Featured Apartment:
St. Louis NO FEE - We've got a newly-renovated one bedroom unit in University City that has a great layout for roommates who need their privacy but also need a one-bedroom sized rent. In this apartment, we've put a door on the living room, so it can be used as a second bedroom. Studio apartments, lofts, and efficiency apartments also available. View More Listings -->
Renting an Apartment in St. Louis
St. Louis is an independent city completely surrounded by St. Louis county on
the west, and the Mississippi river on the east, in the U.S. state of Missouri.
It is adjacent but not part of St. Louis County, Missouri, thus giving it an
almost-unique situation similar to Baltimore, Maryland. This separation between
the city of St. Louis and St. Louis County can skew statistics.
A 2006 statistical analysis by Morgan Quitno lists the city as surpassing
Camden, St. Louis, and Detroit as the most dangerous in the nation. Including
surrounding metropolitans areas, Detroit is the most dangerous city in the
nation. It's reputation has not always been one of poverty, strife and violence.
In fact, Saint Louis has distinct historical roots and a vibrant inner-city
culture.
St. Louis is known for its long standing French and German heritage and
Victorian past. While St. Louis has embraced its deep roots as the Gateway to
the West, it also has modernized into a globally known contributor in the health
care and scientific research fields. The St. Louis renaissance can be attributed
to large scale construction and renovation efforts seen throughout the city in
conjunction with corporate support and strong civic organizational efforts. St.
Louis has seen its population increase as a direct result of the committed
efforts of St. Louisans to return their city to the grand international status
it was once known for dating back to the 1904 World's Fair and first Olympic
Games ever held in the United States.
The city has several common nicknames, including the "Gateway City", "Gateway to
the West", and "Mound City". It is called "Gateway to the West" because of the
many people who moved west starting near St Louis; first, because the lower
Missouri River was the first leg of the Oregon Trail, and later, because of
wagon trails. The Mound City name originated with the Native American burial
mounds that once were common in the city. These were removed to fill sink holes
filled with stagnant water that were thought to be a source of Cholera. The city
is also sometimes called "St. Louie", or "River City". Alternatively, many young
people who live in St. Louis have begun to call it "The Lou". Another popular
synonym for St. Louis is "STL" in reference to the airport code for the city (STL)
and a long-standing use of an interlocked S, T, and L by the St. Louis Cardinals
baseball team. The City of St. Louis lies in the heart of Greater St. Louis,
which includes counties in the states of Missouri and Illinois. It is the
largest metropolis in Missouri and the 18th largest metropolis in the United
States. The population of Metro St. Louis as of 2005 is approximately 2,786,728
according to the the US census bureau.
History
Prior to the arrival of French explorers in 1673 the area that would become St.
Louis was a major center of the Mississippian mound builders. The presence of
numerous mounds, now almost all destroyed, earned the later city the nickname of
"Mound City."
City founding and early history
European exploration of the area had begun nearly a century before the city was
founded. Louis Joliet and Jacques Marquette, both French, traveled through the
Mississippi River valley in 1673, and five years later, La Salle claimed the
entire valley for France. He called it "Louisiana" after King Louis XIV; the
French also called their region "Illinois Country." In 1699, a settlement was
established across the river from what is now St. Louis, at Cahokia. Other early
settlements were downriver at Kaskaskia, Prairie du Pont, Fort de Chartres, and
Sainte Genevieve. In 1703, Catholic priests established a small mission at what
is now St. Louis. The mission was later moved across the Mississippi, but the
small river at the site (now a drainage channel near the southern boundary of
the City of St. Louis) still bears the name "River Des Peres" (River of the
Fathers).
In 1763, Pierre Laclède, his 13-year-old "stepson" Auguste Chouteau, and a small
band of men traveled up the Mississippi from New Orleans. In November, they
landed a few miles downstream of the river's confluence with the Missouri River
at a site where wooded limestone bluffs rose 40 feet above the river. The men
returned to Fort de Chartres for the winter, but in February, Laclede sent
Chouteau and 30 men to begin construction. The settlement was established on
February 15, 1764.
The settlement began to grow quickly after word arrived that the 1763 Treaty of
Paris had given England all the land east of the Mississippi. Frenchmen who had
settled to the river's east moved across the water to "Laclede's Village." Other
early settlements were established nearby at Saint Charles, Carondelet (now a
part of the city of St. Louis), Fleurissant (renamed Saint Ferdinand under the
Spaniards and now Florissant), and Portage des Sioux. In 1765, St. Louis was
made the capital of Upper Louisiana.
From 1766 to 1768, St. Louis was governed by the French lieutenant governor,
Louis Saint Ange de Bellerive. After 1768, St. Louis was governed by a series of
Spanish governors, whose administration continued even after Louisiana was
secretly returned to France in 1800 by the Treaty of San Ildefonso. The town's
population was then about a thousand.
St. Louis was acquired from France by the United States under President Thomas
Jefferson in 1803, as part of the Louisiana Purchase. The transfer of power from
Spain was made official in a ceremony called "Three Flags Day." On March 8,
1804, the Spanish flag was lowered and the French one raised. On March 10, the
French flag was replaced by the United States flag.
19th century expansion and growth
The Lewis and Clark Expedition left the St. Louis area in May 1804, reached the
Pacific Ocean in the summer of 1805, and returned on 23 September 1806. Many
other explorers, settlers, and trappers (such as Ashley's Hundred) would later
take a similar route to the West. Missouri became a state in 1820. St. Louis was
incorporated as a city on December 9, 1822. A U.S. arsenal was constructed at
St. Louis in 1827.
The steamboat era began in St. Louis on July 27, 1817, with the arrival of the
Zebulon M. Pike. Rapids north of the city made St. Louis the northernmost
navigable port for many large boats, and Pike and her sisters soon transformed
St. Louis into a bustling boom town, commercial center, and inland port. By the
1850s, St. Louis had become the largest U.S. city west of Pittsburgh, and the
second-largest port in the country, with a commercial tonnage exceeded only by
New York.
Immigrants flooded into St. Louis after 1840, particularly from Germany,
Bohemia, Italy and Ireland, the latter driven by an Old World potato famine. The
population of St. Louis grew from fewer than 20,000 in 1840, to 77,860 in 1850,
to just over 160,000 by 1860.
Two disasters occurred in 1849: a cholera epidemic killed nearly one-tenth of
the population, and a fire destroyed numerous steamboats and a large portion of
the city. These disasters led to political action: old cemeteries were removed
to the outskirts of the town; sinkholes were filled and swamps drained; water
and sewer public utilities started; and a new building code required structures
to be built of stone or brick.
