St. Louis: City Profile
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 25 มิ.ย. 2024
- An overview of the city of St. Louis. I examine downtown and other neighborhoods, walkability, public transit, housing, crime, economy, food, music, and more.
0:00 Intro
1:54 Downtown & Neighborhoods
4:15 Parks
5:17 Bevo Mill
5:41 Poverty & Crime
6:46 Walking & Transit
7:50 Economy
8:30 Housing
9:40 Food
11:03 Music
11:45 Outro
If you would like to purchase a pin for the viewer wall map (updated via video every few months), please visit my Patreon page at:
www.patreon.com/geographyking
Album displayed: Chuck Berry - "St. Louie to Frisco to Memphis" (1972)
Probably the most balanced appraisal of the St. Louis area that I have seen in a long time, honest without the hyperbole.
Thank you!
The King is always just
The too well-kept secret of St Louis is the City Museum, which isn’t what it sounds like, but rather a children’s playscape made from reused industrial materials. Unique. A blast for kids and I was just awed by the creativity.
Bring knee pads you're gonna be sore from doing all that climbing
I go as an adult and its still amazing. Plus theres a really cool bar.
Ah, yes, the place that will make you sweat heavily, feel claustrophobic, and ruin your knees all at once. Go to an actual playground rather than waste your time there.
@@Compucles lol you must be fun at parties. i had a great time with my family
@@carstarsarstenstesenn Yes, I have lots of fun at parties in air conditioned buildings that don't require me to crawl through ridiculously small spaces on hard floors to get anywhere.
As a local, it drives me crazy when people here "St. Louis" and only think of crime and the Gateway Arch. I see it as a beautiful, historic city packed with diverse culture, that just has the unfortunate curse of a very high crime rate.
In terms of architectural history, we still retain a lot of it. We never really have had a massive urban construction boom until recently, so a lot of our historic buildings got their deserved landmark preservation before they got torn out. Chicago and NYC lost a lot of historic buildings that way.
I lived in St. Louis county for 51 years. YOU did a great job !!
Shout-out to the St. Louisans on thanking Kyle for his no-nonsense approach to giving the city its fair shake, warts and all. As a Salt Laker I very much appreciate that fondness and hometown pride for one's old stomping grounds. I've clowned on SLC since birth, but don't you even think about talking trash on my beloved birthplace. It's kinda like how I think about my pesky sister: I can call her mean names and dunk on her all day long, but if any of my wiseass friends so much as glance in her direction with a rude attitude, we're gonna have some words!
On a road trip from southern Utah to Pittsburgh my friend and I decided to stop at the arch in St. Louis to take a longer break and play photo-snapping tourists for a bit. Sitting at our outdoor table in an old, historic section of the city I kept noticing distinct types of people milling about --- a tye-dye here, a Dead shirt there, a pleasant mellow smile as they sauntered by. Hmmm, curious. I asked our server about any nearby clubs, venues, or concerts slated for that night. He told us his roommate was around the corner at the Moe show right this second. BINGO! I knew there had to be a reason for all the heads. We quickly finished up our grub, moved the car to a proper lot, and spontaneously boogied down to one of my favorite jambands, Moe, (stylized: moe.) at the historic Mississippi Nights, right on the water.
Fantastic! But what made this EXTRA serendipitous was that as we entered St. Louis from the west I randomly popped a moe. album into the CD player, assuming Emily would be immediately irritated and quickly insist on taking over DJ duty, but much to my surprise, she loved it. We grooved to it for quite a while through the late afternoon traffic. This was 1999 so I couldn't just Google tour dates from my pocket oracle. It was all sheer coincidence.
That late-May rest stop in St. Louis, a place I'd never laid eyes on, is still remembered fondly and with a big ol' smile as one of the best days of my life.
As a St Louis native who no longer lives in the area, I loved growing up there. While there are certainly some problems with the city there are so many things to love about it! The Arch, The Hill, Cardinals games, plays at the Muny, an amazing and free Zoo, plus so many other things to love about living around St Louis
I’m in Jacksonville Florida now, and as huge as this city is, almost nothing is going on.
St.Louis [ at least used to have ] something going on almost all the time. Concerts in the park [ or some park, somewhere] Art Bazaars, night life, museums, Zoo, Central West End , LOOP, Botanical Garden, Planetarium, BBQ Cookoffs, unless it was dead of winter, or tons of snow - something was always happening somewhere.
Jacksonville, nothing [ outside of bars and such.
We’ve got the Jacksonville Jaguars 😑 , and our Baseball team is the “Jacksonville JUMBO SHRIMP “‼️😱🤣❗️
📻🙂
I was born in st louis and this is probably an unpopular opinion here but I think the overall city is kinda trash. I've enjoyed living out in the rural parts of Missouri much more personally. Probably a bit bias since I don't fancy city living too much. I will agree with the cardinals games and the hill though. My dad was born on the hill :)
Small world. I am in Jax FL now also, but from STL!
