Is St. Louis more like Missouri/KC or Illinois/Chicago? (living, crime)

[Colts]

Neither, but if I had to pick one, it'd be Missouri, because it's in Missouri. Why would it be like Illinois?

If anything, the part of Illinois that's near St. Louis is more affiliated with St. Louis than either Illinois or Missouri.

I don't think culture corresponds well to state lines. I also believe that most major cities have enough of their own identities to not necessarily be affiliated with their states. I think St. Louis is more related to other older independent river cities like Pittsburgh (or Cincinnati) and Baltimore as opposed to the culture of rural Missouri.

[DinsdalePirahna]

There is an element of the city of Saint Louis (as well as the county of Saint Louis) that thinks they are better than the rural and suburban dwellers in the rest of the state. In reality St. Louis is just a medium sized city with a small town attitude. It is very much a part of civilized Missouri.

[slengel]

Originally Posted by DinsdalePirahna

There is an element of the city of Saint Louis (as well as the county of Saint Louis) that thinks they are better than the rural and suburban dwellers in the rest of the state. In reality St. Louis is just a medium sized city with a small town attitude. It is very much a part of civilized Missouri.

i'm shocked to read a post like this from you, dinsdale. talk about "thinking they're better," you lived in a far-flung exurb of st. louis for a year or two and claim to be the ultimate authority of all things saint louis. you really sound incredibly ignorant.

politically, culturally and socially speaking, the city of st. louis is much more similar to chicago than it is to any other city in missouri. that doesn't necessarily make it more like illinois, but politics do color the atmosphere, and st. louis city and county are overwhemingly democratic, with powerful democratic machines dominating decision making, for better or worse. nowhere else in the state really operates that way.

[kcmo]

Originally Posted by Maintainschaos

The Metro East and StL always looked pretty identical to me every time I've been there. I don't think there's much topographical difference between the two.

Metro east feels wide open to me while the MO side is more hilly and wooded. It might be just because it's far more developed and trees have been planted and matured, but then again south county is a lot more hilly than anything in the metro east part of IL, especially IL away from the River bluffs.

[Toxic Toast]

Originally Posted by Caesarstl

The poll doesn't exactly agree with you... I know my answer, but neither city wise is one of the top choices when I think of cities most similar to St. Louis. State wise is another matter but as pointed out St. Louis doesn't get along with MO very well, but there's geographical similarities of course to parts of MO more.

It more subtle commentary on how silly the question is; though it could apply to the ensuing silly debate.

[Smtchll]

Originally Posted by Maintainschaos

The Metro East and StL always looked pretty identical to me every time I've been there. I don't think there's much topographical difference between the two.

I agree that I think StL isn't like Chicago really, but I think the architectural and cultural feel of StL is more like that of places in IL, IN, OH than the more "plains" feeling you get in KC. I'm not saying that StL is any less a part of MO (although it has a substantial sphere of influence into IL), but to me it feels more like a part of the middle/lower Midwest (IL, IN, OH) than it feels like a part of the plains (NE, KS).

You won't notice much of a difference if you're coming from IL into Downtown St. Louis, but if you go a little further you'll see topography that's very different from the IL side of the metro

[DinsdalePirahna]

Originally Posted by slengel

i'm shocked to read a post like this from you, dinsdale. talk about "thinking they're better," you lived in a far-flung exurb of st. louis for a year or two and claim to be the ultimate authority of all things saint louis. you really sound incredibly ignorant.

See what I mean...

[plates]

Originally Posted by Toxic Toast

I know..............that is kind of the point........

Sarcasm doesn't work as well in text.

[steel03]

St. Louis is a pretty even blend of lower Midwest (Kansas City, Wichita) and eastern Midwest (Chicago, Cleveland) culture. I sort of think of it as an eastern Denver. There's not really another city that similar to it.

[kcmo]

StL is nothing like Denver (except size). I would say it's more like Baltimore than anything.