St. Louis - Easy To Get Around In

[MoNative34]

My family lived up in Florrisant for 6 or 7 months in 82' when 170 was under construction. We were right on New Florrisant Rd. around St. Catherine in old town and all summer the road was busy with concrete and dump truck traffic heading to and from 170. Our house didn't have A/C so we had no choice but to have the windows open all the time. That was the most noisy summer of my life needless to say.

Bobster, do you have a view of the river valley where you live?

[CellarBelle]

I lived in southern Texas for 11 years. Worked in downtown Houston. The commute was torture. I love "big city" life, but like living in small towns. In Texas, that put me a 70 minute drive away. In the St. Louis area, that puts me 25 minutes away. LOVE, LOVE, LOVE St. Louis and the outlying areas. Good post Bobster. This is the kind of info people want about an area - "how long can I expect to spend in my car?". Excellent, absolutely excellent.

[anr_black]

We lived in Chicago for two years and I commuted from the city to the North Shore on the Dan Ryan...I can tell you that traffic is scary! It seems to me St. Louis drivers drive faster in general (at least in the city) but the volume of cars on the roads is much lower than in other cities we've driven in, like Chicago or Atlanta. Even on the slower roads (like 40), traffic still moves along at a fair pace. I think the fact that the 64 shutdown hasn't been near the mess everyone anticipated attests to the fact that St. Louis is an easy city to get around.
The one thing I do miss is a fast metrolink. I didn't have a car when I first moved to Chicago and took the train everywhere. The metro here in no way compares to the trains in Chicago. It takes forever to get anywhere.
As far as your commute time, it will depend on where you live. If you're traveling from IL to the city, then you'll spend more time on the road then the opposite. I used to work in IL and could get from the city to the other side of the river in 15-20 mins.

[aragx6]

The great thing about metrolink is that it's new and in good condition, unlike much of the el in Chicago which literally crawls through the city because the tracks are crumbling and no one will cough up the cash necessary to fix it (but they'll poor hundreds of millions into a new interstate).

So while in theory public transit in Chicago goes faster, often it doesn't. The heavy rail commuter line (metra) does go nice and fast most of the time.

[anr_black]

Hmm, I don't remember the el crawling at all! I took the red line and the purple line everywhere and the trains seemed to fly along the tracks. Maybe the route organization is better than here?

[aragx6]

Most of the red is fine (though a few stops are closed for construction) as well as most of the blue. I never take the purple, so I can't attest to it. The brown line is horrendous (you literally go 5 mph around some of its curves) and that's the one I most frequently take.

I know some others are in disrepair, but I'd have to ask around for specific examples.
I've not been here long, but I've been told it's gotten far worse in the last few years.

[Fishtacos]

The decline of the "el" has caused 15 minute delays of commute times in parts of the city of Chicago. The Purple line is a very good option for Northsiders in the burbs.

[Bobster]

Hi...thanks for all the comments!

MO, to answer your question, no...I don't have a view of the river valley....my land is pretty much wooded. In the summer, my backyard is totally secluded from the neighbors..which is very cool!