Your car might get broken into during the cards game.
That’s because St. Louis is so ghetto and dangerous. Most won’t admit that because they don’t wanna be labeled a racist.
Also in Forest Park is the Muny, the largest outdoor theatre in the country that has been showing well produced musicals during the summers for over a century.
I lived in Baltimore for two years and now St Louis for four years and there’s TONS of similarities. Similar size and climate, both cities separate from the county. High crime (but very much overblown compared to its reputation) and recent history of police incidents. Both have lots of culture and plenty of things to do as well. I personally have loved living in both cities and would highly recommend the City Muesum in STL, amazing playground for kids and adults.
Yep. I'm originally from STL (Carondelet) but lived in Baltimore for a few years and felt very-much at home there. They're both older cities on a divide between North and South. And as ports and industrial centers (past their heyday), they have incredible cultural add-mixtures with the Great Migration and varied, heterogenous immigration patterns. Plus they're both really weird, overlooked, and gritting in a charming but unromanticized way.
I totally, agree! As someone who has lived in both places, I used to bring up the similarities in conversations. I don't do it much anymore because it usually falls flat. I guess people don't like hearing that their own beloved city isn't completely unique.
LMAO you go from one ghetto city to another and still alive.😂
Im from stl and there are very few areas i dont feel safe in. I think the reason the crime rate gets over stated is because people always forget how small the city of stl is vs the metro area. If you look at the metro area as a whole it doesn’t even rank in the top 50 but it just so happens most of the crime in stl metro is in stl city
@@pamacons st.louis county had 90 homicides plus st.louis city 220 homicides
so shootings happen a lot in stlouis over 200 people overdosed in the county and over 400 in the city
I love these Urban analysis videos, please keep doing them!!
That's good, because there are more coming!
@@GeographyKing glad to hear it 🙏
I visited St Louis back in 2014 for a last minute spring break trip for about four days. It is an incredibly affordable city for tourists, lots of free things to do and I was able to get a cheap but nice hotel room that had a direct view of the arch unobstructed. Overall I had a great time enjoyed some great barbecue and my wallet was thankful at the end of the trip as well. Definitely would go back.
We will be glad to welcome you back Ryan. There is so much more to see and do since then too! :]
Cool.
Love hearing this. I'm a resident of "The Grove" and we truly love seeing tourists enjoying themselves in our city.
I’m from St. Louis , and I get recommended a lot of St. Louis “geography” videos. Naturally, I watch all of them. This is by far hands down the most accurate one of seen. Great Job
Thank you very much!
I second this for sure, as a St. Louisan. Excellent work!
Love this format of diving down into the details of a city. Please consider doing more. :)
Yes sir!
I live on the Illinois side of St Louis. Over here I feel we have a love/hate relationship with the city. We talk bad about it all the time but have an odd pride when others talk bad on it.
probably because (depending on how far you are) you make use of their cultural offerings, such as the free museums paid for by the residents of St. Louis County and City (please note, St. Charles continues to be a holdout to supporting the cultural venues in the ZooMuseum District.)
Saint Louis was a pretty nice place to spend a day. I explored Forest Park, Gateway Arch and saw a Cardinals game for $5.00. The cheap seats pack an amazing view of the city. Good grub for sure. I hope that they can get the crime situation better under control, and hope to see more folks prosper.
You just need to go outside the city itself and to the suburbs to find the wealthy areas with low crime rates.
While true there’s nothing to see in the STL suburbs that’s unique compared to any other metro area suburbs, same chain restaurants and bland housing as every other US suburb.
I live in KC, but love going to STL once a year for a few days with my family. There's a lot to do there...the zoo which is one of the best in the country, City Museum, Arch, Science Center, Grant's Farm, Forest Park, Tower Grove park, the botanical garden, etc.
Please remember that all of these are supported by the property taxes of St. Louis City and County.). Please make sure to put a $20+ each time you visit as those taxes aren't enough to pay for the staff.
@@christinacody8653 I hear you! I'm from KCMO. I've felt the same about all the 'Kansas side' residents who cross the dreaded state line to KCMO for MCI Airport, the Chiefs, the Royals, etc. But, I've learned one thing, those people from outside are spending dollars in our area. I've not been to STL for years, and aside from the Cardinals, I love the area! :) I try to remember we are all Missourians!
@@disoriented1 That's great, but remember that without supporting the institutions that bring people there to spend money (ex. Museums, such at the Nelson Atkins where you live) then those institutions close. I'm outside of STL now as well and I live what I preach (I also used to work at the St. Louis Science Center before my move, so supporting museums and cultural institutions are in my blood).
