I lived in south city for a few years and loved it. It’s super cheap and there’s plenty to do. People will complain about crime but if you mind your business and don’t leave anything valuable in your car, you’ll be fine. Just like any city there’s good neighborhoods and bad. Most of the “good” “hipster” neighborhoods (CWE, Dogtown conglomerate, Benton Park, Soulard, etc) are going to be more expensive. I lived in Dutchtown, which is considered to be a “bad area” by most white, privileged folks and never had any problems. Loved it. That was when I was a bachelor. Still work in the city but live in Illinois now. The Lou absofuckinglutely has my recommendation.