Getting around STL

Hi,

I need some facts about getting around St. Louis. Namely: I will be visiting the city and staying at a hotel by the airport. What would be the best way to get to, say, the Wash. U. campus or the Central West End (in particular, Euclid and Delmar)? In particular, how might one best do this on a weekday evening?

Would you advise taking the train? To get to Wash. U., I’d need to transfer lines, which appears to add about 20 minutes to the trip. (Right?) To get to the CWE (or the part of it I plan to go to), I’d need to take a bus too. Will that be horrifying? I’ve heard many mentions of the neighborhood around SLU being “dicey.” But I have been there before, in the afternoon, and it was fine, obviously. If I were to walk from something called “Forest Park Metrolink” to Wash. U., will I be killed? Is it way too far to walk?

Would a cab be the way to go? It looks like it’s about $25 one-way to Wash. U. and probably $30 to the CWE. Is this really how much it costs? Do they have a lot of cabs in St. Louis? In these parts of town? On like a Thursday night? But also, I don’t want to spend $60 just to be shuttled around a small part of Missouri.

Where do gays in St. Louis go? Are they allowed there now? I’ll have a car over the weekend. So if there are any place that gays go to that are not accessible via public transportation, you should tell me what those are too. Or even regular places that I should drive to. But only on the weekend!

Thanks!

I’m not sure you’d need to transfer lines on MetroLink (if you call it a train locals get confused) to get from one of the airport stations to the CWE. It’s only one line in straight from the airport to that area (there’s a branch line that hits the Webster-Clayton-Shrewsbury area, but that’s not the same). My daughter rides from the UMSL campus to the CWE frequently to shop, etc and has never mentioned having to change. I’ll ask her when she gets home.

You probably don’t want to be in the SLU area alone at night. It is a bit questionable even though it’s a college campus. I hear it’s improved in recent years, but really, there’s not much there and it’s not close to the CWE at all.

The CWE is fun at any time! Tons of great stuff there packed in behind the BJC Hospital complex. The old houses are neat to look at. If you like chocolate, don’t miss Bissenger’s coffee shop!

Consider also hitting the Delmar Loop area on Delmar near the WU campus. Lots of good food and clubs and shops and other stuff there.

Also - will you be coming in to town soon? The Soulard area near downtown has a great Mardi Gras celebration coming up. Very historic area, and lots of clubs and restaurants there, too. The area is a bit south of downtown, kind of the other side of town from the CWE, but with a car you would have no problems getting there.

The first thing you need to know about getting around St. Louis is that cabs don’t cruise. You’ll have no trouble getting a cab at the airport, but anywhere else you’ll need to find a cab stand or else call a cab and wait for one to get there.

To get from the airport to Washington U., simply take MetroLink to Forest Park station. From there you can either take a nice long stroll along the Park to get to the Wash U. campus, or transfer to the Clayton/Shrewsbury (aka Blue line) and ride either one or two stops west. You shouldn’t have to wait more than 10 minutes for a transfer, and the ride on the Blue line won’t take more than 5 minutes.

To get to the Central West End, simply ride eastbound to the Central West End station and either walk north or get on a Gold Line bus, ride it up Euclid for a few blocks, and then it’s a short walk.

St. Louis U. is a little tricky. You don’t say when you’re coming, and the Grand Avenue overpass will be closing on March 14. The Grand MetroLink station will have a temporary platform, and the buses will be using detours. The area around Grand station is strictly industrial anyway, and even though it’s only about a mile from there to SLU, the locals generally consider it an urban adventure even at the best of times.

As for gay-friendly neighborhoods, the CWE is our gold standard. And I second the Delmar Loop and Soulard.

At your hotel, ask for a copy of Concierge Preferred magazine. You should find the maps inside helpful. If not, be sure to tell me.

Anyone else read the thread title as getting around slower than light? :smiley:

Somehow I saw it as “Getting around 314”… Please don’t ask

Raises hand… now I’m disappointed it’s not a thread about space travel.

FWIW:

A year or so ago I needed to visit someone in Barnes-Jewish Hospital in CWE. I flew in and took the taxi. It was a long taxi ride, kinda pricy.

I stayed at a hotel nearby and enjoyed eating out at the many restaurants in CWE. Took the metrolink to see the arch and other touristy stuff downtown.

When it was time to go home, I took the CWE metrolink to the airport. I don’t remember making any transfers, and it was easy. Seemed faster than the taxi ride. I think the drive is complicated due to one-way streets and lots of stoplights.

I wasn’t out super late at night, but after dark most of the areas I saw were not scary. Certainly not comparable to Baltimore and DC which are not comfortable for me after dark.

I bet you wouldn’t feel safe here,

East side. Did they speed through here? Crappy images

West side Check the clouds

Everyone has been here before and yet it is the least safest area. Northside Only peak cause you will get ran over for looking
Even the county isn’t safe anymore - North county

Nah, as long as your not scared, your safe

Someone else recommended this to me too. We will be in STL on March 8 (Shrove Tuesday), so I have tasked one of my travelling companions to investigate this option further.

As far as the transfer, coming in from Lambert Airport and going to Wash. U. looks like it would entail transferring at Forest Park (or any point further east) to the Shrewsbury line to Skinker. I am told that the walk from Forest Park to Wash. U. is pretty long. But maybe people disagree?

Anyways, thanks for the pointers from the St. Louisans in the thread.

It measures out to about 1.5 miles, on flat terrain. If it were me, I’d wait for the transfer.