urbanSTL

^ This campaign is witty, but I am not a fan of the more extreme sexual innuendos. I think it goes a bit far. It is getting some attention, so I guess it is working, but I think it goes a bit too far. I like it, until they mention things that can be construed as sexual positions and things of that nature. Normally, I am not against racy ads, but STL is trying to shed it's poor image nationally. I do not think the 'quickie' ads help that cause IMO.

I agree. The inner ring of neighborhoods around downtown Oklahoma City have also been decimated. But those folks moved to the suburbs, which are still inside the OKC city limits, to a great extent. So no bad PR. The national media does the same thing to Detroit, but if you visit the suburbs there, they are very nice and seem to be thriving.

One other thing that Mr. Marsh mentioned, was that St. Louis folks have a complex. NO FREAKIN DOUBT!!! People here love STL, but rip it all of the time. This complex, coupled with pride is so odd. It reminds me of an old lady with a beautifully manicured lawn, with well-groomed flowers and bushes. She gleams with pride. Then at the same time, she has this enormous complex because she perceives the inside of her home to look like a Hoarders episode. STL has it's messy rooms, but it is not nearly as bad as perceived. The majority of the 'house' is in fine shape and getting fixed up. I know this analogy is poor, but it is so true of the mentality of our town.

Great example of the idiocy; when we lost the Bowling Hall of Fame, some people said it was another sign of STL going downhill. "Even the BHOF is leaving for greener pastures."
Before that, these same people made fun of the City for touting our Bowling HOF or they simply ignored it. Then when they announced it was leaving, these critics used it to further their 'City is going down' point. I actually heard this stuff, at the time, usually from people that have no clue about the City and stay in the burbs, to avoid getting shot....

I was wondering, could some of the national media perception be a function of the fact that they think North City is more representative of the region than reality? And with that I actually got a reason why that may be the case. It could be due to North City being between the airport and downtown, so if someone from out of town was arriving at the airport and doing things downtown, they would get an inaccurate view of the region as a result.

^Good point. The fact that I-70 is the main cross-country artery through the City can't help. If 40-64 was the main artery, out-of-towners passing through, would see St. Louis in a much better light. Unfortunately, 70 is the cut-through. I don't even think Downtown looks nearly as good coming through south, on 70. Not to mention the burned out buildings and industrial wasteland on the river. I've always thought, if they do the bare minimum, the City should clean up the burned out buildings along interstates. It gives off a vibe of decay. Along 70 and 44, there a lot of abandoned buildings. Those need to be fixed up or removed if beyond rehab.

It seems like most critics of STL grasp on to the population loss over the last half-century. Yet they totally ignore the growth and sprawl of the metro-area as a whole. Again, that was the trend. White flight, suburban sprawl, cookie-cutter subdivisions, more house for your money, better schools..etc.. So many factors beyond what the media portrays! They make it look like the masses picked up and left the region for other far away cities and states.

If I'm not mistaken, isn't the metro out-migration not that significant relative to other metro areas particularly compared to other Midwest metros? Also one thing I remember reading somewhere as well there tends to be a noted boomerang migration as well that a sizable percentage that do move out of the metro return moreso than in other areas. I think the exception is the people moving away as they get older which is different. You hear about places that have a sizable group of people moving from one metro area in another, but I haven't heard of any place that has a significant number of people who moved from the St. Louis Metro area to any particular place (outside of aforementioned retirees)

Also population growth and number isn't the endall-be all stat as well. it also depends on skill and economic status of the people moving in. Some areas are growing fast but its mostly lower skilled and paid people, while other areas may be slow to even slightly negative growth but more educated and higher incomes. Isn't St. Louis City particularly having in many cases the "addition by subtraction" growth? Mainly that people moving in are wealthier and more skilled than those leaving?

I think the main thing holding us back, is the lack of immigration. We are not getting the same number of immigrants as our peer cities. You would think, considering our low cost of living, immigrants would flock here. Just look at the Bosnian people and how far they've come in STL. They are now a big part of STL culture. They've contributed a great deal to the parts of town they've settled. Unfortunately, they did not come as immigrants, but more as refugees, fleeing a war torn country. Coming full circle, back to the topic at hand, STL in the news. The lack of immigration has been in the news a lot lately. Hopefully, some of the local efforts, will change that.

DogtownBnR wrote:I think the main thing holding us back, is the lack of immigration. We are not getting the same number of immigrants as our peer cities. You would think, considering our low cost of living, immigrants would flock here. Just look at the Bosnian people and how far they've come in STL. They are now a big part of STL culture. They've contributed a great deal to the parts of town they've settled. Unfortunately, they did not come as immigrants, but more as refugees, fleeing a war torn country. Coming full circle, back to the topic at hand, STL in the news. The lack of immigration has been in the news a lot lately. Hopefully, some of the local efforts, will change that.

I think it could be the perception thing, or just the lack of knowledge due to not being known. One Idea that should be encouraged more is work on more connections with other areas of the world to be more known which would encourage both business and tourism. Basically the danger is not being connected with the world will isolate the region and create more parochialism which my idea would combat.

