Positives and negatives of living in St. Louis (University City, Creve Coeur: unemployment rate, theatre)

[Brickmama]

Good post. Tower Grove is actually a fairly safe area however some crime may spill over from nearby areas.

In terms of meeting people my suggestion would be to get involved with anything possible. Join a gym, clubs, organizations, etc. I work with at least a dozen people that moved here from other parts of the U.S. and the ones that like STL are the ones who have seized every opportunity of various social avenues. Also areas like downtown, CWE, and Soulard have a higher concentration of transplants than Tower Grove. Good news is that it seems more and more people are moving here so what may be lackluster now is only getting better.

[jlawrence01]

Originally Posted by Caldus

I'm from Charlotte, NC. I grew up there and went to school there. After I graduated in 2007, I moved to St. Louis to accept a job. I initially lived in the Loop area (in University City) for a little over a year. Then I moved to Tower Grove Park which is where I am now.
CONS:

- As others have mentioned, the racial segregation of this city is sad. I don't want to go too much into this since others have already explained it but basically I never really experienced this at all before.

Not that I disagree with you, but I find it incredulous that you never encountered racial segregation in Charlotte, NC, which is not generally a great bastion of racial harmony over the past 50 years. Or maybe you were sheltered from it.

The issue with the Tower Grove area and crime is that the SLPD and the city government are ineffective, which is not unusual in a one-party city. I lived there for eight years and had three break-ins. The break-ins ceased when I purchased an alarm system, glass brick windows in the basement and a sneaky german shepherd. The last attempt resulted in the loss of the thief's pants.

[Caldus]

Originally Posted by jlawrence01

Not that I disagree with you, but I find it incredulous that you never encountered racial segregation in Charlotte, NC, which is not generally a great bastion of racial harmony over the past 50 years. Or maybe you were sheltered from it.

The issue with the Tower Grove area and crime is that the SLPD and the city government are ineffective, which is not unusual in a one-party city. I lived there for eight years and had three break-ins. The break-ins ceased when I purchased an alarm system, glass brick windows in the basement and a sneaky german shepherd. The last attempt resulted in the loss of the thief's pants.

You're right, Charlotte wasn't a great bastion of racial harmony by any means either. I guess what I was trying to say is that (to me) it seems much more extreme in this city. I think I made a mistake in saying that I've NEVER experienced racial segregation and that somehow St. Louis is the first place that I've experienced it. That's a mistake and I should correct that.

Yikes, 3 huh? A few weeks ago some guy got arrested right next to my place. 5 police cars trapped him in the intersection there and arrested him on the spot. I still have no idea who broke into my place, but luckily I had rental insurance. My landlord has been real cool about it though and made some security improvements to the side doors of my place (where they broke through). So I mean in the end, if you have a cool landlord, then that's all that matters.

[ktCakes]

According to YTD District 3 crime stats in the Tower Grove East neighborhood person crime is down 4.6% property crime is down 7.8% and all crime is down 4.5%

Tower Grove South person crime is down 14.1% but property crime is up 15.5% (car theft is down but burglary is up 27%)

Shaw had person crime down 14% and property crime break even. Burglaries were down but larceny was up and we had an arson which we didn't have last year.

City wide all crime is down 3% from last year which is down from the year before.

Originally Posted by jlawrence01

Not that I disagree with you, but I find it incredulous that you never encountered racial segregation in Charlotte, NC, which is not generally a great bastion of racial harmony over the past 50 years. Or maybe you were sheltered from it.

Surprisingly, all of the top 10 most segregated cities in America in are in the "North." (based on US census info)

10. Philadelphia

9. Chicago

8. New York City

7. Buffalo-Niagra Falls, N.Y.

6. Cincinnati

5. Newark, N.J.

4. St. Louis

3. Cleveland-Lorain-Elyria, Ohio

2. Detroit

1. Milwaukee-Waukesha, Wis.

While the south may have racial issues, there is a much broader mix within communities and you don't have the underlying racism that we like to pretend we don't have up here.

[imperialmog]

Originally Posted by ktCakes

According to YTD District 3 crime stats in the Tower Grove East neighborhood person crime is down 4.6% property crime is down 7.8% and all crime is down 4.5%

Tower Grove South person crime is down 14.1% but property crime is up 15.5% (car theft is down but burglary is up 27%)

Shaw had person crime down 14% and property crime break even. Burglaries were down but larceny was up and we had an arson which we didn't have last year.

City wide all crime is down 3% from last year which is down from the year before.
Surprisingly, all of the top 10 most segregated cities in America in are in the "North." (based on US census info)

10. Philadelphia

9. Chicago

8. New York City

7. Buffalo-Niagra Falls, N.Y.

6. Cincinnati

5. Newark, N.J.

4. St. Louis

3. Cleveland-Lorain-Elyria, Ohio

2. Detroit

1. Milwaukee-Waukesha, Wis.

While the south may have racial issues, there is a much broader mix within communities and you don't have the underlying racism that we like to pretend we don't have up here.

What is interesting is seeing that they might change the metrics on defining what is a segregated area. From what I saw in terms of that, St. Louis comes out much less segregated just by changing the parameters. Also even with the same metrics, I won't be surprised if the upcoming census shows much faster integration than previous decades.

[meetmeinstl2]

grew up in St L & lived in several different areas for 42 yrs. (St Ann, Overland, Dellwood, South City, Clayton, O'Fallon and South County) and now live in the boonies near Cape Girardeau. Love the peace & quiet I have now, but sure miss all the conveniences and great places to visit!! Especially the St Louis humor!! St Louisans LOVE to laugh!!

[BubbyBobble]

St. Louis is fine as long as you get of racist and pretentious people. If this happened, then it would be better than chicago. Damn cubs....

[Marksman84]

[quote=meetmeinstl2;14308996]grew up in St L & lived in several different areas for 42 yrs. (St Ann, Overland, Dellwood, South City, Clayton, O'Fallon and South County) and now live in the boonies near Cape Girardeau. Love the peace & quiet I have now, but sure miss all the conveniences and great places to visit!! Especially the St Louis humor!! St Louisans LOVE to laugh!![/quote]

You have to have a sense of humor to live here, or you'll go insane dealing with the little "quirks."

[Marksman84]

Originally Posted by BubbyBobble

St. Louis is fine as long as you get of racist and pretentious people. If this happened, then it would be better than chicago. Damn cubs....

Not necessarily. There are pretentious and racist people in Chicago as well, but excepting sky-high housing prices, Draconian taxation and an corrupt-beyond-redemption dem governmental infrastructure, Chicago is an overall better quality city than St. Louis (which is fine in its own ways not shared with Chicago). The aesthetics and dynamics are more active and have a little more character.

[Photoclan]

I've lived in St. Louis, Los Angeles, Atlanta, New York City, and short periods overseas. Saint Louis Is pretty black and white. But we're in the middle of the country it's going to take a while to get that vast mix of people. But one thing that doesn't help us here in St. Louis is people (usually our own people) telling others we're racist. I grew up on the south side of St. Louis (Shaw neighborhood) my friends growing up were black, white, Mulatto (black and white parents), Vietnamese, and latino. I love the diversity! It's not as diverse as LA or NYC. That is true. But no where in the US is. Saint Louis is a great town. It's diverse and culturally rich. The only city in the world that has more Bosnians is Bosnia. We have the Hill (Italian), Dogtown (Irish), South Grand (Vietnamese), Olive (Chinese), and a whole metropolis of educated intelligent people. COME TO SAINT LOUIS! Get you some Bar-B-Que and listen to some Saint Louis Blues and eveybody CHILL OUT!