-
What Are the Risks of Syria Involvement?
May 23, 2013 | 25 comments
-
Pray and Grow Rich
May 16, 2013 | 68 comments
-
Ruthie’s Way
May 2, 2013 | 6 comments
-
A Free and Indivisible Union
April 25, 2013 | 70 comments
-
Revoke Obama’s Peace Prize
April 18, 2013 | 80 comments
The Nation's Pulse
At Home in Murder City
It’s no picnic being the most dangerous city in America.
Once again, I must take exception to my hometown being named America’s most violent city. And when I find out who’s responsible I’m going to break their kneecaps.
Sure, St. Louis’s crime rates look bad on paper, but these days who reads the paper? The fact is, you have to try really hard to get murdered in St. Louis. You can’t just sit in your foxhole watching television and expect someone to go out of his way to kill you. St. Louisans are much too busy for that. At the very least you have to step outside to check the mail. My point is, it’s no picnic being the most dangerous city. It takes the cooperation of a lot of thugs and naive innocent victims, not to mention decades of bad policy ideas, to get this messed up.
I could show you parts of St. Louis that are still relatively safe, and by relatively safe I mean your armored Humvee can still scale the piles of corpses in the streets without tipping over. I’ve lived in one of the more dangerous neighborhoods of the city off and on for a year now, and I haven’t once been mugged, knifed, or shot at. True, my car has been broken into and my rear window shot out, but this was done matter-of-factly, not violently — and we’re talking violent crime here — so that doesn’t count.
People ask me, what’s it like living in America’s most dangerous city? Well, it’s a lot like living in your hometown, only your neighbors, instead of inviting you over for barbecue and beer, are waiting in the bushes to cut your throat for you.
St. Louisans are rightly proud that tens of thousands of refugees from the Bosnian War and the conflict in Darfur immigrated here in recent years. And only a handful have been indiscriminately murdered since resettling in the city. Nothing like the thousands that were indiscriminately slaughtered back in Eastern Europe and Africa. And just because a few have fled back to their burned-out villages where it’s safer doesn’t mean that all the immigrants feel that way.
ACTUALLY, ST. LOUIS has been designated America’s most dangerous city so many times it hardly registers a yawn. The city is even thinking of adopting a new slogan: “Custom will reconcile people to any atrocity.” Gunshots outside your living room windows? Just turn up the volume on the TV. Car windows smashed on a regular basis? Invest in an auto glass repair shop. You’ll make millions. Then you can afford to move to the suburbs.
Not surprisingly, our elected officials are becoming expert at downplaying this dubious distinction. The criteria are all wrong, they say. Lists are bad and irresponsible ways to think about urban living, they say. Unless the lists are good news. Then we’ll feature them on our tourist brochures. Besides, we have the awesome Gateway Arch you can gaze upon while you’re waiting for the paramedics to arrive.
The good news for us St. Louisans is that crime has gone down in the city each year since 2007. Today there are only 2,000 crimes per 100,000 residents. This is also good news for last year’s most dangerous city, Camden, New Jersey. Unlike St. Louisans, Camdenites actually want the title. “Hell ya, we’re dangerous and violent, and don’t you forget it!” One can imagine the news wasn’t being taken well down at The Bada Bing:
Hey Boss, you see dis? Camden ain’t da most dangerous city no mores.
Who sez? You tellin’ me a bunch of mopes from Missouri tink dey’re better than us? Tell Johnny Pork Chops to gas up the Caddy, we’re going for a little ride.
Frankly, Camden can have the title. It’s a lot of effort being Murder City, USA. Can’t we just be America’s fattest city instead? Why should Corpus Christi have all the food and the fun? I’d even settle for the title of dumbest city, which is now proudly held by Las Vegas. Being the dumbest city wouldn’t take any effort at all. In fact, it takes the opposite of effort. I’m forgetting drunkest city, an honor now held by Fresno. Heck, let’s shoot for the trifecta: drunkest, fattest and most stupid…
Why not? I think I speak for most St. Louisans when I say we’d rather be drunk, fat and stupid than dead.
