GenNext

Meet me in St. Louis

Have you noticed that there are thousands “worst of” lists, but very few “best of” lists? I’m not talking about St. Louis Magazine, RFT or Sauce annual lists. I love those lists. They celebrate the good and the delicious. I am talking about the national lists produced by so-called scientific studies.

St. Louis, Mo.: It’s about 18^th in metropolitan area population, but yet we break the top 10 in worst place for men’s health, pollution, and most recently, miserable city. 

Forbes has produced the “Most Miserable” list. Their criteria are unemployment, taxes, commute times, violent crime, pollution, weather, conviction of public officials and performance of sports teams. In Forbes’ justification of St. Louis, it mentions how bad the Rams are. Really? A whole city is miserable because of a football team? If this is true, we have much larger issues to deal with.

I am here to say that St. Louis is not the 7^th most miserable city to live in! In fact, I think St. Louis is one of the best cities to live in. Here are just a few facts of greatness:

•  All the free stuff: zoo, museums, concerts, fairs. Something is always happening and generally on the cheap.
•  Restaurants, restaurants, restaurants.
•  Price of living is affordable.
• The generous spirit of St. Louis: we are in 5^th in the nation for United Way giving.
• St. Louis was voted “best water” in 2007. Take that, Forbes.

What do you love about St. Louis? What are your other favorite cities and why? 

Posted in News by Anna Gettemeier on March 1, 2010