitygirl]

^
What they said! U-City, The Central West End sound the closest.

[1greatcity]

For sure, all of the forementioned areas are great. However, it seems like whenever anyone asks which parts of St Louis are the best to live in, certain neighborhoods always get mentioned, while others are consistantly overlooked. Perhaps they just haven't received the recognition they deserve. So please allow me to suggest a few of those "lesser-known gems" of our fair city.

Southwest Garden: This reasonably-priced neighborhood borders beautiful Missouri Botanical Garden and Tower Grove Park. It features many tree-lined streets and unique restaurants. It's conveniently-located near I-44.

Skinker-Debaliviere: Positioned just north of Forest Park's many attractions and near Washington University, this historic neighborhood gives residents access to just about everything that's St Louis. Metrolink has two stops on opposite sides of S-D. The exciting East Loop is also located here, featuring a concert venue, a variety of restaurants, a bowling alley, and more.

Clifton Heights: A small lake with fountains is the centerpiece of this charming residential neighborhood located just west of The Hill. It features grand homes of the 19th-century, as well as comparably newer homes in a variety of architectural styles. This neighborhood is also convenient to I-44.

South Hampton: Also called "SoHa" by some, this vibrant neighborhood is anchored by the Macklind Avenue Business District. Mid-century modern and "gingerbread" brick bungalows are two of the prominent architectural styles here. SoHa is located between S Hampton and S Kingshighway, and includes Hampton Village Shopping Center.

[momule]

If you thought Memphis was good, you will think St Louis is great.

[mklein49]

You may want to check out Richmond Heights as well.

[Azalea City Man]

Good lord, if you thought Memphis was cool then you should think STL is unbelievable ... but I personally think Memphis is one of the worst cities in our nation, so take what I say with a grain of salt. Coming from Omaha will also help make STL looks great in comparison . Fwiw though, while STL is not the best city in the nation by any stretch, it is very cool and, to me, it can be considered to be on probably the 3rd tier level as far as cool cities in our nation (think NY/LA blah, blah as 1st tier, Portland/Seattle/blah,blah as 2nd tier). But, as implied, it is leagues ahead of Memphis and Omaha imo, no offense .

[Smtchll]

I'm from Memphis. I used to think parts of Memphis (East Memphis & Midtown) were so beautiful until I came to St. Louis. I was blown away! There are way more trees, hills, and charming neighborhoods in St. Louis. I visit as much as I can. I find people to be just as friendly in St. Louis as in Memphis. Maybe not as open & outgoing, but still friendly. Aside from the city, you should also check out Clayton. It's a nearby suburb. Memphis has nothing that could compare to Clayton.

You can't find many neighborhoods like this in Memphis

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&sour...87.52,,0,-0.81