About the Author
Christopher Orlet writes from St. Louis.
Letter to the Editor View all comments (62) | Leave a comment
More Articles by Christopher Orlet
More Articles From The Nation's Pulse
http://spectator.org/archives/2010/12/03/at-home-in-murder-city
Follow us:
ADVERTISEMENT
Current Issue
- The Demise of Money and Credit
- Wincing at Cumberbatch
- Self-Righteous Republic
SPONSORED LINKS
FLASHBACK TO: 1995
-
Pope Culture
A man of faith in a godless age is hitting Americans where it hurts.
-
Why the GOP Does Not, Like, Totally Suck
Mr. and Mrs. American Spectator Reader, let P.J. O’Rourke talk sense to your kids.
-
Dames at Sea
-
In the Absence of Guns
In Britain, defending your property can get you life.
-
The Metaphysical Martini
-
Counting the Costs of Clintonism
The debacle of this president’s administration is both a cause and a symptom of the decline of American values. Unless Congress impeaches him, that decline will go on unchecked. An eminent jurist surveys the damage and assesses the chances for the recovery of our culture.
-
Chuck McHagel
It won’t take long for conservatives to scratch this presidential wannabe off their 2008 scorecard.
-
The Legacy of Old John and Mother Fresh-Roasted
-
It’s the Best Time of the Year
The American Christmas, like the songs that celebrate it, makes room for everybody under the rainbow. Is that why so many people seem to be hostile to it?
-
The Bush Crack-Up
Was the President done in by the economy, or by the politics of the economy?
Clip of the Day
ADVERTISEMENT
Ret. Marine| 12.3.10 @ 6:40AM
There is a cure for what ailes you and your fellow citizens, its called a Concealed Carry Permit. Its better to be tried by twelve than to be carried by six.
Curly Smith| 12.3.10 @ 8:47AM
I think St. Louis has moved into the "Open Carry" category, and maybe into "Required Open Carry".
Tomas| 12.4.10 @ 3:20PM
Concealed and Carry. So you can shoot back, eh? Well, I don't blame you. I'm thinking of getting one myself.
At least in St. Louis, it's someone else killing you. In Corpus Christi you can kill yourself by getting fat. One's done to you, the other is done to yourself.
(Wait a minute. You can get fat anywhere....)
I look round me and ll I see is obesity. Right? My God. How has this become normal? Fat people are no longer carrying concealed forks.
-
Don Corelone | 12.3.10 @ 7:03AM
Drop the Joesey-Sparano type talk.
The sky-high crime in St. Louis, Camden, Detroit is not because of the Mafia.
The crime is black.
And let the Democrats behold what the break-up of the blask family via their Great Society and other welfare policies has give us.
The Bishop| 12.3.10 @ 8:48AM
Don, your analysis is difficult to read, but, sadly, true. We currently are reaping the harvest of Uncle Sam becoming Uncle Sugar Daddy for over two decades. This is public policy fornication.
Alan Brooks| 12.3.10 @ 11:00PM
But, still: you want your families to be at the top of the foodchain, and if that means your grandparents get big checks (which they might not even need) from Uncle Sugar Daddy, at least the coot and codger who dies with the most toys is the winner.
Good deal!
simon templar| 12.6.10 @ 5:14PM
Well, it sure beats having all of us at the bottom of your communist boot, Alan! As far as those old coots, those coots payed into the government insurance program created by your socialist buddies in the 1930's and in which they were forced to participate. If that big liberal government did not spend all those tax derived funds..those old coots and the rest of us would not now be looking at the bankruptcy of social security, medicare, etc. and the failure of that big governement to pay those checks.
Darragh| 12.3.10 @ 7:11AM
I don't really get this. Is it really that dangerous or not? I've lived in dangerous areas and usually some areas are immune. Not sure in this case.
