St. Louis ranked 5th out of 100 most Sad Places to live.. (Ballwin: schools, statistics)

[chicagoerin]

If the CDC, Bureau of Labor Statistics and CNBC are ALL not credible sources, then who is? I assure you that when people are researching a new place to live, they DO pay attention to these studies and the Places Rated studies from Money Magazine. If people don't utilize these resources, how do they gather their data? Do you think they listen to people like Stlcitygirl or Kshe95 or BoomBoxing when they say how great the wine tasting is in St. Louis? Or how fun the Print Art Sale on Cherokee was? Or how wonderful Forest Park is? Or the arch? Or any of the other things that people routinely point to as reasons to move to St. Louis? Sorry to say, no. I recruit for one of the largest companies in America and can tell you that people do take these studies very seriously. If you look on the St. Louis Chamber of Regional Growth website you will see the most positive information that is out there on St. Louis. (click on St. Louis Rankings). Unfortunately, because of all the bad press out there about St. Louis, most of the information they list is either outdated (first on the list is a Forbes ranking from 2007..almost FIVE years ago) or from sources that fall into the "WHO CARES?" category...Expansion Magazine ranked St. Louis as a "Four Star Quality of Life" in 2007..ever heard of it? Me neither? Do you care about a ranking from 2007? Nope. Kiplinger ranked St. Louis as 18th Smartest Place to Live, (very credible source.) BUT, it was in 2006. Why doesn't the Chamber list more current/credible sources with positive info on St. Louis? Because they are few and far between! One of the most important functions of the Chamber is to paint St. Louis in as positive a light as possible, and this is the best they can come up with? There is a positive and recent Money Magazine ranking which I mentioned previously, but it’s specific to O’Fallon and Lake St. Louis, which some on this board are quick to point out is not really St. Louis proper and is SO FAR from the city. There is also a Family Circle ranking on best places to raise children from 2008, but I am not sure I would get too excited about Family Circle. Finding positive info on St. Louis from credible sources on the things that rank as most important to people when they are choosing where to live (Safety, Cost of Living, Unemployment Ratings, and Quality of the Education System) is hard, to say the least. Unlike Stlcitygirl, what most transplants are concerned with are not the quality of the wine tasting events, shopping or art sales. Come on people, I am talking about basic quality of life issues here. Safety, Unemployment, Education, etc. I move hundreds of people a year and talk to many, many more trying to convince them to move here and it's an uphill battle. As far as me being happy? I have never been happier, despite the fact that I live in St. Louis. Do I want to move? Yes…In due time. How will I choose my next place to live? I will utilize sources such as Money Magazine, Governmental reporting agencies such as those that consistently rank St. Louis as the most dangerous place to live and credible sources like CNBC. Opinions from strangers on the internet who have never lived in a Blue Chip city about how lovely they think a place is without data/stats to back it up has zero credibility with me.

[BoomBoxing]

My god, ChicagoErin are you even reading the responses? Nobody said the sources weren't credible, but we are questioning their METHODOLOGY. I wrote out a detailed post about why I was questioning their methodology but you had zero to say about that. Instead you turn around and go "BUT IT'S CNBC!! THEY KNOW THEIR STUFF GUYS!!"

Opinions from strangers on the internet who have never lived in a Blue Chip city about how lovely they think a place is without data/stats to back it up has zero credibility with me.

I don't know why I bother arguing with you. I live in a blue chip city right now, does that mean my opinion suddenly counts?

Oh, and Columbus, OH - blue chip city, baby!

[billiken]

For what it's worth, I actually had the opportunity the other day to talk about this very topic with the CEO of one of the largest public companies in STL. He said that being located in STL can make things difficult from a recruitment standpoint, but once people move here, they are sold, and he has no interest or intention to move the company elsewhere.

[aragx6]

I honestly can't even read that without parapgraphs. It gave me a headache.

I don't know what constitutes a "blue chip city" but I think all of us have lived in bigger/better known cities than St. Louis. Am I wrong?

