St. Louis on the cheap: From the Gateway Arch to the free zoo (Center: income, income tax)

[STLCardsBlues1989]

The Canadian Press: St. Louis on the cheap: From the Gateway Arch to the free zoo

[djkkt6]

To anyone who is considering going to the Arch... don't. It's perhaps the most overrated tourist attraction in the country. You make your way up to the top in these old, incredibly small contraptions... with 5-6 people, shoulder to shoulder, as it slowly creeps up higher and higher (while shaking the whole time). Then you get there and realize that it's nothing special. You get to see the St. Louis skyline (and much further, granted), but the skyline is so small that it's just not worth the time or the 10 dollars, or whatever it is. Cool to see from outside the arch, but a waste of time to actually go in it.

[allio27]

Originally Posted by djkkt6

To anyone who is considering going to the Arch... don't. It's perhaps the most overrated tourist attraction in the country. You make your way up to the top in these old, incredibly small contraptions... with 5-6 people, shoulder to shoulder, as it slowly creeps up higher and higher (while shaking the whole time). Then you get there and realize that it's nothing special. You get to see the St. Louis skyline (and much further, granted), but the skyline is so small that it's just not worth the time or the 10 dollars, or whatever it is. Cool to see from outside the arch, but a waste of time to actually go in it.

I disagree! Sure, it wouldn't be the coolest ride at Disneyland, but it's the historical and architetural significance that appeals to me. For something that was built back in the 60's, I think it's pretty amazing.

[sjp1]

The ride up is half the fun!

[aragx6]

You're just mad because you had to sit in the elevator cube with a fat tourist who farts a lot aren't you?

[djkkt6]

No, more so because it's incredibly claustrophobic and just an awful, awful experience. I'm all for trying new things and seeing "landmarks" but the arch is vastly overrated. The ride up sucked, but if the experience up top was cool it would make up for it. Unfortunately, the experience up top was pretty boring.

[jlawrence01]

The article missed a lot of the cheap things to do in St. Louis:

Brewery Tour
Grant's Farm
The Holocaust Museum in Creve Couer, MO
The Westward Expansion Museum

[STLCardsBlues1989]

The pods were made in the 60s, when the average person wasn't overweight on McDonald's food.

Yeah, it'll probably be a little cramped. I haven't been up there since I was a kid, but it seemed fun then. It's not something you would do every day, but it's fun to do once, and maybe more as Downtown continues to change.

[STL4eva]

The Zoo is not free. It comes from the 1 percent extortion payroll tax on those who are unfortunate and brave enough to work in the City of St. Louis.

[STLCardsBlues1989]

Voters in the City of St. Louis and St. Louis County approved the establishment of the Zoo-Museum Tax District (ZMD) in 1971. The ZMD Tax District was empowered to tax property owners to provide financial support for the Saint Louis Zoo, St. Louis Science Center and the Saint Louis Art Museum. Later additions were the Missouri Historical Society and Missouri Botanical Garden.

http://www.stlzoo.org/home/publicpolicy.htm (broken link)

If you're gonna be a troll, get your facts straight.

Local Income Tax
St. Louis City residents and workers pay a 1% earnings tax. St. Louis City employers pay a payroll tax of 0.5%.

http://www.stlrcga.org/x484.xml

I'm not sure what it goes to, but it's 1% income tax. If you make $80,000 a year, that's like $800, which is about $2.20 a day. That's a cup of coffee or a gallon of gas. Or it's about $67 a month. That's a nice dinner or a couple pairs of shoes (for some women, one pair of shoes).