Stormzeye| 12.3.10 @ 7:26AM
Terrible article! Your attempted humor ignores the horrible loss of liberty in a Democrat-dominated state and city. I'd rather hear about the effect the large Bosnian immigrant community has had on the crime statistics. Are they partly the cause or do they stand up to roving gangs of blacks and defend themselves as they had to in their "burned out villages"? What role do the Sudanese have in this caldron on violence? What role does the liberal establishment of St. Louis have in all this? I was in downtown St. Louis this summer and found it clean and sadly empty of anyone but with some very nice tree-lined neighborhoods. I don't get it.
LarryK| 12.3.10 @ 9:20AM
Stormzeye
Not every printed article has to be serious, I'm sure you'd agree. Obviously this one wasn't your cup of tea. I'm an ex-St Louisan, and still get back a few times a yr, which doesn't make me an expert but let me add a few pts that could add context and maybe address some of your questions.
Almost everyone agrees the Bosnian immigrants have been a huge plus for the city. They are law-abiding, have not increased crime rates, and have helped to gentrify and rebuild a couple of StL neighborhoods. There are no roving Bosnian gangs. There are far fewer Sudanese immigrants, but I can't say anything about their impact...
Another thing to keep in mind when looking at StL murder statistics is just how hollowed-out the city has become. The city's population has fallen by nearly 70% from it's height, which is just amazing. Nearly everyone with money has now escaped to the burbs, which has left the city overwhelmingly to the poor - and criminal. This is obviously keeping the crime rates high. Add in the burbs, and I bet the overall murder rate for the metro area is below avg.
Now, you may ask why have so many fled the city? The answer is complex, but failed urban policies have certainly played a significant role. The city has been horribly mismanaged for decades, and was home to some of the worst urban planning experiments in US history (google 'Pruitt Igoe' to begin checking into this). Democrats essentially 100% of the blame for mismanagement, since there hasn't been a Republican mayor in nearly 60 years and there is usually only one or two alderman on the city council (out of, I recall, 28 city wards). Mismanagement isn't the only reason though - StL was an industrial city and has lost jobs to other boom towns as the economy has evolved, and the city has failed to adapt to changing circumstances. Obviously lots of other older cities are in the same boat...
Chris Orlet is right, though, this is such an old story that StL residents are completely numb to this news. When I used to live there, there was even a popular local reggae band called "The Murder City Players." But I think he exaggerates just how prevalent crime, and esp. murder, is. In fact, it IS easy to avoid getting murdered in StL - just stay in the approximately 30% of StL neighborhoods where it's still safe to walk the streets at night. Venture outside these areas, though, and you're asking for trouble.
Deborah D | 12.4.10 @ 6:45AM
I'm originally from a small town across the Mississippi River in rural Illinois. Part of St. Louis' problem is, like you say, that it is still a small city. Most urban areas have annexed as urban areas have grown. St. Louis, however, has never done that -- thus, St. Louis city and St. Louis County. I do think that skews the crime rates. However, I did get nervous when my daughter and her fiance stayed down at the riverfront a few years back and walked to the ballgame and back at night. Luckily, there was a crowd with them most of the way. They always felt safe.
Petronius| 12.4.10 @ 12:39PM
So I'm not the last St. Louisan who remembers Mayor Raymond R. Tucker. His legacy is the widest street in town lined with properties of dwindling value and two courthouses. Judge Hungate's liberal social engineering took from us Our Right to Freely Associate, and the EPA took away our industry. Now there isn't enough private property on the tax rolls to keep the lights on in City Hall. As to the homicide rate, it's SOSPHAD; a statistical aberration. The last of the life long St. Louis residents have mostly passed on.
Their children lived in south county until retiring and moving to the lakes, and their children have inflated St. Charles County to bursting. Mayor Slay is trying to run his shop on the revenue from the sports teams, gay bars, and boutiques in the west end. The earnings tax and the Urban League-UFT controlled public schools are the biggest roadblocks to new commerce. Not that there is any genuine concern that St. Louis survive. The brahmins who control it all are determined that their emotional investment in their liberal beliefs through social coercion pay off in the end. The dividend of that type of investment is disappointment. So they'll try anything except what normal people want. It's called Freedom.
