[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by Crunchy Frog *
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Okay, that’s my anti-county bias sinking in. In a place like Hazelwood or Belfontaine Neighbors, no, you don’t have to go too far to get services. If, however, you live in Dittmer, Fenton away from Bowles or 141, or wayyyy out near Chesterfield and Ballwin, yes, you will need a car to go the store, any restaurants, the movies, the hardware store, etc. Now, within walking distance of my house there are three parks, 10 restaurants ranging from hamburgers to gourmet, two Schnucks, a Target, and a JCPenney, a hardware store, a video store, etc. The only thing that’s not in walking distance is a theater, but Kenrick is only about 10 minutes away.
Well, actually the worst traffic by far is in the county, not the city. If the young man is working in Hazelwood and living in St. Charles, for example, his life is going to suck from I270 to I70 or 370 every day without fail. There’s not a day that goes by that I’m not driving home from my workplace (near Westport) that I don’t hear about the horrors of the westbound I70 traffic or westbound highway 40 traffic and don’t thank my lucky stars to live in StL.
Well, case in point is the new condo complex at Page and 270 (why anyone would want to live in expensive condos with a view of 270 is beyond me). First thing they did was cut down every tree in the area. And, of course, they did so much damage to the drainage of that piece of land that they had to build an artificial pond near the superhighway. I don’t know, I’ve just seen so much of that new construction near Fenton and the like, and it’s so rare to have a decent sized tree left on one’s property. Now, a tony place like Town and Country or Chesterfield or Ballwin is different, but the new sprawl areas are awfully denuded for people who want to get back to “nature.” Again, bragging, but on my city lot I’ve got a full-grown elm, a full-grown pine, and a flowering crabapple. Not too shabby.
Well, I agree with you here to a point. I’m not making much more than the young man in question here, so the tax bite certainly isn’t that bad, nor do I have tech stock options or the like. I agree the city is shooting itself in the foot with that policy, and it must change, especially to grow the tech sector (anyway, I’m a Libertarian; I think all taxes are evil). However, I would argue that you save a significant aount in cheaper housing, not having to drive everywhere, and easy access to cultural activities to make up the difference. Again, I guess there’s a fine line between boosting the city and bashing the county (and vice versa), but I tend to go with Rush (the band, not Limbaugh) on this one:
…the suburbs have no charms to soothe the restless dreams of youth
I love the city, and I’m not leaving unless it’s to move to Ireland. 
YMMV