St. Joe? Friendly? Now there's an oxymoron. St. Joe is very cliqueish and will not open up to you unless you went to high school here.

Would any of you other baby boomer transplants like to get together for coffee? I'd love to meet you.

Where are you from Trixie? I've encountered the same close-mindedness here.

Close-mindedness, cliqueish? You out of towners need to wake up and smell the friendship damit!

Looks like getrealstjoe got a little too real.

I'm not a baby boomer, but in my generation I find the close-mindedness and cliqueish statements to be untrue. Some of my best friends are out-of-towners. I wave to the neighbors as we drive down the street, I chat with strangers in the grocery store, and just a couple of weeks ago, I helped a guy push his disabled car off the road into a parking lot. All of these things have been reciprocated to me as well. Sure there is an element in this town that can be unfriendly, but that's true every where I've ever lived.

there is a little us vs them mindset. i think stjo has so much going for it.... the symphony, museums, parkways, biking, hiking, parks, decent shopping, libraries. after you are here for a while the poverty, infrasructure, educational challenges, and keystone kops city management vs city council becomes more obvious. i have also been called pushy, while i see a high level of slackers here in comparison to my life on the east coast. . it is all in your viewpoint. the gunslinger mentality is attractive in its own way. i like the fact that lighting a cigarette here is not grounds for nasty looks and fake coughing!!!! ( i am a non-smoker.) i must say that if the chamber wants to get more people to move here it would help not to have a political big wig using his television advertisements to slam people who have "big city" values as his claim to fame. my family have all called in to laugh at us for living here on the basis of that ad!!!!!!!

I am an "out-of-towner" who has taken up residence in St. Joe for the time being. I have not experienced "cliqueish" behavior really. I'm not saying St. Joe is, in my mind, the best place in Missouri to live, but it is not, by far, as bad as some make it out to be. Yes, the city has its problems, but it also has its positives. You are going to find "cliqueish" behavior in every town, if you look in the right places. Some people in this town ARE rude, close minded, and "cliqueish," but I have meant many who are friendly, eager to help, and happy to welcome. I wouldn't have put St. Joe in the book necessarily, but it also wouldn't be in a book about the worst places to live, either.

All I can say is that I grew up in St Joe and I am proud to say that I got out of town as quickly as possible....only to return for family visits. I can say of the numerous places that I have lived that St Joe is at the bottom of my list of "great places".

I am so tired of people trashing St. Joseph. If you don't like it do what outoftowner did and leave! Take your negative attitude somewhere else. Does St. Joseph have it's problems? Yes. Does any town in America have it's problems? Yes.

If you are not doing anything to improve a situation, you are part of the problem. If all you do is complain, gripe, and try to stifle those around you, you are part of the problem. Please, do St. Joseph a favor and leave!

We have beautiful parks with walking trails, parties on the parkway one thursday a month, music downtown at the gazebo on most Friday's weather permitting, several night clubs, art museums, lovely specialty shops, many, many, many fast food restaurants and several other eating establishments,
and many civic organizations that would welcome volunteers. We are also very close to several lakes for boating and swimming. But, if you want to sit around on your rear end and talk about how cliquish St. Joseph is, or how there is nothing to do, then it is really you who is losing out. Believe me, St. Joseph will not miss you when you go.

I think St. Joseph is a nice town. I've been there several times visiting my son. The downtown could use some sprucing up, but otherwise the city has a lot to offer. In my experience I've been treated in a very friendly way whenever I was out shopping, for instance. However, I did get some strange looks when I went to one of the local watering holes with my son, most likely because I looked like I was too old to be in there!

Rthirty2 - I don't know how old you are but my mom is 52 and that is one of her biggest complaints. There is not much of a nightlife for the single crowd (even for me and I'm 34). There is not much to do in this town except go to the bars and suffer through all of the drunken bachelor/bachelorette parties.

I think St. Joe is great for families... lots of parks, Parties on the Parkway, Felix Street Square on Fridays, etc. Does anyone remember when some of the downtown streets were for foot traffic only and had little playground equipment in the street? My parents could shop and we played outside on the barrels, slides, and so on. Good times....

Meh, nonsense.

If people would stop, "mean-mugging," and acting hardcore... just throw up a friendly smile and wave.

That's what I do and it's turned a good deal of wanna-be, thug frowns into confused faces... followed by a wave back.

Just stop mean-mugging people, start waving. No one cares to be stared at and it's not surprising that it's a back and forth game.

Just knock it off, wave!

Pardon me, my response was to the first responder.

All you people who want to trash St. Joseph incessantly, I've got a short sentence for you...

"If you constantly find yourself bored, you're probably boring."

with 100K+ people surrounding St. Joseph, how can you not occupy yourself? Get a hobby, go to organized events... LIVE!

I've always found it amusing this notion that you can just go to San Diego and instantly have a good time. Rubbish, everywhere you go, there you are and if you always do what you've always done you'll get what you've always got.

I could go on but the cliches speak for themselves on this one. Someone else said it exactly right, no one is stopping you from leaving and you'll likely not be missed when you're gone.

I'll throw in my 2-cents worth here... My family moved away from St. Joseph when I was a sophomore at Central - for a work transfer. And although I haven't moved back to the city, I have very fond memories of my life there, and I always enjoy my visits back to see family. I'm not sure all the residents there realize what a beautiful town it is... Granted, as I read on this web-site on a daily basis, St. Joe has its issues - - just like any other town. But there are plenty of things that are unique to St. Joe, and people just need to stop for a moment and take it all in, rather than take it all for granted.

St. Joseph is an amazing town to visit. I did visit and stayed for 8 years. The museums are fantastic, the architecture is compelling, the parks are well above average, and the history intriging. The festivals are some of the best around.

Not much else is offered though. With exceptions, the area is short on culture, class, creativity, imagination, intelligence and immacculateness. The pettiness around here is extreme, from arguing about libraries to museums to police vs. sheriff office and parking spaces.

The lack of educational opportunities (or lack of desire for higher education) will keep the area forever in a blue collar mire. No Fortune 500 company will ever want to put their corporate headquarters here.

There are those reading this that are saying "be gone with you!" And that's fine. I am gone. For those who believe the negatives I pointed out are minute, you have your heads in the sand. As family members and friends still live in the area, it is my deep hope St. Joseph truly can achieve its highest potential.

So who's going to build our houses here if we all, "move up the corporate ladder" and get out of, "blue collar America?"

Who will serve your food? Who will rid your house of varmints?

If we kept on your track, ALL of our labor jobs would go across seas.

The Kit Bond Incubator is exactly what we can use to help spur this growth in the local IT field. Just relax, be patient.

Above all, don't put me or my people down (lack of intelligence?) because our workforce majority is blue-collar.

FARMS WILL ALWAYS EXIST WITH OR WITHOUT THE CITY - THE CITY CANNOT SURVIVE WITHOUT THE FARM. And we're the unintelligent ones?

If you're, "hope" is true, seems like you should educate yourself on some of the things you've been missing out on. Though you're a typical community-member... complain about everything and do nothing.

Have fun on that fence of yours.

Is there any place in St Joe that has good country music any more?? I do not see any advertised. Back in the day there were many places to go and dance no matter what your age.