I'm moving to St. Louis

mands629

Hi!  I recently got married in Chicago, lived in NYC for the past 5 years, and found out yesterday that my husband got into law school in St. Louis, so we're moving, and soon. 

I've been to St. Louis once for a wedding, but it was downtown St. Louis, and I haven't really experienced any where else.  I would really appreciate any advice you guys can give... Any specific locations to look for a place to live?  Restaurants to try?  Gyms or yoga classes you recommend?  Also, I'm a dietitian and will now have to look for a new job... Any recommendations of hospitals, wellness centers, or nursing homes where I should look at for a job?

Thanks!

BethT01

I'm not much of help since I moved here three weeks ago.  It seems to me that there are a lot of hospitals around here though. I'll be interested to see what others say. Welcome!

clstoblg

As far as the place to live it really depends what kind of lifestyle you want.  If you can share some specifics about the type of place you want to buy(condo/townhouse vs single family), what you like to do, do you want to be in the "city-scene" or suburbs.  You are sure to get help here but St. Louis has a range of places.

Is your husband at SLU or Wash-U? Or niether? 

stlhrnmd

It definitely depends on what your looking for.  Subarbs, city, rural.  And what your budget it.  Can you give us some ideas of what your looking for?

Go to saucemagazie.com for a good on line magazine of restaurants.  Some of my favorites: Revival, Sage, Lucas Park Grille.

Barnes Jewish is the big hospital chain here, which is affiliated with Wash Univ.  There's also St Louis Univ, too.  You can go to stltoday.com, which is the online version of the newspaper and look for jobs there.

piealamode

SLU or Wash. U.?  I'd recommend looking to live in the Central West End, which is convenient to both (SLU is just east of the CWE, Wash. U. is just west).  Barnes-Jewish Hospital (affiliated with Wash. U.) is the biggest hospital in the area, but we've got a ton of them.  Other great neighborhoods for young professionals:  Soulard, Lafayette Square, Downtown (the Loft District), Benton Park.  I'm sure all of St. Louis will be quiet to you coming from NYC, but if you're really looking for some space, you might try some of the closer-in 'burbs, like U. City, Maplewood, Webster Groves, Clayton, or Kirkwood.  Any of those places will still provide your DH (and you, depending on where you get a job) with a 20-minute commute or so.

mands629

Thanks ladies!  This is giving me a good jumping off point.  We're actually going to travel down there after the 4th to start the housing search.   Right now, we're talking about an apartment or condo, but honestly we don't have any specific type of housing in mind.  My husband is going to Wash U, so I think we'd like to stick around that area... I definitely don't want to live in a rural area... I'm afraid it would be too much of a shock to me after NYC.  :-)

How is the public transportation?

stlhrnmd

Public transportation?  Ha, that's a good one! 

Actually we do have city buses, although the routes have been severly cut due to budgets and we do have the Metrolink.  It goes between the airport (west) through downtown, then on to East St Louis.  And there is an arm that goes south a bit.  It does run by Wash U and SLU, but I don't know anyone who uses it for work typically.

piealamode

You might want to look in the DeBaliviere Place neighborhood that is on the western part of the Central West End.  Easy access to a Metrolink station, walking distance from Forest Park (the nation's largest municipal park--it's like 500 acres bigger than Central Park in NYC), walking distance (on a nice day) from all the restaurants/shops in the CWE, and a good mix between condos and apartments.  Old, charming buildings.  Lots are recent condo conversions that have been totally updated and are for sale for really reasonable prices.  Check out this site:  http://www.metropolisdp.com/.  Happy hunting!