What you hate about St. Louis (Kansas City, Northwoods: homes, job market, construction)

[zoomzoom3]

Personally I like summer here.

July and August are the best months for outdoor activities in St. Louis IMO. There's nothing like going to the Muny & having it still be 95 degrees at showtime (usually around 8 pm).

[oscottscotto]

Originally Posted by kshe95girl

I hate that I am not there...... I'm stuck in the shallow end of the cultural pool here.......y'all have it good compared to whats going on down here.
So what if theres too much brick and its a bit chilly?

Where is "here"?

[kshe95girl]

Originally Posted by oscottscotto

Where is "here"?

Ocala, Florida. We have more unemployed than any other county in the state, Florida has one of the highest rates in the country, so we are a hotspot, so to say.
The economy here was based on real estate and construction. Florida has had boom and bust cycles, but nothing like this before, there are NO jobs to be had, and I got laid off in November.

[anr_black]

Speaking of the economy, I saw a car commercial yesterday (was it for Hyundai?) where they're advertising a new special that if you buy a car now and lose your job in the next year, they'll let you turn it back in and forgive your debt, no questions asked. Now, I can't remember when THAT was ever offered before! It's really getting bad in this country :-(

[kshe95girl]

Originally Posted by anr_black

Speaking of the economy, I saw a car commercial yesterday (was it for Hyundai?) where they're advertising a new special that if you buy a car now and lose your job in the next year, they'll let you turn it back in and forgive your debt, no questions asked. Now, I can't remember when THAT was ever offered before! It's really getting bad in this country :-(

Wonder if it was a local commercial...... all I can say is wow...........

[anr_black]

Nope, just googled it, and it's on their website. It's called "Hyundai Assurance." Good for people, I guess, but just speaks volumes about the state of car sales today, if not the whole economy.

[jskirwin]

Good for people? So instead of turning the car into the bank you can turn it into the dealer.

You don't get your downpayment back. You don't get your trade-in back. And you lose your transportation - which you'll most likely need in St. Louis to get to your job.

How is this good?

If Hyundai really wanted to help they'd let you suspend payments until you found a job.

This commercial, which plays nationwide BTW (I'm in Philly), is insulting.

[anr_black]

If your car is repossesed for not making your payments, you don't get your $ into back either...this at least gives people an option, without it destroying your credit score. That's why I think it's a good thing

Originally Posted by jskirwin

Good for people? So instead of turning the car into the bank you can turn it into the dealer.

You don't get your downpayment back. You don't get your trade-in back. And you lose your transportation - which you'll most likely need in St. Louis to get to your job.

How is this good?

If Hyundai really wanted to help they'd let you suspend payments until you found a job.

This commercial, which plays nationwide BTW (I'm in Philly), is insulting.

[TGS]

Originally Posted by Fishtacos

I'll agree with the brick comment. At the very least more of them could painted from red to other colors, while still keeping plenty of the red brick structures.

No! No paint!

Bricks are made from a natural substance, and if made correctly, can last for hundreds of years. When they get wet, they are able to naturally absorb moisture, and then the moisture will evaporate from the outside without any damage. If you paint bricks, then any moisture that gets in will get trapped in the brick, and it will substantially decrease the life of the brick, especially if the moisture freezes. The moisture will cause the paint to bubble or flake off within a decade, causing a recurring maintenance nightmare. On the inside of the house, if there is a vapor/moisture barrier, the moisture will have no where to go and can cause a complete failure of the wall. If the inside walls are painted plaster, the paint will start to bubble and the plaster will deteriorate. If there is drywall, mold will develop behind the walls, causing a toxic house problem.

When the building needs to be painted again, or the paint needs to be removed, usually the paint is sandblasted off. This takes off the top layer of the brick along with the paint. The top layer is usually very hard and weathered, and is the part of the brick that best repels any moisture. Taking off the layer decreases the life of the brick because is it then easier for moisture to get in (which will cause the next round of paint to fail more quickly, which then will cause another round of sandblasting, and so on).

A lot of the painted brick houses in the city were remodeled by people who didn't know what they were doing, or needed to cover up a horrible tuck pointing job, an addition with mismatched bricks, a repair of a collapsed wall, or other serious brick problems.

The reason so many homes here are made of brick is because St. Louis had some of the best brick factories in the nation, and some of the best clay deposits. Brick was a far superior material than wood in terms of durability and maintenance, so we should be proud of all the brick homes! My block has homes made with an incredible variety of brickwork and intricate designs. There is only one house on the block that is painted, and they did it to cover up where a wall/foundation had shifted. It doesn't look nearly a good as its neighbors, and the corner quoins and sunburst brick design over the windows are no longer visible. Tragic.

Sorry for the rant, but it kills me to see people take a brick wall that requires little maintenance other than a tuck pointing job every 50 years, and turn it into a ongoing expensive maintenance issue with paint. Leave the paint for the wood trim.

[iowa86]

I came from Kansas City over a year ago and I find that St. Louisans are very standoffish compared to the folks of KC. Unless you went to High School here, seems they don't have much to say to you.