St. Louisan here; thank you for covering the Lou in more depth and coming back for another visit. Overall I think you did a good job covering StL. On your next visit I recommend visiting Lafayette Park, it is a very charming neighborhood as well. I think you may have been confusing the Central West End with midtown when you referred to it as a second downtown though. While there is a lot of development in midtown right now, I would say the C.W.E. has more towers right now. Both have a lot to see and do though, like all neighborhoods (I would also recommend a trip to Crown Candy!)
There will be an MLS stadium opening soon and a north/south lRT line to compliment the east/west lines.
Thank you for the info. I wasn't aware the new stadium was going to be there. Where is there room?
@@GeographyKing Its near Union Station (so almost downtown). Did you get a chance to check Union Station out while visiting?
I second Lafayette Park! It was such a pleasant surprise when I visited for the first time. The soccer stadium is actually in Downtown West, not really Midtown, which would be on the other side of Jefferson.
@@GeographyKing And the soccer, baseball and hockey stadiums are on the Metrolink in a nice neat row, very close to the Amtrak and intercity bus stations.
@@bradleybalsters2078 oh my bad
I was born and raised in University City, just a short bike ride to Forest Park.
I haven’t been back in a while.
The LOOP was a major place, even back in 1960’s-1970’s.
You mentioned BBQ - did you know that BBQ Sauce was first bottled and sold in St.L.❓
MULLS actually beat Kraft to market. St.Louis Style BBQ sauce is also different.
St.Louis really is unique in many ways.
Oh, there are serious problems, but also a lot of good.
Part of the problem of St.Louis, is the Tax Base. The city gets none of the money from the County. But there has also been a lot of other issues as well.
I still have people there, and [ eventually] I will return for vacation.
Well done, and actually POSITIVE, for a change.
📻😁👍👍
I’m so excited you made this video! I moved from Vermont to STL (I work for the same company, the pay down here is the same amount as in Vermont, for a WAY lower cost of living) and I found your channel on the drive down when I was moving just to learn more about MO/STL! I majored in geography in college. I love downtown and you showed my house in this video!!! Omg how crazy is that!? I appreciate this analysis. I honestly can say I dont feel ballpark village is soulless, there’s local restaurants there and when it’s game day there is SO much soul. I appreciate your accuracy and not trying to get views off of stretched crime. I’ve said I’ll leave where I live if I ever have an issue, but so far everything has been exaggerated. I only had a small issue on the north side, which checks out. I’ve enjoyed all of the historic neighborhoods around the city very much. Great take on STL! You’ve reminded me that as an Italian-American I need to go to the hill more!
That is so crazy about him showing your house lol. I'm looking forward to making the move there next year! Not sure when you moved there, but I hope you're enjoying your time in STL!
Thank you very much for the kind words. It's nice to hear from another geographer. And the next time I'm in St. Louis I'll definitely go back to the Hill.
@@austinfreeman7871 I got here in November so almost a year. It’s been so much fun exploring all the neighborhoods but I still feel like I don’t know the city at all because there’s so much more to do! Every neighborhood has so many hidden gems.
@@GeographyKing it’s a great spot! Oh also locals pronounce Laclede as la-KLEED. I used to bartend on Laclede.
Went to a Blues game as a fan of the visiting team. Great time at the game, friendly locals and a really cool city bursting with potential.
that was the Stanley cup in the restaurant!
Great video! I am a bit homesick, now. I grew up across the river in Illinois and remember many school field trips and family outings in St. Louis. I moved out of the area 34 years ago, when I was 25, but I still have family there. St. Louis really does have a lot to offer.
I was born and raised in St Louis and I live in Springfield MO now. I miss it very much. Thank you for the video. It takes me back.
I've had Saint Louis style pizza at Imo's, and I gotta say it's my favorite style. What sets Saint Louis style pizza apart is that there is no yeast in the crust, and it has provel cheese, which is unique to Saint Louis style pizza. Yummy! I had the toasted ravioli last time I was there, and I didn't care for it that day, but maybe it was an off day that day. Another bit of trivia about Forest Park is that it was the location of the 1904 World's Fair. Along with the zoo and the museums and walking trails, you also have a golf course and all the other typical things you would find in other parks, playground equipment, tennis courts, etc. It truly is a park for everybody, and is a must visit if you get to Saint Louis.
Yeah, normal thin crust isn't very good, because it still tastes like a crust, just with much harder texture. However, St. Louis style crust is more akin to a cracker than actual bread.
However, provel cheese (which is not indicative of all St. Louis style pizza) isn't very good, and Imo's sauce is too spicy. If you want really good St. Louis style pizza, get Cecil Whittaker's.
St. Louis biggest struggles are from its history of segregation and white flight. We have lost over half our population at its peak and are still falling whilst the county is sprawling out. There are many great areas in STL and some areas are being resurrected like the Grove which you mentioned. I have lived here all my life, and would highly recommend our parks, food and our culture!