In the first half of the 19th century, a second channel developed in the
Mississippi River at St. Louis. An island ("Bloody Island") formed between the
two channels, and a smaller island ("Duncan's Island") developed below St.
Louis. It was feared that the levee at St. Louis might be left high and dry, and
federal assistance was sought and obtained. Under the supervision of Robert E.
Lee, levees were constructed on the Illinois side to direct water toward the
Missouri side and eliminate the second channel. Bloody Island was joined to the
land on the Illinois side, and Duncan's Island was washed away.
Militarily, the Civil War (1861-1865) barely touched St. Louis; the area saw
only a few skirmishes in which Union forces prevailed. But the war shut down
trade with the South, devastating the city's economy. Missouri was nominally a
slave state, but its economy did not depend on slavery, and it never seceded
from the Union. The arsenal at St. Louis was used during the war to construct
ironclad ships for the Union.
St. Louis during the Gilded Age
On July 4, 1876 the City of St. Louis voted to secede from St. Louis County and
become an independent city. At that time the County was primarily rural and
sparsely populated, and the fast-growing City did not want to spend their tax
dollars on infrastructure and services for the inefficient county. The move also
allowed some in St. Louis government to increase their political power.
"The City of St. Louis has affected me more deeply than any other environment
has ever done, I consider myself fortunate to have been born here, rather than
in Boston, or New York, or London."
—T. S. Eliot on St. Louis
As St. Louis grew and prospered during the late 19th and early 20th Century, the
city produced a number of notable people in the fields of business and
literature. The Ralston-Purina company (headed by the Danforth Family) was
headquartered in the city, and Anheuser-Busch, the world's largest brewery,
remains a fixture of the city's economy. The City was home to both International
Shoe and the Brown Shoe Company. Notable residents in the field of literature
included poets Sara Teasdale and Marianne Moore, T. S. Eliot, William Burroughs,
and Kate Chopin as well as playwright Tennessee Williams.
St. Louis is one of several cities that claims to have the world's first
skyscraper. The Wainwright Building, a 10-story structure designed by Louis
Sullivan and built in 1892, still stands at Chestnut and Seventh Streets and is
today used by the State of Missouri as a government office building.
Nikola Tesla made the first public demonstration of radio communication here in
1893. Addressing the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and the
National Electric Light Association, he described and demonstrated in detail the
principles of radio communication. The apparatus that he used contained all the
elements that were incorporated into radio systems before the development of the
vacuum tube.
In 1896, one of the deadliest and most destructive tornadoes in U.S. history
struck St. Louis and East St. Louis. The confirmed death toll is 255, with some
estimates above 400, and injuries over 1,000. It left a mile wide continuous
swath of destroyed homes, factories, mills, saloons, hospitals, schools, parks,
churches, and railroad yards. Damages adjusted for inflation (1997 USD) make it
the costliest tornado in U.S. history at an estimated $2.9 billion. Several
other tornadoes have hit the city making it the worst tornado afflicted large
city in the U.S.; with the most deadly and destructive occurring in 1871 (9
killed), 1890 (4 killed), 1904 (3 killed, 100 injured), 1927 (79 killed, 550
injured), and 1959 (21 killed, 345 injured).
By the time of the 1900 census, St. Louis was the fourth largest city in the
country [1]. In 1904, the city hosted a World's Fair and the Olympic Games,
making the United States the first English-speaking country to host the
Olympics. Citizens of St. Louis still look back fondly on the events of 1904;
there were several events held in 2004 to commemorate the centennial.
20th century
St. Louis had developed a lively immigrant gang culture by the early 20th
century, leading up to much bootlegging activity and gang violence. One gang
leader, from an Irish part of the city referred to as "Kerry Patch" was named
"Jelly Roll" Hogan. Hogan's gang is mentioned in Tennessee William's "Glass
Menagerie". In the 1920's there were shoot outs on Lindell Boulevard between
Hogan's Gang the gang known as Egan's Rats. A Priest was brought in to broker
peace between the gangs in 1923, but this truce only lasted a few months before
2 more people were killed in a public shoot out. In 1924, Egan's Rats made off
with $2.4 million in bonds from a mail truck. Hogan, during this time, was a
state representative. He was elected in 1916, eventually became a state senator,
and spent 40 years in elected office.
Though St. Louis did not segregate people, for example, on street cars, there
was still serious discrimination against African Americans. During World War II,
the NAACP successfully compaigned, through protests and picket lines, to get the
Federal government to stop keeping African Americans from working in war plants.
Some 16,000 jobs were gained in this way. White southerners no longer had to be
brought to St. Louis to do the work.
In 1942 sit-ins were held in protest of the downtown department stores
--Scruggs, Vandervoorts, Barney and Stix and Famous-- refusing to serve African
Americans. This is the first time the tactic of a sit-in at an eating
establishment was used.
In 1960 Theodore McNeal, the first African American state senator, was elected.
Interestingly enough, it was "Jelly Roll" Hogan who he defeated in the election.
White voters overwhelming voted for McNeal.
St. Louis experienced major expansion in the early 20th century due to the
formation of many industrial companies. The city reached its peak population at
the 1950 census, reflecting a national housing shortage after World War II. The
continued trend of suburban development and highway construction shifted the
population into the St. Louis County suburbs over the next several decades.
While the overall population of the St. Louis MSA has always been growing, the
St. Louis city population, as discussed below, is increasing once again.
Recent developments
Recently, there has been a significant upturn in construction in Downtown St.
Louis. The Bottle District, an entertainment district named after a large Vess
soda bottle that stands near Interstate 70, will open in spring 2007 and will be
located in an area just north of the Edward Jones Dome. The St. Louis Cardinals'
new Busch Stadium opened in 2006. Ballpark Village will be built where the
former Busch Stadium stood. For several years, the Washington Avenue Loft
District has been gentrifying with an expanding corridor along Washington Avenue
from the Edwards Jones Dome westward almost two dozen blocks. Rehabilitation of
other downtown areas is planned, such as around the Old Post Office, Cupples
warehouses and St. Louis Centre. The Forest Park Southeast neighborhood near the
Missouri Botanical Garden and the old Gaslight Square district are also going
through extensive renovations. In 2005 the US census bureau reported St. Louis
had a net population gain of 4,383 the first the city has had since 1950.
