Born in STL, lived most of my life here (mostly St. Louis County)…
Oghier’s post, and the others, mostly on the money. A few things I’d disagree with or add:
Politics:
St. Louis is actually fairly close to the political middle. The state as a whole is somewhat conservative, thanks to it’s more rural areas and the Southeastern portion (Springfield). But the St. Louis metro area is less conservative than the state, and approximates the nation’s political views. More specifically, the city proper of St. Louis is quite to the left of the nation, the county of St. Louis (a separate political entity) is slightly to the left of the nation, and the outer counties (St. Charles, Jefferson, etc) are pretty conservative. Overall it represents a fairly broad spectrum. If you work in Frontenac, you’ll most likely want to live somewhere in St. Louis County, and even within the county there are areas that are conservative, liberal, and centrist…
Climate:
It is hot and humid in the summer, but it’s really only bad for 6-8 weeks. St. Louis is a 4 season climate. We get hot in the summer, cold in the winter (with some snow, but not a ton). Personally, I like this seasonal variation, mostly. I realize it’s not to taste for some folks. Even the summers aren’t too bad to cope with. During the hot part of the year, you focus on getting outside in the morning, or close to dusk, or on the occasional day that is cooler than normal.
Parks:
St. Louis has a lot of green space in and around it. Within the city, there are at least two really nice parks (Forest Park and Tower Grove Park), plus a nice botanical garden. In the county there are more parks. Within a reasonable drive there are nice state/national parks that are good for camping, hiking, boating, etc. The topography in general is rolling hills, with lots of trees on the green spaces - I find it attractive. (The urban parks are more flat though).
Culture:
St. Louis is big enough to have more or less one of everything, culturally. Some things are world class, IMO (our zoo, botanical garden, Magic House (childrens’ museum), perhaps our symphony, though I’m not as big on symphony’s in general). Some are not world class, but are solid (science center, history museum, art museum). Many of these attractions are cheap or free (occasionally with avoidable charges for some aspects - parking, special exhibits, etc).
So, some drawbacks:
Far from beach/ocean, far from mountains…
Relatively far from other cities (Chicago, Memphis, Kansas City are all in the 4.5-5.5ish hour range)
Somewhat insular (i.e. higher % of folks here grew up here, versus, say, Bay Area), which I can imagine would be less appealing to a transplant. To some extent, this depends where you live.
Area is in long term economic stagnation. Not really decline - the population, and, I think, the economy, of the area as a whole is still growing. But its growing more slowly than the nation as a whole.
In general, I’d say that St. Louis is a big enough city that you can find your niche, for most niches anyways.
If you provide more info on your life situation (25, single, urban hipster, or 45, married with 2 kids, and looking for a nice house with a yard, or whatever) and interests, you may get more direct feedback on aspects of St. Louis that may appeal to you.
