Originally posted on RooshV.com

On the drive to St. Louis last fall, I expected the worst. I had already been to numerous large American cities the year before and experienced firsthand the rot and the degeneracy, which I chronicled in my book American Pilgrim. I was confident that St. Louis would be yet another name to add to the trash heap, especially since I had seen in the news that its local politics were veering leftward, but to my surprise, St. Louis is tied with Charlotte in North Carolina as the best American city I have been to with a metropolitan population of at least one million. Here are a few reasons why…

1. There are not many homeless people​

Compared to the West Coast, St. Louis does not have a visible homeless problem. In California, for example, the homeless are becoming more assertive in taking over prime real estate and making demands upon the public thanks to creating alliances with local communist movements that claim housing is a human right which should be given to all people of working age who choose not to work. Perhaps there are homeless encampments in St. Louis, but I did not see them. This made St. Louis rather clean and tidy.

2. The gays are not nearly as flamboyant​

After my first couple of days in St. Louis, I wondered, “Where are all the sodomites?” I did not see any obvious gays on the streets or overhear conversations in gay uptalk. I did visit a hipster area of town and was ready to be surrounded by homosexuals, but I only saw two or three, and it’s possible they were actually straight. St. Louis had the least amount of gays who were proud to be out of the closest compared to any other American city of comparable size, and while the gays here may be in the closet, I suspect that there are fewer of them.

3. The suburbs are pleasing​

The suburbs around Washington D.C. are Federal control zones for importing third-world immigrants, either from Latin America or Eastern Africa. The white people ran away from the area long ago to the exurbs of Virginia, Maryland, and even West Virginia (e.g. Harpers Ferry). In St. Louis, the suburb I stayed in on the western side of the city, Chesterfield, was almost entirely white. It’s the whitest place I’ve been to in the States. It was even whiter than even some Polish cities I’ve been to. It almost felt like a white ethnostate, and I was shocked that such an area could be so white.

Many of the suburban whites in St. Louis vote for Democrats, but I find living around secular whites easier and safer than secular blacks because the latter are prone to making more noise, using drugs openly, and littering, among other misdeeds. But if you don’t mind living around blacks, you can find a home on the eastern side of St. Louis where they congregate. You can pick and choose an area since the races in St. Louis prefer to self-segregate.

4. Clear English is spoken in retail environments​

I’ve gotten used to having communication problems with ethnic and vibrant clerks at coffee shops and supermarket deli counters, not helped by mask-wearing and its concealment of mouths. Many of the clerks around D.C. are immigrants and don’t have a grasp of English like natives do, and even natives, soaked in a culture of hip hop and slang, can’t be entirely expected to understand my plain English, which is why I’m not totally against the trend of electronic kiosks and self-checkout machines.

In St. Louis, I did not have a single communication problem. Every commercial worker I interacted with understood my English and I understood them. This reduced a lot of my inner angst.

5. Highways are in decent condition​

This may be a minor point, but I did enjoy the St. Louis highways, especially Route 64, which dissects the city from east to west. The local roads were also well-maintained without any potholes. My only complaint is that there were too many traffic lights. If you’re a foreigner and wondering how the condition of the roads can contribute to calling St. Louis the best city in America, you must be aware of the general lowly state of the country at this point in history. Most American cities I’ve been to do not have any positives at all.

Conclusion

And one reason I do not like St. Louis is… it’s still America. St. Louis may be the best big city in America, but it’s only the best of the worst, like saying In-and-Out burger is the best fast-food burger restaurant when comparing it to the GMO sludge of McDonald’s and Burger King.

Unfortunately, St. Louis is firmly on the path of spiritual death and material decline. The left is taking over the city and persecuting law-abiding citizens such as the McCloskeys, and when they finally take down the Apotheosis of St. Louis statue (after a failed attempt in the summer of 2020), you will be able to arrive at the conclusion that St. Louis is dead. Until that moment happens, it’s one of the most materially pleasant cities I’ve visited. May it be granted many more years before the inevitable.