[mike0421]

The only problem I have here, as a recent new arrival, is the lack of sunshine. But I am pretty certain I suffer from SAD. Most people don't have these problems, and I wish I was one of those folks! However, overall, pound for pound, dollar for dollar, I can really see the potential in this place. Most are correct when it comes to housing and bargin, especially correlated to school quality, for those who have children. The city itself brims with old style charm and character, on the order of maybe only a dozen other major cities (the well known 'heavy hitters') but with a fraction of the traffic density.

[latetotheparty]

i agree with mike0421 .... the most depressing thing here (for me)... is the endless days of gray in the winter.... but i'm guessing that is a phenomenom throughout the midwest and northwest..... even that blue chip city Chicago.....

[mike0421]

Originally Posted by latetotheparty

i agree with mike0421 .... the most depressing thing here (for me)... is the endless days of gray in the winter.... but i'm guessing that is a phenomenom throughout the midwest and northwest..... even that blue chip city Chicago.....

Southern New Mexico spoiled the ever living hell out of me, and I knew that, for the 6 years I lived there. However, the stately architecture that is so omnipresent here is completely lacking in many of southern Texas and Southern New Mexico cities. I believe more than ever that parallels exist between cultural geography, architecture and weather, and the resultant social fabrics these varying places have. In this country, in general, you can not spatially overlay what I would consider to be superior urban design with good weather. This can not be a coincidence.

[stlouisan]

I have a hard time believing St. Louis is a sadder place to live than Des Moines, Detroit, or Cleveland. Especially St. Louis County and the city combined. I find St. Louis to be anything but sad. Now Detroit and Cleveland...those are sad cities, at least compared to St. Louis. I'm not sure who came up with this list, but how they chose St. Louis I would be compelled to ask. I love this city.

[stepka]

I'm from Columbia, MO which was rated as the best place to live in the US, but I love StL and don't plan to move back if I can help it. The town's character was ruined when they gave it such a high rating so I wish they'd stop that.

[beenhereandthere]

Originally Posted by chicagoerin

I just saw that St. Louis ranked 5th out of 100 cities as a sad place to live. While this is bad news, I was not surprised at all. I have been telling people that this I find it to be a depressing place to live. Men's Health calculated the list based on: suicide rates (CDC), unemployment rates (Bureau of Labor Statistics), percentage of households using antidepressants (St. Louis was 3rd), and the number of people who report feeling the blues all or most of the time.

The regular St. Louis defenders on this board shoot down any bad stat that is posted about St. Louis and claim it is bogus: "The source is not accurate, the numbers are calculated wrong, etc. etc." This consistently comes up when people who are considering moving here are freaked about St. Louis ranking near the top as the most dangerous place to live (and often times #1 on this list). To those of you who are reading this board trying to decide if St. Louis is right for you, I would say “where there is smoke there is fire.” There is some truth (a lot, in my opinion) to the ranking on the depressing places to live list. And there are also some really cool things about St. Louis like Grant's Farm and Forest Park.

You might also be interested to know that CNBC ranked St. Louis as 4th on it's list of "Cities you don't want to live in yet". They said, "St. Louis made the list for a variety of reasons. Unemployment remains near 10%, it has one of the highest crime rates in the nation, and it's prone to natural disasters."

In 2010, Forbes ranked St. Louis as 7th most miserable place to live. They based this on unemployment data, taxes, commute times, violent crimes, etc. In May KMOV reported that St. Louis ranks second in the country for gun violence among youths.

St. Louis does have many positive things going for it: Forest Park is truly beautiful. Grant's Farm is an awesome place to visit, and the zoo is great too. But, these places are not enough to make up for the rest. Combined you might visit them, what, 10 times a year?


St. Louis has also received some positive rankings: Parenting magazine ranks St. Louis as 11th in terms of a great place to raise a family, Forbes ranked St. Louis 4th on most affordable places to live, etc.

Just some data for the people who come to the list trying to decide whether St. Louis is the right city for their family.

Well,.....isn't that why the NHL team is called the Blues?