Geography
Topography
According to the United States Census Bureau, St. Louis has a total area of
171.3 km² (66.2 mi²). 160.4 km² (61.9 mi²) of it is land and 11.0 km² (4.2 mi²
or 6.39%) of it is water. The city is built primarily on bluffs and terraces
that rise 100-200 feet above the western banks of the Mississippi River, just
south of the Missouri-Mississippi confluence. Much of the area is a fertile and
gently rolling prairie that features low hills and broad, shallow valleys. Both
the Mississippi River and the Missouri River have cut large valleys with wide
flood plains.
Limestone and dolomite of the Mississippian epoch underlies the area and much of
the city is a karst area, with numerous sinkholes and caves, although most of
the caves have been sealed shut; many springs are visble along the riverfront.
Significant deposits of coal, brick clay, and millerite ore were once mined in
the city, and the predominant surface rock, the St. Louis Limestone, is used as
dimension stone and rubble for construction.
The St. Louis Geologic fault is exposed along the bluffs and was the source of
several historic minor earthquakes; it is part of the St. Louis Anticline which
has some petroleum and natural gas deposits outside of the city. St. Louis is
also just north of the New Madrid Seismic Zone which in 1811-12 produced a
series of earthquakes that are the largest known in the contiguous United
States. Seismologists estimate 90% probability of a magnitude 6.0 earthquake by
2040 and 7-10% probability of a magnitude 8.0 [2], such tremors could create
significant damage across a large region of the central U.S. including St.
Louis.
Near the southern boundary of the City of St. Louis (separating it from St.
Louis County) is the River des Peres, virtually the only river or stream within
the city limits that is not entirely underground. Most of River des Peres was
either channelized or put underground in the 1920s and early 1930s. The lower
section of the river was the site of some of the worst flooding of the Great
Flood of 1993.
Near the central, western boundary of the city is Forest Park, site of the 1904
World's fair, the Louisiana Purchase Exposition of 1904, and the 1904 Summer
Olympics, the first Olympic Games held in North America. At the time, St. Louis
was the fourth most populous city in the United States.
The Missouri River forms the northern border of St. Louis County, exclusive of a
few areas where the river has changed its course. The Meramec River forms most
of its southern border. To the east is the City and the Mississippi River.
Climate
St. Louis has a humid continental climate, and has neither large mountains nor
large bodies of water to moderate its temperature. The area is affected by both
cold Canadian arctic air, and also hot, humid tropical air from the Gulf of
Mexico. The city has four distinct seasons. The average annual temperature for
the years 1971-2000, recorded at nearby Lambert-Saint Louis International
Airport, is 56.3 °F (13.5 °C), and average precipitation is 38.75 inches (980
mm). The normal high temperature in July is 90 °F (32 °C), and the normal low
temperature in January is 21 °F (−6 °C), although these values are exceeded at
times. Temperatures of 100 °F (38 °C) or more occur no more than five days per
year, while temperatures of 0 °F (-17.8 °C) or below occur 2 or 3 days per year
on average. The official all-time record low is -22 °F (-30.0 °C) and the record
high is 115 °F (46.1 °C).
Winter is the driest season, averaging about 6 inches of total precipitation.
Springtime, March through May, is typically the wettest season, with just under
10.5 inches. Dry spells of one or two weeks duration are common during the
growing seasons.
St. Louis usually experiences Thunderstorms between 20 and 30 days per year.
Especially in the spring, these storms can often be severe, with high winds,
large hail and tornadoes. St. Louis is located within America's Tornado Alley,
and has been affected on more than one occasion by particularly damaging
tornadoes. Other occasional weather events include snowstorms and ice storms.
A period of warm weather late in autumn known as Indian summer can occur – roses
will still be in bloom as late as November or early December in some years.
Flora and fauna
Before the founding of the city, the area was prairie and open forest maintained
by burning by Native Americans. Trees are mainly oak, maple, and hickory,
similar to the forests of the nearby Ozarks; common understory trees include
Eastern Redbud, Serviceberry, and Flowering Dogwood. Riparian areas are forested
with mainly American sycamore. Most of the residential area of the city is
planted with large native shade trees. The largest native forest area is found
in Forest Park. In Autumn, the changing color of the trees is notable. Most
species here are typical of the Eastern Woodland, although numerous decorative
non-native species are found; the most notable invasive species is Japanese
honeysuckle, which is actively removed from some parks.
Large mammals found in the city include urbanized coyotes and occasionally a
stray whitetail deer. Eastern Gray Squirrel, Cottontail rabbit, and other
rodents are abundant, as well as the nocturnal and rarely seen Opossum. Large
bird species are abundant in parks and include Canada goose, Mallard duck, as
well as shorebirds, including the Great Egret and Great Blue Heron. Gulls are
common along the Mississippi River; these species typically follow barge
traffic. Winter populations of Bald Eagles are found by the Mississippi River
around the Chain of Rocks Bridge. The city is on the Mississippi Flyway, used by
migrating birds, and has a large variety of small bird species, common to the
eastern U.S. The Eurasian Tree Sparrow, an introduced species, is limited in
North America to the counties surrounding St. Louis. Tower Grove Park is a
well-known birdwatching area in the city.
Frogs are commonly found in the springtime, especially after extensive wet
periods. Common species include the American toad and species of chorus frogs,
commonly called "spring peepers" that are found in nearly every pond. Some years
have outbreaks of cicadas or ladybugs. Mosquitos and houseflies are common
insect nuisances; because of this, windows are nearly universally fitted with
screens, and "screened-in" porches are common in homes of the area. Populations
of honeybees have sharply declined in recent years, and numerous species of
pollinator insects have filled their ecological niche.
Metropolitan statistical area
The St. Louis Metropolitan Statistical Area is the largest Metropolitan Area in
Missouri, and the 18th largest in the United States, and has an estimated total
population of 2,786,728 as of July 1, 2005. This area includes Saint Louis
County (1,004,666), the independent City of Saint Louis (352,572), the Missouri
counties of Saint Charles (329,940), Jefferson (213,669), Franklin (99,090),
Lincoln (47,727), Warren (28,764), and Washington (24,032), and the Illinois
counties of Madison (264,309), Saint Clair (260,067), Macoupin (49,111), Clinton
(36,095), Monroe (31,040), Jersey (22,456), Bond (18,027), and Calhoun (5,163).
