Loving the Midwest: Positive attention from the NYT (St. Louis, Chesterfield: salaries, quality of life)

[marigolds6]

Originally Posted by Dawn10am

Oh god...I shudder to think what she's going to write in there.

From what I gather, the novel is about twin psychics. One of them has left the psychic business to move to suburban St Louis and start a family.
The other one is predicting a major earthquake in St Louis, and that drives the "retired" psychic into the media eye, and that's the focus of the story, I think.

[Dawn10am]

Originally Posted by marigolds6

From what I gather, the novel is about twin psychics. One of them has left the psychic business to move to suburban St Louis and start a family.
The other one is predicting a major earthquake in St Louis, and that drives the "retired" psychic into the media eye, and that's the focus of the story, I think.

Great. I'm sure the depictions of life in suburban St. Louis will accurately sum up life for everybody in the metro area and be very flattering at the same time. ROFL.

[zach_33]

Ever read The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen? It's a good book, but kind of a slam on St. Louis. Jon lived in Webster Groves (or so it's been said) but I guess the Big Apple has grown on the Oprah acclaimed bestseller.

I thought the article was pretty positive. I related to a lot of it, but of course I am one of those middle aged parents with kids and I go to bed at 10 most nights, so that doesn't make me the least bit defensive. Getting non-plussed for a Super Bowl party sounds kind of odd-- she must not have promoted the event very well.

Plus, have you ever looked at NYC city data forum? There is lot of swagger but also a ton of remorse in some of the posts-- people disillusioned and stressed out by astronomical rents and (when in the burbs) depressingly long commutes. I know it is a blast for people in their 20s earning good salaries, and for others earning beaucoup Wall Street dollars, but for most people there, when the biological clock starts ticking and they are worried about not earning enough money to pay for a $600k starter house in Jersey, or $800k for a starter house in Westchester county, places where they know they will always be struggling to keep up with the joneses and probably never get ahead, all for the privelege of spending 2 hours and 20 minutes per day on a train, places like St. Louis can start to seem like a good idea.

[Curmudgeon]

Originally Posted by marigolds6

You have to read this from the lens of what people on the coasts currently think of St Louis.

Namely a gang ridden lawless burnt out hole of robbery and murder. The idea of someone even raising a family in St Louis is inconceivable, much less the idea that St Louis is a good city for raising a family (even if the writer is probably really writing about West County).
Yes, this is too sleepy of a view of St Louis, but it is an important contrast with the current view of St Louis as the most dangerous city in America.

Actually, overall I thought the article was really quite complimentary once she got into having been in St. Louis and environs for awhile. Besides, the less people on the left coast and the other one feel compelled to move to Missouri, the better I like it.

[Brickmama]

Why on Earth would you not want people to move to STL?

[Dawn10am]

Originally Posted by Curmudgeon

Actually, overall I thought the article was really quite complimentary once she got into having been in St. Louis and environs for awhile. Besides, the less people on the left coast and the other one feel compelled to move to Missouri, the better I like it.

SWMO may be different, but I think St. Louis would prefer lots of transplants from wherever we can get them. We're already a liberal city so people from the "left coast" really aren't that frightening.

[glamatomic]

Originally Posted by Dawn10am

SWMO may be different, but I think St. Louis would prefer lots of transplants from wherever we can get them. We're already a liberal city so people from the "left coast" really aren't that frightening.

I agree... I think St. Louis wants and embraces transplants!

[Mmultack]

St.Louis is much more dynamic than how it's portrayed in the this article. The article failed to mention the many neighborhoods that have their own strong cultural identities (e.g., The Grove, The Loop, The Hill, CWE, Shaw, Clayton, etc). It also failed to mention the wonderful and diverse restaurant scene that is on par with (and even surpasses some) major cities (ahem, DC) at a fraction of the price. St.L is also known for its big music and performing art scene (e.g., Jazz, blues, St. Louis Symphony, the Muny, etc) historic architecture, and the beautiful historic park, Forest Park, which hosted the 1904 World's Fair and the Summer Olympics. Not to mention all of the free adult events (e.g., St. Louis Summer Concert Series). Sittenfeld did not even mention Chuck Berry, Ted Drews, or Pi Pizza. I guess some transplants can only begrudgingly love the midwest. Can you tell that I'm proud to be an AUTHENTIC St. Louisan?

[DAS]

Originally Posted by zach_33

I thought the article was pretty positive. I related to a lot of it, but of course I am one of those middle aged parents with kids and I go to bed at 10 most nights, so that doesn't make me the least bit defensive. Getting non-plussed for a Super Bowl party sounds kind of odd-- she must not have promoted the event very well.

Plus, have you ever looked at NYC city data forum? There is lot of swagger but also a ton of remorse in some of the posts-- people disillusioned and stressed out by astronomical rents and (when in the burbs) depressingly long commutes. I know it is a blast for people in their 20s earning good salaries, and for others earning beaucoup Wall Street dollars, but for most people there, when the biological clock starts ticking and they are worried about not earning enough money to pay for a $600k starter house in Jersey, or $800k for a starter house in Westchester county, places where they know they will always be struggling to keep up with the joneses and probably never get ahead, all for the privelege of spending 2 hours and 20 minutes per day on a train, places like St. Louis can start to seem like a good idea.

I'm one of those NYC posters and this is good post and very on point about what it is like to live in NYC once you start a family for the average person. For this reason I thought the article was positive. She pointed out short commute times, even living within the 5 boroughs our commute times can be an hour or more.

She also mentioned STL being kid friendly with so many free things or low cost things. I always caution regular (not wealthy) people on relocating to NYC with children for many reasons. The most important is that our public school system sucks, and most schools don't offer music and sports programs unless you live in family friendly neighborhoods which are located in the boroughs far from Manhattan where most people work. Most children/teens loose out on extra curricular activities.

Thanks to all the posters for pointing out that the article is more about suburban living and that St Louis has a lot to offer to singles and empty nesters.

I thought her "negative" comments were just comments about her adjustment to the new environment. It usually takes about 2 years to adjust to any new move, especially if it is in another part of the country. Her comments are typical of most people that relocate, with children or not, to any where from any where, not just the coast to the midwest. It takes time to make real friends not just acquaintances.

Also it is absolutely impossible to buy a home in the NYC area for less than 600K unless it is a complete wreck and it is also in a totally undesirable neighborhood. No average person in NYC would put any place down that can offer so much like STL. You can buy smaller apts for less but you may not be in family friendly area with good schools and your apt may not be large enough for a child. Although people survive and make it work.

[chicagobear]

She grew up in Cincinnati so St. Louis shouldn't feel too different.