St. Louis vs. Las Vegas (St. Charles, Jefferson City: houses, neighborhoods, casinos)

[photobuff42]

[SIZE=3]I am moving to the St. Louis area from Las Vegas. I came to visit last week and what I saw made me feel really good about moving to Missouri. Some of the differences I noticed:[/SIZE]

[SIZE=3]Graffiti: In comparison to Las Vegas, there was little to none. In Vegas, there are many block walls that are covered with scary gang graffiti, even in the nice neighborhoods. I know that the St. Louis area doesn’t have the same architecture, but wasn’t nearly as prevalent. I dislike graffiti; it just seems to say, “Kids have nothing to do here.”[/SIZE]

[SIZE=3]Stuff to do: I enjoyed the Art Museum, the Brewery tour at Budweiser (both free), and the Butterfly house (six dollars for an adult). Las Vegas doesn’t have any comparison. In Las Vegas they charge for everything. Sometimes art exhibits come to the Bellagio but they charge between 15 and 30 dollars to see a few paintings. I loved the current quilt exhibition at the St. Louis Art Museum. I didn't get to go to the zoo this time, but I can't wait! Vegas has minor league hockey and baseball that I have enjoyed but St. Louis has the big leagues...[/SIZE]

[SIZE=3]Traffic: One major slowdown on I-70 at 4 pm and one person honked at me. Today in Vegas, I got cut off twice and stuck on the 15 once. There does seem to be highway patrol presence in St. Louis but much less in Vegas. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=3]Of course both have casinos. I didn’t check out the casinos in St. Louis.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=3]I think people are friendly in both cities.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=3]I was happily surprised at the difference and the choice I made to move to St. Louis![/SIZE]

[RickMG]

Thanks for the great post. It's good to see someone appreciate what we have here, especially coming from Vegas, one of my favorite places to visit, and I don't even gamble. Welcome to St. Louis, and thanks for picking here to live.

[JaySTLouis]

Well let me be the first to welcome you to St. Louis!!!..lol.
It's great to hear more people are choosing to live here. I do want to clear up a something though:

"Graffiti: In comparison to Las Vegas, there was little to none. In Vegas, there are many block walls that are covered with scary gang graffiti, even in the nice neighborhoods. I know that the St. Louis area doesn’t have the same architecture, but wasn’t nearly as prevalent. I dislike graffiti; it just seems to say, “Kids have nothing to do here.”

There is a lot of graffiti here although it's not in abundance as in larger cities. The name Ed Boxxx comes to mind as he's the main graffiti artist that seems to stir up the most controversy here. Although I'm a fan of graffiti, I hate that some people choose to deface other people's property in doing so. If there were commissioned graffiti (oxymoron) it would probably be a better outlet than someones property. I honestly don't think it's gotten to the point where it's people's houses rather than just abandoned buildings.

All in all, don't let that deter you away from moving here. I think this is a wonderful city and although it may not have the glitz and glam of a Vegas, I'm sure you'll enjoy yourself here nonetheless. Again, WELCOME TO THE STL!!!

[photobuff42]

I am sad to leave friends and some great things in Vegas, but St. Louis seems so much more genuine. I have read the posts here and on the Vegas list and it's just so much more positive in St. Louis--I think the real glam is in the history and the people in the community!

[STLCardsBlues1989]

Welcome to Missouri (I don't live in St. Louis, or I would say welcome to the Lou)!

I'm glad you've enjoyed your team. I've always liked going to St. Louis to visit. And we have NHL and MLB, since you seem to enjoy hockey and baseball. There's an independent league team in Marion and some other independent/minor league baseball and hockey teams through Missouri and Illinois.

Gateway Grizzlies
Southern Illinois Miners
http://www.stlbandits.com/ (hockey)
River City Rascals - Independent Professional Baseball - Official Site

[ShadowCaver]

Best to ya on the move. When you get settled in, besides all of the wonderful things to do in the city proper, take time to wander about the greater StL area too - check out Alton, IL, the Great River Road, the little hidden gems here and there on both sides of the river; such as Onondaga Cave, the crystal clear streams in the Ozarks, the multitude of state parks, Katy Trail, etc. StL is a great city - she has her flaws, but overall mighty place. Again, welcome.

[oscottscotto]

So where in STL are you moving to?

[oscottscotto]

Originally Posted by ShadowCaver

Best to ya on the move. When you get settled in, besides all of the wonderful things to do in the city proper, take time to wander about the greater StL area too - check out Alton, IL, the Great River Road, the little hidden gems here and there on both sides of the river; such as Onondaga Cave, the crystal clear streams in the Ozarks, the multitude of state parks, Katy Trail, etc. StL is a great city - she has her flaws, but overall mighty place. Again, welcome.

Speaking of which, are there any good threads on natural attractions around here? Been living here for the past 2 months and am dying to get out of the city one of these weekends now that summer weather (knock on wood) is finally here. BTW, how far of a drive would it be before you hit any part of the ozarks that could be considered mountains, or at least foot hills?

[RickMG]

Originally Posted by oscottscotto

Speaking of which, are there any good threads on natural attractions around here? Been living here for the past 2 months and am dying to get out of the city one of these weekends now that summer weather (knock on wood) is finally here. BTW, how far of a drive would it be before you hit any part of the ozarks that could be considered mountains, or at least foot hills?

Whenever I drive to Osage Beach I take I-44 to Hwy. 50 at Union, Missouri (about 25 miles out from Hwy. 141 & 44). Then I go 50 to the Hwy. 28 turnoff at Owensville and take it to Hwy. 42 into Osage Beach.

If you really want a beautiful drive through the foothills, take Hwy. 47/94 from Washington, Missouri, staying on Hwy. 94 when it forks off at Marthasville. The entire drive is just beautiful. At Jefferson City you will have to get on Hwy. 54 to the lake for about 50 miles or so. You can also get on Hwy. 94 from Hwy. 40 in St. Charles and the entire drive is through the foothills.

[OA 5599]

Originally Posted by oscottscotto

Speaking of which, are there any good threads on natural attractions around here? Been living here for the past 2 months and am dying to get out of the city one of these weekends now that summer weather (knock on wood) is finally here. BTW, how far of a drive would it be before you hit any part of the ozarks that could be considered mountains, or at least foot hills?

If you have a weekend to spare, I'd check out the St. Francois Mountains. I'm not from STL so I haven't gone there from the city, but I think its around 80 miles or so. You can check out Elephant Rocks, Taum Sauk Mountain (highest point in MO), and Johnson's Shut-Ins state parks, all in the area around Ironton. The foothills of the Ozarks really start just outside of town, its gets pretty hilly just about anywhere west and south of 270. The St. Francois Mountains are the highest in the state and among the most rugged too.