Home » STL Region » Currently Reading:

What I love about St. Louis

December 11, 2009 STL Region 10 Comments

I’m in my 20th year in St. Louis.  Although I have come close to moving elsewhere over the years at this point I don’t ever see myself leaving St. Louis.  I complain daily about this and that but I do so because I care.  If I didn’t I would have loaded the U-Haul years ago.  I’m just not sure where I would have moved.  Every city/region has issues.  The grass may look greener over there but it really isn’t.

Of course I love my many friends in St. Louis.  I love the quality of the locally owned restaurants in St. Louis.  But I want to list positive physical attributes that makes me appreciate the City of St. Louis.  Here is what I came up with, in no particular order:

  • 19th century street grid of (mostly) short/walkable city blocks. Although severed by highways much of the grid remains in place.  I love how some streets, such as Gravois,  cross the grid at an angle.
  • Solid feel of the mostly masonry structures. I love our rare wood frame buildings but the most ordinary streets, even if largely vacant, feel very substantial.  The subtle variety in colors and the different details are fascinating and show the pride of those who built the buildings.
  • Neighborhood corner storefronts and commercial streets. Much of our city was built prior to the automobile and as such it has the walkable street grid mentioned above.  Often the street corners have storefront buildings that once housed various merchants selling dry goods, meats, produce, bread, candy, and bicycles. In some neighborhoods these continue to in this fashion — visit the Hill to see for yourself.  Along streetcar lines we’d often see a collection of storefronts.  Today these and others make up some of our best districts in terms of architectural scale. Examples: Euclid in the CWE, Meramec & Virginia in Dutchtown, Ivanhoe, Macklind between Chippewa and Loughborough, Morgan Ford, North Broadway in Baden, Manchester Ave in The Grove, Auto Alley on Locust in Midtown, downtown, North 14th Street in Old North, and the Delmar Loop. You can see the Wellston Loop was once thriving – I’m optimistic it will be again.  These places and so many others have character that comes from their period and their age — it can’t be built new.
  • Adaptability of building stock to new uses. Warehouses, factories, schools and churches have been retrofitted with new uses from when first built. I love that we have tax credits available to make the reuse of existing structures possible.
  • Enormous potential for growth – economic and population. I can still recall that Saturday in August 1990 when I drove my friend Mary Ann’s Honda Civic into St. Louis along I-44 from Oklahoma.  By the time we reached Grand I was hooked.  In the years that have followed I’ve explored every part of this city.  St. Louis Hills is different than Soulard which is different than Hyde Park -  all good and all have potential for increased population.  Our main corridors can become densely populated routes with streetcars connecting them to each other and the larger region.  I can see St. Louis with a population double today’s population.  I’m as excited by the potential as I was that first day I arrived.  The rest of my life will be spent as an urban planner helping St. Louis and other cities reach their full potential.
  • Geographic location. Some like the mountains or warm climates. I like being in the middle, flights to either coast are not so long.  My family in Oklahoma is close enough to see annually.  Chicago and other cities are reasonably close.  I like that we have four seasons.
  • Mississippi & Missouri rivers. People seem naturally drawn to bodies of water.  For some they like the ocean.  Others it is living near a lake.  For me I like river cities.  I like the idea of the navigation, the power of the moving water.  I’ve seen prettier river towns but the Mississippi is a beast of a river.

If I hadn’t ended up in St. Louis I would have likely found another 19th century manufacturing city to call home. Perhaps Detroit or Cleveland?

I will continue working to shape St. Louis into my vision for the future.  That may involve negative or hostile views but I think St. Louis is worth fighting for and change doesn’t come without a fight.  I figure I’ve got about thirty years left and I want to make the most of them.  I can guarantee that I will never reach a point where I can sit back and say there is nothing else to be done — the city/region is perfect. Even if our population is doubled and our schools are the best in the nation I will still see room for improvement.

I’ve thought at various times I should live in a better place where things are more urban.  The truth is I like solving problems – urban problems.  Live in utopia and you have no problems to solve.  I’m emotionally attached to St. Louis, no question about that.  Solving urban problems outside the City of St. Louis are less emotional for me but just as thrilling.

