Missouri is like unbelievably awesome (Kansas City, St. Louis: fit in, sales, homes)

[aragx6]

^The day you tell me you're moving back for good my heart is just going to burst for you!

You've wanted to move back since long before I was desperate to get away and now all I want is to be back to the eastern side of the state as well.

[kshe95girl]

Originally Posted by aragx6

^The day you tell me you're moving back for good my heart is just going to burst for you!

You've wanted to move back since long before I was desperate to get away and now all I want is to be back to the eastern side of the state as well.

I've wanted to move back to MO since 1990, a year after I moved down here......I just keep plugging away.
We'll get there, sooner or later.
One thing this whole exile has taught me is patience.

[mike0421]

Originally Posted by kshe95girl

I've wanted to move back to MO since 1990, a year after I moved down here......I just keep plugging away.
We'll get there, sooner or later.
One thing this whole exile has taught me is patience.

I think Andy Dufrense spent 18 years in Shawshank before he decided to escape!

[kshe95girl]

Originally Posted by mike0421

I think Andy Dufrense spent 18 years in Shawshank before he decided to escape!

Trust me, if my husband could do the same thing he does here, in STL, we would have already been there!

[mike0421]

These damn husbands and their jobs, I'll tell you. I think Arag's husband, from what I remember, has a similar situation in Kansas City with work.

Why don't the husbands move to their wive's jobs? These damn men!

[aragx6]

Thankfully my SO's job can be readily done from St. Louis and there are plenty of opportunities; just have to wait on the right one to come through! It can be tough to differentiate yourself from the pack while you're still early in your career. I don't want to jinx anything, but progress is definitely being made, so we shall see.

[mike0421]

Originally Posted by aragx6

Thankfully my SO's job can be readily done from St. Louis and there are plenty of opportunities; just have to wait on the right one to come through! It can be tough to differentiate yourself from the pack while you're still early in your career. I don't want to jinx anything, but progress is definitely being made, so we shall see.

Arag,

Out of curiosity, in your opinion, what distinguishes the eastern part of Missouri from the western? St. Louis from Kansas City? As a relatively recent arrival, I am very much in the discovery phase, and wonder, not having lived here a day in my life until last May.

[aragx6]

That's such a big and broad question that it's totally impossible to give an altogether fair answer devoid entirely of stereotypes, but I'm happy to try.

For me, there are two key components that make me want to head back east: The feel of the city and the access to the country.

St. Louis truly does feel to me like the farthest west Eastern City. Kansas City's architecture is a little newer, a lot more limestone-based and the town is laid out with the car more in mind. It's not quite as condensed as St. Louis, and few of its neighborhoods are as walkable. It has an all-around sleepier feel. The city itself, and everything near the Missouri river, is really quite hilly, but it's less so once you're away from it (which is actually the opposite of St. Louis city which is surprisingly flat but grows hilly away from the center quickly). For the true urbanite, there's truly no comparison, but I've found that those who don't mind a short drive to their destinations tend to really like KC's residential architecture.

My favorite rural area of Missouri is the southern middle with its rolling hills, great camping opportunities and awesome rivers for floating. KC doesn't seem all that far from that in theory, but St. Louis' access to 44 as it cuts diagonally to that area just can't be matched in Kansas City. Heading south on 71 is actually flat and boring as a pancake for much of it and then one has to cut across some much smaller state highways. Or you can take 70 west to Columbia before heading south. The access to outdoor activities I love in Missouri is far easier from St. Louis.




Additional points that I could expound on all day but are much more ripe for argument I'm certain:

• I can't get over how much more conservative people seem to me here in Kansas City. We've argued that before on this forum and we'll argue it again, but truly most of even the urbanites I know are quite conservative (and I do mean vast majority of my social circle not as hyperbole but as genuine truth).

• After almost 3 years living here I can honestly say the state line issues in Kansas City are really not overstated. They play this game on 96.5 the Buzz called Jackson or Johnson where they read crime reports and guess if they're from the MO side or KS side. It's like ... woah -- the arguments they get in are so tainted with disdain. It's not entirely dissimilar to the West County/North County/ South County thing in St. Louis, but with far more dire political consequences. The idea of giving $47 million in tax credits so AMC can create zero new jobs and head a couple miles across the state line will never cease to amaze me.

[Smtchll]

Originally Posted by mike0421

Arag,

Out of curiosity, in your opinion, what distinguishes the eastern part of Missouri from the western? St. Louis from Kansas City? As a relatively recent arrival, I am very much in the discovery phase, and wonder, not having lived here a day in my life until last May.

I haven't been through most of MO but the drive between Cape Girardeau and St. Louis is absolutely beautiful. I-44 West of St. Louis probably has even more beautiful country than that. I'm not sure if the western side of the state has anything that compares. I've never been over there, so I'm asking.

I like St. Louis' set up. As arag pointed out, the city is relatively flat, but that makes it easier to be walkable & urban. Once you head out of the city, South or West, it gets hilly & naturally beautiful quickly. So St. Louis is very urban, but at the same time it's a gateway to outdoor opportunities.

[mike0421]

Originally Posted by Smtchll

I haven't been through most of MO but the drive between Cape Girardeau and St. Louis is absolutely beautiful. I-44 West of St. Louis probably has even more beautiful country than that. I'm not sure if the western side of the state has anything that compares. I've never been over there, so I'm asking.

I like St. Louis' set up. As arag pointed out, the city is relatively flat, but that makes it easier to be walkable & urban. Once you head out of the city, South or West, it gets hilly & naturally beautiful quickly. So St. Louis is very urban, but at the same time it's a gateway to outdoor opportunities.

I actually did the drive last week, back to New Mexico, down I-44. I will say that coming back into the state last Sunday, the road was rather... crowded! Especially when compared to Oklahoma. That aside, I do agree with you about the scenic beauty. The next time when I am not in a hurry I will take a less stressful route. When I first arrived here I took US-54 through Lake of the Ozarks, and that was absolutely first rate.

And I concur as well about the drive down through Cape Girardeau. However, we did this drive on the Illinois side of the river for an added twist, and I would say the drive down Illinois 3, especially south of Cape Girardeau, exceeded I-55. Wonderful stuff.