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St. Louis has a significantly higher violent crime rate than Columbus, and the statistics speak for themselves. The downtown area of St. Louis is less clean, safe and vibrant than the downtown area of Columbus.
Overall, the energy of Columbus is much healthier and more robust than the energy of St. Louis. While I concur that St. Louis has prettier scenery than Columbus, especially in its suburbs, I find that the suburbs of Columbus have more New England charm, which is characteristic of central and northern Ohio.
In my opinion, Columbus has a healthier mix of native/long-term residents and new transplants than St. Louis, which has very few transplants. Of all major cities in America, St. Louis has to be the worst for meeting new people and making new friends. Most people who live in St. Louis were born and raised in the city or its suburbs and, therefore, already have a well-established, tight-knit social circle/friend group. People in St. Louis are just not interested in meeting new people and making new friends.
Columbus is located in the Eastern Time Zone and is in closer proximity to the Great Lakes, Appalachian Mountains, Atlantic Ocean, etc. Also, because Columbus is further east than St. Louis, the likelihood of destructive weather is lower. Overall, its location is superb, in my opinion.
Saint Louis is a very underrated tourism destination. Between Gateway Arch, Busch Stadium, Forest Park, City Museum, Cahokia, Cathedral Basilica of Saint Louis, Missouri Botanical Garden, Soulard, The Grove, World Chess Hall of Fame, Lafayette Square, it has a ton to do. I’m visiting in July for the first time and need 4-5 days to fill out my itinerary.
In that respect, it’s far better than Columbus.
In every other way though, I’d rather live in Columbus. Economy is vibrant, State Capital and University gives it a professional vibe, architecture is underrated (not just German Village but much of the center is beautiful and historic - Leveque is a beauty), suburbs are immaculate and wealthy. Even in Saint Louis, the county is now losing people and inner ring suburbs are looking decayed as “North of Delmar” expands further into the county. Wealthy people are moving to Saint Charles as a result. And the Illinois side is just ghastly. Add on the municipal incompetence and corruption (see their infamous DA) and that whole region is a case study in poor management.
Columbus, meanwhile, is playing all its cards right. It’s becoming a tech hub with a major semiconductor presence, got the City involved to keep the MLS team from fleeing to Austin, the university is moving up the rankings, the Scioto River is looking much nicer with a brand new major museum on veterans.
There is rising crime, but Columbus overall is much better managed and a better place to live.
Saint Louis is a very underrated tourism destination. Between Gateway Arch, Busch Stadium, Forest Park, City Museum, Cahokia, Cathedral Basilica of Saint Louis, Missouri Botanical Garden, Soulard, The Grove, World Chess Hall of Fame, Lafayette Square, it has a ton to do. I’m visiting in July for the first time and need 4-5 days to fill out my itinerary.
In that respect, it’s far better than Columbus.
In every other way though, I’d rather live in Columbus. Economy is vibrant, State Capital and University gives it a professional vibe, architecture is underrated (not just German Village but much of the center is beautiful and historic - Leveque is a beauty), suburbs are immaculate and wealthy. Even in Saint Louis, the county is now losing people and inner ring suburbs are looking decayed as “North of Delmar” expands further into the county. Wealthy people are moving to Saint Charles as a result. And the Illinois side is just ghastly. Add on the municipal incompetence and corruption (see their infamous DA) and that whole region is a case study in poor management.
Columbus, meanwhile, is playing all its cards right. It’s becoming a tech hub with a major semiconductor presence, got the City involved to keep the MLS team from fleeing to Austin, the university is moving up the rankings, the Scioto River is looking much nicer with a brand new major museum on veterans.
There is rising crime, but Columbus overall is much better managed and a better place to live.
I hope you enjoy your visit - I can also recommend "The Loop" which straddles U city and the City on Delmar. Defiantly take a day in Forest Park, visit the history and art museums there and have lunch at one of the park restaurants. I also recommend a walk around Wash-U's campus and trip to Clayton. There is also Grant's Farm and General Grants home in South County and of course the brewery tour.
One correction - The county is not loosing wealthy - It is loosing middle class to St. Charles - The wealthy of St. Louis are firmly entrenched in the "power corridor" that starts in The Central West End and fans out West/Southwest ending in the country estates of St Albans - 25 miles away from the CWE on the St. Louis County/Franklin County line.
Areas in this corridor include some the wealthiest suburbs in the Midwest outside of Chicago - Ladue, Huntleigh, Frontenac, Town and Country and Clayton. And areas that were middle class that have become affluent - 20 years ago you could by a 1,200 SF house in Kirkwood for about 250,000 (corrected for inflation) Today many of those 1,200 SF homes have been teardowns and replaced with 2,200 SF homes - and its hard to find anything under 500,000.
The same thing has happened in Clayton only scaled up - the 1,500 SF mid century ranches are giving way to 3,000 SF mansions - most of them tastefully done. its hard to buy there under 800,000
St. Charles on the other hand is getting primarily North Co residents, they are not wealthy. There are a few new areas out there that break the 600,000 mark but not a whole lot. most of St. Chuck is in the 350,000 to 550,00 range -
Here is a Clayton residential street - west side of Clayton (east side are the older historic homes) - you can scroll through the dates to see the teardowns
I voted for Columbus but could see why people prefer STL
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