What you hate about St. Louis (Washington, Lexington: transplants, buy, school district)

[Kanick]

I'm probably going to get killed for saying this but there is really just one thing I absolutely dislike about St. Louis but it's a big thing. Here goes......

Catholicism is a religion. Not a club. You are not better than anyone else because you attend a Catholic Church or your kids go to Catholic schools. Seriously. I've live in St. Louis most of my life but have also lived in Des Moines, Kansas City, Chicago and Houston. I've not encountered this anywhere else. Kids that go to public school or are not Catholic ARE NOT dumber, less well behaved or anything else. Everyone is NOT Catholic in St. Louis.

Seriously, sometimes the attitude wants to make me run from St. Louis screaming. Like I said, this has nothing to do with the Catholic faith AT ALL because I haven't encountered it anywhere else I've lived. It seems to be a St. Louis thing that even bugs several of my Catholic friends.

[jskirwin]

Kanick
St. Louis has been heavily Catholic for most of its history. The Irish. The Italians. Even the Germans that settled in STL came from Catholic parts of predominantly Lutheran Prussia/Germany. Catholicism is a key part of its identity just like it is in New Orleans.

Consequently much of its social life revolved around the church and for the kids their catholic schools. While it may seem grating for non-Catholics, try to tolerate it and even appreciate something that is part of the character of the city.

[Northwoods Voyager]

I grew up in St. Louis. Lived in a neighborhood with many Catholic families. My best girlfriends/playmates were Catholic. Maybe I was naive, but never noticed at all what you have described, Kanick. I am sorry tho' that this is what you are experiencing. And jskirwin is correct about the history of St. Louis. St. Louis, the name says it all, in a way.

[aragx6]

Originally Posted by TGS

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.

I couldn't agree more!

And anyways, I love all the red brick. It reminds me of home.

[aragx6]

Originally Posted by 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.

Where do you live? I haven't found this at all.

[aragx6]

Scott,
I think we might be the exact opposite person. Phoenix is, with Las Vegas being the only possible exception, my least favorite place in the U.S. I hate the architecture, I hate the weather, I hate the scenery, I hate the city itself.

I have realized I am a rust belter not a sun belter, and honestly? I am just fine with that.

Ideally I'd like to own a historic home in the city of St. Louis and a country home on some land somewhere warmer in the winter, but with acceptable summers -- something outside Lexington perhaps? I think Kentucky is fabulously beautiful.

[STLCardsBlues1989]

My Missouri song:

YouTube - Switchfoot -"This is Home" - THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA
One for aragx:

YouTube - Our Happy Family (Missing Missouri)

[jskirwin]

What's wrong with red brick? As far as I'm concerned if it isn't brick and it doesn't have a basement, it isn't a house.

[Brickmama]

I have experienced the Catholic issue described above either but that is not the first time I have heard someone mention it.

Obviously everyone knows I love the Red Brick by my screen name.

[Fishtacos]

Originally Posted by footballer0607

My favorite part of St. Louis is simply walking down Delmar and checking out the various shops & restaurants on the University City Loop. I also enjoy the Italian restaurants in The Hill. Autumn in St. Louis looks very nice, though the summers and winters are annoying. On the other hand, I found the level of racial polarization to be very disturbing, especially as the city of St. Louis is 51% black, but the public schools are somewhere around 85-90% and in pretty sorry shape. I must say, the locals tended to be much nicer to strangers than anywhere else I've been, and when you're used to dealing with California traffic, St. Louis' seems like nothing at all!

That's easy for you to say about race when far less than 10% of the entire Bay Area is black, and the Bay area is almost 3 times larger than St. Louis. You should compare St. Louis with other cities and metros of similar or close to the same racial makeups when it comes to your assertion of racial polarization. You'd find that it is not a St. Louis thing. You aren't comparing apples to apples. I can, gasp... say otherwise, that I agree with everything else you said except summers. Other than parts of July and August, when temps and humidity get extreme, early summer and late summer are very nice in St. Louis