urbanSTL

No, there's not. It stems from some commercials though, for a local electronics store I remember seeing or hearing when I was young that said something along the lines of "beautiful downtown Ballwin." And before I moved in with my then girlfriend, now wife, I almost never ventured west past 270, and for all I knew there was somthing like Old Webster, downtown Belleville waiting out there. Well as I've found out, there is no downtown in Ballwin, just a series of strip malls and such, nothing even close, typical suburban sprawl. I just thought it was funny. I don't remeber the store though. I don't think I even actually live in Ballwin, I'm not really sure, It all looks the same to me. I'm ready to move.

mcarril wrote:No, there's not. It stems from some commercials though, for a local electronics store I remember seeing or hearing when I was young that said something along the lines of "beautiful downtown Ballwin." And before I moved in with my then girlfriend, now wife, I almost never ventured west past 270, and for all I knew there was somthing like Old Webster, downtown Belleville waiting out there. Well as I've found out, there is no downtown in Ballwin, just a series of strip malls and such, nothing even close, typical suburban sprawl. I just thought it was funny. I don't remeber the store though. I don't think I even actually live in Ballwin, I'm not really sure, It all looks the same to me. I'm ready to move.

It was actually an automotive dealership called Dick Dean that is now known as the Dean Team - Ballwin. There once was indeed a downtown Ballwin (beauty is in the eye of the beholder) or at least a decent little street grid south of Manchester Rd. that was COMPLETELY obliterated for a couple of strip malls. I am sure many here are familiar with the story about the city of Ballwin suggesting that motorists drive from strip mall to strip mall to alleviate traffic on Manchester Rd. Unbelievable...

mcarril wrote:No, there's not. It stems from some commercials though, for a local electronics store I remember seeing or hearing when I was young that said something along the lines of "beautiful downtown Ballwin." And before I moved in with my then girlfriend, now wife, I almost never ventured west past 270, and for all I knew there was somthing like Old Webster, downtown Belleville waiting out there. Well as I've found out, there is no downtown in Ballwin, just a series of strip malls and such, nothing even close, typical suburban sprawl. I just thought it was funny. I don't remeber the store though. I don't think I even actually live in Ballwin, I'm not really sure, It all looks the same to me. I'm ready to move.

This is a great post. It made me laugh.



That said, I was curious because I was always under the impression that Ballwin was nothing more than a bedroom community. I'd obviously never really been there, since there's no reason to go there unless you live there, or know somebody who does.

I have been a resident of southwest city st. louis all of my life. I became facinated with the architecture and construction happenings occuring within the city about 5-6 yrs ago. I learned of the st. louis rising website simply by surfing the web looking for activity occuring within the city. I would like to thank the moderators and contributors to this website for making it what it is. Myself along with many of my friend are frequent visitors to the site. Keep up the great work.



Rich by lindenwood park.

1) I've been following this site for a while and thought I'd finally dive in. Eventhough I live in the county I'm a big city backer and really hope one day soon the city and county will be re-united.



2) I lived in Granite City on the east side until my sophmore year of high school then moved to Overland. I'm still in Overland and bought a nice hundred year old re-hab two years ago.



3) 24



4) I work at University of Missouri - St Louis (my alma mater) in the Admissions office doing everything from student advising to database admin. Also, working on my second Bachelor's in computer science.



5) Granite City HS/Ritenour HS

Cityboy wrote:There once was indeed a downtown Ballwin (beauty is in the eye of the beholder) or at least a decent little street grid south of Manchester Rd. that was COMPLETELY obliterated for a couple of strip malls. I am sure many here are familiar with the story about the city of Ballwin suggesting that motorists drive from strip mall to strip mall to alleviate traffic on Manchester Rd. Unbelievable...

Are you talking about the strip center that has a Lowes, Mashalls, and Steinmart? I think it's called Olde Towne Plaza. It was finished a few years ago and there is an old school house that got moved for the development. It seems like there are still a few older style buildings in that area.

Welcomes to both ntbpo and stlrock. I hope you guys jump into the fray more often!

Xing wrote:

stlrock wrote:1) I've been following this site for a while and thought I'd finally dive in. Eventhough I live in the county I'm a big city backer and really hope one day soon the city and county will be re-united.



2) I lived in Granite City on the east side until my sophmore year of high school then moved to Overland. I'm still in Overland and bought a nice hundred year old re-hab two years ago.



3) 24



4) I work at University of Missouri - St Louis (my alma mater) in the Admissions office doing everything from student advising to database admin. Also, working on my second Bachelor's in computer science.



5) Granite City HS/Ritenour HS

Welcome!

Thanks for the welcome. I've seen your photo threads, you're a great artist. You're thread about east side cities that included Granite really brought back some memories. I'm glad there is somebody who shows off what the Metro East has to offer.

I grew up in Wichita, Kansas and went to college in New York City.

Moved to Saint Louis five years ago.

I moved here for a relationship that did not last and it turned out I fell in love with this place.

I live in the Skinker-DeBalivere area and love it. First place i had here was in LaFayette Sq and want to move back there because thats my favorite area. I'm 25 years old and work as a Concierge at a local hotel.

viae wrote:I grew up in Wichita, Kansas and went to college in New York City.

Moved to Saint Louis five years ago.

I moved here for a relationship that did not last and it turned out I fell in love with this place.

