St. Louis vs. Minneapolis?? (Lake St. Louis, Des Peres: unemployment rate, transfer to, neighborhood)

[DinsdalePirahna]

Originally Posted by Marksman84

[/i]

Some clarity is needed here, as you are mistaken.

St. Louis also has the St. Louis Aces, a professional level tennis team. Many legends of this awesome sport - including most recently the lovely Kim Clijsters and Anna Kournikova - have taken the floor in the cozy Dwight Davis tennis center in Forest Park.

Check em out in 2010!

St. Louis Aces

If anyone hasn't been to A WTT match they really should make the effort to see one. Big Names athletes up close and personal playing world class tennis.

[ShadowCaver]

Originally Posted by Marksman84

[/i]

Some clarity is needed here, as you are mistaken.

St. Louis also has the St. Louis Aces, a professional level tennis team. Many legends of this awesome sport - including most recently the lovely Kim Clijsters and Anna Kournikova - have taken the floor in the cozy Dwight Davis tennis center in Forest Park.

Check em out in 2010!

St. Louis Aces

lol, ok, I missed that one... and seems that many/most of us are naive about the 'professional' teams that call St Louis home:
Professional and College Sports => 11 of 'em

[rgb123]

Originally Posted by DinsdalePirahna

If anyone hasn't been to A WTT match they really should make the effort to see one. Big Names athletes up close and personal playing world class tennis.

I'm confused.....what is this aces thing? I went to the webpage I just don't "get" it...

never was one to understand sports but this is kind of interesting, though I don't understand!

[DinsdalePirahna]

Originally Posted by BoomBoxing

Your posts miss the mark time and time again. I don't find them offensive but I just think you can't say you know this city when you live 50+ miles away. I concede St. Louis' flaws all the time, but the things you point out simply aren't true, or are the reality of the part of town you live in. To call St. Louis a redneck town is completely and utterly ridiculous. I don't even know one person who could remotely fit that criteria. Of course if you live in Jefferson county or the far reaches of St. Charles county, you might have a different perception, but those places are NOT St. Louis. They are a part of our region of course but they are not representative of our region the way east St. Louis isn't representative of our region.

For the love of God spend some serious time in St. Louis city, Clayton, U.City, Webster Groves, Kirkwood, Des Peres, Ladue, Creve Coeur and tell me this is a redneck town. You act like there aren't any rednecks in the suburbs of Pittsburgh and San Fransisco. Give me a break. The "culture" of St. Louis that you have experienced is the culture of the far flung exurbs. But moreover, who ever said St. Louis should be more like LA or NYC or Austin? Having a lot of big city amenities with a low cost of living makes St. Louis more desirable for me. Oh and there are plenty of creative class types here, but being in Lake St. Louis I can see how you would think they are non-existent.

First of all LSL is less than 35 miles away. I make in to downtown in less than 45 minutes (that same trip would sometimes take up to 3 hours in LA). I spend a lot of time in those areas. I choose to live in Lake Saint Louis because it is essentially a boating community. I like boats. I also like the very Southern California attitudes and healthy lifestyle. Its not LA or NY, but it is definitely not what you would expect to find in Missouri. It is also the same reason I chose to live in Newport Beach as opposed to LA and Port Jefferson, Long Island as opposed to NYC. Easy enough to get into the city and just as fast out.

What I am saying about creative types is that in order for a city to be considered "hip" you need to nurture the creative class, and especially make the area attractive to outsiders. You would figure that because it is so cheap to live here, the creatives would be coming they need to attract. That is why my two friends left here after 2 years and moved to Austin. If you don't have a local pedigree you are essentially persona non grata. You won't understand because you are a local, and have not had the experience of being an outsider. I've lived in many regions of the United States and this is the first place I have ever experienced such an insular prejudice.

Lake Saint Louis has a lot of (established) Creative types. I can literally walk across my street and have my neighbor write copy on an ad or website I am working on. Three doors down, I have someone to do the realistic illustrations and portraits that I can't do myself. Two doors over there is a game developer. Within walking distance I have a photographer, web programmer and large format printer. This is one of the most creative neighborhoods I have ever lived in. I have access to a full creative department in my own neighborhood. Not only do we do the proverbial borrowing cups of sugar, we also share web code, design tips and solve each others creative blocks.

