From OKC to Saint Louis? (St. Louis, St. Charles: for sale, home, neighborhoods)

[moorlander]

I'm guessing you rubbed people the wrong way. MOVE ON.

[hhillstl]

I may be able to provide some insight here, as my wife and I made the move from OKC to STL a few years ago. We've been in STL for several years now, are in our mid-20s, professional careers, and currently live in the city limits in a charming little neighborhood called Southampton. In terms of culture, food, history, recreation, sports, housing, etc. - basically all of the qualify of life indicators that we were looking for - St. Louis was the winner hands down. Nothing against OKC - we lived in Heritage Hills just north of downtown and it was a very nice community and the people out there were truly wonderful, but St. Louis is really such a colorful place with so much history, and there is just so much to do. From the music, food and art festivals (many of which are free) that last all summer to the evenings strolling through Forest Park or shopping in the Central West End, it's hard to imagine ever wanting to move.

I did live briefly on the west coast in Monterey, CA - while the weather was gorgeous and the scenery breathtaking, don't let anyone on here tell you that St. Louis is just flyover country. This is the best place I've ever lived.

Also, just a quick note: You will encounter some negativity on this thread. If the poster lived 30 miles outside of St. Louis, please understand that they are surrounded by chains and suburbia which can be found anywhere (think Shawnee or Midwest City) While these may be nice places to live if that is your preference, nothing I would recognize as distinctly St. Louis culture is to be found out there. If that's all there was, I probably would have moved to Chicago by now.

Whatever you decide, best of luck to you.

[#1soonerfan]

Originally Posted by moorlander

St. Louis is home to 3 of the 10 largest coal companies in the world. #1 Peabody, Arch Coal, and Partiot Coal. The largest local oil company is Apex Oil.

All locals are a quick and cheap direct flight via AA or SWA.

Thank you for your response moorlander. I did not know that those companies were in STL and quite frankly never though about going the coal route. It will have to be something to consider. One thing I'm worried about is trying to get a job while not living there. I've heard one can get a local PO Box and use it as your address on your resume but I'm debating the ethics of that.

I may be able to provide some insight here, as my wife and I made the move from OKC to STL a few years ago. We've been in STL for several years now, are in our mid-20s, professional careers, and currently live in the city limits in a charming little neighborhood called Southampton. In terms of culture, food, history, recreation, sports, housing, etc. - basically all of the qualify of life indicators that we were looking for - St. Louis was the winner hands down. Nothing against OKC - we lived in Heritage Hills just north of downtown and it was a very nice community and the people out there were truly wonderful, but St. Louis is really such a colorful place with so much history, and there is just so much to do. From the music, food and art festivals (many of which are free) that last all summer to the evenings strolling through Forest Park or shopping in the Central West End, it's hard to imagine ever wanting to move.

I did live briefly on the west coast in Monterey, CA - while the weather was gorgeous and the scenery breathtaking, don't let anyone on here tell you that St. Louis is just flyover country. This is the best place I've ever lived.

Also, just a quick note: You will encounter some negativity on this thread. If the poster lived 30 miles outside of St. Louis, please understand that they are surrounded by chains and suburbia which can be found anywhere (think Shawnee or Midwest City) While these may be nice places to live if that is your preference, nothing I would recognize as distinctly St. Louis culture is to be found out there. If that's all there was, I probably would have moved to Chicago by now.

Whatever you decide, best of luck to you.

Thanks so much hhillstl! This is exactly what I need to hear. Its funny you said you lived in Heritage Hills, I actually stay in a condo in Midtown right off Walker Avenue. I don't hate OKC at all, but its just not "doing it" for me anymore. I have to ask with some people on here saying that STL is bad for transplants how were you received by locals? How do the people compare to OKC?

EDIT: Oh and I just wanted to say I've really enjoyed reading the "What do you love about Saint Louis?" thread. Its good to see a lot of community pride exists in STL. You just don't see that here in the sunbelt.

[inahandbasket]

Originally Posted by DinsdalePirahna

see, its so difficult for locals to accept that St. Louis pretty much sucks for most transplants

Speak for yourself, DP. I came to STL after growing up in the Northeast, going to college in Indiana and the South. My first teaching job was in Knoxville, then to Cincinnati, then I moved here in 1991.

The place that sucked the most loudly for me was St Charles County, NOT St. Louis City.

Lake Saint Louis is a retirement spot, just more suburban sprawl that some people think is 'special.' It's nothing different than most of the ugly suburban sprawl west of the city.