I live in the Skinker-DeBalivere area and love it. First place i had here was in LaFayette Sq and want to move back there because thats my favorite area. I'm 25 years old and work as a Concierge at a local hotel.

Welcome. I'm glad you came to love St. Louis so much. What about it do you love in particular?

The parks,hoods,resturants,soulard market,the buildings,its cheap.

I also love the land out side of the city, like wine country and towns like ste. gen and grafton,herman.

MOst of the people are ok but so many in and around here need to get out of there small narrow minded world. Im sick of hearing how the city is so scary and bad and you cant live here with out a car. I do. I have a great flat that there was no way i could have had in nyc.

I do wish things would move a little faster here like metro,city county merger, and gay rights. But i under stand how people here work and i willing to wait for good things.

viae wrote:The parks,hoods,resturants,soulard market,the buildings,its cheap.

I also love the land out side of the city, like wine country and towns like ste. gen and grafton,herman.

MOst of the people are ok but so many in and around here need to get out of there small narrow minded world. Im sick of hearing how the city is so scary and bad and you cant live here with out a car. I do. I have a great flat that there was no way i could have had in nyc.

I do wish things would move a little faster here like metro,city county merger, and gay rights. But i under stand how people here work and i willing to wait for good things.

Don't you worry. At the very least, you're always welcome here even if the state of Missouri can make its minority populations feel very unwelcome at times.



I do wish things could move faster too. It's frustrating, but, I guess the way to look at it is that it will be so much more rewarding when all of that stuff finally does happen, right?

I was originally STLshoes, but my login expired.

Originally from Florissant, but now live in Chicago for Med School. I love Chicago, but often find myself wishing I was in St. Louis again.

24 years old

Not that it matters, but I went to McCluer North, same as Chingy

hello folks.



i found this site a week ago via a link from metropolis or the commonspace, i think. addiction developed very quickly.



i'm from kirkwood, did the kirkwood high thing, then lived in the city (debaliviere, cwe) for five years after graduating from wash u in 1988. i'll be 40 in november.



i left stl 12 years ago to join the peace corps. was in hungary for six years. for the past five years i've lived in london, working as a financial journalist. but life's too short for continuous full-time employment, so in february i ditched the job and moved to south africa (temporarily) to write plays. so far, so good. africa's cool.



i don't do musicals but someday i'd love to write SAINT LOUIS: THE OPERA. the good guys would be saint louis, auguste chouteau and maybe dred scott. the bad guys would build Downtown Parking Lots. The climactic battle scene (with lots of thunder and lightning, natch) would be the destruction of the buder and international buildings.



sorry to ramble, but just one more thing: i brought my (south african) boyfriend to st. louis for a visit this past summer. we went downtown one day for the ballgame. got coffee at city grocers. browsed at random furniture shops. had pre-game beers at charlie gitto's. watched the cards win. went over to wash ave afterwards for one of the best dinners in history at lucas st. grille.



we did all this on foot. i almost wept for joy. what a fantastic, wonderful city.

LouLou, can't wait to see your opera! I am jealous that everone else is moving to St. Louis but me.

Well that is definately interesting, welcome to our little community here. I can't wait to see that opera. We need to come up with an award for the most remote from St. Louis forumer. Keep spreading the word about St. Louis.

i will try to do that. this website and all its resources are brilliant, by the way. nice job!

1) Spent the last six years bouncing around in the Air Force. Seperating from active duty and setlling down in the STL.



2) Orginally from northern IL



3) 29



4) Hoping to work for a defense contractor after I seperate.



Been lurking here since April. Love the site; especially the abundance of informed info about STL real estate. I'm currently real estate shopping via the info superhighway, so any background info I can find is important. I've made a couple of exploratory trips already, but it is good to hear from folks who have been there for a while. I can't friggin wait to move to St Louis sometime this winter!!



Animal

Xing wrote:I haven't seen a thread like this yet.



1 So, what brings you here?

2 What part of the STL are you from?

3 How old are you?

4 What do you do, or study?

5 (The Ultimate St Louis "Get to Know You" question) What High School did you go to ?

Post photos if you want.

1 My ongoing and massive fascination with the city of st. louis and its old inner ring suburbs.

2 Bridgeton would be my "hometown" i suppose, but i grew up in St. Peters (gag) and later Lincoln County.

3 24

4 I have a BA in History from CMSU, and i am currently working on a degree in Environmental Studies at UMKC. briefly worked at True Mfg. in St. Peters, which convinced me to obtain a college education. nothing like being burned by a mechanical welder all morning to convince yourself that not having an education is "bullsh*t."

5 uh...yikes. i hate that game. i graduated from Elsberry High in 2000 though, hahah.



thought i'd be the resident stl defender at kcskyscrapers.com, turns out that most of the "trouble" is between kc and omaha, which is goofy. most people over there are tremendously respectful though and admire stl. at least they are respectful, heheh.

Warwickland, welcome. Stick with St. Louis where you belong .

Hi, new here.



1 So, what brings you here?



We have been looking at lofts for the last couple weeks and found out this site had a lot of info on loft developments and downtown projects in general.



2 What part of the STL are you from?



We currently live in St. Louis Hills, but will be moving into Bankers next July/August.



3 How old are you?



28



4 What do you do, or study?



I am a software product manager.



5 (The Ultimate St Louis "Get to Know You" question) What High School did you go to ?



I didn't grow up here. Grew up in north central MO.

Moberly? Macon? Kirksville?

Chillicothe...the north central metropolis.