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Interesting article Roosh and I am glad you enjoyed your stay there. I was skeptical when I read the title as I would not put St Louis, Missouri on the list of top tier big cities to live- but reading the whole article and understanding on what criteria did out base your decision mad everything clear. A well-written article and meaningful article, as usual.
Just one objection: You did not mention violent crime rates in St Louis
St Louis has been consistently in the 5 five for the highest murder rate in the nation. Sadly that statistics renders all positives you mention about the city largely irrelevant, at least for me.
I think also made the right decision when you did not venture from downtown St Louis to the other bank of the river to East St Louis (in Illinois). I friend of mine who visited it said it "made Detroit look like pleasant and safe city".
You say a lots of negative things of Washington DC. Are there any neighborhood in the DC area (or its suburbs) that you would recommend - to live and raise a family there?
Thanks.

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"In St. Louis, I did not have a single communication problem. Every commercial worker I interacted with understood my English and I understood them. This reduced a lot of my inner angst." Wow, it's refreshing how honest can RooshV get.

My sister (we're from LatAm, and try to speak good English when in the U.S. lol) used to study there, and while she agreed it is pretty, tidy, and can be wholesome, she also asserted that she would understand any person becoming mad there and shooting anyone in sight. So perhaps the inner ease is not for long... I'd still rather explore the South and its "hicktowns" though...

My sister did mention something: The U.S. World War ||✓ event in St. LOUIS, Mo. (yey! Got the abbreviation right! ) There where veterans, military men. People where watching from green scenery. You see the flowers and hear the birds and follow the U.S. military veteran men in wheelchairs. She saw the little girl playing, following his parental arms trajectory. And then she saw the most wholesome picture ever seen: It was a War Veterans Military Parade!!
Ecuador has none and "hicktowns" isn't derogatory for us.

I had such experience in the United States, in Slidell, La. I feel More interested in It than New Orleans. I saw a racoon being fed by a Captain. Captain Sunny, he would feed racoons, he would call Magpies. He would make jokes with snakes, he would tell us about the names of trees. We saw a young boy alligator (he said that) approaching with his golden eye. They were mainly in Winter-mode though. Make no mistake, dear Roosh V Forum, U.S. is very much still capable of producing wholesome.

1 Corinthians 13:4-7
King James Version
4 Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up,

5 Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil;

6 Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth;

7 Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.

Beautiful *flower emoji*
(Booked through hostel but they gave me a cajunencounters(dot)com bracelet, I'd highly recommend the experience)

God Bless you!

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Interesting article Roosh and I am glad you enjoyed your stay there. I was skeptical when I read the title as I would not put St Louis, Missouri on the list of top tier big cities to live- but reading the whole article and understanding on what criteria did out base your decision mad everything clear. A well-written article and meaningful article, as usual.
Just one objection: You did not mention violent crime rates in St Louis
St Louis has been consistently in the 5 five for the highest murder rate in the nation. Sadly that statistics renders all positives you mention about the city largely irrelevant, at least for me.
I think also made the right decision when you did not venture from downtown St Louis to the other bank of the river to East St Louis (in Illinois). I friend of mine who visited it said it "made Detroit look like pleasant and safe city".
You say a lots of negative things of Washington DC. Are there any neighborhood in the DC area (or its suburbs) that you would recommend - to live and raise a family there?
Thanks.

I live near the DC metro area and to raise a family would recommend being at minimum 40 miles outside the city. Areas like Frederick, Washington and Carroll Counties in MD, south central PA (Gettysburg, Hanover, Waynesboro etc) the WV panhandle area (where Roosh went to escape for 2 months) or the Shenandoah Valley area of Virginia. Schools not as good in WV panhandle and there are drug addiction issues over there as well. Hopefully you could telework back driving into DC because it’s 1.5-2 hrs each way pre-pandemic. Avoid any county that touches the DC beltway.