– Steve Patterson

 

Currently there are "10 comments" on this Article:

  1. STLgasm says:

    Steve, you speak for so many of us who choose to stay here. Like you, I enjoy living in a work-in-progress. No other city gives me such a sense of pride and purpose. Our city IS special and IS worth fighting for. Visitors often recognize this easier than longtime residents. Despite all the stupidity, short-sightedness, and provincialism, St. Louis miraculously retains a level of urbanity and sense of place that 90% of American cities could only dream of.

    Long live the Red Brick Mama!

     
  2. okc2stl says:

    My wife and I also moved to St. Louis from OKC in 2006. We love St. Louis. The architectural character and the unique neighborhoods were like a magnet to us. We vacationed in StL in Aug. of 2005 and 1 year later we were living downtown. If only more of the regional natives could see the same potential.

     
  3. City Gal says:

    Steve,
    Great post, I also believe this city is worth fight for and I believe we have a great future ahead of us. I think 2 key groups will be huge in the progress of STL . First of all the younger generation is moving into the city. I am in my 20's and almost all of my friends have relocated into the city limits. We are buying houses and getting involved with the neighborhood associations. I have already noticed a trend of people staying in the city, even after they have children. Secondly, the transplants will be extremely important on growth and progress. The transplants know what a great city this is and can't believe the locals are so hard on STL. I am hoping the self defeating attitude will die out with the generation that fled the city to begin with.

     
  4. Nick says:

    I really appreciate your post. I am currently volunteering in New York City but in doing so I am experience many different urban environments and comparing and contrasting New York and St. Louis. I intend to take my observations back to St. Louis when I return and help St. Louis continue to progress in to the dynamic urban city that I know it can be again. I talk up the city to any one I see including all these new yorkers who sometimes have trouble placing what state it is in. Keep up the good work fighting and maybe our paths will cross some day in the LOU!

     
  5. Courtney says:

    I recently talked with the social media person for Vancouver transit. Talking it became clear that while they have more money and general support for urban amenities like transit, we really have the most amazing network of passionate, dedicated people who really believe in St. Louis. That includes you Steve! By the end of conversation, she was saying “wow”. That's what I love about St. Louis, and why I moved back after 8 years.

     
  6. lolololori says:

    Rivers are my favorite body of water, too!

     
  7. wine clubs says:

    I think walkable city blogs are sometimes overlooked by the average person. Being able to get out and grab a bite to eat or just a coffee on Saturday morning does seem like it makes that much better. Some of the cities in the midwest don't get the credit they deserve for being so walkable-St. Louis and Chicago both come to mind.

     
  8. JZ71 says:

    The three biggest things I've seen since moving here is our inherent potential (urban fabric & infrastructure), our incredible affordability and the untapped utilization of our central location and essentially unlimited water supplies. The three biggest challenges I see to utilizing these assets is way too much provincial thinking in local politics, an amazing undercurrent of racism and the negative and mis perceptions of those many, many people who don't live here. (This coming from a relatively recent [5 years ago] transplant, and from someone who really didn't pick St. Louis for its urban or cultural uniqueness.)

     
  9. listeningin says:

    I wish I could share your optimism, but it looks to me as though St. Louis is working itself deeper into the mud. The steep decline of St. Louis during the 50's and 60's stemmed from people (and businesses) leaving because of dirt, crime, political corruption and many leadership decisions which were totally foolish, such as the income tax. These same problems have come around, full circle. Now any potential in St. Louis is being threatened by dirt, crime, political corruption and failure to correct the stupid leadership decisions from the past.

    If you want to blow these comments off, fine, but look at the crime statistics. Hand in hand with these statistics is the fact that corruption is rampant in the police department, and it is the worst kind, since it flourishes at the top. Visit the Ecology of Absence blog (http:ecoabsence.blogspot.com) and read the story about “A City Guarantee for Northside Regeneration,” a catalog of some stupid fiscal and developmental decisions. Look at the looming disaster of McKee – a developer the city leadership wants because the leadership feel they can control him, just as he knows he can control them. His presence stifles the many local leadship initiatives which could return stability and growth to the city.

    If you think the present leadership is going anywhere, then answer the question: why does Mayor Slay need to surround himself with bully boys, such as Rainford. Why is he so insecure? The answer is simple: he is insecure because all he has for the people are St. Louis are lies, smoke and mirrors.

     
  10. Chris Andoe says:

    I don't think the locals of any city can really see it the way a transplant can, especially if they've never lived elsewhere.

     

Comment on this Article:

Advertisement



[custom-facebook-feed]

Archives

Categories

Advertisement


Subscribe