Poochie| 12.3.10 @ 9:22AM
Stormzeye,
I'm with you. The article fails on all levels.
And, like you, I wanted to read more about the Bosnian immigrants and their role in the crime statistics, if any, and I would have appreciated a little more information on how violent the blacks are in comparison to other groups in St. Louis.
James Pawlak | 12.3.10 @ 8:25AM
The last such study I saw did NOT include Washington, DC. Did the above study do so?
Stuart Koehl| 12.3.10 @ 2:41PM
To quote Hizzoner Mayor For Life Marion Barry, "DeeCee is a perfectly safe place to live, if you don't count the killin's".
Redstateboy| 12.3.10 @ 9:06AM
TAS had a story on Kill-a-delphia just the other day as well.. I've been writing this for years.. If you want to witness the failure of Liber-ul Democrat political philosophy simply examine the fruit on the tree: St. Louis, Kill-a-delphia, Buffalo, Washington, DC., Los Angeles, Detriot, New Orleans. What do they all have in common?
They've been run by the Slave Party in some cases several decades.. they have large, government dependent populations who may be dumb but not stupid - they know which side of their bread is buttered and who'll butter it.. and so the Slave Party uses these dependent masses every bit as much as Hitler employed his Storm Troopers - there's just one problem. The Gravy Train has run dry and these cities, as a Direct result of the Slave Party's policies are going to be imploading. As I've also been saying.. we better get use to the wail of Sirens and inner city's aflame.
Louis Jenkins| 12.3.10 @ 9:08AM
Dear Mr. Orlet:
Well, the article was humorous to say the least. Maybe you should trade in your armed Humvee for an Abrams. At least the windows won't be shot out.
Bill| 12.3.10 @ 9:22AM
Thugs in New Jersey don't say "mores." They say "maw."
KyMouse| 12.3.10 @ 9:24AM
Way southeast of St. Louis, the town of Celebration, Fla. has just had its first murder victim -- a 58-year-old male resident.
Celebration was founded in 1989 by the Disney corporation to be a "wonderful residential town" that would be "closer to Main Street than future world," reports the New York Daily News. With 11,000 residents, the town is about five miles south of Walt Disney World (but is no longer a Disney property).
PattyMor| 12.3.10 @ 9:29AM
I can't believe that St. Louis beat out the corruptocrats in Chicago where its dangerous to ride a bus or go to school.
Patrick| 12.3.10 @ 11:59PM
Chicago just hasn't been the same since they lost the Greens.
skedaddle| 12.3.10 @ 9:39AM
Oh, you snotty St. Louis people - always thinking you're better than Kansas City - bragging about beating us at violent crime and always talking about that Arch. /s
I think these statistics are mostly junk because they depend on how much tame suburban area the city managed to gobble up to offset their violent ghetto area. St. Louis' problem is that they didn't take over enough suburbs in the 1950s like KCMO and other cities did, so STL is only left with an old, decrepit core (and the Arch).
MoeBlotz| 12.3.10 @ 7:44PM
Yeah,but I heard Saint Louis is going to shut down the Gateway Arch. Seems drivers of those big 18-wheel trucks have been causing huge traffic jams at Interstates 64,55,70 in the mornings waiting for McDonalds to open.
Dennis Bergendorf| 12.3.10 @ 10:21AM
I live in a town of about 16,000. A few years ago we had three homicides in one year. Extrapolating, that made us one of the most dangerous communities in America. Oddly, people still walked the streets, jammed the town park for the Fourth of July celebration, and walked through the WalMart parking lot.
Ken (Old Texican)| 12.3.10 @ 10:23AM
Folks,
To me, the overriding truth in the article and comments and observations is that all cities with suburbs leave the stupids and criminals to vote in all of the rascals in the city limits.
