stl: that bad, huh

[aragx6]

Originally Posted by 1greatcity

I see what you're saying. You're distinguishing "a city" from "the city". Kirkwood is A city, while STL is THE city. got it.
Funny side note: I have a good friend who grew up on a farm in Southern Illinois. When his family needed groceries or supplies, they'd go to town. My friend became accustomed to saying that phrase, "go to town". After graduating high school, he moved to St Louis for work. Although he lives right in the middle of the city, he STILL says "I need some things from the store. Let's go to town". To which I reply, " Um, you're already IN town!".

Glad that was more clear! My grandparents moved down south to St. Francois County when they retired and when they said "go to town" they'd usually mean Farmington for Super Wal-Mart. But city was typically reserved for coming up to visit us or do some yearly shopping. I suspect they rarely even went within the St. Louis city limits on those trips -- mostly just West County Mall.

[rmc01]

My wife and I occasionally used the phrase "going to town" while living in Baltimore, and we got some strange looks. Apparently it isn't a common phrase around there.

We lived in a central city neighborhood, so ironically we left the city for big box shopping in the burbs when we "went to town."

[1greatcity]

I have a friend just outside of New Haven, MO (Franklin County) who says "going to town"-- but he isn't referring to New Haven. When he uses that phrase, he's headed to Washington, MO., where all the shopping is located.
And if he's coming into the STL urban area, he says he's "going to the city."

[br111]

Originally Posted by 1greatcity

St. Peters and Kirkwood do qualify as bonafide cities, and they are also parts the St. Louis Metro region, anchored by STL. It's not impossible to be both, you know.

In a relatively short time, St. Peters went from a tiny village a decent-sized city. It's hard to believe that as recently as 1970, St. Peters had only 486 people! Since then, it's growth has been amazing. Today, St. Peters is actually one of the ten most populous cities in Missouri, with over 53,000 residents. The city is the home of Mid Rivers Mall, the St. Peters Rec-Plex, St. Peters Barnes-Jewish Hospital, and even an 18-hole golf course. St. Peters was named "One of America's 100 best places to live" by Money magazine.

The city of Kirkwood has a fairly long history, going back to its founding in 1853. Today, the city has a population of about 27,000 people. For a somewhat small city, it packs in a lot of amenities. Kirkwood has it's own train station, a bustling downtown area, an ice arena, an aquatic center, attractions (such as The Magic House), and Meramec Community College. If you've never been to the annual Greentree Festival, you should go. It's coming up on Sept. 16-18.

just to clarify, when you say Kirkwood has been growing lately, you are mistaken. If you look at the population growth statistics, it has surprisingly not grown much at all in the last ten years.

[aragx6]

^Where did he say Kirkwood is currently growing? Of course it's not -- it's mostly built out.

[WINGS-97]

Originally Posted by mjtinmemphis

I think its sad. I always thought the city had great potential. What is really holding it back? People seem to think a republican agenda but none of your successful cities have that type of leadership.

New York's had several Republican leaders in recent years, most notably Rudy Giuliani. Many New Yorkers credit him with turning that city around in the 1990s.

That said, I can think of a lot more struggling cities with with Democratic leadership, Detroit, Cleveland, etc.

[aragx6]

Originally Posted by WINGS-97

Many New Yorkers credit him with turning that city around in the 1990s.

And many do not.

[BoomBoxing]

Originally Posted by WINGS-97

New York's had several Republican leaders in recent years, most notably Rudy Giuliani. Many New Yorkers credit him with turning that city around in the 1990s.

That said, I can think of a lot more struggling cities with with Democratic leadership, Detroit, Cleveland, etc.

Almost all major cities have Democratic leadership both good or bad. That is a major red herring to imply that struggling cities = Democratic leadership. If you want to go there then we may as well discuss how struggling rural counties = Republican leadership.