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Interesting article Roosh and I am glad you enjoyed your stay there. I was skeptical when I read the title as I would not put St Louis, Missouri on the list of top tier big cities to live- but reading the whole article and understanding on what criteria did out base your decision mad everything clear. A well-written article and meaningful article, as usual.
Just one objection: You did not mention violent crime rates in St Louis
St Louis has been consistently in the 5 five for the highest murder rate in the nation. Sadly that statistics renders all positives you mention about the city largely irrelevant, at least for me.
I think also made the right decision when you did not venture from downtown St Louis to the other bank of the river to East St Louis (in Illinois). I friend of mine who visited it said it "made Detroit look like pleasant and safe city".
You say a lots of negative things of Washington DC. Are there any neighborhood in the DC area (or its suburbs) that you would recommend - to live and raise a family there?
Thanks.

You have to understand what constitutes "St Louis"..... the city of St Louis and the county of St Louis split a long time ago, so what is technically St Louis is really the eastern smaller area around downtown, and doesn't count all of the several municipalities in "West County", which still have St Louis addresses. The crime and murder that you always hear about is in a very concentrated area, mainly low income and black. If the stats included St Louis county, as it really should, then everyone will see that St Louis really isn't that dangerous at all. I've lived here for 7 years now.

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I lived there in the mid-80s and 2010-2011. Other positives:

The best baseball city in the country. It's hard to find anybody who doesn't follow the Cardinals, and the team is a real source of community cohesion. Has been for decades.

Some great ethnic enclaves. The Hill is a famous Italian neighborhood that takes great care to preserve itself. Wander around there and someone will be inquiring about your business. Still a strong German presence -- also Catholic -- all down the south side. The largest U.S. population of Bosnian refugees -- mostly Muslim, but solid white people.

Not certain, but I think Missouri has been one of the least affected states by the last 15 months of Crazy Time.

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I spent most of my life in Saint Louis. Not there anymore. It can be very cliquey towards outsiders especially in the areas of Chesterfield, Wildwood, Clayton, Ladue, Kirkwood, etc. Basically all the rich, white neighborhoods. They are genuinely interested in what high school you went to in order to immediately label your socioeconomic background. Although, there are many blue collar workers, and girls raised by a blue collar man genuinely look highly upon a good working man. People are friendly. Gays are mostly localized around the Central West End (“rear end” they used to call it). The Hill area has amazing Italian food as others have stated. There is a large amount of segregation between the South and North sides.

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I definitely would not rate St. Louis the best big city in America, not by a long shot. I wouldn’t say it’s even one of the best big cities in America. From what l’ve seen and experienced of St. Louis, it kind of comes across as a crummy place. Not the worst, but not the best either—just OK. Actually, St. Louis has always reminded me of Cincinnati or Louisville, but on a much greater scale. Nonetheless… it does have at least one really great thing going for it: it has an AWESOME patron saint!!! Saint Louis IX, King of France ⚜️⚜️⚜️ Who, by the way, is an ideal saint and an exemplary role model for our own godless day and age.
St. Louis was founded by French Catholics in 1764 when Missouri was still part of the Louisiana territory. Later on, because it had such a strong Catholic culture and identity, and was filled with so many beautiful churches, and since the Archdiocese of St. Louis was the “mother diocese” of so much of the United States, St. Louis eventually came to be known as the Rome of the West. If Roosh’s assessment of St. Louis is accurate and it IS the best big city or one of the best big cities in America, relatively speaking — not saying I agree —but if it is the case, you can be sure it is only by the grace of God, and the intercession of its glorious patron saint. Sancte Ludovice IX, Rex Francorum, ora pro nobis!

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I briefly lived there in the 1990s as a kid.

Granite City, Illinois - so, close to the city. It was a white trash town. Everyone worked at the steel mill, and a good half of the adults leading my Cub Scout troop could barely read at a fourth grade level. Broken homes, divorced families, single parent households were a constant problem, although as far as I remember, Granite City didn't have stuff like gang violence and a high murder rate. Maybe I'm remembering this from the perspective of a six-year-old, though - my elementary school had a huge problem with fights, and we actually tried to implement an incentive program called "Fight Free" to combat that and reward classrooms that had no students that got into fights.

The cultural feel of the area was strange - it was like the South mixed with the Midwest.

I remember the crime in nearby St. Louis being absolutely terrible, even if my father and me somewhat often went to the nearby stadium to see St. Louis Blues games. Isn't it still consistently one of the most dangerous cities in the country, though? Like, in the top three?

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