Even here in Houston, it is the same story.
In my mind, each of these cities is America in microcosm once the majority is on the dole or the back of the corruption bus.
That picture literally gives me chills, and the crony-capitalists are so short sighted, chasing the quarterly report, that they are part of the problem.
In my new e-book, ( www.texassaidno.com ) addresses the issue with the formation of "freeholds" across the country. Check it out and see if you think it is the solution.
NavyBrat | 12.3.10 @ 10:28AM
If I might quibble on one point. Memphis is the country's most dangerous city, followed by St. Louis, then KC, according to the recent Forbes study.
I'm a native of Memphis, & its ALWAYS been a violent place. And it got even worse under the administration of King Willie Herenton & his merry band of race baiting crooks. Along with the like of the ENTIRE Ford (yes, the Harold Jr. Fords) Family, that city now has the highest per capita murder rate in the nation. Higher than DC, Detroit, Baltimore, & others. The race baiting city council won't allow people who live in the North Mississippi area (which is part of the Memphis metro area) to be police officers because, in the words of one city council woman, "we don't need those Mississippi attitudes in our police department."
My hometown is my favorite place in the world. I LOVE going home to see my friends, go to Beale St. & hear some blues, stuff my face with some Corky's BBQ, & gaze at the river with a cold one in my hands. But it saddens me to NO END to see what it has become.
PS. Did you guys notice that the top 3 most dangerous cities are all BBQ meccas? KC, St. Louis, & Memphis. Of course, you suckers in St. Louis & KC are just mere pretenders. We all know that REAL BBQ is from Memphis!
GW| 12.3.10 @ 8:09PM
Puleeeeez! We in KC have the best BBQ. Arthur Bryant, B.B's Lawnside, Gates, you name it!
But seriously, when I was in Memphis I stopped down on Beale, had legit BBQ at B.B. King's, and listened to live blues (the good stuff) for a while. Memphis is a lovely town, crime aside.
Ken (Old Texican)| 12.3.10 @ 11:42AM
Navy Brat,
For the very first time, (and probably the last time), I am going to call you stupid. (Smile)
County Line Bar-B-Que outside Houston is the best in the world.
You can have it mesquite smoked, or hickory smoked.
You will ALWAYS order the sauce on the "side" so you can enjoy the bare smoked meat....(except for the last bite or two for fun).
You will take the sauce home and refrigerate it for use on hamburgers, steaks, and such.
NO ONE can eat more than two of their beef ribs at one sitting. Each rib has about the same amount of meat as a rib-eye steak...honestly.
I have entertained guests from all over the world there, and every single one of them get tears in their eyes...right there at the table, and even later when they call me and ask if we can go back there... on their dime.
I always suggest that first-time guests get a rib-chicken combination plate. (Two ribs and a breast of chicken).
They often call me from their hotels and tell me when they eat the leftovers. (grin)
You can contact me at sales@texassaidno.com and I will take you there...on my dime.
There are a LOT of BBQ joints in Texas. Many are very good. NO ONE does it like County-Line.
Eating there must be a sin.
NavyBrat | 12.3.10 @ 11:48AM
Ken. The ONLY other BBQ that I'd try would be Texas style. I'll look up County Line on the web. Do you know if they sell their sauce online?
Here's the sauce from the 2 places in Memphis I go. They also sell their dry rub (both sauces are better when you get the hot variety):
Corky's BBQ:
http://www.corkysbbq.com/index.....;Itemid=55
The Germantown Commissary:
http://www.commissarybbq.com/shop
Ken (Old Texican)| 12.3.10 @ 12:50PM
Navy Brat,
heck, I don't know about web-sites or shipped sauce.
Come on over and enjoy a meal. You can even camp out at our house to save a couple of bucks.
...The real mystery is how they obtain the meat-stocked ribs. I have been their customer for forty years and they won't tell me.
