I found it overall very dull with a few nice spots and far more crappy spots. Nothing special in that city, although I really did like the Budweiser Brewery. The arch is iconic but its just an arch with a little museum underneath. I have been there several times and have no interest in going back. Nothing against the people that live there, but it is pretty low on my list of places in America I would like to live. If you disagree with the use of the term "shithole", I can roll with that. But I am surprised you are high on it.
Well that's a LONG way from "shithole" in my opinion. I wouldn't say I was high on it, but I certainly didn't think of it as substandard in any way. The people of St. Louis are actually some of the nicest people I've ever met. Course I didn't actually live IN St. Louis, I lived in a suburb northwest of St. Louis called St. Charles and it was known for it's historic downtown area on the river. Historic downtown has brick streets with a bunch of shops that line both sides and they have several "celebrations" a year there that are well known and people come from all over to visit. There's a park that runs along the river with some nice bicycles and walking trails etc. They shoot off fireworks across the river on 4th of july and have a nice festival there with a large carnival. Very nice. There's even a couple of nice Casino's there on the river if you enjoy a little gambling.
As far as amenities downtown go, Cardinals stadium is fairly new and it's one of the nicer ball parks that I've been to, not that I've been to that many. The museum under the Arch that you mentioned is underground and it's actually pretty cool, how long ago were you there, perhaps they have updated it? The Arch itself is pretty cool to go up in and look out over the river. I found it FAR more enjoyeable than going up in Sears tower in Chicago for example which I did when I visited there.
Maybe you just have to live there to get a better idea of what there is to do and see. We drove into downtown St. Louis all the time just to eat at some favorite restaurants and such. It's very easy to get into and out of, not like some bigger cities I've been to like Chicago and Houston where traffic is a nightmare. All in all, it's a nice city. Not the greatest, but certainly not a "shithole".
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