General Information

• About.com: St. Louis
• www.stlouis.about.com
• This St. Louis-centric page is a fairly new addition to About.com’s compendium of local expertise. While it doesn’t contain as much information as About.com’s more well- established city pages, it does have some nice insider info about visiting St. Louis on the cheap and finding fun things to do with the family. The frequently updated front page is a great place to find up-to-the-minute event listings.

• City of St. Louis Community Information Network
• http://stlouis.missouri.org
• The city’s official website is perhaps more useful to residents than to visitors. Still, there is some great background reading to be found here. Of particular note is the History & Heritage section, which is rich with urban-planning and genealogy documents.

• Explore St. Louis
• www.explorestlouis.com
• Explore St. Louis is the official site of the St. Louis Convention & Visitors Commission. The site received a total revamping in the past year or so, and now it is both well designed and super helpful. This is a great place to find hotel information, restaurant listings, kid-friendly events, and more. The site also provides information for business travelers and devotes a page to LGBT visitors.

• International Institute of St. Louis
• www.iistl.org
• This is the website for an absolutely vital St. Louis institution. The International Institute provides invaluable support for the city’s immigrant communities, offering everything from English classes to job-placement services. Visitors will find information on events and volunteering opportunities, as well as plenty of background information on the institute itself.

• St. Louis Guide
• www.stlouis.com
• The layout of this St. Louis tourist site practically screams “Visit our sponsors!” But there are still plenty of good listings here, and the site does a nice job of collecting and organizing dozens of helpful links. It is recommended that you double-check restaurant opinions on a more objective website, such as www.saucemagazine.com.

• St. Louis Indymedia
• www.stlimc.org
• St. Louis Indymedia is a progressive site covering local and regional news. All information is filtered through a liberal lens, and news items tend to focus on key human-rights and environmental issues. This is a great resource for visitors looking for insight into St. Louis’s underground sociopolitical culture. The Indymedia group formed in protest to the World Trade Organization (WTO).

• STL Punk
• www.stlpunk.com
• This punk-scene stalwart promises a website overhaul “coming soon.” But even if it doesn’t have all the bells and whistles of some sites, STL Punk is a great place for information on everything from concerts to punk-rock boutiques and tattoo parlors. It’s also a sounding board for up-and-coming rockers, who can post their songs to the site and solicit comments from listeners.

• Toasted Rav
• www.toastedrav.com
• Toasted Rav (named after that legendary St. Louis appetizer, toasted ravioli) is a fabulous new site that’s full of reviews, forums, advice, and photos. Created by (and directed toward) younger residents and visitors, Toasted Rav is the perfect place to find a nightclub recommendation or to get the scoop on a trendy new boutique.

Event Listings

• The Partnership for Downtown St. Louis Events Calendar
• www.downtownstl.org/EventsCalendar_21.aspx
• The Partnership for Downtown St. Louis provides a nice, straightforward presentation of local events. Because the Partnership focuses on the ongoing revitalization of downtown, most of the listed events take place near the city center. This makes the website a worthwhile stop for visitors staying downtown.

• Riverfront Times Events Calendar
• www.riverfronttimes.com/promotions/events
• This is one of the best places to find local goings-on. The Riverfront Times, the city’s alt-weekly, organizes events in an easily navigable fashion. You’ll find mainstream listings here, but also plenty of under-the- radar events. Many of the listings also include snappy editorials from the RFT staff.

• St. Louis Post-Dispatch Events Calendar
• www.stltoday.com/calendar
• St. Louis’s daily newspaper produces this online events calendar. The events featured here are mainstream activities—think art exhibits, symphony concerts and kid-friendly festivals.

St. Louis Blogs

St. Louis’s blog culture seems to grow richer and more expansive with each passing week. There are thousands of St. Louis–area bloggers. The very best shed new light on the Gateway City, either by digging deeper than some of the area’s journalists or by offering excellent commentary.

• ArchPundit
• www.blogsaintlouis.com
• The eponymous blogger ArchPundit does a nice job rounding up local, regional, and state politics. ArchPundit’s left-leaning, Democratic perspective makes the blog particularly popular in St. Louis—widely considered a blue island in a red state.

• Built St. Louis
• www.builtstlouis.net/arch.html
• Built St. Louis is a beautiful, passionately written blog that makes a fine case for the future of urban St. Louis. This blog tracks the history of some of the city’s most important buildings. It also issues warnings about buildings that are about to fall to the wrecking ball—either because of neglect or because of the city government’s seemingly endless obsession with eminent domain.

• The Ecology of Absence
• http://ecoabsence.blogspot.com
• The Ecology of Absence focuses on the tragedies and triumphs of the city’s north side. Blogger Michael Allen posts beautiful photos and well-researched information about many of the area’s historic buildings.

• 52nd City
• http://blog.52ndcity.com
• The blog’s name is a tongue-in-cheek reference to St. Louis’s standing among the nation’s cities, but the blog itself is full of love for STL. Written by and for a young, hip group of St. Louisans, 52nd City often offers great insight about local politics. Plus, the site is frequently updated to include events— making 52nd City a valuable resource for visitors.

• Urban Review STL
• www.urbanreviewstl.com
• Steve Patterson’s Urban Review STL is a must-read for local politicians and journalists. Patterson takes to the street (an avid cyclist, he’s usually on two wheels) to expose urban blight and make recommendations for a healthier, more livable city. Patterson’s devotion to the city is inspiring—and if he ever sounds pissed off, it’s likely very justified.

• Viva El Birdos
• www.vivaelbirdos.com
• Even for non-rabid Cardinals fans, Viva El Birdos is a fantastic read. Site founder L. Boros has assembled a gifted team of sports writers, and the site’s good sense of humor recalls sports-blog powerhouse Deadspin.com. Sabermetrics fans will find plenty to geek out about.

© Brooke S. Foster from Moon St. Louis, 1st Edition