If you stay two days, and my wife is in town, you will get to put your feet under her table as well.
(heh... talkin' about tears in your eyes.)
We have "open house" on Thursdays, and you would simply not believe the folks you read about every day ...sitting there....with tears in your eyes.)
contact me through sales@texassaidno.com and we will put it together.
Ken
NavyBrat | 12.3.10 @ 1:16PM
Ken:
I'll have to take you up on that soon. And you'll have to come visit me in Da Burgh. Not too many great places to eat here, but if you don't mind having a meal cooked for you by a burnt out chef who's still got "it" (me), I too, will gladly feed you some of the best chow you've had!
You can contact me @ DTFrankel79@gmail.com
geokster| 12.3.10 @ 12:54PM
Ken;
I gotta agree with you, I've had BBQ everywhere and none compare to TX. All else are just pretenders. One of my fav's is the Hard 8 Cafe in Stephenville, the Bodacious Bar-B-Q: in Longview, and here in Corpus Christi, my own back yard smoker where we do world class ribs and brisket for our friends and family. Sauce is one thing, doing the meat is the key.
NavyBrat | 12.3.10 @ 1:19PM
Surely you can't say that & have had Memphis dry rub ribs from the Germantown Commissary or Corky's!
But I WILL admit, I LOVE BEEF in ALL of its incarnations. Therefore, I'm MORE than willing to give REAL Texas beef BBQ a try. Mmmmm! Tri tip & brisket! DAMN, I'm hungry now. And all I have for lunch is a pathetic store bought knish & a roast beef & swiss samich!
John Navratil| 12.3.10 @ 3:34PM
NavyBrat,
My cousin lives in Germantown, and I have to admit that the Commissary is mighty good. If I lived there, I might even say it was the best, too! But, as I don't, I don't have to.
NavyBrat | 12.3.10 @ 4:29PM
G'Town is where I grew up. There's NOTHING on that Commissary menu that's bad. Hell, even the beans have chunks of that pulled shoulder in them!
And those tamales! G*d help me!
John Navratil| 12.3.10 @ 4:49PM
Makes me want to fire up the Cessna and head to Olive Branch. Ever eaten at Doe's in Greenville? Different tamales, but the steak is to die for.
NavyBrat | 12.3.10 @ 5:40PM
YES!!! Doe's steak is some of the best steak I've ever had. And that includes the steak I had at Eli's in Chicago.
John Navratil| 12.3.10 @ 6:20PM
All this talk has gotten me hungry. I'm off to Greenville tomorrow. My friend who lives there says we've got to try Vince's. I'll report back from the field!
John Navratil| 12.3.10 @ 6:21PM
PS. Needless to say, I'll be picking up tamales from Scott's
John Navratil| 12.3.10 @ 3:31PM
Ken,
Man are you pickin' a fight. The Hickory Barn on Wilcrest! The only place to go since Otto's on Memorial closed.
Phil G| 12.3.10 @ 4:02PM
Ken:
as a former resident of El Paso (which REALLY is one of the worst crime cities, regardless of their rank in that article), I concur the group of restaurants run by the County Line bunch are award winning. Ours in El Paso was the State Line, sitting on the TX-NM line. Here is a link to all their locations . . . they are all worth the trip.
http://www.countyline.com/index-2.html
mmmmmmm.
Bob Grant| 12.3.10 @ 7:58PM
Sorry to differ Ken but you obviously haven't traveled to Central Texas, here's the only list you'll need:
*Coopers BBQ in Llano - The BBQ is so good, they even make cabrito taste delicious
* Blacks BBQ in Lockhart - Best tasting MEAT, not necessarily the best smoked meat
* Louie B Mueller in Taylor, TX - Without question the best SMOKED BBQ that will ever cross your lips
*Kreuz Market in Lockhart - Best taking assortment of meats. Everything is delicious here; ribs, brisket, sausage, etc.