Cityscape
The city is divided into 79 neighborhoods. The divisions have no legal standing,
although some neighborhood associations administer grants or hold veto power
over historic-district development. Nevertheless, the social and political
influence of neighborhood identity is profound. Some hold avenues of massive
stone edifices built as palaces for heads of state visiting the 1904 World's
Fair. Others offer tidy working-class bungalows or loft districts Many of them
have successfully retained a remarkable camaraderie that is missing from many
American towns today.
Among the best-known, architecturally significant, or well-visited neighborhoods
are Downtown, Midtown, Benton Park, Carondelet, the Central West End,
Clayton/Tamm (Dogtown), Dutchtown South, Forest Park Southeast, Grand Center,
The Hill, Lafayette Square, LaSalle Park, Old North St. Louis, Compton Heights,
Princeton Heights, Shaw (home to the Missouri Botanical Garden and named after
the Garden's founder, Henry Shaw), Southwest Garden, Soulard (home of the
second-largest Mardi Gras festival in the nation), Tower Grove East, Tower Grove
South, Hortense Place (home to many grand mansions) and Wydown/Skinker.
Culture
Cuisine
* Amighetti's Special sandwich
* Anheuser-Busch beers
* Schlafly beers
* Gooey butter cake
* Missouri wine
* Toasted ravioli
* St. Louis-style barbecue, often featuring spare ribs and thin, tangy
tomato-based barbecue sauce
* Slingers
* Provel cheese
* St. Louis style pizza as typified by regional chain Imo's Pizza
* Ted Drewes Frozen Custard
* Vess soda
* St. Paul sandwich
* Fitz's
* Pork steak
* Mayfair salad dressing, created at the former Mayfair Hotel in St. Louis
* Red Hot Riplets
* Gerber sandwich
Tourism
There are several museums and attractions in the city. The City Museum offers a
variety of interesting exhibits, including several large caves and a huge
outdoor playground. It also serves as a meeting point for St. Louis' young arts
scene. The Eugene Field House, located in downtown St. Louis, is a museum
dedicated to the distinguished children's author. The Missouri History Museum
presents exhibits and programs on a variety of topics including the 1904 World's
Fair, and a comprehensive exhibit on Lewis and Clark's voyage exploring the
Louisiana Purchase.The Fox Theatre, originally one of many movie theatres along
Grand Boulevard, is now a newly restored theatre featuring a Byzantine facade
and Oriental decor. The Fox Theatre presents a Broadway Series in addition to
concerts.
There are several notable churches in the city, including the Cathedral Basilica
of St. Louis New Cathedral), a large Roman Catholic cathedral designed in the
Byzantine and Romanesque styles. The interior is decorated with lovely mosaics,
the largest mosaic collection in the world. The Basilica of St. Louis, King of
France (1834), also known as the "Old Cathedral," is the oldest Roman Catholic
cathedral west of the Mississippi River. The Old Cathedral is located adjacent
to the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial. The Memorial frequently called the
Arch is arguably the city's best known landmark, as a well as a popular tourist
site.
The Hill is an historically Italian neighborhood where many of the area's best
Italian restaurants can be found. The Hill was the home of Yogi Berra and many
other noted baseball players. The International Bowling Museum and Hall of Fame
and St. Louis Cardinals Hall of Fame Museum is also located near Busch Stadium
in downtown St. Louis.
Laclede's Landing, located on the Mississippi Riverfront directly north of the
historic Eads Bridge, is popular for its restaurants and nightclubs. St. Louis
also possesses several distinct examples of 18th and 19th century architecture,
such as the Soulard Market district (1779-1842), the Chatillon-de Menil House
(1848), the Bellefontaine Cemetery (1850), the Robert G. Campbell House (1852),
the Old Courthouse (1845-62), the original Anheuser-Busch Brewery (1860), and
two of Louis Sullivan's early skyscrapers, the Wainwright Building (1890-91) and
the Union Trust Building.
The Lemp Mansion, home of the fated Lemp family which had multiple suicides, is
considered one of the most haunted places in the nation.
There are also several notable museums in surrounding cities. The Delmar Loop,
in University City, just west of the St. Louis city line, is a popular
entertainment, cultural and restaurant district. The Butterfly House is located
in western St. Louis County.
The Museum of Transportation is in Kirkwood, a suburb in southwestern St. Louis
County. Many large steam locomotives, classic cars, and even a boat are some of
the spectacles.
Six Flags St. Louis, known as "Six Flags over Mid-America" when it opened in
1971, is an amusement park in Eureka, Missouri, in far west St. Louis County. It
is one of the original Six Flags.
Saint Charles is the seat of St. Charles County and first capital of the state
of Missouri.
Cahokia Mounds, located 8 miles east of St. Louis near Collinsville, Illinois,
holds the ruins of a city of the ancient Mississippian aboriginal culture.
Similar mounds within St. Louis, used as construction fill in the 1800s, gave
the city one of its nicknames, "Mound City".
Magic House, a children's hands-on exploration museum, and Worldways Children's
Museum, an international children's cultural museum, are both in Kirkwood.
Performing arts
St. Louis is the home of the world-renowned Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra which
was founded in St. Louis in 1880--the second oldest orchestra in the nation--and
which has over the years been honored with six Grammy Awards and fifty-six
nominations. Historic Powell Symphony Hall on North Grand Boulevard has been the
permanent home of the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra since 1968. Leonard Slatkin
has served as one of the orchestra's previous conductors (presently he conducts
the National Symphony Orchestra in Washington, DC). The current Music Director
of the Orchestra is David Robertson.
The Opera Theatre of Saint Louis is an annual summer festival of opera performed
in English, originally co-founded by Richard Gaddes in 1968 (he is now the
director of the Santa Fe Opera). Union Avenue Opera Theatre, formed in the early
1990s, is a smaller but thriving company that performs opera in the original
languages.
Other local classical music groups of note are the Saint Louis Chamber Chorus
and the Arianna String Quartet, the resident quartet at the University of
Missouri-Saint Louis.
The Blanche M. Touhill performing arts center, is located on the Uniersity of
Missouri-Saint Louis campus and is used for many concerts and performances. The
state-of-the art contemporary facility opened in 2003.
St. Louis has long been associated with great ragtime, jazz and blues music.
Early rock and roll singer/guitarist Chuck Berry is a native St. Louisan and
continues to perform there several times a year at Blueberry Hill. Soul music
artists Ike Turner and Tina Turner and jazz innovator Miles Davis began their
careers in nearby East St. Louis, Illinois. St. Louis has also been a popular
stop along the infamous Chitlin Circuit.
