Tom Duggan, the man behind the counter at Lemon Gem Kitchen Goods in St. Louis, Mo., was so talkative that I couldn’t help but stay and chat. He was filling in for his daughter, the shop’s owner, Beth Styles. I asked him what he liked about St. Louis and he said he once had a job that entailed a lot of travel, and that he always liked coming home. “It’s a great place to raise a family, the schools in the county are good, and the real estate is reasonable,” he said. “It’s a big small town.”

This isn’t mere aw-shucks sentiment — as someone who grew up in Illinois, I can attest to the fundamental, if understated, truth of what Mr. Duggan said. St. Louis has all you could want in a city — museums, green spaces, good music and exciting new restaurants — plus that distinct Midwestern sense that if you stop random people on the street, there’s a very good chance they grew up nearby and are excited to share the name of their favorite bar with you. It also happened to be a good fit for my modest budget, making it an ideal place to spend four days this past month.

My Airbnb in the Central West End neighborhood ($65 per night for a private room in a resident’s house), about 4 miles west of downtown, centrally located and close to the Metro, made for a good home base. I also spent a night in downtown proper at the Magnolia Hotel St. Louis, where I landed a AAA rate of $125 per night. It was easy to get out to Central West End from downtown, about a 15 minute ride, on my $7.50 Metro day-pass. I also used the Transit app, which works in over 100 cities, to make my riding as efficient as I could.