* Salt Lick (original) Driftwood, TX - The best atmosphere (cool looking pit), with the tastiest, funkiest, yellow (Asian inspired) BBQ sauce in the world, plus, the best sides.
Burn your other lists.
Occam's Tool| 12.3.10 @ 9:48PM
What really hurts about this, Ken, is that I went to Medical School in Galveston and two of my best friends were native Houstonians and we'd go out to eat but neither one ever took me to The County Line.
I learned to love BBQ in Alabama. My favorite place was The Tired Texan in B'Ham. I also loved the Bulldog Slappin' Good Stuffed Baked Potatoes at Johnny's in Cullman, AL. (But my favorite dish from 'Bama is not BBQ at all. It's the incredible Greek Style steak at The Bright Star in Bessemer, AL, a restaurant that has been around since 1907.)
BBQ to AVOID: Owensboro Kentucky. Definitely Scooby Don't.
But I was an impoverished student in Texas.
Deborah D | 12.4.10 @ 6:59AM
Okay, I must add a little North Carolina BBQ argument in here! :) You all might do fine with BBQ beef, but here in Carolina -- it's pulled pork, and the vinegar-based BBQ sauce of Eastern Carolina is outstanding. I recommend Scott's -- get yourself a pork butt and slow cook it all day basting it every 30 minutes or so...and you've got YUM. Check out Scott's here: http://www.scottsbarbecuesauce.com/ncbbq.html
Claypoole| 12.4.10 @ 9:58AM
And if you're ever on the Outer Banks of NC, run up to Old Corolla Village to a little take-out place there (you can't miss it, the area is so small) and try their pulled pork BBQ and their to-die-for baked beans.
Deborah D | 12.5.10 @ 5:14AM
Thanks for the suggestion, Claypoole. I must get to the Outer Banks!!
Occam's Tool| 12.5.10 @ 5:37PM
The Boss and I spent one spring week in the Outer Banks---all of their restaurants are incredible. Best place for food I've ever been to.
Specopr8r| 12.3.10 @ 11:42AM
If they had included East St. Louis then we would be so far ahead of any other city they would have to double their rates to get near the St Louis Metro areas crime rate.
Seek| 12.3.10 @ 1:03PM
Having lived near St. Louis for many years in my younger days, I know all about its problems. But there are still a tremendous amount of good things about that soulful city beyond the new downtown, Laclede's Landing or the Arch. The black underclass, of course, is a disaster (as it is everywhere) -- this was the home of the Pruitt-Igoe public housing project, remember. But visit sometime and you'll see a lot to like beyond a Cardinals game.
Stuart Koehl| 12.3.10 @ 2:44PM
"Pruitt-Igoe public housing project, remember"
I do:
"Blow it up! Blow it up! Blow it UP!!!"
Want to know how to solve a problem? Go to the people most affected by it.
SF_Exile| 12.3.10 @ 4:10PM
And here I thought the only problem St. Louis had was an overabundance of vampires and weres.
(riff on Anita Blake) ;')
Alice Moore| 12.4.10 @ 7:55AM
Heck, the vamps, weres and Anita might clean things up a bit!
PCP Smoker| 12.4.10 @ 1:26AM
East Saint Louis...representing! Show us some love.
Chris| 12.4.10 @ 9:24AM
I guess St. Louis politicians will never get tired of the Chicago MOB, Chi-Town La Cosa Nostra runs the show, they may as well have Daley as their Mayor now that he's available!
RedneckWhiteskinBluecollar| 12.4.10 @ 11:11AM
We've learned to tiptoe around the elephant shit in the living room.
Or, how is it possible to discuss America's most violent cities without seriously discussing race?
HEAVEN FORBID that any decent American should ever broach the topic. WE ARE NOT ALLOWED.
As for me, I have a history of indecently doing what's not allowed. There are races of humans; they aren't fungible.
The facts (remember those?) are bearing this out, more and more. To include the Human Genome Project.
The idea that races don't exist, or that they are fungible, is a religiously held article of faith. The orthodox believe that if this article of faith is lost, then the whole structure of human morality will come crashing down.