The other issue I am wondering that could be becoming more and more of a detriment in recent years is state politics. Both in its policies and creating a climate that is hostile to different groups of people which would discourage migration and could cause people to leave the area, particularly young professionals.

^We've got several 'global corporations' like AB, Monsanto, Nestle-Purina and others. You'd think we'd have some global visibility. Guess that is up to the corporations, to promote STL, as well as other organizations.

Your right about Jeff City... The China Cargo Hub is the first thing that comes to mind.

Missouri does nothing to promote it's 2 biggest cities instead they seem to avoid them at both cost like they are a thorn in the bush.
I drive I-70 all the time.
The highway really needs to be slimmed down getting rid of the waste of the express lane could go along way also maybe proposing the entire corridor from Goodfellow to Downtown as a community beautification area.
Seeing those old decaying home's along the highway doesn't help.
The highway itself is a bit too curvy .
When i read such article's i often wonder how many time's have these journalist have visited Saint.Louis. Rankings are rankings Saint.Louis is ranked horribly in some & ranked quite good in other's.
It's all what we make of the city itself.
I've been told by visitors that North Saint.Louis has nothing compared to Detroit.
There are still large swaths of North Saint.Louis that are in tact however i think the city needs to do a better job in promoting better community involvement there if we don't then further decay will continue.
Not all cities are going to be liked by people
Cities are kind of like a love hate relationship.

Didn't see this story posted here from 06/13/14. I don't agree with some portrayals and facts, but it's still positive press overall.

Startup Community in St. Louis Catching Fire
Huffington Post
Posted: 06/12/2014 2:25 pm EDT Updated: 06/13/2014 5:59 pm EDT

By Dr. Sean Siebert

Across the great state of Missouri the startup community is bustling, largely thanks to a Startup Weekend that took place in St. Louis two years ago. You heard that right; a Midwestern American community's startup scene is bustling! You would not know that, however, if you only spent your time reading the TechCrunch, Pando Daily or Recode circuit, simply because the term 'startup' in our current society is largely relegated to innovations that spring from Silicon Valley, or Seattle, or even Boulder.

St. Louis may never rival San Jose in terms of startup community size, but a fire has been lit here and we are starting to see significant growth and community investment from those companies that emerged from that original Startup Weekend. One company in particular, Juristat, which was that weekend's winner, has been the spark that has helped ignite the Midwest startup scene.

Its early success has allowed the company to grow quickly - they've already doubled in size and look to double again by this June. The company is not only committed to continued growth and job creation in downtown St. Louis, which was a virtual ghost town just three years ago, but also to mentoring the local startup community through the varying stages of entrepreneurship.

What does Juristat do? According to CEO, Drew Winship, its software, "helps lawyers predict the future." But for entrepreneurs like Winship, the narrative they share with others isn't just what they do, but how they were created. Winship makes it clear that, "without Startup Weekend, Juristat wouldn't exist."

Startup Weekend is all about starting up in a place where something--actually, several things--can be created out of nothing. What's created varies from location to location, and weekend to weekend. For most entrepreneurs, it is a time to test ideas and concepts, fail forward, or get a better understanding of the startup world. For some, it's a time to forge a new business, career, or life.

Read More

This shouldn't be a surprise Missouri refuse's to help it's 2 catalyst cities.
Like the historic tax credits & such not competing for good paying job's
Trying to ram a monstrosity of a transportation tax down our throats
To a state being run by a bunch of clueless idiots

Note they're only talking about homes in foreclosure. Last night KSDK made it sound like it was all homes and just the city. I can;t find their story.

5. St. Louis, Mo.-Ill.

> Pct. foreclosures vacated: 34%
> Total vacated homes: 847 (27th highest)
> Average home price: $96,083 (14th lowest)

The number of vacant homes in the St. Louis area dropped by nearly 50% between the second quarters of 2013 and this year. Despite this, still more than a third of the area's 2,500 properties in foreclosure were vacant as of the second quarter. Residents of the St. Louis area are subject to either Missouri's non-judicial foreclosure process or Illinois' judicial one. The average lengths of proceedings in both states, however, are exceptionally high and have been on the rise in the last year. A complete foreclosure process took roughly one year on average in Missouri and more than 800 days in Illinois, both among the longer proceedings compared to other large metro areas. Long foreclosure procedures in both states likely contributed to the area's 34% vacancy rate.

Another list. Worst states to live in. Missouri #3. Illinois not on list. Immediate invalidation.

https://homes.yahoo.com/photos/gallery- ... slideshow/

Chicago isn't as great & powerful like it used to be
Illinois & California are 1-2 in corruption & guess what that makes Chicago?
All you have to do is look at East Saint.Louis & you see utter neglect.
Anything south of Peoria is almost a 3rd world country.
Shame on Illinois ..
Hey New Jorsey isn't on the list either

Not St. Louis-specific, but interesting.

21 Things You Need To Know About Missouri Before You Move There
http://www.movoto.com/mo/moving-to-missouri/