How does St. Louis compare to other places you've lived? (Ballwin: transplants, real estate)

[Den0190]

As someone who is planning to move I'm looking for your opinions on St. Louis overall. I've heard people say you don't realize how backwards, dull, racist, and segregated St. Louis is until you leave. Of course, I can't verify this since I've lived here all my life.

[IAMDWRECK]

Honolulu > St. Louis

Savannah = St. Louis

Atlanta > St. Louis

Fort Polk, LA < St. Louis

3 months summer internship in Los Angeles > St. Louis

[Den0190]

Originally Posted by IAMDWRECK

Atlanta > St. Louis

My uncle tried to live here after living in Atlanta for most of his life. He stayed for about a year and then moved back. He kept complaining that he hated the downtown layout and said that the women were rude. He also had a hard time finding a job here.

[billiken]

I grew up in the Chicago area and also lived in Denver for 2 years. I actually grew to appreciate STL more after my time in Denver (which is why I moved back). Chances of moving back to Chicago are pretty slim. No place is perfect. I definitely don't hate living in a safe, interesting, affordable neighborhood. We've made great friends here, and there's always plenty going on. The cheap housing allows us to save aggressively and travel a lot.

STL compared to Chicago: Chicago has more going on, with a lot more diversity and great urban neighborhoods. I miss the transit options. I used to miss the faster pace, but not as much anymore. Pretty much what you would expect out of a much larger city. However, I don't envy my peers who have at this point moved to bland boring suburbs 25-40 miles outside the city so that they can afford a single family home. Or my friends who have sucked it up and sunk $400k into a condo in a good elementary school zone of CPS. Traffic is a nightmare and would make my job difficult (involves a lot of car commuting). I don't miss the Big 10 influence. IL is also a political nightmare to me.

STL compared to Denver: For us, Denver is the most over-hyped place in the country. Closer to some interesting outdoor options, but that stuff means very little to us. Very fast urban growth. In terms of stuff to do in the city, I found it on par with STL. Not much sense of nostalgia; everything is new and hip. The douchebag white hipster presence is strong. Crazy (and rising) real estate prices pretty much had us running back to the midwest.

[Dawn10am]

The only other cities I've lived in are Memphis and Little Rock, and St. Louis compares extremely favorably to both of them in almost every category. Memphis has better food and Little Rock has better scenery, but that's about it.

What I like most about St. Louis is that it's a really nice size: big enough to have a lot going on and traces of that "big city flair" but small enough that the people are friendly and it's very affordable. Of course, when I say that there's a lot going on I mean that there's a lot going on if you seek it out. St. Louis isn't the kind of city that will just present endless opportunities to you; you have to put forth a little effort to find them, but they are definitely out there and I always feel a sense of accomplishment whenever I discover something new.

As far as backward, racist, and segregated? Those terms have been applied to every mid-sized city in the US.

[aliasfinn]

I was born here but moved to California when I was a baby, spent the next 7 years there and in New Mexico and when we moved back here the first thing I noticed " Where the Hell are the sidewalks? "

[Caesarstl]

I've lived in multiple cities, and in a few different countries, and I've generally found the exact opposite to be true about what you're saying. I think when people leave St. Louis they tend to appreciate it a lot more. The biggest critics of St. Louis always seem to be locals who have never left, while I've met tons of transplants who love it.

[mjtinmemphis]

Ive lived in Charlotte, Durham, Memphis and Chicago.

I think its a matter of finding things you like about a place and dealing with the things that you don't like.

I don't think St Louis is anymore racist than any other place. In comparison to Chicago in many ways its less racist.

St. Louis does seem more segregated than most sunbelt cities but less than larger Midwestern cities like Detroit and Chicago. Also integration doesn't always mean less racism. It just means it takes on a different format.

For me right now, I couldn't see myself living in any other place. I'm not writing that St. Louis is the end all be all but it is great for me. The cost of living is moderate giving me the opportunity to save for retirement and the stress of daily life is minimum but i still enjoy the lifestyle of a cosmopolitan city.

I could go on about the things I liked about Charlotte, Durham and Chicago. I can't say one is better than the other it really depends on the individual fitting in to the city.

[FrankMiller]

Originally Posted by aliasfinn

I was born here but moved to California when I was a baby, spent the next 7 years there and in New Mexico and when we moved back here the first thing I noticed " Where the Hell are the sidewalks? "

But St. Louis has sidewalks everywhere.

Originally Posted by Den0190

As someone who is planning to move I'm looking for your opinions on St. Louis overall. I've heard people say you don't realize how backwards, dull, racist, and segregated St. Louis is until you leave. Of course, I can't verify this since I've lived here all my life.

Really depends on what you're comparing to. It's certainly less cosmopolitan than NYC, but much more progressive and interesting than Podunk. It also depends on what part of StL you're leaving. If you move from, say, Ballwin or New Melle, then yeah prepare to have your eyes opened to new possibilities. But perhaps you could've moved to CWE and had much the same conversion. It's all relative.

[aliasfinn]

Originally Posted by FrankMiller

But St. Louis has sidewalks everywhere.



Really depends on what you're comparing to. It's certainly less cosmopolitan than NYC, but much more progressive and interesting than Podunk. It also depends on what part of StL you're leaving. If you move from, say, Ballwin or New Melle, then yeah prepare to have your eyes opened to new possibilities. But perhaps you could've moved to CWE and had much the same conversion. It's all relative.

I have lived in 7 places in St.Louis county over the last 45 years and only the place I am living currently has a sidewalk in front of my house. I remember when I was little some kid told me that white line 3 feet from the curb represented the sidewalk but cars were always parked there.