Popular Music and entertainment in St. Louis peaked in the 1960s due to the
popularity of Gaslight Square, a thriving local nightclub district that
attracted nationally known musicians and performers. This area was all but
extinct by the early 1970s and today is the site of a new housing development.
In the 1990s, the metro area produced several prominent alt-country artists,
including Uncle Tupelo — a Belleville, Illinois trio often considered the
originators of the style, whose members went on to found Wilco and Son Volt in
1994 — and The Bottle Rockets. More recently, the rise of Nelly, The Saint
Lunatics, Flame (of Cross Movement Records) Murphy Lee, Chingy, J-Kwon, Ebony
Eyez, Jibbs, and other musicians have made it one of the centers of rap and
hip-hop, often mentioned side-by-side with New York City, Atlanta, Los Angeles,
Chicago, and Detroit.
Parks and outdoor attractions
The city operates 105 parks that serve as gathering spots for neighbors to meet,
and contains playgrounds, areas for summer concerts, picnics, baseball games,
tennis courts, and lakes.
Forest Park, located on the western edge of the central corridor of the City of
St. Louis, is one of the largest urban parks in the world, outsizing Central
Park in New York City by 500 acres. It offers many of St. Louis' most popular
attractions: the Saint Louis Zoological Park, the Municipal Theatre (also known
as, The Muny, the largest and oldest outdoor musical theatre in the United
States), the St. Louis Science Center (with its architecturally distinctive
McDonnell Planetarium), the Saint Louis Art Museum, the Missouri History Museum,
several lakes, and scenic, open areas. Forest Park completed a multimillion
dollar renovation in 2004 for the centennial of the St. Louis World's Fair. The
Zoo, Art Museum, and Science Center are all world-class institutions. The
Zoo-Museum Tax District provides them operating funds, so general admission to
them, as well as to the History Museum, is free.
The Missouri Botanical Garden, also known as Shaw's Garden, is one of the
world's leading botanical research centers. It possesses a beautiful collection
of flowering plants, shrubs, and trees, and includes the Japanese Garden, which
features a lake filled with koi and gravel designs; the woodsy English Garden;
the Home Gardening Center; a rose garden; the Climatron; a children's garden and
playground; and many other scenic gardens. Immediately south of the Missouri
Botanical Garden is Tower Grove Park, a gift to the City by Henry Shaw.
The Jefferson National Expansion Memorial is a 90.96 acre national park located
on the downtown riverfront where the city was first founded in 1764, and
commemorates the westward growth of the United States between 1803 and 1890. The
centerpiece of the park is the stainless steel Gateway Arch, which is the most
recognizable structure in the city. It was designed by noted architect Eero
Saarinen and completed on October 28, 1965. At 630 feet (192 m), it is the
tallest manmade monument in the United States. Located below the Arch is the
Museum of Westward Expansion, which contains an extensive collection of
artifacts and details the story of the thousands of people who lived in and
settled the American West during the nineteenth century. Nearby and also part of
the memorial is the historic Old Courthouse, one of the oldest standing
buildings in St. Louis. Begun in 1839, it was here that the first two trials of
the Dred Scott case were held in 1847 and 1850. This park is also the location
of the annual July 4th festival, Fair Saint Louis.
Sports
Enthusiastic and knowledgeable fans give the city a reputation as "a top-notch
sports town" and "Baseball City USA." The Sporting News rated St. Louis the
nation's "Best Sports City." The St. Louis Cardinals, one of the oldest
franchises in Major League Baseball, have won 10 World Championships, second
only to the New York Yankees.
The city of St. Louis has earned 13 professional sports championships. As
mentioned earlier, the St. Louis Cardinals have won 10 World Series
Championships with one of the championships played against the old cross-city
rival the St. Louis Browns in 1944. The St. Louis Rams have won one Super Bowl
Championship (Super Bowl XXXIV in January 2000), and the St. Louis Hawks (who
later moved to Atlanta) gave the city its lone NBA Championship (1958). On top
of that, the St. Louis Blues hold the record for most consecutive playoff
appearances in all of sports with 26 straight. The Blues have also made 3 trips
to the Stanley Cup Finals but have never won the championship.
St. Louis was also home to two prominent twentieth-century boxers, brothers Leon
and Michael Spinks. The two are the only brothers in boxing history to have both
captured the Heavyweight boxing title. Leon's son Cory Spinks has also held a
world title.
St. Louis is notable as arguably the biggest hotbed of Soccer in the United
States. The Saint Louis University soccer team is amongst the elite of NCAA
soccer, and several American soccer stars, such as Taylor Twellman, Mike Sorber,
and Pat Noonan hail from St. Louis. Despite soccer's popularity in the area, St.
Louis is yet to gain a Major League Soccer franchise, but plans are currently in
the works. Currently, the highest ranking soccer club in St. Louis is the St.
Louis Steamers.
Professional Wrestling also has firm roots in St. Louis. Essentially, three men
combined to make the Mound City not only the "Gateway to the West," but the
unofficial capital of professional wrestling. The three men were Tom Packs, Sam
Muchnick, and Lou Thesz. Wrestling at the Chase was a popular weekly event for
hundreds of thousands of fans for several decades, both live and on television.
St. Louis is also home to former World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) World
Champion and currently one of the sport's top performers, Randy Orton.
While high school sports are not as big in St. Louis as they are in such places
as Texas, there are a large amount of well-known local rivalries: SLUH and CBC
have played each other for over 75 years in many sports, the annual "Turkey Day
Game" between Webster and Kirkwood draws 15,000 supporters, and high school
soccer games are often well attended, drawing upwards of 5,000 people to the
bigger games. Recently, a boom in high school hockey has occurred, mostly among
students drawn to the sport's freewheeling atmosphere.
In 2006, the College Cup will be played at Hermann Stadium on the campus of
Saint Louis University.
The Scottrade Center will host the 2007 Frozen Four college ice hockey
tournament on April 5 and April 7, 2007. The Scottrade Center also hosts the
annual "Braggin' Rights" game, a men's college basketball rivalry game between
the universities of Illinois and Missouri. St. Louis is roughly equidistant from
the two campuses.
In March 2005, the Edward Jones Dome in St. Louis hosted the final two rounds of
the NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship, also known as the Final Four.
In April 2009, the Edward Jones Dome will host the NCAA Women's Division I
Basketball Championship Final Four.
Gateway International Raceway hosts NHRA Drag Racing and NASCAR racing events 5
miles east of the city in Madison, Illinois.
