Every day since I can remember, I have driven by a Behavioral Health center that is connected to St. John's Mercy Hospital on the way to my house. I have always wondered about the building - what goes on, what it looks like inside, etc. Well, a couple days ago I finally got my chance. A friend of my mom's had a schizophrenic episode and was admitted. While she played her harp for her, I was reading/avoiding reading 'The Brothers Karamazov' and reading St. Louis Magazine instead. It's awesome. I had super-low expectations for it. I've never been a huge fan of the Riverfront Times, and the Post-Dispatch is near unreadable.
St. Louis Magazine is interesting, and makes St. Louis seem more respectable as a city. I'm thinking about getting a subscription.
On their website I saw an article about an interview they had with the guy who used to be CEO of the Metro here in town. I think it provides an interesting insight into exactly what is wrong with St. Louis and what is stunting its growth. Check it out (
here).
"
So what’s wrong with us? There are two kinds of cities in America. New York, Chicago, Boston—their infrastructure was in place long before the auto became dominant. When suburbanization came, they developed commuter railroads on top of rail systems. The Detroits and St. Louises got rid of their streetcars—and with that came the weakening of the urban core, as it started to depopulate."
