Old travel article about St. Louis

steve · PostMay 02, 2006#12006-05-02T20:24+00:00

The product of boredom and procrastination. Interesting but lengthy, it's funny how some things never change.

http://www.oldandsold.com/articles16/am ... l-16.shtml

EDIT: Another similar article:

http://www.oldandsold.com/articles16/am ... l-18.shtml

It is interesting to compare the two mentalities of the authors. While the first seems content to focus on the infrastructure and built environmnet of the city, the second author says the best things about St. Louis are the women, the booze, the poker, and the social clubs. In that order.

stlbiggestfan · PostMay 03, 2006#22006-05-03T03:24+00:00

This is really interesting==and certainly worth a read by the mayor's office as well as some key foundation folks with a hand in the long-range planning of the DT core. As said, some things never change...except the number of colleges and universities with the name "Washington" in it. It's no longer 8, it's 19.

jefferson · PostMay 03, 2006#32006-05-03T18:16+00:00

thanks for posting, that was interesting

This made me chuckle:

"What is the matter with St. Louis ?" I inquired of a wide-awake citizen I met.

"Oh, the Drew Question," he suggested with a smile. `The Drew Question ?" I repeated blankly.

"You don't know about that? Well, the question you asked was put to the city, some years ago, by Alderman Drew, so instead of asking it outright any more, we refer to it as `the Drew Question.' Every one knows what it means."

and also, an early vision of a Gateway Mall type development:

This project, if put through, will be a fine step toward the creation, in downtown St. Louis, of some outward indication of the real importance of the city. The plan involves the gutting of a strip, one block wide and two miles long; the tearing out of everything between Market and Chestnut Streets, all the way from Twelfth Street, which is the eastern boundary of the City Hall Square, to Grand Avenue on the west. Here it is proposed to construct a Central Traffic Parkway, which will pass directly in front of the station, connecting it with both the business and residence districts, and will also pass in front of the Municipal Court Building and the City Hall, located farther downtown. The plan involves an arrangement similar to that of the Champs-Elysees, with a wide central drive, parked on either side, for swift-moving vehicles, and exterior roads for heavy traffic.

debaliviere · PostMay 03, 2006#42006-05-03T18:33+00:00

My favorite quotes:

"It is conservatism," explained another. "The trouble with St. Louis is that nobody here ever goes crazy." And said still another : "About one-third of the population of St. Louis is German. It is German lethargy that holds the city back."

and

The nicest thing about St. Louis is St. Louis girls.