Chicago & St. Louis Neighborhoods

[Chepper]

Thanks ARAGX6 & ELWOODBLUZ. I definitely don't mind driving to work, that's not a problem. I don't know if i want to wake up to beer smell, but will check out bars for sure.

[Fishtacos]

Originally Posted by elwoodbluz

Have lived in Soulard for 4 years. I rented for 2 and own now. Affordable rents for 2 bedroom and off-street are available. I walk to the ball park from Soulard in 20 minutes. Better than a cab, which will cost $10 or more (completely ridiculous compared to Chicago where you can cab dirt cheap). Downtown St Louis is also really coming alive with the "Loft District." Lot more bars and restaurants than a few years ago, but parking hassles and nowhere for fido to pee, plus lot of homeless. Soulard has upwards of 30 liquor licenses meaning about 30 bars/pubs/restaurants of all varieties. A LOT of folks from the CWE or county come to Soulard to sow their wild oats as some of the bars are a little edgy. Having lived in 15 cities in the last 20 years I decided to retire here and they'll have to drag me out by my feet. Soulard is also home to the annual Mardi Gras celebration which occurs the Saturday before Fat Tuesday. Upwards of 500,000 people jam the streets for a day of beer, boobs, brats and beer. Have to see it to believe it. The brewery is also here so if you like the smell of hops and barley it greets you every morning! Main reasons why Soulard is great is you can jump on I-55, I-70, I-64 or I-44 and be out of St Louis in a hurry. Your commute to ScottTrade Offices, even factoring in the I-40/64 work will be under 30 minutes. I could go on for days. For a little more upscale with a little less edge, check out Lafayette Square. Good Luck!

This is a very accurate helpful post.

[MDintraining]

This post was helpful, thanks everyone! Im looking forward to moving in July 2009 to CWE, Lafayette, or most likely Soulard because Ill actually will be working across the border in Illinois.

[zach_33]

I lived in Chicago for 7 years and moved from there to St. Louis when I was 29, almost 7 years ago. The two cities are difficult to compare from the standpoint of parallel neighborhoods. There is nothing like Lincoln Park or Wicker Park in St. Louis. That would have been exactly what my wife and I were looking for 7 years ago when we moved here. We ended up in U City (CWE and Soulard were 2nd and 3rd on our list, respectively). Those St. Louis neoghborhoods have some great qualities for a young person who wants an urban environment, but they are not strictly young professional/young bohemian areas-- they are all heavily mixed with families, mid-career professionals, students, elderly, etc. There is no area of St. Louis with a concentration of yuppies like Lincoln Park. There are also very few areas in St. Louis where you can live within walking distance of most retail amenities (movies, restaurants, bars, dry cleaners, bookstores, coffee, groceries, etc). While there are several neighborhoods in Chicago, even working class ones, where you can live without a car, or nearly live without a car, this is very difficult to pull off in metro st. louis. CWE probably comes closest, followed by U City (if you live near the loop) and Clayton if you live near one of their shopping districts. Having said that, I think everyone else has recommended these areas, and so I would second that. You might also want to look at Maplewood (anywhere near their retail district, which is Manchester Rd roughly between Big Bend and Bellevue), the Grand South Grand district of St. Louis City (Grand between Arsenal and Utah), and maybe also Webster Groves near the Old Webster District (Lockwood between Elm and Rock Hill). Those would be other areas you might find to your liking, a little more convenient to your job.