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Old 12-13-2011, 03:25 PM
 
Location: Clayton, MO
1,521 posts, read 3,599,554 times
Reputation: 441

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Quote:
Originally Posted by gotigers123 View Post
Depends on the person....

The problem that St Louis faces moving forward is that it does not attract more people like myself. The talented and educated young people from the area (by and large) want to leave the area as soon as they get a chance. Not good.
The problem starts with parenting. St. Louis suburban parents are scared of the big bad city and brain wash their children at an early age that St. Louis City is a crime ridden wasteland.

Ok, that may be a stretch but I have dozens of friends who never set foot in the city until their college days and then found the city to be quite the character filled, funky, red brick ***** many of us love. I mean, who doesn't root for the underdog?

St. Louis may not be perfect but in many ways it's improving every day. Too bad you abandoned your home town. I challenge you to one day come back and make a difference.
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Old 12-13-2011, 03:40 PM
 
Location: USA
2,593 posts, read 4,240,207 times
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Most of STL really isn't all that scary & the architecture is nice even though some of those old homes on the North side are in disrepair. You should see some areas here around Miami like Opa-Locka or Hialeah and how bad they look. You'll see homes built out of cinder block with corrugated metal roofs, it looks like a Latin American 3rd world country like the Dominican Republic in some places.
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Old 12-13-2011, 04:56 PM
 
Location: Saint Louis, MO
3,483 posts, read 9,020,795 times
Reputation: 2480
I think job opportunities are very regional depending on your skills/trade. Personally I could find significantly more aviation related (pilot) opportunities in Florida than you'll find throughout the midwest, but there's simply a larger market down there. I do have a friend/co-worker who's from South Florida and all he wants is to go back. He'd fit the typical demographic here: Educated, Upper 20's, Single-ish, and lives in the city....but he dreams of being back in Miami, and would be if he could find a suitable job down there.
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Old 12-14-2011, 02:11 PM
 
263 posts, read 530,133 times
Reputation: 154
Quote:
Originally Posted by moorlander View Post
The problem starts with parenting. St. Louis suburban parents are scared of the big bad city and brain wash their children at an early age that St. Louis City is a crime ridden wasteland.

Ok, that may be a stretch but I have dozens of friends who never set foot in the city until their college days and then found the city to be quite the character filled, funky, red brick ***** many of us love. I mean, who doesn't root for the underdog?

St. Louis may not be perfect but in many ways it's improving every day. Too bad you abandoned your home town. I challenge you to one day come back and make a difference.
I agree with what you've said for the most part. The majority of folks in the St Louis suburbs are scared of the "big bad city". A shame, really. This attitude isn't unique to St Louis though - I've witnessed it in quite a few cities across the country.
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Old 12-14-2011, 02:19 PM
 
263 posts, read 530,133 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by aragx6 View Post
Almost every single regular poster here who loves St. Louis is one of those people and we all want to be here so thankfully I know that's not entirely true.

In fact there was nothing like moving to Chicago and then to Kansas City to make me realize all St. Louis had to offer.

Can I ask where in St. Louis you grew up? How much time have you realistically spent in the city -- for me, it was only post-college that I spent significant time exploring the city and what I found was an urban, vibrant walkable city full of diverse and interesting neighborhoods.

What cultural activities would you say St. Louis is lacking?

This is not an attack on you but genuine questions that I'd love to hear the answers to, honest!
I grew up in the Webster/Kirkwood area and lived a pretty typical middle-class life. I've spent significant time in the city when I've returned to visit family, but as a child my time spent in the city was very limited.

I'm a huge St Louis booster and I feel the city has tremendous potential.

I don't see how you can spend time in Chicago and then return and see St Louis as a vibrant and walkable city. St Louis is not vibrant and only a few neighborhoods are what I would consider walkable (Soulard, Tower Grove South, parts of Benton Park).

What do I think St. Louis is missing? Good food. Nightlife. Decent coffee (Kaldi's is OK). Vibrant neighborhoods. Decent public transit. Density.
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Old 12-14-2011, 02:28 PM
 
Location: Silver Springs, FL
23,416 posts, read 37,012,211 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by gotigers123 View Post
I grew up in the Webster/Kirkwood area and lived a pretty typical middle-class life. I've spent significant time in the city when I've returned to visit family, but as a child my time spent in the city was very limited.

I'm a huge St Louis booster and I feel the city has tremendous potential.

I don't see how you can spend time in Chicago and then return and see St Louis as a vibrant and walkable city. St Louis is not vibrant and only a few neighborhoods are what I would consider walkable (Soulard, Tower Grove South, parts of Benton Park).

What do I think St. Louis is missing? Good food. Nightlife. Decent coffee (Kaldi's is OK). Vibrant neighborhoods. Decent public transit. Density.
You contradicted yourself in your second and third sentences.
StL had a really vibrant food scene, I've been to plenty of wonderful restaurants there, and I dont even live in StL anymore.
I will leave the comments about no night life and the lack of good coffee () to folks living in StL.