Hopefully those white flight people don't manage to keep the history hidden from their kids under the guise of crt scare
This is tough. I grew up in St. Louis, it’s my hometown. I have lived in West County, Holly Hills and Dutchtown. I’ve seen the neighborhoods in the South city deteriorate, and where I used to live is now gang territory. And I’m talking about within the last 20 years- not within the last 50. You can blame segregation and white flight, but really the problem is uncontrolled crime. I’m not sure there’s anything worth left seeing in St. Louis city. Maybe the Cardinals, the ballpark, a few select attractions, but I don’t think I could recommend for anyone to come for a visit. That’s why everything is moving out in the Saint Louis county and Saint Charles county. From a climate standpoint, it might have the worst weather in America. The summers are plagued with 90 to 100° days with insane humidity, the winters are bitterly cold and dark. You basically got about one or two months if you’re lucky on either side of summer for nice weather- then you’re inside. Culture wise, it’s a Midwestern city. You can get the same culture in Cincinnati, Indianapolis, Kansas City, Minneapolis Saint Paul, Milwaukee, and then visit the capital of Midwestern America in Chicago. It will always have a place in my heart because it’s where I grew up and my family has lived in that town going back centuries. But, the city itself is mean, poor, and dangerous.
It's either "white flight" that causes inner city problems or it's "white gentrification." Leave white people alone. People of any color have free will.
@@kd8opi Sorry about my curiosity, but... As I read everything you wrote (and I think it is sooooo intersting) I would like to ask you:
Where are you living?
When have you left Saint Louis?
Thank you.
Salute from São Paulo, Brazil.
@@eduardocajias5626 well, the military took me out of St. Louis. But, I’ve lived in Texas, Ohio, California and Tennessee since I left St Louis.
Quick note: The E in Laclede is a long E. Last syllable rhymes with 'Reed.' Though most locals just call that area 'the landing.'
Excellent! I lived in StL 1971-78 as a young person, it was fantastic.
As an avid chess player and photographer while there recently I enjoyed the St.Louis chess club which puts on the prestigious "Sinquefield Cup" on the grand chess tour, and as a street photographer going into the aforementioned sketchy neighbor "hoods".
Thank you for doing this video. As a St. Louis native I appreciate that you talked about the walk ability from downtown through the Central West End, and the importance of different cultures throughout the city. Of course as a chef from St. Louis, lots of my cooking is naturally Italian-based.
A couple notes, if Italian food is number one in St. Louis, then St. Louis chop Suey is number two. Also, Harris Stowe university is right on top of St. Louis University. It really adds to the diversity of that area around the Fox theater. Also, there is a community college across the street from Forest Park along with WASHU and the two aforementioned universities. That makes Forest Park surrounded by amazing colleges, and really creates an extremely diverse area full of young artsy people. People from all over the world come to my little hometown just for that education ❤
Born and raised in StL. At one time it was the 4th largest city in the USA. When I was born it was still in the top 10. Today it’s 70. The city’s problems began over 100 years ago with the city county divorce. Segregation, white flight, single party politics, and the division caused by the highways have led to a significant part of the city’s problems/downfall.
Yep, the city of St.Louis seceding from St.Louis County is the huge major coffin for the city of St.Louis.
I grew up there. Two small points: St. Louisans learn about each other by leading with the question, "Where did you go to high school?" That question seems to be unique to the city, but it usually tells volumes about a person. Some people don't like the question. And Laclede's Landing is pronounced with a long 'e.'
Very true, no one cares where you went to college...only where you went to HS.
Most annoying part of moving to STL is the high school question?
I mean come on, I’m 39 years old, I can barely even remember that far back.
Thank you for doing this video! Like many have said below, thank you for the balanced appraisal! I live in the DFW area and fell in love with St. Louis on my very first visit. Each visit shows me so much that the city has to offer and I still feel as if I have much more to learn and love. The people are friendly and helpful and this city really has so much culture and history! The best way I can describe it is that this city has major mojo! I love it so much, that I have decided that I want to move there next year! We'll see how it plays out! Thank you again for another awesome video.
I love your videos. Please keep doing them. I live in Europe and I find it fascinating to hear all about the US. I hope one day to tour the US and visit some of the places you talk about.
Same here.
I’ve been waiting for this video for a over month since you announced it. As someone born and raised in STL you provided a detailed yet concise overview of the area. I’ve followed your channel for a while and this made my heart happy having something that meant something personal to me be exaggerated upon. If you ever come back I’d be more than happy to give you some less touristy spots to go to and some more information on the area. Thanks again for this video.
Thank you very much! It means a lot to me to hear positive words from people who live in the places I discuss.
