insiders know ...

[november 2024 roommates]

SO, roomiematch.com's St. Louis roommate rundown:

Is St. Louis your Gateway to the West? Or would you rather just stay here?

Framed by the Mississippi and Missouri rivers, thoroughly dabbled with green, and finished with the world's tallest national monument, living in St. Louis with roommates might be your landscape instead.

You could live practically right under it . . . for not that much? The Gateway Arch is on the riverfront downtown near the Federal courthouse, where a whole lot of old factory and warehouses of the past have been revitalized into the living space of now.

All overlooking the Mississippi.

The cost of living in St. Louis is still charmingly low, especially for how populated it is. And how mobile.

MetroLink is the light rail system, with a red and blue lines going to many destinations within the city then onward to a few suburban spots. There are also many MetroBuses. While cars are still the most common way St. Louis gets around, many manage less convenient more crowded places by driving to more convenient Metro stations then riding the rails the rest of the way . . .

. . . to the Opera? Then let them eat cake too. The Opera Theatre of Saint Louis throws one of the country's most famous ongoing summer music festivals, featuring four operas every season, accompanied by the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra.

Gooey butter cake is popular all over, particularly from German bakeries. You'll also love the local soul food, usually with smoked meat. Don't miss the concrete frozen custard, or the foot-long soft pretzels.

And lots of excellent Italian restaurants, especially on the Hill . . . with giant beers? Of course.

St. Louis is a larger city with a small town feel, but more than your average number of beers. And beer opinions. Opinions about brews flow just like the blues pulsing through this heartland.

Probably on a train.

Just beware of sinkholes and unexpected caves.

The rest of the St. Louis roommate lowdown:

• along the Missouri-Illinois border and the Mississippi River, with about 300,000 in the city, about 3 million greater metro
• Summers are very hot and humid, extreme temperatures in winter are rare, but it does get cold with occasional snow. Thunderstorms and tornadoes happen, beware of flooding during storms or when a lot of snow is melting.
• hosts the St. Louis Blues (NHL), St. Louis Cardinals (MLB), St. Louis City SC (MLS), and the St. Louis City SC (MLS)
• St. Louis was previously anchored in beer and manufacturing, but now features a diverse economy with many Fortune 500 companies, federal agencies, and major research universities focusing on medical and biotechnologies.
• home to Deaconess College of Nursing, Harris-Stowe State University, McKendree College, Missouri Baptist College, Principia College, Fortbonne College, Lindenwood College, Maryville University, Parks College - Saint Louis University, St. Louis College of Pharmacy, Saint Louis University, Southern Illinois University, University of Missouri, Washington University, and Webster University

After you're settled down, you and your roommates should experience St. Louis':

• Anheuser-Busch Brewery: You and your roommates can see the historic Clydesdale horses and stables while drinking free beer samples where they're making beer for the whole mid-west. Parts of this place are still here from the 1860s.
• Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis: More mosaic art here than anywhere. Also burial crypts and sculpture.
• Forest Park: Almost 1400 acres, offering almost everything outdoors and sporting along with the Saint Louis Science Center, the Saint Louis Art Museum (SLAM), the Missouri History Museum, and Saint Louis Zoo . . . all free admission!
• Missouri Botanical Garden: National Historic Landmark, plant research facility, and one of the oldest botanical gardens in the country. And, if you and your roommates can show proof of residency you can get in free for Early Morning Walking Hours and Zoo-Museum District Resident Free Hours! But no pets or picnicking, this is a walking only experience. Please don't walk on the garden beds or miss the Climatron.
• St. Louis Symphony Orchestra: Since 1880, now the second oldest professional orchestra in the country. Variety of ways you and your roommates could get involved (not just buying tickets). They also perform free throughout various communities in various public parks for all.
• Opera Theatre of Saint Louis: Since 1976. In addition to the summer festival, now offering 50 free seats at every performance during their regular season. First come first served, everyone is welcome, and you and your roommates should feel encouraged to discover your own enjoyment of opera, for free.
• Eads Bridge: Walk across while the sun sets over the Arch and marvel at the beauty of your city.

Here's the city of St. Louis' official .gov, the services they might provide you, just a complete index right there.

Notes

1.   The non-traditional roommate rent average for this city we've experienced over the last 3 years. We can't predict future rental availability, because we're neither in control of any rental market nor psychic, sorry!

But in most cities most of the time, the recent and relatively recent past are the best predictors.


2.   This idea came from smartasset.com's ranking of what a roommate saves you in 50 cities. They ranked where roommates will save you the most money, based on the average cost of a 1BR as opposed to a 2BR ÷ 2. Unsurprisingly, the more expensive the city, the more you can save, but the savings are significant in all larger metros. So we got the data for the rest of our cities from Zumper too.

This is really the minimum you could save, as you could live with more than one roommate, split more services, share food or other supplies, etc. More sharing tends to lead to more savings too, as per our roommate roadmap.

As per the rest of the description at the top of this page, we're calling this "traditional" roommate rent.


3.   From zumper.com.


4.   Directly quoted from the Trust for Public Land's parkland rating system.

"The ParkScore index awards each city up to 100 points for acreage based on the average of two equally weighted measures: median park size and parkland as a percentage of city area. Factoring park acreage into each city’s ParkScore rating helps account for the importance of larger “destination parks” that serve many users who live farther than ten minutes’ walking distance."

While each city's rundown already includes their individual ParkScore, nature lovers might like to see all roommate cities ranked for parkland.


5.   Directly quoted from Walk Score's Cities and Neighborhoods Ranking. They've ranked "more than 2,800 cities and over 10,000 neighborhoods so you can find a walkable home or apartment."

While each city's rundown already includes their individual Walk Score, dedicated pedestrians might like to see all roommate cities ranked for walkability.


6.   From various lists here on our own best roommate cities.


7.   From hoodmaps.com: a collaborative map where residents use tags describing social situations you're likely to find. Other users can thumb up or down, so the largest tags have been thumbed up the most.