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stlcitygirl and BoomBoxing, thank you.. and thank you for backing me up. It's important that we continue to show the nation what STL is really like--- as opposed to how the media portrays it to be. I could live in any city in the country, but I choose STL because it's wonderful!!!
Here's the bottom line: St Louis is ONE GREAT CITY-- which is the whole meaning of my userid, by the way. Anyone who's spent time some real time here-- seeing the neighborhoods, witnessing the progress downtown, dining at the diversity of restaurants, appreciating the architecture, enjoying the many amenities-- will tell you that it's a real gem of a city.
If 29,000 people moved from one part of YOUR city to another, it's viewed as a personal relocation choice. Here, it gets branded as "people fleeing". Look: Very few of these 29,000 people actually left St Louis. Most of them simply relocated to an inner-ring suburb. The St Louis area is still a growing urban area of 2.9 million people. The population shifts within the St Louis region are a normal occurance in any urban area.
The real problem is that St Louis gets bad press all the time, just like Detroit. Any story about crime rates, or population decline, makes big news-- even though it's really just the same old news. And forums like this one keep adding fuel to the fire. Most of the people who post negative comments about St Louis don't have a clue; they only know the negative bull**it the media feeds them on a regular basis.
All the positive things about St Louis are continuously ignored by mainstream media. Want a sampling of what you've been missing? I dare every skeptical person to check out this link: St. Louis Rankings
And I challenge anyone who has never visited St Louis to come see what you've been missing. Sure, this city may not suit everyone's taste. But I'm willing to bet that most people will go home pleasantly surprised.
Florissant, University City, or Chesterfield are not the city of St. Louis
The county of St. Louis is not the City of St. Louis
The truth is you guys are fleeing St. Louis You are just stuck in the metro due to family. You are fleeing the city of St. Louis in droves cause it sucks.
I'm sure Detroit residents would also claim that Detroit is a model city and no one is fleeing because 5 million people live in the metro while the anchor city itself is in shambles, much like STL.
Wow, I can't believe all the smack against St Louis on a forum that is made up of so many city/urban nerds.
StL is nothing like Detroit (as far as total urban core abandonment, but I do like detroit) and is one of the country's more unique and interesting cities with a built environment and urban core that I would think that most people on this forum would envy (or at least respect) because many cities and metro areas don't have the charm and ambiance that StL has.
The metro may not be booming like Atlanta or Phoenix or Dallas, but it's not shrinking either and it really is a very livable city with a lot to do and see. Crime and population stats of StL are not all that different than any other city or metro if you drew similar lines and compared apples to apples. You simply can not compare cities via raw stats alone. There are just too many variables and StL is a prime example of this. Even though StL is not popular or a boom town, it has amazing and thriving urban neighborhoods that cities like Dallas and Phoenix just don't have. It's not an empty city by any stretch of the imagination despite its stats.
It's also not a metro area that people are forced to live in, but a metro area that offers a plethora of entertainment and cultural entertainment options, an urban core that is bouncing back in a big way, charming dense inner ring suburbs and typical fast growing outer suburbs all in a solid central location to much of the rest of the country. And what's more it's actually affordable, so you can live there and still actually afford Cards season tickets etc, unlike the Balt DC area where housing is so much (therefore little discretionary income) and traffic is so bad (people avoid going back out once home) that people don't get out and do near as much as one would think.
It's a metro area where the local residents have a lot of civic pride, something I could only dream of in Kansas City, where I'm from. It doesn't sound like people are forced to live there to me.
It's one of the country's largest metro areas at nearly 3 million people and really is worth a visit and is a pleasant place to live (both the city and suburbs).
Wow, I can't believe all the smack against St Louis on a forum that is made up of so many city/urban nerds.
Yep, reading the following I'd really rather be a nerd:
Quote:
Originally Posted by Observation
The truth is you guys are fleeing St. Louis You are just stuck in the metro due to family. You are fleeing the city of St. Louis in droves cause it sucks.
I'm sure Detroit residents would also claim that Detroit is a model city and no one is fleeing because 5 million people live in the metro while the anchor city itself is in shambles, much like STL.[/u]
The suburbs don't exist if there's no central city. Everybody is responsible for the current shape of inner cities in America and elsewhere, including nerdy city dwellers, inner city poor, suburban homeowners, urban planners from the 60s/70s/80s/today, etc. It's terribly shortsighted to throw stones because we all live in the same glass house.
Florissant, University City, or Chesterfield are not the city of St. Louis
The county of St. Louis is not the City of St. Louis
The truth is you guys are fleeing St. Louis You are just stuck in the metro due to family. You are fleeing the city of St. Louis in droves cause it sucks. I'm sure Detroit residents would also claim that Detroit is a model city and no one is fleeing because 5 million people live in the metro while the anchor city itself is in shambles, much like STL.
Awfully presumptious "observation" to make about strangers on the internet. Your ignorance is astounding but par for the course for an internet troll I suppose. But if you are being serious and not just trying to **** off random internet people then I encourage you to read the forum at NextSTL.com or check out the STL photopgraphy threads on Skyscraperpage.com. You'll see a side of STL that you clearly aren't familiar with and would embarass you for making such ridiculous comments.
After reading through the whole thread, it's surprising that so many people are so quick to put down STL...it's just strange why people strive for a place full of people to fail (what's the competition?). Anyway, I wouldn't doubt if the census numbers are incorrect, afterall, they are calculated by temporary government workers.
I see a city like STL, and I agree with another poster, in that this is a city that was built during a golden age. An age where people worked hard to generate wealth for the US (which built the US and set future generations of Americans up for a better life, unlike today). Lots of great architecture, great food and strong culture that can only come from people who are living in a vibrant city. So much of America has turned inward toward individualism. Regardless of these stats, STL will continue to turn around, which is why private investor activity has picked up (the true test). I hope the mayor challenges the Census Bureau, yet again.
Here's the bottom line: St Louis is ONE GREAT CITY-- ....
If 29,000 people moved from one part of YOUR city to another, it's viewed as a personal relocation choice. Here, it gets branded as "people fleeing". Look: Very few of these 29,000 people actually left St Louis. Most of them simply relocated to an inner-ring suburb. The St Louis area is still a growing urban area of 2.9 million people. The population shifts within the St Louis region are a normal occurance in any urban area..
As a St. Louisan for the past 17 years, I agree that St. Louis gets a bad rap when, in reality, it is loved by those who live here and many who go to one of the top universities (e.g., Washington U, Saint Louis U., U. of Missouri) in town. Many New Yorkers have told me that the Central West End neighborhood of St. Louis reminds them of Central Park West, which is a huge compliment. They certainly would not be able to make that comment about neighborhoods in other cities.
That said, I disagree that the residents are moving from the City of St. Louis to relocate in the (many charming) inner-ring suburbs. Population figures clearly show that they are moving to the farther-away St. Charles County, which is replete with many boring cookie-cutter homes and suburban neighborhoods with cul-de-sacs, uniform mailboxes, and white picket fences. I wish it were not so, but it is.
Florissant, University City, or Chesterfield are not the city of St. Louis
The county of St. Louis is not the City of St. Louis
The truth is you guys are fleeing St. Louis You are just stuck in the metro due to family. You are fleeing the city of St. Louis in droves cause it sucks. I'm sure Detroit residents would also claim that Detroit is a model city and no one is fleeing because 5 million people live in the metro while the anchor city itself is in shambles, much like STL.
I applaud Observation for his devils advocate approach to this thread. It gives us a change to refute the common misguided St. Louis stereotypes and half truthes. I hope he takes what he reads here, straight from the mouths of local residents, and spreads the word.
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