Chicago vs. St. Louis (living, crime rate, compared, place)

[Sleeping in Skyscrapers]

I am considering moving to Chicago from St. Louis - because of my career (building industry) there are more opportunities there. Without verbally bashing my hometown (St. Louis) - would any Chicago transplants from St. Louis or Chicago natives familiar with St. Louis care to discuss the advantages of or why they prefer to live Chicago instead of St. Louis? And please, do not quote the horribly over-inflated crime rate in St. Louis (there is another forum for that - see //www.city-data.com/forum/st-lo...ty-nation.html)

[aragx6]

Where'd you go to high school? Haha. Clearly I'm a native St. Louisan. Man doesn't that whole "dangerous city" thing peeve you!?! Sucks that everyone has such a bad impression of a town I love.

I moved to Chicago after graduating from Mizzou because of job opportunities, and am truly loving it thus far.

The hardest thing about the move will be the inevitable sticker shock. St. Louis is a pretty cheap place to live, Chicago is very pricey in comparison.

There are neighborhoods of St. Louis that remind me of parts of Chicago- like the CWE and Soulard, but Chicago's urban areas spread far and wide unlike St. Louis. Most of Chicago is very dense compared to St. Louis and single family homes here are extraordinarily expensive.

There is a lot more to do in Chicago, whether you like nightlife or culture. The parks here almost make me not miss Forest Park- there's a lot of greenery in the city.

The food here is awesome. There are more restaurants here than you could go to in 3 lifetimes.

I will always think of St Louis as home (and I'll always bleed blue!) but Chicago is an awesome city and it really maintains that Midwestern friendliness. In general people in Chicago are SO much nicer than NY or LA.

In sum: come visit, get outside the tourist areas and see if you like it. I think you will.

If you detail the kind of neighborhood you are looking for, we can help you with some specific locales to check out.

[Lookout Kid]

In spite of some shared history and geographical proximity, Chicago and St. Louis are VERY different. Though I guess Chicago is somewhat like a bigger St. Louis with a lot more investment and development. Chicago is much more dense and vibrant, but there are parts of the city that kind of feel like St. Louis. You will find more middle-to-upper class residents in Chicagoland who find the city and acceptalbe place to live.

[Drover]

Originally Posted by Sleeping in Skyscrapers

I am considering moving to Chicago from St. Louis - because of my career (building industry) there are more opportunities there. Without verbally bashing my hometown (St. Louis) - would any Chicago transplants from St. Louis or Chicago natives familiar with St. Louis care to discuss the advantages of or why they prefer to live Chicago instead of St. Louis? And please, do not quote the horribly over-inflated crime rate in St. Louis (there is another forum for that - see //www.city-data.com/forum/st-lo...ty-nation.html)

Can someone please, please explain to me the pathological obsession of St. Louis-area residents with explaining away that city's crime problem? Most other people who live in a crime-ridden city accept that fact and decide to live there anyway for whatever reason; most other people who live in the suburbs of a crime-ridden city accept that fact and say "that's why we live in the suburbs." But not St. Louis or its surburanites. Why is this?

[aragx6]

Did you even read that thread? I would highly suggest it as it might bring a few things to light.

And this "pathological" need to stand up for our city when it's put down by a measuring scale that nearly everyone who knows anything knows is fatally flawed? It's just like when Chicagoans get pissed when someone tells them their city is a s***hole when they know that's positively bulls***.

[Drover]

I did read the thread, and basically what I read is "the city proper is geographically small, so its statistics don't count," or "if only we could include the whole metropolitan area, our crime rate wouldn't be so bad." Yeah, well that goes for just about every other city core in America. It doesn't really change the fact that St. Louis proper has a serious crime problem.

[skipcromer]

Originally Posted by Sleeping in Skyscrapers

I am considering moving to Chicago from St. Louis - because of my career (building industry) there are more opportunities there. Without verbally bashing my hometown (St. Louis) - would any Chicago transplants from St. Louis or Chicago natives familiar with St. Louis care to discuss the advantages of or why they prefer to live Chicago instead of St. Louis? And please, do not quote the horribly over-inflated crime rate in St. Louis (there is another forum for that - see //www.city-data.com/forum/st-lo...ty-nation.html)

I am another former St. Louisan looking to move to chicago. I have been living in Atlanta for the past couple of months and dont care much for it. As far as my high school...Granite City class of '03.

[aragx6]

Sleeping, if you have any other qs feel free to ask. I'd much rather not go down the ridiculous path of arguing with someone over something they know so wholly little about.
I'd much rather stay on topic and help someone with legitimate questions. Or is that not what this forum is about?

[100%Michigan]

With St. Louis being number one most dangerous city, my job wouldnt have to run me out...

[aragx6]

Actually Detroit got that sweet award this year... hope that's not where you're from 100%Michigan