I hate St. Louis...I think I have bad memory associations with it because we had to go there to the Children's Hospital for my sister. It is also the only place I have ever been mugged - twice! - despite having frequently traveled to much more dangerous places. The second mugger even took my clothing at gunpoint. And the muggings occurred within 80 feet of the St. Louis Arch and several cops. Don't go near the Arch around dusk. The Arch seems like a safe place, but it is on the periphery of a more dangerous area.