Life Without a Car

People will tell you that you can’t live in St. Louis without a car — it’s not true. I won’t deny that having a car makes things easier, but as a lifelong NYC kid — not only do I lack a car, I lack a driver’s license — I am living proof that it’s absolutely possible to survive and thrive in this city without your own form of vehicular transportation. The Central West End (CWE) is a relatively walkable neighborhood as far as St. Louis goes; almost everything important (school, restaurants and bars, the public library, Insomnia Cookies) is concentrated along Euclid Avenue. If you want a change of scenery, a quick MetroLink trip will take you to the Danforth Campus or the Delmar Loop. For destinations not on the east-west axis, Uber and Lyft are readily available and relatively affordable (and if you are licensed to operate a motor vehicle, there are carshare services you can join). And my classmates are incredibly generous with offering rides to off-campus activities or even just to Trader Joe’s! In sum, while there are definitely times where I wish the Walgreens or the Post Office was just a little bit closer, I haven’t found my lack of a car to be a hindrance.