There are also several minor league teams in the area. The Gateway Grizzlies
(Minor League Baseball) of the Frontier League, which plays at GCS Ballpark
across the river in Sauget, Illinois. The River City Rascals (Minor League
Baseball) also of the Frontier League, play at T.R. Hughes Stadium in nearby
O'Fallon, Missouri. The Missouri River Otters (United Hockey League) play at
Family Arena in St. Charles, Missouri. The River City Rage are an Arena Football
team that play in the National Indoor Football League at Family Arena. The St.
Louis Flight are a basketball team that play in the newly reincarnated American
Basketball Association, also at Family Arena.
St. Louis is also one of the few cities in the country that plays host to local
Corkball leagues. Corkball is a "mini-baseball" game featuring a 1.6 oz. ball
and bat with a barrel that measures just 1.5". Corkball is St. Louis' classic
baseball game. Originally played on the streets and alleys of St. Louis in the
early 1900s, today the game has leagues formed around the country as a result of
St. Louis servicemen introducing the game to their buddies during World War II
and the Korean conflict. It has many of the features of baseball, yet can be
played in a very small area because there is no base-running.
Nearby Town and Country is home to the Bellerive Country Club, which has hosted
several golf major championships.
Media
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch is the region's major daily newspaper. Founded by
Joseph Pulitzer in the 1800s, the paper was owned by Pulitzer Publishing until
2005, when the company was acquired by Lee Enterprises. The company also owns
the Suburban Journals, a collection of local newspapers. The daily Belleville
News Democrat, published in Belleville, Illinois, serves many Illinois
communities in the St. Louis Metro Area.
The St. Louis Business Journal, published weekly on Fridays, covers the region's
business news.
In 1900, St. Louis had at least five daily newspapers: the St. Louis
Globe-Democrat and the St. Louis Republic in the morning, and the Post-Dispatch
and Star-Chronicle in the afternoon, as well as the German-language Westlische
Post. One by one, these papers folded or consolidated. The Post-Dispatch bought
out its remaining afternoon competitor, the Star-Times, in 1951. Until the
mid-1980s, the morning Globe-Democrat, which was editorially more conservative
than the Post-Dispatch, served as the Post's main rival. Although the
Post-Dispatch and the Globe-Democrat maintained a joint operating agreement for
years, the Globe-Democrat folded shortly after the Post-Dispatch switched from
afternoon to morning publication.
The city's main weekly newpspaper is the Suburban Journal and the primary
alternative weekly publication is the Riverfront Times. A variety of glossy
monthly and quarterly publications cover topics such as local history, cuisine,
and lifestyles. St. Louis is also home to the nation's last remaining
metropolitan journalism review, the St. Louis Journalism Review, based at
Webster University in the suburb of Webster Groves.
The St. Louis metro area is served by a wide variety of local television
stations, and is the fourteenth largest designated market area (DMA) in the U.
S., with 1,522,380 homes (1.51% of the total U.S.). The major network television
affiliates are KTVI 2 (FOX), KMOV 4 (CBS), KSDK 5 (NBC), KETC 9 (PBS), KPLR 11
(CW), KDNL 30 (ABC), and WRBU 46 (MNTV).
The region's radio airwaves offer a variety of locally produced programming.
KMOX (1120 AM), which pioneered the call-in talk radio format in the 1960s,
retains significant regional influence due to its 50,000-watt clear-channel
signal and an unusually active newsroom operation. Public radio station KWMU
(90.7 FM), an NPR affiliate, also provides extensive, locally produced
programming treating social issues, politics, and the arts. St. Louis is one of
only a handful of U. S. cities to have its own independent community radio
station, KDHX (88.1 FM), which features a wide range of music and talk from
local residents. Washington University in St. Louis' college radio station, KWUR
(90.3 FM), also provides community broadcasting and an eclectic mix of
underground music, although with an effective radiated power of only ten watts,
it is only heard on the campus and in the immediately adjacent neighborhoods.
Economy
St. Louis punches above its weight as a center for corporate headquarters. Beer
commercials have made the city well known as the home of Anheuser-Busch
Breweries. Three local brokerages, A.G. Edwards, Stifel Nicolaus, and Edward
Jones, as well as online brokerage firm Scottrade, have grown into dominant
players on the national financial landscape. It is also the site for the
headquarters of Energizer, the battery company. Neighboring suburbs host
Monsanto, formerly a chemical company and now a leader in genetically modified
crops, and Solutia, the former Monsanto chemical division that was spun off as a
separate company in 1997. Express Scripts, a pharmaceutical benefits management
firm, has its corporate headquarters in the suburbs of St. Louis and recently
announced plans to construct its new headquarters near the campus of the
University of Missouri-St. Louis. Hardee's corporate headquarters lies in the
metro area. Enterprise Rent-A-Car is headquartered in Clayton. Emerson Electric
is headquartered in the north side of St. Louis. Charter Communications, the
nation's fourth largest broadband communications company, is headquartered in
the St. Louis suburb of Town and Country.
In recent years, however, several longtime corporate pillars have left St.
Louis. St. Louis was the corporate headquarters of McDonnell-Douglas prior to
its 1997 merger with Boeing. Upon the merger, the area became the headquarters
for Boeing's $27 billion-per-year Integrated Defense Systems division and its
company-wide Phantom Works R&D operation. Locally, Boeing manufactures the
F/A-18 Super Hornet and JDAM smart bombs, and has developed — at times secretly
— several unmanned combat air vehicles (UCAVs). However, when Boeing relocated
its corporate headquarters from Seattle, Washington in 2001, it moved to Chicago
— St. Louis was not one of the final candidates.Mallinckrodt headquatered in the
St. Louis region for over 130 years was pruchased by Tyco International in 2000.
Many of the former Mallinckrodt facilities are still in operation by Tyco in the
St. Louis suburb of Hazelwood, Missouri.
Southwestern Bell Company (SBC), now AT&T, relocated to San Antonio in 1993, and
military contractor General Dynamics (moved to Washington, D.C.). All major St.
Louis banks have been purchased by out-of-town banks. The city retains a Federal
Reserve Bank. In the Retail industry The May Department Stores Company, which
owned Famous-Barr as well the legendary Marshall Field's, was purchased
Federated Department Stores in 2005.
St. Louis was the corporate headquarters for animal feed and human-food maker
Ralston Purina. After divesting all of its businesses except the pet food
division, Nestle S.A., the world's largest food company acquired it in 2001.
