Working for WashU


Living in St. Louis

  • St. Louis Public and Private Schools
    Looking for the right school for your child? Published annually by St. Louis Magazine, these charts may be a good place to start. They feature important data such as average ACT scores, percentage of teachers with advanced degrees, and average spending per student.
  • Exploring life in the City of St. Louis
    Don’t miss this definitive guide to the city’s 79 distinct neighborhoods (and histories of 27 historic neighborhoods), each with its own unique lifestyle.
  • St. Louis County Municipalities
    A list of all municipalities in the county and respective websites.

About St. Louis

Situated at the confluence of two great North American rivers — the Mississippi and the Missouri — the St. Louis region has been a favored destination since Lewis and Clark began their historic westward “Corps of Discovery” from the City in 1804.

Consistently ranked among the nation’s most affordable and best places to live and raise families, the St. Louis region offers many opportunities to watch or participate in a wide range of sports, recreational activities and cultural events.

Today, the pioneers of St. Louis are the engineers, scientists, business leaders, educators, artists and other innovative and creative professionals who are working at the forefront of a multitude of fields and endeavors. Thanks in large part to Washington University, other regional universities and key Fortune 500 corporations; St. Louis has become a national hub for important research and business development, especially in the fields of biotechnology and plant science.

Washington University is a sponsor institution of the Cortex District, the Midwest’s premier innovation hub of bioscience and technology research, development and commercialization, serving as the anchor of St. Louis’ growing ecosystem for innovative startup programs and established companies. Since its founding in 2002, $500 million has been invested in developing the district and another $2 billion has been committed to its full build out. Once complete, Cortex will offer 4 million square feet of facilities.


A Key Cultural Destination

The St. Louis region is one of the Midwest’s key cultural destinations, boasting an abundance of museums, music and theatre venues and sporting events, fine dining and shopping districts. Here’s just a small sampling of what the region offers:

  • The iconic Gateway Archis located along the Mississippi River in Jefferson Memorial Park and is operated by the National Park Service. The arch grounds are one of the most visited sites in the country, attracting over 1.5 million visitors a year. The 630-foot monument is the world’s tallest arch and the tallest man-made monument in the Western Hemisphere. Underneath the Arch is the extensive Museum of Westward Expansion (currently undergoing renovations).
  • Forest Park, site of the 1904 World’s Fair and Olympics, is located just east of the Danforth Campus and just west of the Medical Campus. Larger than New York’s Central Park, it offers 1,400 acres of paths, trails and land for in-line skating, biking, walking, running, golf, tennis, and more. The Saint Louis Art Museum, the Saint Louis Zoo, the Missouri History Museum, and the St. Louis Science Center are all located at Forest Park.
  • Professional baseball (Cardinals) and hockey (Blues) teams.
  • Many professional theatre and music companies and venues, including the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra, Opera Theatre of St. Louis, Dance St. Louis, the MUNY in Forest Park, Verizon Wireless Amphitheater, the Pageant, and the historic Fox Theatre, the anchor institution behind a revitalized Grand Center arts district located just minutes from the Washington University campus
  • The Missouri Botanical Garden is the first of its kind established in the United States. A national historic landmark, “the Garden,” as it is affectionately known, includes plant species from around the world as well as a Japanese Garden and the Climatron, a geodesic dome inspired by the work of R. Buckminster Fuller.
  • Not far from St. Louis’ urban core are the beautiful rolling hills of the Ozark Mountain region and outdoor activities such as hiking, canoeing and spelunking in some of Missouri’s more than 7,000 caves.
  • World-class shopping and dining locations are diverse and historic. Visitors and residents alike enjoy the fully renovated 1894 Union Station, the modern and close-to-campus St. Louis Galleria mall and several eclectic and historic neighborhood districts including nearby Clayton, Laclede’s Landing along the Mississippi riverfront, Soulard (one of the city’s oldest neighborhoods), the “Hill,” a traditionally Italian neighborhood, the Central West End near the university’s medical center, and the University City Loop, considered one of the top ten downtown streets in the country. It is just a short walk from the Danforth Campus.
  • MetroLink, a light rail system, links Lambert Airport to the Danforth Campus, the Washington University Medical Center, North Campus and downtown St. Louis, in addition to the Metro East region of Illinois.