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What are some common misconceptions about your city?
I don't live in St. Louis, but from talking to those who do, I've learned enough to realize a few misconceptions:
Misconception #1: All of St. Louis city is extremely dangerous
Reality: Not true. There are decent neighborhoods to live in. How about Lafayette Square, Soulard, St. Louis Hills?
Misconception #2: St. Louis is flyover country.
Reality: Far from the truth. There's a lot to do in St. Louis: Baseball, hockey, football, various art and history museums, one of the best Zoos in the country (and it's free). Of course there are other things, like brewery tours (Schlafly and Anheuser-Busch). There are also natural wonders within a couple hours of the city, like Lake of the Ozarks.
Misconception #3: St. Louis is a little Chicago
Reality: To me, this is a misconception. St. Louis is not little anything. St. Louis is what it is. St. Louis has it's own character and history.
Yes, St. Louis has a lot of things to fix, but I don't think the ideas about St. Louis being inhabitable or a cesspool are correct. The city is so vast it's hard to find one way to categorize it.
What are some misconceptions about your favorite city or the one you currently live in?
Thanks.
I think St. Louis and Chicago share a lot of common cultural characteristics in terms of them both being Midwestern, but the similarities end there. Every city regardless of what region it is in has its own characteristics and to call any city a smaller version of another city in the same region as it I think is not a proper way of thinking, because every city has its own characteristics. No city is homogenous throughout...every city has some bad areas and some good areas.
- The city's crime rate is as bad as Detroit. That there are no safe neighborhoods, and everyone is poor.
- The city as a whole looks like Detroit.
- There are absolutely no trains or buses.
- There is absolutely nothing to do there.
- It is just one giant suburb with no urban centers.
- Everyone is a Southerner/country/redneck/hick, and closed-minded and ignorant toward other cultures
That pretty much sums it up for me.
Ironically, most people don't think Atlanta is redneck/ignorant, only the ones who are very, very ignorant themselves do. It's rare but I've had some people come to Atlanta and expect to hear SOUTHERN ACCENTS! I'm like, are you crazy? Nobody within 50 miles of Atlanta has a southern accent. Only people who move from places with southern accents have southern accents!
Dude, you guys caught a freakin river on fire. We have three rivers that we destroyed, but yet none of them ever caught fire. You will never be let go for that.
The Cuyahoga River actually caught on fire, to some degree, nearly a dozen times. Two of those times made it as famous as it is today.
"On June 22, 1969, an oil slick and debris in the Cuyahoga River caught fire in Cleveland..."
"...This was not the first time that the river had caught on fire. Fires occurred on the Cuyahoga River in 1868, 1883, 1887, 1912, 1922, 1936, 1941, 1948, and in 1952. The 1952 fire caused over 1.5 million dollars in damage..."
The Cuyahoga River has been cleaned up a lot over the years and is much less polluted now. Of course there is still a huge amount of industry in close proximity to the river that gives off some run off and pollution, but its highly unlikely that the river could catch fire right now. Thankfully, because I dont think people in Cleveland could deal with another thing like that.
it rains constantly.
[no, it rains more in other cities than it does in seattle.]
we never see the sun.
[we see the sun all the time, when it's raining.]
[if your from seattle, you know what im talking about.]
everyone is dirty, overweight and only wears cheap clothes.
[nope, we shower and wear name brand clothes, and the majority of my neighborhood is from orange county, so they're def. not dirty or cheap, and i also believe the seattle metro area is ranked 2nd as most fit city in america because we have one of the highest number of gyms per square mile than any other city, plus we have choke outdoor activities.]
there's only white people everywhere.
[nope, the central district/rainier district/white center/south park is majority black/hispanic and the city has a huge asian population.]
everyone drives subaru's.
[i dont know anybody who drives a subaru, atleast 6 of the 10 houses on my street has an audi parked in the driveway, including my house.]
we have ugly accents.
[we're pretty much the only place in the country that doesnt have an accent.]
the city and it's people are weak.
[nope, i've seen plenty of fights, and seattle is ranked in the top 5 as one of the toughest cities in america in some survey i read.]
when i travel around the country and people ask where im from, that's usually what they think about the seattle area.
it rains constantly.
[no, it rains more in other cities than it does in seattle.]
we never see the sun.
[we see the sun all the time, when it's raining.]
[if your from seattle, you know what im talking about.]
everyone is dirty, overweight and only wears cheap clothes.
[nope, we shower and wear name brand clothes, and the majority of my neighborhood is from orange county, so they're def. not dirty or cheap, and i also believe the seattle metro area is ranked 2nd as most fit city in america because we have one of the highest number of gyms per square mile than any other city, plus we have choke outdoor activities.]
there's only white people everywhere.
[nope, the central district/rainier district/white center/south park is majority black/hispanic and the city has a huge asian population.]
everyone drives subaru's.
[i dont know anybody who drives a subaru, atleast 6 of the 10 houses on my street has an audi parked in the driveway, including my house.]
we have ugly accents.
[we're pretty much the only place in the country that doesnt have an accent.]
the city and it's people are weak.
[nope, i've seen plenty of fights, and seattle is ranked in the top 5 as one of the toughest cities in america in some survey i read.]
when i travel around the country and people ask where im from, that's usually what they think about the seattle area.
When I think of Seattle, I think of neat, Subaru-driving people with the standard American accent. I don't see why anyone would think there are slobs all over Seattle.
When I think of Seattle, I think of neat, Subaru-driving people with the standard American accent. I don't see why anyone would think there are slobs all over Seattle.
You know whats funny is that I remember a few people driving Subarus when I lived in Seattle. I didn't think the popularity of Subarus was because it was Seattle, but rather because it was 1984.
- The city's crime rate is as bad as Detroit. That there are no safe neighborhoods, and everyone is poor.
- The city as a whole looks like Detroit.
- There are absolutely no trains or buses.
- There is absolutely nothing to do there.
- It is just one giant suburb with no urban centers.
- Everyone is a Southerner/country/redneck/hick, and closed-minded and ignorant toward other cultures
Add to that Atlanta has almost tropical weather. It's amazing how many people are surprised to find out it actually gets cold in Atlanta in the winter.
Many people from Atlanta or people who visit often even, know next to nothing about Atlanta's train system. This despite MARTA having a pretty high ridership. I take the train often and many times of day it's standing room only at some stations especially during morning rush.
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