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St. Louis, might be alright on climate for many but not everyone. Outdoor recreation probably more alright than special.
In city crime rates, St. Louis has almost 4 times the national average on violent crime and 2.5 times the property crime rate. One can say "most violent crime is between people that know each other" and "some neighborhoods and suburbs are safer than others" but crime is still a pretty big argument against St. Louis to me.
This is not a far fetched concern when looking at statistics. I knew that the subject of Murder City would come up in the first few posts. If St. Louis was that dangerous, I don't think I could live here.
We have to consider the context of crime in St. Louis that isn't the same as the subject of crime stats in Atlanta, Nashville or Pittsburg.
I think you have to consider the jurisdictional boundaries of St. Louis being less than 10% of the MSA but it contains the majority of the regions poverty at 20%. Concentrated poverty is never a good thing in any city. St. Louis metro is very average for crime the last I heard with an average poverty rate 10.2%.
Within the city of St. Louis, the areas where people live work and play is pretty moderate on homicides as well but high side of moderate on property crime. The parts of the city with heavy decline is pretty dangerous. There is a small portion that is extremely dangerous that contains maybe 10,000 residents if that. As of this day, the majority of the city isn't in decline. Some parts are thriving.
Crime rates are troubling but should only be compared to the same place over time to look for trends (up or down), not from place to place or especially state to state. There are too many factors that make things too different -- like crime reports, arrests, criminal code, prosecution rate, etc. Looking at how a place changes over time makes sense. The prime example is Kansas City. The state line street runs through a commercial/residential neighborhood on the west side. Are you much safer walking on the Kansas or Missouri side of the street because the rates are different?
Crime rates are troubling but should only be compared to the same place over time to look for trends (up or down), not from place to place or especially state to state. There are too many factors that make things too different -- like crime reports, arrests, criminal code, prosecution rate, etc. Looking at how a place changes over time makes sense. The prime example is Kansas City. The state line street runs through a commercial/residential neighborhood on the west side. Are you much safer walking on the Kansas or Missouri side of the street because the rates are different?
I guess that is why they didn't include crime stats in this analysis. It isn't always apples to apples.
Portland Oregon, not Portland ME...definitely not that small.
St Louis area and Pittsburgh are actually both good areas - relative low cost of living but has everything you need for a metro area.
I mis-read that as Portland, Maine, not Portland, Oregon. If it's Portland, Oregon, then 110% it's a major destination for anyone. Solidly tops the list for most people due to its incredible bar/food options and tons of things to do in the city. Also, its proximity to the stunning pacific coast and the mountains and hiking/waterfall trails everywhere in the metro area is a major draw.
St Louis and Pittsburgh are good picks for right out of college. Personally, I'd pick Pittsburgh all day over St Louis, due to the more hip vibe, but St Louis offers some great cultural institutions and city living in its good areas.
As I indicated at the time, I was talking about St Louis CITY crime rates previously.
It is true that the metro area outside the city is on average about normal on crime overall, maybe even good in places. Depending on how much time you spend in the city, where / when and your attitude about the risk, people will vary on how big a deal crime is in the St. Louis experience. I thought it was worth at least raising the topic and stats and discussing briefly. It is fairly unusual for a city rating to have no consideration of crime (and climate).
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