ST. LOUIS

CASH NEEDS

Like any city, carry some cash around for tips & emergencies. Cash is especially important if you're headed to a baseball, hockey, or soccer game and need to park. Otherwise, you'll be able to use your cards pretty much anywhere.

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TIPPING

Tipping expectations are in line with what you'd expect elsewhere in the US. See below for some standard guidelines:

• Waitresses (including for bottle service): ~20% with variation based on service

• Drivers: 10-20% depending on service

• Spa: 15-20% depending on service

• Valets, housekeeping, bellmen: A few dollars per day or per service

• Drink servers (even if the drinks are free): A few dollars per drink, with more on the first round or if you want frequent service

• Dealers: For every game besides poker, tip a few dollars every so often, a few percent when you leave, or ask if they'd like a "dealer bet." Poker should be higher because the dealer greatly impacts the game and earns much of their pay from tips

This is a touchy subject because St. Louis gets a really bad rap in the press. I'm not going to lie and say crime doesn't happen here, but I will argue that the dangerous reputation of St. Louis is over-inflated for a couple of reasons.

 

The first has to do with the dirty art of statistics. The "city" of St. Louis is defined narrowly, only including downtown & just beyond. Even parts of town, like Clayton, that feel like the city, are outside the boundaries and counted as STL County. Compare this to most other metro areas, which include more suburban-type locations in their city boundaries. Since crime is typically more prevalent in urban areas, this hyper-concentrates STL's crime statistics (i.e., there's no dilutive effect from the suburbs that you see in other cities' statistics.) Add to this that STL has a downtown area that isn't as residential as other metro areas, and you further drive up per capita statistics. To put this in numbers, the city population of 300k is only 10% of the metro area's total population of 3 million.

 

The second reason is that crime, even within the actual city, is very area-specific. From one neighborhood to the next, the dynamics can change drastically. This isn't unique to St. Louis; the difference is St. Louis has many unique neighborhoods & high-crime spots are less notorious with non-locals than somewhere like the South Side of Chicago or Compton in LA.

 

So what does this mean as a tourist? I can give you my perspective as someone that lived in STL until college. I never realized the reputation that St. Louis had until I heard the opinions of people who weren't from the city. I grew up in the suburbs where it wouldn't be a problem if you left your doors unlocked; we did all of the tourist things in the city, and I never felt unsafe. I'd say that's a good idea to stick to as a visitor. If you plan to stay in the tourist areas, you won't have to worry about not knowing the nuances of different neighborhoods. I would also say stay smart as you would in any major urban area; don’t make yourself a target (by being overly intoxicated or flashing valuables) and don't walk at night, especially alone (call a rideshare instead).

 

Last note, here. Beyond planning to stick to the tourist areas, knowing which areas to avoid can be useful. What caused these divides & why they persist are topics beyond the scope of this blog, but the fact is, this can be an easy rule of thumb to stick to for someone unfamiliar with the city:

• Historically, there has been a divide along Delmar, with the neighborhoods to the north seeing more crime

• East St. Louis, across the river in Illinois, is also known for heightened crime and less-than-savory strip clubs

• Tower Grove is generally considered safe by day but might be somewhere to avoid at night

 

If you don't believe me or just want a second opinion on all this, check out this page from the city's official site.