The reason for the High Crime Ranking is that other cities include surrounding area as part of their City Crime Statistics. But as you noted, St. Louis City and St. Louis County are considered separate skewing the Crime Ranking for the city much higher than it should be. Nice Review and informative..... Thanks....
The earliest I been on a geography king video
St Louis has a lot to like. I live there for 30 years before moving to New England. It's really an amazing place to live. Thank you for being balanced about your analysis. Some really, really good things to go with some of the not so good things. Thanks for this video.
Thanks for another well-balanced look at a midwestern city!
It's worth bearing in mind that the city-county division, and the city's diminutive boundaries, came about in the 1870s at the behest of the City's residents. This short-sighted decision eventually resulted in a sort of "doughnut hole" effect as population and economic growth took place increasingly OUTSIDE the city limits over the next century, while the economic effects of de-industrialization since then have landed disproportionately INSIDE the city limits.
Had the city not "walled itself in" in the 19th century, it probably would have expanded to include at least the inner ring of suburbs in St. Louis County. Thus having 50-70% more population and a significantly better tax base would have made a world of difference...but that ship has sailed.
Two extremely minor corrections: Laclede's Landing is usually considered to be the district north of the Arch grounds, especially between the Eads and MLK bridges; the Missouri Botanical Garden is adjacent to Tower Grove Park, not within it (oddly enough, Tower Grove Park is not technically in the city's park system, but is owned and maintained by a foundation).
Looking forward to more of these--the one on Milwaukee came just before my son started college there, so the timing was perfect. :)
Thank you for that info!
Yeah, definitely a big mistake , separating City and County.
[ I grew up in U. City]
Jacksonville Florida is the opposite. You enter Duval County, you enter Jacksonville city limits - only 1 exception, Jax Beach. The city IS the County.
📻🙂
Yep the city of St.Louis seceding from St.Louis County in 1877 is definitely the huge nail in the coffin for the city of St.Louis.
You corrected the location of Laclede's Landing but not his mispronunciation of it?
@@Compucles Hehe, we pronounce soooo many things incorrectly in St. Louis anyway
I just want to express my joy at seeing you include Bevo Mill in the thumbnail. That is my home neighborhood. My childhood home and grade school are both just a few blocks East/SE of the Mill & I one day hope to return, if only just for a few years. I'd like to be buried in the cemetery just south on Morgan Ford, that neighborhood means so much to me, not just in spite of the changes, but also because of them! ❤️
Geography King, thanks for doing St. Louis. Great job as always! And as others have said, such a fair-handed analysis. You actually went there & experienced it, rather than just trash the place based on stats.
As a 25-year resident of Missouri I can honestly say that St. Louis has really grown on me. At first all you hear about are the crime stats that make it sound like “Diet Detroit”. Then you start learning about the place, it’s history, it’s culture and you start to get what it’s really like. Metro St. Louis is actually a great city for families! There is so much to do, both for “free” and paid attractions (zoo is great but you pay to park). The City Museum is so much fun. Union Station is great. Forest Park is such a nice respite. The Arch Museum was just reopened. Living in Kansas City it’s a frequent business destination for me and fun destination for the family.
St. Louis really feels like the last Eastern City, with Kansas City feeling like the first Western City. I always feel like the Tower Grove neighborhood could have been in any east coast city with its cobble stones & row houses. And the distinct ethnic neighborhoods are for real. A business associate told me you can really tell most of a person’s story based on what STL neighborhood they grew up in & what high school/private school they attended.
I wish they could get the crime figured out & attract more residents, because though the metro is 2.7 million-ish St. Louis punches above its weight and feels like big city.
Agreed!
Oh lord….your business associate mentioned the “where did you go to high school question?” people ask you.
One of the most annoying things about STL for someone moving there from elsewhere is how many new people you meet will ask that ridiculous question to pigeonhole your socioeconomic background.
Another Geography King video to look forward to, awesome!
As part of your musical review, you might have taken a few seconds to mention that Tina Turner graduated from the historically African American Charles Sumner High School in St. Louis (along with the likes of Arthur Ashe, Chuck Berry, Billy Davis, Jr., Dick Gregory, Robert Guillaume, and other notables), and it was where she got her musical career off to a start (on both sides of the river).
Before Covid, I had the opportunity to stay with in St Louis while my husband worked for two months. I did it with three kids, one who was an infant, and there was always something to do which I appreciated so we weren't stuck in a hotel in winter. My husband and I even got to go to a few places to eat, Korean and ramen plus BBQ. I look back on that time and remember all the fun we had whilst also being there for work, and I also got pretty decent at big city traffic.
