Seven and a Half Ain’t Bad

City residents response to our presence in the media often ranges from frustration, to angst to sarcastic humor.

Interestingly, the folks that seem the most suprised by the negative perception of St Louis are newer residents.  They hear all these negative viewpoints, then move here and enjoy the lower cost of real estate, lower taxes, and finally find that the negative slant is less than realistic.

Of late, the city has had better press.  St Louis has won awards for being a top Midwestern destination for the past 2 years, and folks are seemingly starting to appreciate what this town has to offer.

Last week me and the family took a mini vacation to Chicago for a few days.  It was nice, and Chicago is an urban town that has a lot to offer.  For some of the time there though, mostly while sitting in traffic, I thought, “wouldn’t it have just been nice to have a stay-cation?”   After all, as a busy professional, father, & husband, rarely do I have time to stop, hang out, go to night clubs, catch plays, etc. etc.  My professional life involves me talking about everything there is to do here, but I just find it hard to do it.

Today, a CNN reporter published his report on his family vacation to St Louis.  What started off with some skepticism seemed to result in a great time.    It seemed like there were a lot of things they still didn’t get a chance to do.  My observation was that it seemed that most of what they did was in the city.   Not that its a big suprise, people like the city because there’s a lot to do there.  Not that the surrounding areas don’t have things to do either.   The article was nice.

The urban renaissance is ongoing, and I started thinking about the things that area still in the pipeline that will make St Louis even better down the road, like the Arch Grounds project, the South Grand Great Streets Initiative, the Loop Trolley and the Blues Museum Downtown, just to name a few.

What makes St Louis a great place to visit is also what makes it a great place to live.  As the article said, there’s plenty to do that’s “pretty cool”.