Do us all a favor and sell your house in LSL so you can quit b*tching about your horrendous experience there. Maybe you need some shock therapy to erase your memory...

inahandbasket

[StanleySnail]

Originally Posted by DinsdalePirahna

its so difficult for locals to accept that St. Louis pretty much sucks for most transplants

This is absolutely true. I moved here from Auburn, Alabama for a "promotion" (essentially they wanted me to come to my employer's site in St. Louis and clean up a mess) and I have received nothing but the cold shoulder and hostility from the vast majority of the natives. Probably the most xenophobic, paranoid place I've ever lived in. And it's really amusing when the locals try to act "arrogant" because the majority (men - fat and balding, women - mostly uber fat, stupid and bitchy) have nothing to brag about.

However....

If the OP from OKC is a huge Football fan (Sooners/Dallas Cowboys), there should be no problem as I enjoy watching my Alma Mater's Tigers every Saturday at a nice, local smoke and loser-free bar. And I've met some fellow DEFENDING SUPER BOWL CHAMPION New Orleans Saints fans in St. Louis, and we meet every Sunday to watch a succesful NFL franchise, a concept foreign in St. Louis for 8 years.

Getting out with fellow transplants at a sports bar is a great way to meet people here. The 241 remaining St. Louis Rams fans don't leave the house much any more...

[pdm_ad]

Originally Posted by moorlander

That's pretty much dead on for the socially awkward introverts. But the transplants I know, ya know normal socially out going type of folk, they seem to think StL is a pretty cool place. It's all what you make of it really.

Haha, yes how true. I think this new poster is just another login for DP so he can post his outlandish claims and actually have someone agree with him.

[stlcitygirl]

To the OP, the people on here that say STL sucks for transplants (Dinsdale and Stanley), have the worst attitude and seem to be pretty miserable human beings. I live in a city neighborhood that I love. We have an awesome mixture of locals and transplants,we all hang out together and they express the exact opposite views of Dinsdale and Stanley. I have neighbors and friends from everywhere. (San Diego, San Francisco, D.C., Manhattan , Montreal, Chicago, Jersey, Baltimore, Richmond, Ireland, Ohio, KC, Texas, Memphis and many more)
The key is to put yourself out there, be friendly and join as many things as possible. I suggest joining a kickball, volleyball, soccer team. Get involved with Metropolis or STL Transplants, join your neighborhood association (I met many friends this way).

[hhillstl]

Originally Posted by #1soonerfan

I have to ask with some people on here saying that STL is bad for transplants how were you received by locals? How do the people compare to OKC?

I'd say the people are comparable, though perhaps in some areas of the St. Louis metro the people could be a bit more reserved. I have not had this experience personally, but from reading this forum I can't help but notice that this has been the experience of several people. Thus, I can't completely discount their experiences.

With that said, we were both newcomers with no connections in OKC, and then had the same experience again in STL - so this is an apples to apples comparison We have not had any more problems meeting good people here than we did in OKC. In fact, the day we moved into our first home in Holly Hills in south St. Louis, our neighbors came over and brought us homemade cookies and invited us to their home that weekend for wine and barbecue. We have since then met all our neighbors, and have surrounded ourselves with wonderful people.

As far as the parochialism goes (which some posters seem to really get hung up on), it is true that we had a neighbor ask us what parish we belonged to. While that may sound forward/aggressive or just strange, it was really not that way at all. I let him know that we are presbyterian, and he just smiled and said he hopes we find a church we like. He then told us about a couple of presbyterian churches in the area. He only brought it up because he is intensely proud of his parish (which is two blocks from our house) and he was trying to help us get established. I find that kind of local pride charming, not off-putting.

Places are what you make of them. We are very, very happy here.

[BoomBoxing]

Yeah and it is highly entertaining to see trolls come out and accuse locals of being arrogant while at the same time insulting the people living here. Let's see some pictures of yourself there Stanley since you seem to be so much better then people living here. Better yet, let's take a road trip to your hometown and see how many fat & ugly people live there?

This kind of bickering is pretty much pointless anyway. Anyone who reads these boards can see that there is way less transplant complaints here than most other city-data boards. In fact, DP alone probably accounts for at least 75% of the whiny posts on here.

Honestly, I like that people come here and give some honest criticism of the St. Louis area. It's not perfect here and we should have an open discussion of probelms and solutions. But posters like DP and Stanley just want to vent with no regard to tact or civility and these discussions turn into ridiculous arguments that completely derail threads.

[hhillstl]

Originally Posted by #1soonerfan

Its funny you said you lived in Heritage Hills, I actually stay in a condo in Midtown right off Walker Avenue.

I know the area well. Saturday mornings after undergrad my routine was to hop on my bicycle, go biking down along the river, and then on my way home stop off at Java Dave's for coffee and the NY Times (I never could stomach the Daily Oklahoman). Pleasant memories.