Apartments for Rent in St. Louis, MO

Known as the Gateway to the West, St. Louis made its most memorable mark in history when it hosted The World’s Fair over a century ago, and again when W.C. Handy wrote the song “St. Louis Blues” shortly after. Today, the good times are still rolling, and St. Louis locals maintain a happening culture with plenty of live music, soul-warming southern food, nostalgic 19th-century architecture, modern public art, tight-knit neighborhoods, and midwest charm. The World’s Fair may be long over, but people are still partying down at the annual Bluesweek Festival, the Big Muddy Blues Festival, LouFest, the St. Louis Folk and Roots Festival, Q in the Lou, and Brew Fest, just to name a few. During the holiday season, St. Louis really goes all-out, with a Thanksgiving Day Parade, downtown lights, Macy’s Festival of Lights, Wild Lights at the zoo, outdoor skating in Forest Park, and the Gardenland Express holiday train at the Missouri Botanical Gardens.

Of course, there’s plenty to do between festivals as well, and to be a true-Lou-local you’ll need to check a few things off the St. Louis bucket list: 1) Gorge on mouth-watering ribs at Pappy’s Smokehouse; 2) see the St. Louis Blues NHL team play at the Scottrade Center; 3) check out the live music scene at 1860’s Saloon, Backstreet Jazz & Blues Club, and/or BB’s Jazz, Blues & Soups 4) try the Ted Drewes “Concrete”, a frozen custard sensation featured on several Food Network shows, including Man v. Food and Bobby Flay’s The Best Thing I Ever Ate.

As of 2013, the largest employers in St. Louis are BJC Healthcare, Boeing Defense, Space & Security, Washington University, Scott Air Force Base, SSM Health, Mercy, Schnuck Markets, and AT&T. The metro area is home to nine Fortune 500 companies, including Peabody Energy, Express Scripts, Emerson Electric, Monsanto, Reinsurance Group of America, Centene (healthcare enterprise), Ameren (power and energy), Graybar Electric, and Edward Jones Investments. Other prominent companies include Anheuser-Busch, Arch Coal, Hardee’s, HOK (an architecture and engineering firm), and Purina.