Several of the divested business still remain in St. Louis including Energizer,
Ralcorp and Protein Technologies, Inc. n/k/a Solae. Trans World Airlines
(acquired by American Airlines, which then dismantled TWA's St. Louis hub),
telecommunications
St. Louis remains home to railway car plants; two DaimlerChrysler plants in the
nearby suburb of Fenton, where minivans and pickup trucks are built; a General
Motors plant in suburban Wentzville; and a Ford Motor Company plant in
Hazelwood, where SUVs are built.
The region has built up a formidable health care industry. This is dominated by
BJC HealthCare, which operates Barnes-Jewish Hospital and St. Louis Children's
Hospital, plus eleven others. BJC benefits from a symbiotic relationship with
Washington University in St. Louis' School of Medicine, which is a major center
of medical research. Other major players include SSM Health Care, St. John's
Mercy, and the Tenet Healthcare Corporation chain. In addition there is Saint
Louis University School of Medicine which is a leader in several areas of
medical research and works with hospitals including Cardinal Glennon Children's
Hospital and Saint Louis University Hospital. St. Louis is also home to two
companies that produce radiation therapy planning software, CMS, Inc. and
Multidata Systems International.
Although local housing costs have risen in recent years, they are still
significantly below the national average, and are a revelation to new arrivals
from the coasts. From the mid-1990s onward, the City of St. Louis itself has
seen a major surge in housing rehabilitation as well as new construction on
cleared sites. As a rule, other costs of living also are at or below the
national average. Wages tend to reflect these facts, likewise being at or
slightly below the average.
Demography
Social changes in the twentieth century influenced radically the sorts of people
who live in St. Louis now. From 1810, the date of the first Federal census, to
1880, the population totals include with the city of St. Louis the population of
St. Louis County, which in 1880 was separately enumerated at 31,888 people.
In 1910, 687,029 people lived in the city. 125,706 foreign-born people were
residents in 1910. 47,765 of those persons were natives of the German Empire. In
1910, 11.3 per cent of the foreign-born people were of Irish nativity, 4.1
percent of English, 12.3 of Russian, 6 of Italian, and 8.8 of Austrian. 43,960
African Americans composed 6.4% of the total population.
Like other large American cities, St. Louis experienced a large population shift
to the suburbs in the twentieth century; first because of increased demand for
new housing following the Second World War, and later in response to demographic
changes ("white flight"), whether real or perceived, in existing neighborhoods.
Populations of city and county: 1810, 5,667; 1820, 10,049; 1830, 14,145; 1840,
35,979; 1850, 104,978; 1860, 190,524; 1870, 351,189.
City Population
As of the censusGR2 of 2000, there were 348,189 people, 147,076 households, and
76,920 families residing in the city. The population density was 2,171.2/km²
(5,622.9/mi²). There were 176,354 housing units at an average density of
1,099.7/km² (2,847.9/mi²). The racial makeup of the city of St. Louis (as
separate and distinct from St. Louis County and the rest of the MSA) was 51.20%
African American, 43.85% White, 1.98% Asian, 0.27% Native American, 0.03%
Pacific Islander, 0.80% from other ethnic groups, and 1.88% of two or more
ethnicities. Hispanic or Latino of any ethnic group were 2.02% of the
population. Historically, North St. Louis City has been primarily African
American while South St. Louis City has been primarily White. Since the
mid-1990s, an estimated 30,000 - 40,000 Bosnian immigrants have settled in the
St. Louis metropolitan area, primarily concentrated in the Bevo neighborhood of
south St. Louis and adjacent parts of St. Louis County.
There are 147,076 households, out of which 25.4% have children under the age of
18 living with them, 26.2% were married couples living together, 21.3% had a
female householder with no husband present, and 47.7% were non-families. 40.3%
of all households were made up of individuals and 12.9% had someone living alone
who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.30 and the
average family size was 3.19.
In the city the population was spread out with 25.7% under the age of 18, 10.6%
from 18 to 24, 30.9% from 25 to 44, 19.1% from 45 to 64, and 13.7% who were 65
years of age or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females there
were 88.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 84.2 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $29,156, and the median income
for a family was $32,585. Males had a median income of $31,106 versus $26,987
for females. The per capita income for the city was $18,108.
Law and government
The City of St. Louis has a mayor-council type government, with the legislative
authority vested in a Board of Aldermen and the mayor having primary executive
authority. The Board of Aldermen is made up of 28 members (one elected from each
of the city's wards) plus a board president who is elected city-wide. Unlike
many other cities, the mayor shares some executive authority with 9 other
independent citywide elected officials, including a treasurer, comptroller, and
collector of revenue. These officials have significant influence. By custom and
tradition the individual aldermen have a great deal of influence over decisions
impacting the ward they represent on matters ranging from zoning changes, to
street resurfacing.
Municipal elections in St. Louis city are held in odd numbered years, with the
primary elections in March and the general election in April. The mayor is
elected in odd numbered years following the United States Presidential Election,
as are the aldermen representing odd-numbered wards. The President of the Board
of Aldermen and the aldermen from even-numbered wards are elected in the
off-years. The Democratic Party has dominated St. Louis city politics for
decades. The city has not had a Republican mayor since the 1940s and the last
time a Republican was elected to another city-wide office was in the 1970s. As
of 2006, 27 of the city's 28 Aldermen are Democrats.
Although St. Louis City and County separated in 1876, some mechanisms have been
put in place for joint funding management and funding of regional assets. The
St. Louis Zoo-Museum district collects property taxes from residents of both St.
Louis City and County and the funds are used to support cultural instituions
including the St. Louis Zoo, St. Louis Art Museum and the Missouri Botanical
Gardens. Similarly, the Metropolitan Sewer District provides sanitary and storm
sewer service to the city and much of St. Louis County. The Bi-State Development
Agency (now known as Metro) runs the region's Metrolink light rail system and
bus system.
The City of St. Louis is split roughly in half north to south by Missouri's
first and third U.S. Congressional districts. Each district also includes a
significant portion of St. Louis County. The City of St. Louis includes all of 9
Missouri House of Representatives districts and a portion of two others. Two
Missouri State Senate districts are entirely within the city's boundaries and a
third district is split between St. Louis City and County.