Last edited by kshe95girl; 12-14-2011 at 03:00 PM..
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Old 12-14-2011, 02:44 PM
 
Location: Tower Grove East, St. Louis, MO
12,063 posts, read 31,632,411 times
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Neighborhoods you didn't mention that are quite vibrant and walkable:

Downtown -- particularly Wash Av
Central West End
Lafayette Square
The Grove
Old North St. Louis
Dogtown

Additional suburbs (that would be city neighborhoods in 9 out of 10 other cities) that I consider very walkable include: Clayton, Maplewood and University City.

Few mid-size American cities have half that many. KC has fewer than half.
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Old 12-14-2011, 02:51 PM
 
Location: Clayton, MO
1,521 posts, read 3,599,554 times
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Let's be honest. We're not Chicago and probably never will be. Only a handful of cities in the country have what Chicago has to offer - NYC, Boston, DC, LA, Philly, Seattle.

Does Chicago have more restaurants, bars, walkable neighborhoods, and things to do. YES. But I'd argue that St. Louis has more of all of the above than any person could ever experience.

As far as walkable urban neighborhoods/mainstreets you gotta add in webster, kirkwood, downtown, the central west end, debaliviere, demun, moorlands, downtown clayton, morganford, maplewood, the grove, lafeyette square, south grand, main st. St. Charles, and on and on. All of these areas could use improvement. And I wish we had more.

I'd argue that St. Louis has most everything any big USA city in america has...And I'd gladly accept the affordability, QOL, endless FREE things to do, and lack of traffic for those amenities we are lacking.

Just my 2 cents. I get it - StL isn't for everyone and we don't have quite the fast paced feel of some of the bigger cities but STL is still a really fun/great place to live in my opinion.
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Old 12-14-2011, 04:27 PM
 
1,783 posts, read 3,889,029 times
Reputation: 1387
Quote:
Originally Posted by gotigers123 View Post
What do I think St. Louis is missing? Good food. Nightlife. Decent coffee (Kaldi's is OK). Vibrant neighborhoods. Decent public transit. Density.
With you on the public transit and the density could be better. But the rest? I strongly disagree.

Good Food. WHAT?! Between Niche, Sidney Street, Vin de Set, Iron Barley, Pappys, Dressels, Pi, Mango, Pho Grand, all the places on the hill, the Mexican places on Cherokee, I could go on and on and on and on. St. Louis has such an amazing food scene and sadly so few people seem aware of it. Pickup Sauce or Feast and check it out sometime.

Nightlife. Well everyone has their own type of nightlife. If top notch clubs with bottle service are your thing, then yes STL is probably lacking. But casual hangouts with great drink specials, live music, and chill crowds - STL is chock full of them. You have a high-end scene on Washington, gay scene in the Grove, a ton of bars in Soulard, Benton Park, CWE, so on and so on.

Decent coffee. This one might be the craziest for me. Because here in DC we have like 10 Starbucks for every indie coffee shop. In St. Louis city it seems like every neighborhood has one or two really good options. Mud House, Cafe Ventana, Coffee Cartel, Murdoch Perk, Soulard Coffee Garden, Park Avenue, Mokabees. Local roasters Kaldis and Northwest are top notch.

Vibrant neighborhoods. I know STL does not have the kind of hustle and bustle of bigger cities, but you almost have to admit for a city its size it does very well. And you forgot the Loop and CWE, which are by far the most vibrant neighborhoods in the area...and they have more going on than most "vibrant" neighborhoods I've seen in bigger cities.

Like yourself, I moved away but it was entirely job related. While I enjoy the bigger city life, my heart is still in St. Louis. A city in transformation is really more exciting for me than one that's already "there". I strongly disagree with your earlier post about how St. Louis should have try and attract young professionals like you and I. There's an air of authenticity that cities like St. Louis have where they haven't quite been overrun by overpriced cupcake places, fro-yo, and dog parks. St. Louis still seems "real" to me and that makes me love the city more than one that feels custom tailored to my interests.
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Old 12-15-2011, 01:42 PM
 
263 posts, read 530,133 times
Reputation: 154
Quote:
Originally Posted by kshe95girl View Post
You contradicted yourself in your second and third sentences.
StL had a really vibrant food scene, I've been to plenty of wonderful restaurants there, and I dont even live in StL anymore.
I will leave the comments about no night life and the lack of good coffee () to folks living in StL.
I fail to see how I contradicted myself.

I'm a St Louis booster in the sense that I regularly defend the city when it comes up in discussion among residents of the large coastal cities in which I've lived. St Louis (as I'm sure you're aware) has a horrible reputation throughout the country. I do my best to defend it whenever I get the chance.

The city has tremendous potential, yes. That doesn't mean it's there yet, or anywhere close to being a vibrant city.

Coffee in St Louis is really poor. Compared to Florida I'm sure it's not too bad. Smirk all you want.
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