Favorite Thing about St. Louis (St. Charles, Clayton: home, neighborhoods, tax)

[northbayeric]

What a good forum topic! I'd say my favorite thing about St. Louis is the sheer number of great things you can do in town that are either free or very inexpensive. The Zoo, Art Museum, Old Courthouse, Grant's Farm and at least a few other places have free admission! Related to this is the number of great things you can do with young children in St. Louis. You don't find that in San Francisco, for example, at all except for the beaches and the Exploratorium perhaps.

Least favorite thing? Well these are both little nitpicks. OK, obviously any racism that's still present, regardless of where it comes from, is never good. The nitpicks: I wouldn't have named part of I-70 in St. Louis the Mark McGwire Highway even though I like him as a person and as an ex-Cardinal baseball player. And I wish there was another daily newspaper that could go head-to-head with the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

[Northwoods Voyager]

St. Louis is my hometown. I enjoy St. Louis and all that is offered. I appreciate the foresight of so many people many years ago that has led to what St. Louis is really all about. The parks, zoo, job opportunities, diverse neighborhoods, great entertainment, wonderful sports, professional, minor league, and scholastic. Restaurants to suit all tastes. Fox Theatre. Art Museum. Tower Grove Park. Grant's Farm. Washington University. The Pageant.

Affordable housing. Beautiful architecture. So much history. We are back and forth into the city many times and enjoy our trips/visits.

Dislikes? Not very many and I have yet to find racism being blatantly expressed. In the many years that I lived and worked in St. Louis, Downtown, Clayton, Olivette, and other places, it just wasn't there. I have worked along side of many races and found all to show friendliness and cooperation. St. Louis is good!!! And, no, I am not naive.

[northbayeric]

Superbly put, Northwoods Voyager--thank you!

[CellarBelle]

The Arch and The Blues! Tied for my faves!

Dislike the reputation St. Louis has for crime. I've never felt unsafe in St. Louis, but yet it seems to be this dark cloud that hangs over St. Louis that I'm always having to explain to outsiders and newcomers.

[vincero]

Neighborhood after neighborhood of fabulous architecture. Forest Park, bigger than Central Park. My step son, who's English and has travelled throughout Europe, accompanied me to the top of the Arch on our last visit to St. Louis. He said that the Arch is better than the Eiffel Tower.

I agree with a previous poster. St. Louis is like the best kept secret in the Midwest. Whoever is in charge of marketing the place should be shot. Shadow of Chicago or not, St. Louis ought to be a lot "bigger" than it is.

[anduarto]

Yeah...good topic.

For decades I've been saying I love St. Louis' rich history as a beautiful, urban place. It's grace. It's soulfulness. It's music, culture. It's architecture. It's friendliness. Even it's blues. Walking down a lush tree-filled street on a warm June day I am like a bee in honey. Utterly content. Soused.

But without a doubt, one of my favorite things lately is that St. Louis seems to be remembering a what a great city it was and still can be. The revival going on within city limits it tremendously heartening. I really was beginning to believe it would never happen. I love that St. Louis is reclaiming it's urban roots.

I love the vision that brought the Metrolink to town. I hope it continues to expand. I love the loft district, downtown's rebirth, soulard, tower grove, CWE, U City, and all the neighborhoods throughout the city. Growing up in Dogtown, I particularly love Forest Park, the zoo, the Art Museum and the Hill.

Unlike a lot of posts, I even like that you can smoke in public places. I can see banning smoking in restaurants but I hope it never goes too far. I only smoke occasionally, but in NYC, Boston and much of the east coast you can't smoke in bars or nightclubs. I have to tell you, sitting in a jazz or blues club with a beer or cocktail WITHOUT a cigarette is just plain wrong.

Hates: Whatever racism remains (really hate that). Strip malls. That so much of North City was just knocked down and left in acres of vacant lots.

I LOVE that ST. Louis U has anchored mid-town so well for so many decades.

HATE that St. Louis U has gobbled up so much of the surrounding neighborhood.

More than most things I hate the suburban sprawl. I've always hated it. And I REALLY hate that unfortunate era in the 70's and 80's when suburban sprawl was imported back into the city in the form of strip malls, fast food joints and quarter acre parking lots everywhere you look. There's even a block of suburban ranch style houses near Washington and Market. What a shame.

I don't have anything against ranch houses in general, but not in the city.

[aragx6]

I can't believe St. Louis city only has drop-off for recycling! How odd!
City of St. Louis Refuse Divison: Recycling Program

I know many of the suburbs do "blue-bag" programs

[stx12499]

This is easy. The neighborhoods and architecture. The Hill is one of my favorite areas in the Midwest.

[LancasterNative]

The Zoo is great for kids! My folks used to take me there on visits to STL. It's one of the best. Forest Park in general has some really cool cultural treasures.

I can still remember when the Metrolink was first built. It wasn't that long ago! (1990s) So probably, given time...

[LancasterNative]

Originally Posted by anduarto

Unlike a lot of posts, I even like that you can smoke in public places. I can see banning smoking in restaurants but I hope it never goes too far. I only smoke occasionally, but in NYC, Boston and much of the east coast you can't smoke in bars or nightclubs. I have to tell you, sitting in a jazz or blues club with a beer or cocktail WITHOUT a cigarette is just plain wrong.

You just reminded me of another thing I love about St. Louis! Well, Missouri in general...

Unlike here in Communist-run Ohio, STL & Missouri allow you the freedom to walk into a normal grocery store (Schnucks, Dierbergs, etc) go to the booze aisle, find & purchase full-proof liquor and other distilled spirits! At market prices! WOO-HOO!!!

(Here in Ohio, government apparatchiks set the prices. Plus, retailers are required to lock away the liquor in special, cordoned-off sections of a store, which only operate certain hours. Your purchases there must be made separately. No sales before 1pm on Sundays, etc. Used to be even worse—until a few yrs ago, booze could only be sold at state-run stores! Frikkin' nosey bureaucrats...)

As for the smoking (not to get off-topic here, but...) yours is one of the most rational posts I've seen about this particular issue. I'm not a smoker, but to me the idea of government telling us how to behave is really loathsome! Once they take away smokers' freedom, what else will they ban "for our own good"? I just hate Nanny State busybodies running our lives...

...And I'm delighted that ST. LOUIS is one of the last holdouts!

So yeah, whether it's alcohol or tobacco-related, I love that St. Louis still believes in individual freedom and personal choice!