St. Louis has a notable, rich, and deep history in the Blues music scene, and if you're not from here and while visiting you get the chance to enjoy any of the nightlife, a must see and hear on the live circuit is a group that's as much a part of the fabric and history of the music scene in St. Louis. So do yourself a favor and check out The Kingdom Brothers. It's one of the best blues band you'll ever hear. They've played together for nearly 20 years with a well established sound of focusing on a mix of R&B and Blues and original feel-good music. You'll be treating yourself to ear-gasams all night long. The band is so good, they were selected to represent the St. Louis Blues Society a few years ago in the International Blues Challenge in Memphis, appearing in the semi-finals. Check them out!
i live in st. louis and watch your videos quite regularly, so it was a nice surprise to see this video! thank you for taking a balanced approach when talking about stl. a lot of people only focus on the crime, but there’s so much more than that here, and it honestly has a lot of potential still. it was built to hold a massive population, so we have a lot of space for people to move in. videos like this help show people that it’s not all that bad here, and we could really use the population boost.
the crime is really unfortunate and has a lot to do with the horrible, segregated layout of the city. we actually have some of the worst, if not the worst segregation in the entire country. i suggest looking up the delmar divide, and the segregated urban planning in general. it’s honestly a pretty crazy phenomenon. the loop splits up one of the poorest areas and one of the richest areas right down the middle.
maybe i have too much hope, but i feel like we could help solve these issues and make this city more favorable to live in by drawing new, younger people in with open minds. unfortunately a lot of the people who have moved out into the wealthier suburbs are stuck in the mindset that the poorer, crime riddled communities in the city are like that by choice.
I stayed at the far west end of the city near Wash U. I walked in all directions from the hotel during my stay there and it was nice in all directions, except as you mentioned that sharp transition from hipster and cool to urban blight and poverty as you walk NE from there. St. Louis, along with Memphis and New Orleans, are the only cities that have that drastic shift in socioeconomics in the matter of just a street crossing.
St. Louis has historically had a reputation as one of the most segregated cities in the U.S. since the Civil War.
Another reason is since the city of St.Louis seceded from St.Louis County in 1877 it could no longer annex land and made it what it is today, also you can thank Lyndon B Johnson (the former vice president of John F Kennedy) for making the black community are what they are today as well.
Thank you so much for your balanced and well natured approach to our city and region. I’ve loved your videos for a long time and it was so awesome to see you represent my home town!
I enjoyed this balanced view of St. Louis. Well done, Kyle. I have lived in seven major cities in the US, one of them St. Louis. I really enjoyed St. Louis as it is value-priced, punches above its weight in many regards, highly cultured, great architecture. It is underrated, misunderstood, and troubled, but people who dig a bit deeper are rewarded. Quaint, historic, walkable neighborhoods filled with creative people which is something many visitors miss when they only go downtown and to the Arch.
Thanks for giving a shout out to St. Louis architecture!
Awesome to see you cover St. Louis Kyle, you truly are the king of geography.
4:28 Not only the zoo, but a ton of St. Louis' museums are free to the public also; the art museum, the history museum and the science center/planetarium.
The Muny has an outermost section of free seats, as well.
All of the ones you mentioned are paid for in part by The Zoo Museum District Tax, paid for by those in STL City and County. If you're visiting these locations and not from the area, please consider seriously putting a large donation (or at least a membership) in the place you visit.
Also, the very first Olympic games in the United States were in St. Louis in combination with the 1904 World's Fair. The history of those events is a really fun read, especially the marathon event.
Thank you Geography King! You are the best, and I love your videos ❤❤
Great videos Kyle! I agree with some of the other posts about the omission of the City Museum. It is one of a kind.
I’ve lived in St Louis my whole life and this was an amazing overview. Best I’ve seen on TH-cam. Amazing work!
5:16 Never knew St. Louis had a windmill like that, that’s pretty cool!
Built By the Busches of Anheuser-Busch fame.
That's interesting about the Bosnian (and Croation) immigrants. Salt Lake City has a very large Bosnian population as well. My very good friend from Bosnia tells the most insane stories about walking through the forests, with RPGs whistling overhead, to escape the war as a teenager.
Thanks for highlighting St. Louis! You nailed it
Love the fancy satellite view zoom-in! Love the content as always, cheers from Seattle, WA!
Kyle, I always enjoy your take on places. The way you present and emphasize things aligns very closely with how I want to understand a place. Another super job well done.
Thank you!
I visited St Louis many years, such a historic American city, great place to live if you enjoy The Ozark Mts on the border of the metro area.
Pronounced: Luh-CLEED’s Landing. …
“Mound City” is an old nickname. No one calls it that all all anymore….
Yeah, City Museum!
I like videos that just dont glorify the bad parts of town. They sensationalize it for views. Your balanced approach is refreshing and a welcome sight amongst allvthe doom and gloom videos that cover big cities. However, you forgot the St. Louis Blues hockey team. I think St Louis was the only sports town where their baseball and football teams had the same name.
