Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Although they are unincorporated neighborhoods as opposed to municipalities, I'd say Rosslyn or Crystal City compare better with Clayton than Alexandria does.
Agree. Alexandria is a historic port city, older than Washington. DC. I think Clayton is much more comparable to Crystal City Va which is part of Arlington county.
Although they are unincorporated neighborhoods as opposed to municipalities, I'd say Rosslyn or Crystal City compare better with Clayton than Alexandria does.
I'm leaning towards Roslyn or Bethesda or Silver Spring to compare with Clayton more so than Crystal City...I work in CC, and I'd say Clayton is more well-rounded than Crystal City, though I could see why people would compare the two.
I don't understand why everyone thinks St. Louis is this horrible place. I guess people read and hear about the homicide rate and not consider most of the area is pretty safe and quite livable. With that being written, other than cost of living and traffic, I would prefer the DMV area. I love old town Alexandria but I also love the Central West End just as much. Both MSAs have enough to offer where most people could live out their ideals but DMV has more options.
Location: That star on your map in the middle of the East Coast, DMV
8,128 posts, read 7,552,695 times
Reputation: 5785
Quote:
Originally Posted by Koji7
What a statement.
Alexandria, VA is one of the more desirable urban enclaves that I would CHOOSE to live in on the entire East Coast honestly. I've only been to STL's airport so can't compare.
I don't understand why everyone thinks St. Louis is this horrible place. I guess people read and hear about the homicide rate and not consider most of the area is pretty safe and quite livable.
We vacationed in St. Louis in June 2019 after research on this sub-forum piqued our curiosity (it was also a nice place to stop on the way back from visiting my partner's family near Joplin).
St. Louis is definitely TWO cities---a typically safe, middle-class, heavily-white, and largely intact city south of Delmar Boulevard and a reprehensibly violent, poor, heavily-black, and largely blighted city north of Delmar Boulevard. It has to be one of the most segregated cities in the entire country based upon socioeconomic and racial lines. You can grab a $20 meal at Shake Shack in the Central West End (I mean Pittsburgh doesn't even have a Shake Shack and is one of the "darling" cities on here) just a bike ride away from a neighborhood where many people consider a McDonald's burger a "splurge".
We stayed at an AirBNB in Benton Park. We heavily explored Soulard, South Grand, Shaw, Tower Grove Park, Central West End, Lafayette Square, and the surrounding areas. Gorgeous architecture. Friendly people (even friendlier when they found out we were tourists from the East Coast). I could see myself happy living in St. Louis. With that being said I would also feel sad to live in a city so divided.
From 2009-2010 I lived in Fairfax County, VA and was in Alexandria, VA very frequently. I'm not sure how much has changed there over the past decade, but when I lived there Alexandria was fantastic. Historic preservation was done very well in Old Town. Del Ray was a nice little neighborhood, too. There was also a lot of ugly post-WWII era tract housing in some areas, but as someone else upthread said they'd rather look at that than the bombed-out blocks of North St. Louis.
Alexandria came off as snobbish to me. The only part of St. Louis that gave me a snobby/smuggy vibe was Lafayette Square. It seemed like a much more down-to-earth city overall.
I voted for St. Louis because I'd rather live in a place like the Central West End or Soulard than Old Town or Del Ray as someone who is lower-middle-class.
We vacationed in St. Louis in June 2019 after research on this sub-forum piqued our curiosity (it was also a nice place to stop on the way back from visiting my partner's family near Joplin).
St. Louis is definitely TWO cities---a typically safe, middle-class, heavily-white, and largely intact city south of Delmar Boulevard and a reprehensibly violent, poor, heavily-black, and largely blighted city north of Delmar Boulevard. It has to be one of the most segregated cities in the entire country based upon socioeconomic and racial lines. You can grab a $20 meal at Shake Shack in the Central West End (I mean Pittsburgh doesn't even have a Shake Shack and is one of the "darling" cities on here) just a bike ride away from a neighborhood where many people consider a McDonald's burger a "splurge".
We stayed at an AirBNB in Benton Park. We heavily explored Soulard, South Grand, Shaw, Tower Grove Park, Central West End, Lafayette Square, and the surrounding areas. Gorgeous architecture. Friendly people (even friendlier when they found out we were tourists from the East Coast). I could see myself happy living in St. Louis. With that being said I would also feel sad to live in a city so divided.
From 2009-2010 I lived in Fairfax County, VA and was in Alexandria, VA very frequently. I'm not sure how much has changed there over the past decade, but when I lived there Alexandria was fantastic. Historic preservation was done very well in Old Town. Del Ray was a nice little neighborhood, too. There was also a lot of ugly post-WWII era tract housing in some areas, but as someone else upthread said they'd rather look at that than the bombed-out blocks of North St. Louis.
Alexandria came off as snobbish to me. The only part of St. Louis that gave me a snobby/smuggy vibe was Lafayette Square. It seemed like a much more down-to-earth city overall.
I voted for St. Louis because I'd rather live in a place like the Central West End or Soulard than Old Town or Del Ray as someone who is lower-middle-class.
The thing with St. Louis is it is St. Louis. The Delmar divide is real. At the same time there are many areas of the city that are well integrated like the Central West End (28% black 55% White), Downtown, Tower Grove(50% White) . They are all thriving communities that are well integrated and seem just as progressive as any other place I've lived in. Even snobbish Lafayette square (13% Black 80% White). Black residents seem to be fine living there. Very few all White enclaves in the city of St. Louis. I can't say that about St. Louis county though.
St. Louis is not for everyone. I don't think any city is. Its been pretty good to me but I don't think its been just as good to everyone. It all depends on what they make of it and their perspective.
It's my understanding that the exit next to Union Station is being demolished in favor of practice fields for the soccer stadium that's going in on the north side of Market. They're also supposed to be available for community events, but I don't think they've explained in what way yet.
Ah, that's good. Maybe they should just demolish the freeway. The combination of the freeway and the train tracks are a pretty amazing physical divide.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
