What you hate about St. Louis (Rea: lofts, how much, lawyers)

[aragx6]

Who knew we'd be able to get 130 posts in before the KC trolls showed up.

[Fishtacos]

Apparently my comment was too controversial for the board....lol.

[Hephaestus]

I moved here a while back, maybe two years ago, and there are a lot of things about St. Louis that are better than Chicago, and a lot of things that are worse.

(1) Traffic - To a Chicagoan, there is no traffic in Saint Louis, or anywhere in a 300 mile radius.

(2) Parking - You can park here. You can park for 2$ a day right next to Bush stadium and the arch! In Chicago, if you want to park in the loop all day, it'll cost you $35.

(3) The price of apartments - Very reasonable.

(4) The People - The people are very nice here in St. Louis for the most part.

(5) The Asian Cuisine - There a lot of really good Vietnamese restaurants in St. Louis. Also Thai, Chinese, etc. They certainly rival Chicago.

(6) The Cardinals - What a great team. They might be the best sports organization in the country.

(7) The Casinos - They blend in well to make St. Louis a fun place to visit.

Here are the Disadvantages:

(1) Charter Communications - The worst company since the advent of the industrial revolution. It's not a cable company. It's a Korn concert. I had Comcast in Chicago for eight years, and I never, ever had a problem.

(2) A Lack of Anonymity - You see the same people over and over again in South County.

(3) The Cops - I am sorry, but the cops in St. Louis are like children compared to Chicago cops.

(4) The Insular Nature of the Groups of People - As an outsider, you would be amazed how tough it is to get into a group such as a softball team, or a kickball team, or whatever. Last year, I tried to get into one of the groups I see in Tower Grove Park, but to no avail.

(5) The Traffic System in South County - It is colorful, but insane and dangerous. I never saw a sign that said 'left on left arrow only' until I moved to St. Louis.

(6) The St. Louis Post Dispatch - There is a certain lack of quality, and a lack of 'bite' that makes this paper very hard for me to read. I look forward to going to Chicago to read the Tribune every time I visit. There is just a lack of depth and relevance with the articles in the paper here/

(7) A Lack of Headline News on the Radio - There are way too many sports radio stations, and a horrible lack of headline news. I like NPR, but sometimes I want fast headline news, something that is noticeably vacant down here.

(8) A Lack of Pickup Basketball - No one likes shoot hoops around here.

[ShadowCaver]

Hephaestus - list... and don't think you will find much argument from many about most of those items, esp. from me regarding the Post-Disgrace. The #4 disadvantage, that is surprising to an extent, at least in my experience from playing softball and volleyball in the area - sorry to hear that. BTW, think that the Cards organization is top-notch, IMHO the Blues are even above them... of course since my blood bleeds that colour, I may be a tad biased .


btw, moniker... being a metallurgist, that is one of my favourite gods.

[aaronstlcards]

Originally Posted by kcmo

The problem with StL now is that westward sprawl is simply out of control. The metro is really not growing much, but migration to the west makes it seem like it's growing like Phoenix or something. Many suburbs are now 50 even 60 miles from downtown. KC grows in all directions and everybody is within 25 miles of downtown. That helps KC's urban core have a chance I think where in StL so much of the population is so far from downtown that it will be much more difficult to re-invest in the urban core. (the previous statement was my contribution to the original topic of this thread).

C'mon lets be real. 60 miles from downtown? You won't find a prominent burb more than 25 miles from downtown.

[aragx6]

I'm not sure you can say that. More than 20,000 people live in Wentzville now and it's more than 40 miles to St. Louis. It is ridiculous and it's definitely something I hope is soon reversed.

That being said, KC is the epitome of sprawl -- it's city limits are even sprawl-y -- as is Chicago to an ever-growing extent. It's definitely an issue many Midwestern metros are facing.

[Fishtacos]

Originally Posted by ShadowCaver

Hephaestus - list... and don't think you will find much argument from many about most of those items, esp. from me regarding the Post-Disgrace. The #4 disadvantage, that is surprising to an extent, at least in my experience from playing softball and volleyball in the area - sorry to hear that. BTW, think that the Cards organization is top-notch, IMHO the Blues are even above them... of course since my blood bleeds that colour, I may be a tad biased .


btw, moniker... being a metallurgist, that is one of my favourite gods.

The #4 disadvantage is a legit thing, not applicable in every case, or part of town, but very legit. You will find that in a lot of comparable sized and smaller Midwestern cities, or even in other parts of the country too. There are a lot of people who grow up some place, and either never leave, or leave for a while and come back to those same friends, and this can make it challenging to some "outsiders" because those people don't have a natural tendency to seek out new friends. In some cases they have had their friends since grade school or high school. That can be frustrating.

As for Sports, a lot of the "I've been here for two years" people will mostly only discuss the Cardinals, but when other teams "have it going," the buzz is similar. St. Louis is a big sports town.

[Eyeam]

(5) The Asian Cuisine - There a lot of really good Vietnamese restaurants in St. Louis. Also Thai, Chinese, etc. They certainly rival Chicago.

Out of curiosity, could you tell me where you found all these? I used to live in the Bay area of California, and there were excellent Viet/Thai/etc places on just about every corner. All I've been able to find here in STL is that one tiny tiny section of Grand Ave, granted it's better than not having any ethnic foods at all. The food was surprisingly good, too - I wasn't sure what to expect from ethnic food places here.

[Central Illinois 1]

I really do like St. Louis overall and enjoyed living there. but the one thing that really bothers me is when people in their 30s and 40s are still caught up in where they and everyone else went to high school. That is a joke.

[kshe95girl]

Originally Posted by Eyeam

Out of curiosity, could you tell me where you found all these? I used to live in the Bay area of California, and there were excellent Viet/Thai/etc places on just about every corner. All I've been able to find here in STL is that one tiny tiny section of Grand Ave, granted it's better than not having any ethnic foods at all. The food was surprisingly good, too - I wasn't sure what to expect from ethnic food places here.

Try this link.......I can tell you that Pho Grand is wonderful, its on Grand, its included in the Vietnamese listings on the site I am giving you the link for.......happy eating!
St. Louis Dining & Restaurant Information