The Stanley Cup celebrations for the Blues for beating Boston in 2019 were off the charts
I’m from St.L.
In Jacksonville Florida now.
- the name of our Baseball team:
“Jacksonville JUMBO SHRIMP 🍤‼️😱🤣❗️
I still enjoy the Cardinals baseball on KMOX radio.
[ yes, I can get KMOX at night, down here most of the time].
Sadly, no more Blues Hockey.
📻🙂
@@jeffking4176 Yeah, KMOX was great. Not sure if it is any more, but when it was one of the last CBS-owned and operated stations in the country, it was special. Something like 60-70% of all radios in St. Louis were tuned to 1120 AM for decades. I remember a couple of times When a famous St Louisan would go on a national TV talk show and happen to mention KMOX, someone in the audience would applaud. Jim White, the venerable and now deceased KMOX late night host, had a near national audience from Denver to Pittsburg thanks to the 50,000 Watt clear channel signal.
New York also used to have a baseball and football team with the same name, the Giants in their case.
If I had a quarter for every time that's happened, I'd have 50 cents, which isn't much, but it's weird that it's happened twice.
@@Compucles Cubs and Bears anyone? Not a coincidence.
I spent a few days in St. Louis visiting a nephew and his family. He was attending Washington University for his doctorate. I went to a Cardinals game that has to be the most incredible baseball game I've ever witnessed. A beautiful stadium it was. I went to the top of The Arch, but the visitor center/museum was the highlight. It was so hot and humid that I can't ever imagine living there. I also got my one and only experience at White Castle and I think people in the Midwest are nuts if they think that awful steamed hamburger meat is good. I rank it as the very last in fast food, the next worst, above it, is not even close.
Yeah, you made a bad choice with White Castle. Anyway, you can easily find most major national fast food chains if you just want better fast food. I didn't realize fast food had much local cultural value anywhere in the country in the first place.
As for the heat and the humidity, that's why man invented central air conditioning.
St. Louisan here. I don't know anyone here that actually enjoys White Castle. I was shocked when I learned it's apparently a regional chain mainly here in the Midwest. Figured everyone knew about it and just tolerated it haha
Very interesting video, thanks for posting.
I just wanted to say thank you so much for your city profile videos! I'm considering job offers in various cities across the U.S., and it is awesome to watch these videos because you have done all the research about what living in each of these cities is like.
I hope you end up somewhere you love.
@@GeographyKing thank you so much! Right now I think St. Louis is my top choice!
Good album, Kyle. Nice content keep 'em coming.🤠
Wow! What an absolute fantastic analysis of St Louis. Very honest and very thorough.
Watching this from SLU’s campus- love your stuff!
Thank you for the great video sir!
As a resident, I really loved your honest and fair review! 🙂
Thanks for the info! I’ve never been to St Louis but I’ve considered staying a long weekend there and checking it out because Southwest offers ridiculously cheap flights there from where I live.
Born and raised in St. Louis, damn proud of it. You did a stellar job, very accurate and to the point. Excellent! One thing… LETS GO BLUES!!!
Thanks for this! I grew up in Saint Louis and loved it. Returned fairly often with my siblings to our old neighborhood.
The Saint Louis crime rate is so high because of the reason you touched on at the start. In most MSAs, a large portion of their suburban population is within the city limits. In Saint Louis, that is not the case. Look at other cities with MSAs of roughly 2mil give or take and you will see a much higher percentage of the overall population within the city limits. The areas that would be near the outskirts of any other city, with higher incomes, solid real estate tax bases and much lower crime overall are OUTSIDE the city of Saint Louis.
If you shrunk comparable sized MSAs to only the most centralized 15% or so, you would have the highest crime areas consolidated in the same way STL sees.
The crime rate - meant to be a proxy for the risk of being victimized by a crime - fails to tell an accurate story in STL because of these anomalies.
Very enjoyable and informative analysis. I live about 90 miles from St. Louis and go there often.
Just wanted to update you. I did in fact move to STL and It is even better than I thought. I bought a Condo in Downtown West and I love living here. I can even see my condo in the video! You should come back and go to a St. Louis City SC match if you get the chance!
Man, thank you so much for your content, Kyle! :D :D :D
Oh yeah Geography King, you should talk about religious divides in the U.S (Protestant, Catholic, Presbyterian), and even types of counties/cities (true rural, declining, college, etc) I love your channel!
I used to live across the river in Belleville, IL. This was a very well done video, it really gave a lot of info in a limited amount of time. One area that I would recommend is the central west end. Not sure if you made it there, but it's definitely worth a mention.
Found it odd that you left out Monsanto in the companies list. I guess they aren’t technically in city limits, but few companies have had such an impact on our country than them, and for the worst. You also didn’t mention City Museum! The crown jewel of St. Louis. An unbelievably magical place.
or the Magic House. or all the great architecture in StL. people come from all over the country to study it.