I'm in the city at least 4 times a week (This week I was in everyday, conducting one form of business or the other. I would say I know my way around fairly well. It really isn't a big city. I used to work in Des Peres, and Creve Couer (nothing special, just regular 'burbs, just like every other 'burb you mentioned.)

What you don't understand and you probably never will unless you spend some time away from this area in a place like NY, Long Island (and there are lots of rednecks on Long Island) OC, San Diego or LA is that there is definate mind set here that doesn't take to kindly to change and doesn't see anything wrong with wearing baseball hats and sleeveless t-shirts when going out on the town.

Oh don't get me wrong Pittsburgh is full of rednecks (they call them Yinzers to be correct). They are just more amusing than the local variety.

[DinsdalePirahna]

Originally Posted by rgb123

I'm confused.....what is this aces thing? I went to the webpage I just don't "get" it...

never was one to understand sports but this is kind of interesting, though I don't understand!

World team tennis. Big name tennis stars playing a national circuit. Marksman brought it up.

I use to watch the Newport Breakers. It was a cheap, entertaining night out. Another great sport to watch if you ever get a chance to watch it is water polo. Especially if there is a national team match.

[rgb123]

Dinsdale...do you recommend LSL for single, early 30's people? It sounds nice, but I thought it was more family oriented. It's kind of on the expensive side, is it not?

[DinsdalePirahna]

Its not as expensive as you think. You can get into a Community Association home for under $200k. There are condos listed at 80k (and there are homes outside the Ca that are far cheaper, but you may as well live in Wentzville if you take that route) - The entire idea of living out here is to enjoy the lakes and boating along with the other CA amenities, I haven't been bored living here one bit.

I would say the average age, is around 35-40 on the Big Lake, and over 50 on the Little Lake.

I don't know about the singles scene. i've been married for 12 years so that isn't even important to me. I do know the churches have singles meet and greets (and when I was single I did meet some nice girls through church functions - even though I don't subscribe to any particular religion - the Catholic and Jewish girls were always the cutest and hottest).

The club scene is non-existent out here, although the Community Association does have an occasional singles mixer and does provide some decent entertainment on the weekends and holidays. Downtown Saint Charles is about 15 miles away. There are some good bars down there.

There are a few redneck joints and legion halls but I don't think thats the caliber of women you would want to take home to mom.

I don't know what you are looking for. I like the mix of people here. Like I have mentioned there are a lot of transplants, so it is a bit easier on Newcomers than the rest of the region.

[GraniteStater]

Originally Posted by zach_33

If you subscribe to the Richard Florida school of thought, which I do not, Minneapolis has a much larger creative class than St. Louis, making it better for young professionals. St. Louis is okay, but on balance, as a single 30 something I would probably gravitate more toward the Twins.

Yes, he makes good points. The cities that can attract lots of talented, creative, innovative, and entreprenurial younger residents will likely see more in the way of economic growth and in-migration over longer periods of time. Those cities that lose many younger residents will suffer a brain drain and fall further behind overall.
Of course flaws do exist in his theories as well.

[rgb123]

I'm a lady but thanks for the information. My job is located in St. Charles (atleast when I am not going to be at a government site) so that is interesting. I love the water too.

As for the creative class thing. I don't see MPLS having a huge edge on STL in that category, as MPLS is just too cold to have any major draw around the US. It will just draw more from people that are already in Minnesota. STL has a major draw for young people because its cheap enough to be an incentive, and warm enough to keep from being too off-putting. Plus Chicago is starting to get too expensive for many people.

Anyway, the thing I never noticed about STL is the amount of federal related work, which is why I have job opps there. NGIA, Scott AFB, etc. If I get the job there I will be very busy working on contracts. I don't know of there being any type of military or federal work going on in MPLS, which is also a big draw for people from all over and young people (like me...)

[DinsdalePirahna]

oops.