New to St Louis? Allow me to guide you. (Florissant: live, airport)

[1greatcity]

Moving to a new city, it can be difficult finding your way around. Unless the city's street grid is numbered (like in NYC), figuring out what's where is a challenge.
Heck, in St Louis, it's often a challenge for even us locals.
We've got Lindbergh Blvd, for example. Easy to find on a map. Runs right through suburban Kirkwood, but you'll never see a "Lindbergh" sign there. Kirkwood prefers to call it "Kirkwood Road", (I suppose because Charles Lindbergh wasn't important enough for them.)

Next: We've got a major street by Lambert Airport called "Airport Road", fittingly enough. But travel eastbound into Ferguson, and suddenly you'll be on Hereford. How did that happen? Huh. Then you keep going east just a few blocks, and you're magically on Chambers Road. No worries, it's just the road playing tricks on you.

Now, permit me to introduce perhaps the biggest source of confusion: streets called "Florissant." Florissant is a suburban city in north St Louis County, and there's a street there called New Florissant Road. North of Washington St., it's called N. New Florissant, and south of Washington it's S. New Florissant. Fine so far...let's continue. Travel southbound on S. New Florissant, cross I-270 into Calverton Park, and you're now on N. Florissant Road. (It's not "new" anymore.) South of Airport Road (mentioned above), it changes to S. Florissant Road through Ferguson and Cool Valley to Natural Bridge.
Okay, now it gets really weird. East of Florissant Road, a separate street running sort of parallel is... West Florissant Road. That's right, West Florissant is east of Florissant. This is only possible in St Louis! Incidentally, West Florissant is not located in the city of Florissant whatsoever. West Florissant runs from New Halls Ferry south into the city of St Louis. Once it crosses Grand Blvd., it becomes N. Florissant Avenue. Again, you read right: the southernmost portion is called "North" Florissant. Head spinning yet?
You're welcome.

[maseyjean]

^^ That just made me a bit nauseous. Maybe the newbies should stay within city limits upon first arrival or have a darn good UPDATED GPS system that won't abandon ship and leave them stranded within a vortex of confusion, which has happened to me several times :-D

[billiken]

Haha, I am guilty of driving up and down Manchester looking for Lindbergh when I first moved out that direction.

[flynavyj]

I typically have problems in North County related to the Florissant road situation...Also new comers need to take heed, that roads will end, and pick up a block over in either direction, and resume with the name of the original road. Sometimes this was a result of more major thoroughfares being built and cutting off some S bend, etc...but often i think, it was just poor planning, or a lack of creativity on the part of the individuals naming the road.

Navigating yourself in a city like NYC, is essentially as easy as chewing gum...it's pretty tough to get it wrong!

[DinsdalePirahna]

Originally Posted by flynavyj

Navigating yourself in a city like NYC, is essentially as easy as chewing gum...it's pretty tough to get it wrong!

Yeah. Unless you are in the bronx, you will eventually wind up in the water

[tbell]

Originally Posted by 1greatcity

Now, permit me to introduce perhaps the biggest source of confusion: streets called "Florissant."

By implying that this is necessary or even useful information to anyone other than those who live or work in northern St Louis County, you have created more confusion than you have resolved.

[1greatcity]

hey, I didn't name the streets....if I had that job, I would have done much better!

[DinsdalePirahna]

When ever I move into a new area, I try to get lost, then find my way home. Great way to see new sights while learning the road system. Saint Louis and the Metro Area is relatively easy to get around.

[1greatcity]

Right. At least the St Louis was built on grids, for the most part. You don't find that in some cities, like Boston.

[DinsdalePirahna]

Originally Posted by 1greatcity

Right. At least the St Louis was built on grids, for the most part. You don't find that in some cities, like Boston.

The burbs can get confusing.