Downtown

A friend of mine recently escaped a house hold where he was being labor trafficked. The house is in the Rockhill neighborhood located by the nelson museum. My friend was drugged and sedated on numerous occasions and woke up with swollen extremities. When attempting to flee the household and run to police and or the hospital, neighbors and security of the neighborhood of his now ex girlfriend's house, located by the nelson museum, would box him in while driving and or try and run him off the road. Her router was set up to where any device hooked up to her wifi could then be accessed from third party devices. They would turn his location on, on numerous different apps allowing them to track him and follow him if he attempted to flee. Security and the neighbors were able to observe him from her ring cameras and the old ADT systems they have in the houses so if he attempted to leave they were notified. He was then confined to working on the interior of the house as well as the exterior, only permitted to leave the premises if his now ex-girlfriend was with him or if he was working on the exterior of the house. His now ex-girlfriend would report to his family that he's doing great but after months of not hearing from him, his grandfather finally showed up unannounced, and he was able to hop in his grandfather's car and leave the city. The neighborhood should be investigated and he is currently working with authorities to get an investigation of his ex girlfriend, her house, her neighbors, the neighborhood, and the neighborhood's security as I type this. I would highly recommend avoiding this neighborhood at all costs due to the fact that it is a suspected human trafficking stronghold for a large criminal organization.

Downtown is a fun, lively neighborhood with great loft style condos & apartments. There's always something to do or something going on, especially in the summer and fall.

Downtown St. Louis is a very special place -- but it's a shame the majority of the St. Louis area feels otherwise. Yes, the city government isn't the most efficient, but more people in the area need to embrace urban living and appreciate the downtown we have.

There's world-class attractions (City Museum, Sculpture Park), some of the best dining you'll find in the region (Mosaic, Wasabi, J. Buck's, Dubliner), and a vibrant, walkable community.

The biggest downfall of downtown St. Louis is the passive local government, who spends more time looking out for their "good ol' boys club" than the residents. The other problem is the seemingly overwhelming focus on parking and cars -- parking garages are the most important commodity, and many people refuse to use (or vote to fund) public transportation. As a result, bus service and light rail services are highly inefficient and under-funded. People in the area generally view St. Louis downtown as unsafe at night; this is untrue, unless interacting with different ethnicity is scary to you.

Most businesses don't feel the need to cater to downtown residents, and close around 3-4PM; some places have begun to open catering to those around past "closing time", and hopefully this will continue to improve.

Right now, it still feels as if those living downtown are pioneers of the urban area -- hopefully, as more people warm up to urban living in St. Louis, more people and resources will move into the area.