Monsanto was bought out by Bayer a few years ago, so it wouldn't come up on a list of companies headquartered in St. Louis any longer.
@@kenj0418 ah gotcha. Wow that’s terrifying, though. Few companies in history have as dark of a past as Bayer.
One of the best cities i’ve ever had the pleasure of visiting.
Thank you for repping the over 500k of people who live east of the river in the STL metro. I feel left out time-to-time.
I grew up in North county but went to SIUE and have lived in a lot of great places on the East side. It is a great place to live too!
@@jeffwebb2966 Funny. I have a relative who went to SIUE but now lives in North County. The Metro East is slept on. Belleville and Edwardsville are great cities.
Thanks for covering my hometown :) cool to see an outsider’s perspective on the city
I just spent a couple days there earlier this week. My first visit to St. Louis and I thought it was pretty cool. Reminds me of Ft Worth in a lot of ways. Stayed at Union Station Hotel. The history and architecture was awesome.
Amazing! Thanks!
I have to agree with you Kyle--St. Louis would not be one of my favorite cities, but it is a city I have always enjoyed visiting. A trip up in the Arch is interesting on many levels, the zoo is definitely one of the best in the country, attending Cardinal and/or Blues games is fun, a tour of the brewery is pretty cool and I don't even drink, and there is some history and nature too.
Very accurate and comprehensive coverage of the city, Biggest problem with St Louis moving forward is the inability/desire of the city administration to get crime under control. Thanks for posting.
Born and raised IN THE CITY! Love it a lot. You did an excellent summary. Thanks.
Sounds like one of the more underrated cities around.
I'm from the Memphis metro and lived outside of Atlanta for 12 years. I always lived in the 'burbs or country. When I moved to STL, I went straight to Tower Grove East. I lived right off of Grand (my dad counted 52 steps to the first bar... the exquisite Gin Room) where I was introduced lovely smells and flavors from all around the world all in about 5 blocks of Grand. My Great Dane and I were out every day, walking the neighborhood. I really LOVED being there. When Covid hit, and the world went sideways, I was a on edge. I'd never lived anyplace that densely populated and I could feel the tension of lockdown. Having lived most of my life in the country, I was getting depressed. Then a shootout happened on a Monday afternoon on my street, and I was finished. I went back to the country. I made good friends and I had a lot of good times. I still wish I lived down there on occasion... mostly the weekends. It was cool seeing photos of many of the patios I had beers with friends on. Good video, and it's a great city.
Love my city no matter what
Really enjoyed this take on STL! I work at Anheuser-Busch on the south side of Soulard. There are a lot of people who work there that live in Soulard and simply walk to work.
I’d love an SLC urban analysis! Keep up the great videos!
Love to see some more city profiles
st. louisan who moved from southern california here! this truly is home. i love st. louis. ❤
I lived in the St Louis area for 17 years. I loved it. So many wonderful neighborhoods and many wonderful unique finds. The City Museum, the Grand Area, Central West End,
I like these city deep dives
I've got several more coming up!
I’d love a deep dive into Anchorage and/or fairbanks. Good stuff 👍🏼
My grandmother was raised in St Louis and never let us forget she was there for The Fair. Isn't Forest Park the site of the Fair? St Louis Exposition, that is
Here in Houston, we had the Buffs before we got a major league team. They were the Cardinals' farn team and Sran Musial was our hero when I was a kid.
I read Joe Garagiola's autobiography several times; he became a TV personality after a lackluster baseball career. He grew up on "Ethnic Slur" Hill...
I visited the city many years ago and would like another visit. Crime? Alas, that is a bad problem but mostly not in tourist areas. I have managed not to get shot in Houston...
As far as the crime rate, I've been told that the crime rate is high because the county is separate from the city. Usually with big cities, the included county absorbs the high city crime rate, producing an overall lower average rate. But because STL county is separate, it can't do that.
Thanks for the great video! I do like the new city format too. I live in the 64Sq mile part of the city metro on the west end by Forest Park and do love it. We get a bad rap all of the time, but it is really nice and has a lot of amenities for our size. A lot of the crime happens late at night or early a.m. in North City. This area was redlined and disinvested for 90 years or so because of racial discrimination, but there is some major investment going in there finally but it will take time.
Crime and poverty don’t spontaneously happen for no reason, as you’ve just said. There are long-standing structural economic and political causes that make those conditions almost inevitable.
Thank you for giving a level headed take of my city. Most people on the internet form their takes off of what they read, and they haven't even been here.
I always love these urban analysis videos. One thing that I think is important though is that St Louis was the home to the king of Ragtime music, Scott Joplin. Still very fun to watch.