St. Louis ranked 5th out of 100 most Sad Places to live.. (sale, renting)

[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.

[jskirwin]

20 minutes and you still haven't been flamed yet? Well it is Friday night; guess people are busy.

I grew up in St. Louis and now live in a very rural area in North Carolina. In between I lived all over the country and several destinations abroad including Africa and Japan. I've done a fair amount of traveling too, and all I can say is...

There are miserable people in Hollywood. There are depressed people in Palm Springs. People kill themselves in Hawaii, and people get robbed at gunpoint in La Jolla (I did!)

Surveys are meaningless. I don't care what they judge. Happy places, sad places, whatever. It all depends on what's right for you.

If you aren't happy in St. Louis, leave.

For example, I wasn't. I was miserable growing up there and couldn't wait to get out - so I did. Whenever I traveled back there to visit family I was always scared that something was going to go wrong and I'd get stuck there.

It took years, but I finally outgrew that. Now when I go back to St. Louis I enjoy my trip and love visiting the place. St. Louis has so many things going for it that I'm proud to have been born and raised there. I always enjoy my trip and regret having to leave. Over the 23 years since I left the area has gotten better, not worse. It is bigger and more vibrant. Sure there are bad areas of the city, there always have been. But overall the health of the area seems to improve every year I visit - and it's way better than it was back in the 1970's and '80s when I grew up.

There is no right place for everyone. Picking a place to live is a complex affair, and if you aren't happy where you are, then I think you should go somewhere else. If you aren't happy there, move again. Maybe you'll find a place you feel comfortable in or maybe you won't. Who knows?

[Dawn10am]

Is anybody taking that story seriously? People are miserable everywhere. Shocker.

[3240Redo]

But of course we're a sad people - what is the arch but a big old frown? What is the Mississippi but a gush of great muddy tears? What are our Cardinals hats but the crimson flush of disappointment and broken dreams?

But seriously, if people are looking for the saddest place on earth, I recommend southeast Missouri. I've been gone for 21 years and it's still not enough time to be philosophical about the place. Other people love it, though.

I love it here. Some folks won't. I don't need statistics to tell me what I already believe.

[Curmudgeon]

Originally Posted by Dawn10am

Is anybody taking that story seriously? People are miserable everywhere. Shocker.

But then again, some of us aren't.

[chicagoerin]

If the CDC, Bureau

[BoomBoxing]

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.

Wow where to begin...so you again go on the offensive and imply those of us who defend St. Louis are clueless. But the good people who read this board and maybe deciding to move to the area deserve a real breakdown and analysis of data like this.

First of all, what are they measuring when they are measuring St. Louis? The city? Metro area? St. Louis city + county? Is the metro east included? I couldn't figure that out from the information given, but adjusting those measurements would change St. Louis' position DRASTICALLY. For example, if they only included St. Louis CITY, does that apply to the rest of the metro area?

Secondly, the political boundaries issue works both ways. For example, St. Louis city has an excellent library system, two top universities, and a plethora of book stores and high book sales. And guess what? St. Louis often comes out as one of the most literate cities in America. If you included the rest of the metro area I highly doubt St. Louis would even show up the list. Then you bring up other things where the city does not fare well, such as crime rates, and all of a sudden St. Louis is the most dangerous city in the USA.

So looking at these two measures, is what constitutes "St. Louis" a very well read city that is very dangerous? I think anyone who has lived in St. Louis would say that neither is probably true. We're probably in the middle of the pack in both categories when the entire metro area (a more fair analysis of what constitutes "St. Louis").

It bears repeating that St. Louis' unique political geography is what shoots St. Louis to the top of many of these "studies". It also is worth mentioning that many of these studies have little to no effect on the lives of people who live in these places, with the exception of local economy. But even a study like "Most Dangerous" leaves out the fact that even in St. Louis City, there are many safe to very safe neighborhoods. And you can be very happy in a "Unhappy city" especially if you don't care that the guy in front of you at Schnucks is on antidepressants and suicidal (lol).

Finally, who only goes to Forest Park a few times a year?! Any St. Louisan who loves the outdoors should be there every weekend! From March through October I was there three times a week.

[3240Redo]

Originally Posted by chicagoerin

If the CDC, Bureau

Smartest post you've made.

[CoffeeAndBeer]

It was actually ranked 6th.


First world problems.

[stlcitygirl]

Hey ChicagoErin, its the weekend, get out and do something! I've been busy going to wine tastings, shopping with hundreds of people at the Print Art Sale on Cherokee, hanging with neighbors and being happy!! Try it sometime.

For every negative "list" there is a positive "list". Don't believe the hype