"The Most Dangerous City:" Crime and social issues
A recent statistical analysis has rechristened the Gateway City with a
distinction no city ever wants. The city has regained its 2002 ranking as the
most dangerous city in America, according to statistical analysis firm Morgan
Quitno. When compared with other metropolitan areas, Detroit attains the dubious
distinction. Some argue rankings which compare metropolitan statistical areas
are a more accurate indicator of the region's health and stability, and better
indicate the relative safety of the St. Louis MSA. Some point to a recent crisis
week-long power crisis as indicative of Saint Louis' safety. Not a single
incident of looting reported during the July, 2006 outage which left nearly a
million residents without power for a week due to what was considered a "once in
a century" severe thunderstorm, causing fallen trees and limbs throughout the
MSA to down power lines.
For the past 25 years, St. Louis has a number of successful integrated
neighborhoods in the "central corridor" stretching from Soulard, home of the
nation's second largest annual Mardi Gras Festival and Parade, The National
Historic District, Lafayette Square near the Mississippi River and the Central
West End near Forest Park. Overall, however, the city's African-American
population is concentrated in north St. Louis city. While some north St. Louis
neighborhoods such as Baden and Penrose are stable and have a large number of
middle-class residents, many isolated, northside neighborhoods suffer from
poverty, unemployment, crime and dilapidated housing. More recently, a number of
near southside neighborhoods, especially around Tower Grove Park, have also
successfully integrated. These areas have seen an influx of residents of various
ethnicities, including Vietnamese and other immigrant groups. Since the
upheavals in the Balkans, many Bosnian refugees have been settled in south St.
Louis City, particularly in the Bevo neighborhood. They have been responsible
for an upturn in the economic situation there as they have opened stores and
restaurants and other businesses. Many of the suburbs in north St. Louis County
became more integrated during the 1990's; however, the suburbs of South St.
Louis County and the wealthier suburbs of West St. Louis county are primarily
European-American. Of the African-American residents in the City, about half
live north of Delmar Boulevard, the traditional boundary for "North St. Louis."
The St. Louis area has made tremendous strides in remedying pollution compared
to other MSAs. The state of Missouri requires gasoline stations in the metro
area to sell special, reformulated gasoline. Most cars owned by residents of St.
Louis and the counties of St. Louis, St. Charles, Jefferson, and Franklin must
pass an automobile pollution test every other year.
As of July 1, 2005, the city of St. Louis extended healthcare benefits to the
domestic partners of all city employees, including same-sex partners and others
living in committed but unmarried relationships, as well as children of such
families.
Education
Public education
Within the city proper, the 168-year-old St. Louis Public School District
controls the 92 schools in the public school system. With over 38,000 students,
the district is the largest in the state of Missouri and the 108th largest in
the nation. The district has recently come under fire for the firing of
superintendent Dr. Creg E. Williams (July 2006). Dr. Diana Bourisaw was hired in
July 2006 as his replacement. The district is currently aggressively pushing
ahead with its 2011 initiative, which calls for improved graduation rates,
higher test scores, and stronger student attendance. Many smaller public
districts are defined throughout the wider St. Louis area. The MAP, or Missouri
Assessment Program, is a system of standardized tests which students take
yearly; not so much a measure of students' individual aptitude as an overall
assessment of their schools and districts, scores are used as indicators of the
institutions' efficiency, and many factors, especially distribution of public
funds, are determined based on student performance.
Private education
St. Louis is known for its abundance of private Catholic high schools, the
majority of which are in the County (see St. Louis County High Schools).
However, there are a few in the bounds of the city proper, including St.
Elizabeth Academy, Rosati Kain High School, Saint Louis University High School,
and St. Mary's High School. The city also has a number of archdiocesan high
schools as well.
Colleges and universities
St. Louis also holds a unique place in the establishment of American colleges
and universities. The city is home to the internationally recognized Washington
University, a private research university ranked 12th in the nation by U.S. News
and World Report well known for prestigious schools of Medicine, Architecture
and Social work. The university's School of Law, founded in 1867, is the oldest
continuously operating private law school west of the Mississippi River. The
oldest university west of the Mississippi River, Saint Louis University, was
founded in 1818. The St. Louis metropolitan area is also home to at least 26
other institutions of higher learning. The St. Louis metropolitan region
contains a vibrant and energetic college student population. With almost 10% of
its population enrolled in an institution of higher education, St. Louis has a
plethora of institutions of higher learning.
Infrastructure
Medicine
Because of its colleges, hospitals, and companies like Monsanto, St. Louis is
respected as a center of medicine and biotechnology. Barnes-Jewish Hospital, in
conjunction with Washington University School of Medicine, is the fifth largest
in the world, while the School of Medicine consistently ranks in the top 5
nationally. Washington University Medical School and Barnes-Jewish Health Care
operate the new and well-respected Siteman Cancer Center. Saint Louis University
Medical School awarded the first medical degree west of the Mississippi River;
it operates the Saint Louis University Hospital and SSM Cardinal Glennon
Children's Hospital, as well as a cancer center and a bioethics institute.
Transportation
Like most American cities, the main method of transportation is the automobile.
Use of the automobile is supported by the existence of many limited-access
interstate highways (I-70, I-55, I-44, I-64, I-255, I-170, and I-270), as well
as numerous state and county highways.
Lambert-St. Louis International Airport is located in northwest St. Louis
County, but is owned and operated by the city of St. Louis. American Airlines
and Southwest Airlines have the greatest number of flights serving the airport.
MidAmerica St. Louis Airport is located well east of the city in Illinois
adjacent to Scott Air Force Base. Contructed as a reliever airport to Lambert,
it has failed to attract any major airlines, primarily due to its distance from
downtown and low population in its immediate vicinity. Spirit of Saint Louis
Airport, located in nearby Chesterfield, Missouri is the area's general aviation
airport.
Mass transit is provided in two forms, both of which are controlled by Metro St.
Louis (formerly known as the Bi-State Development Agency): the city bus system
and Metrolink, a light-rail train system that connects the airport to downtown
and the Metro East (extending as far east as Scott Air Force Base near Shiloh,
Illinois) and in Mid-County into Clayton, the county seat for St. Louis County,
and terminating in Shrewsbury.
Passenger train service is also available through a new Amtrak station that
opened in December, 2004. This station is a precursor of the upcoming
Multi-Modal (transportation) Station, the ground-breaking for which is scheduled
for March 30, 2006. Other permanent train stations exist in
the suburb of Kirkwood and nearby Alton, Illinois.
St. Louis once had a moderately extensive streetcar system which ended in 1966.
The Metrolink expansion mirrors the original pathways. A movement is afoot to
reinstate limited trolley service.