ILLUSTRATION BY JOEL KIMMEL
Years ago, while I was living in New York, my roommate—a Brooklyn native—asked about the difference between Missouri and our neighbor to the west, Kansas: “There’s, like, one less cow, right?”
I’m still not sure he was joking.
In his mind, the Midwest seemed a vast, featureless stretch of prairies and pastures, much like The New Yorker’s famous cover “View of the World From Ninth Avenue.” And although it might be an obvious oversimplification to us, he doesn’t appear to be alone.
“Many newcomers from the East and West Coasts don’t know the differences between Midwestern states,” says Anthony Bartlett, the founder of St. Louis Transplants. “They often picture prairie-flat lands.” To their delight, they find a far different landscape, softened by rolling hills and winding rivers. As for the city itself, they often envision “a Legoland Western” akin to Kansas City or Phoenix, rather than a sprawling metropolis with a thriving music scene and a rich history, “a cross between Boston and New Orleans.”
Newcomers might also be surprised to learn that part of that history included being an epicenter of fashion during the early 20th century—and that a group of St. Louisans is hoping to revive the once-booming Garment District. This month, they welcome six accomplished designers to the much-anticipated Saint Louis Fashion Incubator. Those designers, freshly arrived from Dallas, Chicago, and New York, are just beginning to discover all that our city has to offer.
And as many other out-of-towners visit Busch Stadium for the NHL Winter Classic, they might be surprised to discover that they’ve been holding some misconceptions: Ferguson is far different than #Ferguson, the dining scene rivals much larger cities’, and, as Blues star Alex Pietrangelo notes, “We’re a hockey town.”
Which is just one more thing you might not expect from a town on the prairie.
