Never been. From an outsider perspective, it seems to be a bit of a s__thole.
Punches well above its size in culture.
Its surprisingly clean, even in much of the inner city, then you would expect. There is a lot to do in culture and even nature compared to the areas image, size, and geographic location. Springs are very flowery, summers are quite lively and green, falls are stunning in the area. The culture via largely free museums and interesting neighborhoods such as The Hill are interesting and strong pros of the region, but they are not a major part of daily life.
Because I grew up in St. Louis as a young kid, museums and zoos generally bore me. That is because St. Louis has such an amazing zoo and museums. Even Washington DC seems subpar to me in that regard. To be fair though, I lived in that area during covid. Everything north of the Potomac was largely closed.
If I ever lived in St. Louis area (unlikely for the foreseeable future), I would really only care to live in the areas I circled below roughly.
Crime is stunningly horrible, but I will note that I walked around in late evening the central city, downtown, and even north city and never been bothered. In 2017, 2018, and 2019 there was a sense of anarchy in the city that seems to have gotten worse since that time.
It is a great area to live in if you are WHITE. If you are black it's a horrible place to live. Blacks are targeted by local police, not much economic opportunity, and have horribly ran neighborhoods.
The local municipal governments and often the very bizarre people who live and even run the areas can be quite shocking. Where do you think I got the phrase "roll around the floor screaming". That comes from my two times in St. Louis in which I literally saw people roll around the floor screaming.
Projects there often fail from the Pruitt–Igoe to the Delmar loop trolley.
It just always had a sinking ship feeling to me, and I hope maybe one day it redeems itself.
1)Why would an inner city be a good place to live for a white person?
2) Black St Louisans commit the majority of the crimes there, so yes, they obviously would be targeted, although it is not fair and profiling...What do you want, for the police to sit back and do nothing?
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