Old Town St. Charles must have 15 bars and as many restaurants, a few art galleries, the huge art annex called the Foundry, and now huge casinos which brought a really interesting clash of styles, reviving the area once again.  Just a couple miles away, from the famed brick road, there is an enormous amphitheater, and now a full size arena – both of which have great concerts around the calendar.  The brick-lined street and old genuine architecture gives the 2-3 mile street a true old-world feel.  There are not many places you can meet where culture is happening, people are having easy-going times, and also you can step back in time. 

The Delmar / Clayton area just 25 minutes away offers an expansive urban spot and another huge street filled with culture and restaurants.  Delmar has more than 4 famous music venues, which always draw a unique offering.  The Pageant, Blueberry Hill, Cicero’s, and now the Delmar Hall are really awesome venues – these are great hall-style places to see music in true night-life concert style.  This area also has the famed Forest Park and a national caliber art museums, history museum, zoo, and many other great features.

Just a 10 minute drive from Delmar, in a straight shot, you can hit downtown.  The actual city of St. Louis is really accessible, and it just keeps modernizing and growing.  It’s a city that feels real, enchanting, with just a touch of grit to keep you excited.  That’s what keeps me interested in St. Louis – a city made legendary by being basked with praise by just about every national sports franchise to move through the city.  They all say the same thing, “These are great people.”

It’s not everywhere, not at all, were you can find a smiling face and friendly words with every errand you run in a single day.  From the gas station, to the grocery store, from the restaurants to the huge venues, people are just down to Earth and cool.  They call it the “Show Me” state, and I believe it applies to this wonderful city.  Basically, when it comes to people, ‘show me respect and I’ll show you the same’.  The genuine kindness of the far North of our country reaches all the way to this central city and blends with the most subtle version of southern charm.  People are just very forward moving, relaxed, and even-keeled.  People come together in hardship, and understand the travails of life.

Cultural diversity has continuously allowed this city to provide a greater experience than face-value typically allows.  The music scene is well represented – the amount of incredible, huge, small, diverse venues is beyond impressive.

On top of all that, the college towns are just great.  Many St. Louis raised teenagers find it easy to pick a city and go to school in-state.  Missouri State in Springfield has a great, upbeat campus.  Columbia has a really huge campus and large downtown area just 90 miles from St. Charles, making it an easy road trip for a concert at the famous Blue Note.  Southeast Missouri State and Truman University seem to split the gap offering affordability and deep education.  But, driving 2-3 hours away to go to school isn’t even required.  St. Louis has some really strong colleges right near the city: SLU, Washington University, Webster, UMSL, Lindenwood, among others – these schools put out some serious programs, and if you research to match schools with your program of choice, people shoot out of their 20’s flying high.

St. Louis has several art museums and quite a few galleries, and there are also organizations and guilds that make it easy to interact with artists if that’s what you crave.  Art is a unique ambition, and STL hasn’t forgotten the way creativity enhances us all and helps with the backbone of modern cultural diversity and a forward moving mentality.

I’ve lived all over this city, in or near all 3 culture hubs mentioned.  I’ve acclimated and adapted to the way life flows around each area.  While I have traveled and lived many other places around the country, there’s a tone and pace in St. Louis that’s hard to place – it’s a genuine make-do attitude, a reasonableness, a subtle overall tone of reality and gratitude.  Even when the city is undergoing cultural issues, the innate nature of creative problem solving that comes with the desire to get along begins to transform the humanity within us.  There’s something here about the people — visitors see it and sense it, even teams that come here to compete claim St. Louis to have the best fans on Earth.  Why is that?  It’s because we try to enjoy the reality, up above the layer of distress, or struggle — and we try not to mess it up for others.  It’s simple, and great… it’s beautiful.