Not so. We can live in a civil society while at the same time acknowledging actual diversity.
By contrast, the attempt to enforce the outcome of racial equivalence, is bankrupting Western Civilization (I don't exaggerate) intellectually, morally, and financially.
What's needed is the intellectual and moral courage to allow actual diversity (of racial or "ethnic" outcomes) within the framework of a civil society.
Now crucify me.
Speedypete| 12.4.10 @ 11:37AM
Isn't St. Louis the city where the prosecuting attorney set the law enforcement out to arrest anyone telling lies during the presidential campaign. Things like traveling on unknown passports as a child and social security numbers from Connecticutt were all worthy of arrest? Crime in St. Louis? They have it under control.
Uncle Nunzio| 12.4.10 @ 1:39PM
To answer the question above. The Bosnian population, while still prevelant in South St. Louis City, is predictably moving into ring suburbs south and southwest of the city like Affton, Lemay, Oakville etc. I have lived all over St. Louis from the Baden neighborhood on the northside , to Princeton Heights, Lindenwood and now Benton Park on the southside and the common thread in nearly all of the crime I have observed is young black men that have no discipline or male role models at home. Pat Moynihan could have guessed that. Thanks to the Great Society/Head Start/WIC/HUD etc. and the just the shear lunacy of the liberal left are mostly to blame for the distruction of the family in the black community. The fact the St. Louis has been a single party state for the last 60 does not help either.
Dave M. (now in S. Korea)| 12.5.10 @ 5:16AM
No one talks like that in Camden anymore. As a matter of fact, not too many people in Camden even speak English anymore.
moproducer| 12.6.10 @ 7:48PM
Danger? I've lived here for 45 years and I live for danger. You gotta be tough to live here. If you don't like it, just put 'em up right now.
Any wimpy little Republican-scared-of-his shadow
milquetoast preppy from Baaaasss-ton doesn't stand a snowball's chance here, where men are men and so are some of the women. C'mon, we're waitin' for ya.
Barbeque? Don't make me laugh; you will suffer. Yeah, KC has Gates and Bryants (not really bbq, but good in a pinch), and Memphis has a pig on every corner...but they don't have Roper's.
Roper's was awarded the Steve Harvey Hoodie Award for best bbq in the US. They didn't win it by putting lemons next to the fingerbowls. R0per's is in north St. Louis County, near the city line, and the 'hood is so bad that you'd best leave someone by the car while you run inside to grab a phoned-in order of crispy snoots; then get the hell out.
Any St. Louisan will foam at the mouth for a slab of Roper's ribs, and will yawn in your general face-direction when the danger of such an outing is submitted for consideration.
Dangerous? Hell, we're bad; really bad. And we like it.
Tom of the Misssouri| 12.6.10 @ 11:18PM
As a long time St. Louis landlord from both good and bad areas I have these observations:
I. Regarding Bosnians:
They arrive in year one not speaking the language shell shocked from their prior existence. By year two most are working as skilled or semi skilled tradesmen. By year three, they have formed their own contracting companies that quickly evolve into much larger into successful companies which I can no longer afford. In year 4 they move to the subburbs and buy new homes and SUV's. I guess this happens because there is no Great Society program that targets them specifically.
II. Ditto about 30 years ago for our wonderful Vietnamese immigrants although they owned more resturants.
III. A few years ago I rented to a real African American (i.e., a recent immigrant from Africa) who told me he did not want to live in a black neighborhood. I put him in an apartment on The Hill, a famous and infamous Italian neighborhood in St. Louis. I was told by both a prominent black contractor and by the neighbors that this was a big mistake and that I should know that blacks of any origion were "not allowed" to live on The Hill. My African tenant had a master's degree in physics, drove a taxi, and built computers to sell in his apartment. I am not sure how this one turned out since I got rid of the building it because it scared me to own property in the neighborhood. It was not blacks I feared.