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

[GoneNative]

Originally Posted by kcmo

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

I think it's fairly similar in many ways. St. Louis is a lot more outdoorsy than people think--and Denver, perhaps less so.

[steel03]

Originally Posted by kcmo

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

They're transition cities. St. Louis from the eastern to the lower Midwest and Denver from the plains to the mountains. They both have characteristics from both sides as well as their own distinct personality.

[Caesarstl]

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 not really following your logic here, dare I ask for you to elaborate... You don't drive me as crazy as you do some people on here as despite what some STL posters may think you do sometimes have something meaningful and even positive to say about the metro. On the other hand, the majority of your posts do come across as practically mind numbingly biased from someone who clearly dislikes the area and goes to bizarre and and exaggerated lengths to try and bash it. This def seems like the later... and I'm curious for you to elaborate just to better understand what the heck you were thinking...

What I mean is, in regards to the bold, uh... duh.... There's a divide between rural and city dwellers??? People in the big city have an ego vs the surburbs/countryside, country people look down on/aren't interested in the stressful/corrupt/polluted/crime/whatever city life? Name one major city in America, or much of the world really... where this doesn't exist in some way are another. Furthermore, as it exists pretty much everywhere, it is more a matter of degree. I never found St. Louis to have too big of an ego really at all, but as mentioned in this thread a couple of times St. Louis doesn't get along very well/match up with the rest of the state on a lot of issues (politics for example, another area where people everywhere think they know better than the people with views different from theirs) to further add a little wedge.

You really seem to be grasping at straws here, this is a pretty normal human phenomenon found all over that you are just trying to paint on St. Louis, which in my opinion is not at all a major offender. What about the others in this thread? KC has similar feelings (again, I'd love to see your list of cities that don't have people like this), and def dislikes the capital just as much as St. Louis does. The other, o... Chicago... lol you have get to be kidding me... There are large numbers of people in Chicago who think that nothing south of I-80 in the state of IL even exists, so I guess that takes care of the thoughts on other people in the state, but hey, don't stop there as there is also a rather strong superiority complex over all of the Midwest, and even most of the US if you aren't living in NYC. By your logic then Chicago must be very small townish. Finally, you are in S. California which you love right? Not exactly an area known for its humbleness... but then again I'm sure when you're telling everyone how much better it is than St. Louis that doesn't count right? Pot... Kettle...

[lovekcmo]

I think it's more like Michigan.

[SPonteKC]

Well, its the biggest population center in Missouri, so it pretty much defines Missouri more than any other single place. With regards to is it more like KC or Chicago, it clearly has more in common with and more similarity to KC, by dint of size if nothing else (plus there's plenty of else), but I think its more like Cleveland than anywhere.

[Craziaskowboi]

Originally Posted by s.davis

Well, its the biggest population center in Missouri, so it pretty much defines Missouri more than any other single place. With regards to is it more like KC or Chicago, it clearly has more in common with and more similarity to KC, by dint of size if nothing else (plus there's plenty of else), but I think its more like Cleveland than anywhere.

St. Louis is more like Baltimore, Pittsburgh and Cincinnati than Cleveland, which is more like Buffalo, Detroit and Milwaukee.

[STLgasm]

St. Louis and Kansas City are as different as any two cities in this country. St. Louis is older than both Chicago and KC, so therefore has a distinctly eastern/river city flavor that is rare in the interior Midwest. The city's dialect is northern/more Great Lakes-influenced than any other place in the Midland/Missouri vicinity.

[SPonteKC]

Originally Posted by STLgasm

St. Louis and Kansas City are as different as any two cities in this country

HA. Keep telling yourself that.

[SPonteKC]

Originally Posted by Gnutella

St. Louis is more like Baltimore, Pittsburgh and Cincinnati than Cleveland, which is more like Buffalo, Detroit and Milwaukee.

Interesting, and I can understand that line of thought, though I disagree on Cleveland. I think Cleveland and St Louis are probably 2 of the most similar cities in the country. I certainly think St Louis has some similarities to Pittsburgh and less so, or more superficially to, Cincy, though its bigger and was really more prominent than either. Baltimore, not so much. Its as different from StL as StL is from KC...and kind of in the same ways. Baltimore is to StL as StL is to St Louis.

[STLgasm]

Actually Baltimore and St. Louis have a long history of interconnectivity, both literally and figuratively. Much of the eastern trade that built St. Louis originated at the Port of Baltimore, and with that came a great deal of Baltimore/mid-Atlantic influence in St. Louis. Furthermore, both Baltimore and St. Louis are the only two major independent cities in the country, distinctly separate political jurisdictions from their adjacent suburban counties (which also bear their names). They also both suffer from a fragmented identity crisis, with influences from both north and south and all the historic tensions and dichotomies that go with that.

And I stand by my statement earlier that St. Louis and Kansas City feel like two VERY different cities. The mood, the culture, the attitude, the built environment, the history, the politics, etc. are just very different. Not sure how that's arguable.