I love St. Louis because...

[anr_black]

I love St. Louis because it's my own little secret (well, mine and everyone else who doesn't get the whole "most dangerous place" thing!). Nuff said.

[60'sGal]

I love St. Louis because it holds my youth and my memories. I left in 1973 to move to Michigan and will likely die here, but St. Louis will always be home. I love the memories of growing up there in the 60's. The music, the cars, KXOK, Hall Street, Grand Ave., Roosevelt High School, the boys!!!! Memories of my Mom. Oh, she loved that City. She moved there from Arkansas as soon as she graduated and she never looked back. St. Louis was her City. She was so proud of it.

I love the Tower Grove Heights area where I grew up. So good to see it coming back again after so many eyars of decay. Such a beautiful place to grow up back in the 60's. There is no place on earth I would have rather called home. The big City with a small town feel. That's St. Louis.

[Madewoman]

I Love St. Louis for the cost of renting an apartment (going broke in MD)
Cardinals-Cubs Home games
Imos
Drunken Fish on the Landing
Free shows at the St. Louis House of Comedy (old Laughs on the Landing)
Of course, The top of the Arch

[NewportBorn]

....because nothing beats Italian food on the hill!
....Thunderstorms in summer are a real nice thing to watch!

[HCC]

...Leaving STL 9 years ago (5 in Chicago/4 NYC) has given me some perspective on the place and I have finally learned to appreciate and miss my hometown.

I love St Louis because:

-The Central West End. I have yet to find a neighborhood in the U.S. that I love more.(Though I'm pissed they removed the cobblestone, but we're keeping it positive...)

-Because the houses in the "private places" have been maintained lovingly all these years by people who will never see a profit from them. Only in Newport, RI have I ever seen such magnificent homes architecturally. When I show friends here in NY the book, "Westmoreland and Portland Places" by Julius Hunter, they marvel. Never in their wildest dreams did they think St Louis could produce anything like that. Even I'm amazed sometimes!

-Forest Park (nuff said)

-Because they still maintain 3, yes 3, grass tennis courts in Tower Grove Park. Chicago=0 NY=1 hr out of Manhattan at the edge of Queens.

-Because in the spring, it smells like spring, not like trash, ****, bus fumes and BO from the person sitting almost in your lap on the subway.

-Because life is more leisurely. People are not constantly harried and rushing from one thing to the next. Because there are a nice amount, not an overwhelming amount, of cultural things to actually enjoy, rather than feel bombarded by choices. (part 1)

-Because people are more laid back, not hyper-overly-intense and chronically stressed and neurotic. (part 2)

-Because the sex is better in STL. It's true! (part 3)

-Because, while the Show-Me State mentality can be a little cold and wary, there is generally a straightforward honesty and less BS to filter through.

-Because most people don't have stars in their eyes, enabling you to make some solid friends who aren't just using you for connections or to get to the next level.

-Because the cost of living is lower. $126 for 5 private tennis lessons in Tower Grove??? Unheard of in NY! $1.5 Million for a mansion in the West End? In NY that gets you a 750 sq ft, 1 bedroom in the West Village. Gas is lower, cultural institutions are free or cheap.

-Because the St Louis Cathedral is the only cathedral in the US that could begin to compete in terms of beauty (not history) with a European Cathedral.

-Because you can be most places in 15-20 minutes. Takes me an hour to get in and out of Brooklyn!

-Because St Louis still thinks of itself as a big city and and thus has cultural institutions and shops and restaurants and architecture that similarly sized cities just don't have.

-Because my peers (we all left STL between 97-2000 vowing never to return) are all secretly proud to be from St Louis and we jump to defend it any time someone dares to bash it! Only we can criticize STL.

While I recommend everyone live somewhere else for a while, if you're there, stop complaining and start seeing what you've got! Enjoy and embrace all the good things in St Louis, make use of them and get involved to make it better!

[bissit]

HCC - great post! Too bad people had to go hatin' on STL. Everything you said about NY - ditto for S.F. Lovely city and people but man, we are a bunch of stressed out opportunists. Lots of fake friends for reasons you stated. I can't wait to leave it behind and be real again. Those of you who think STL is bad should visit Oakland. Now that is bad. Jeez, I live in a sleepy little Northern CA town and we had a drive by in my neighborhood, home invasion, and graffiti every_day. Happens everywhere. At least I won't have to pay $1300/mo for my 700 sq ft apt with the crime. Oh yeah, and it is an all white neighborhood. So there. Thanks to the positive posters! See you in 15 days!!!

[SouthCity09]

HCC there are also 2 grass courts in the back of the Maplewoods PD

[HCC]

I didn't know that! 2 more things to love in St Louis.