Over the past few years I’ve watched St. Louis rank in a number of national lists as one of the ‘best’ or ‘top’ cities in some category or another.  Our hometown has achieved a lengthy number of accomplishments including being noted in 2010 as having two of the best places to live (O’Fallon and St. Peters) and having one of the nation’s best housing markets.  

However, a new survey by Mars Snackfood rates St. Louis as perhaps one of my favorite things to date.  This year, St. Louis has been named the 6th manliest city in the United States.

I know what you’re wondering. What is it exactly that makes us so manly?

The study looked at the “. . . number of professional sports teams, popularity of power tools and frequency of monster truck rallies. Cities also lose ranking points for emasculating characteristics like the abundance of home furnishing stores, high minivan sales and subscription rates to beauty magazines.”    

So, take pride, men of St. Louis! Today, not only are we considered as having one of the ‘great streets in America’ with the Delmar Loop, the 4th top music venue with the Pageant, and the 3^rd best zoo in the country. . . we can now proudly add to our list that we are #1 in the most sports bars per capita.    

By all means let’s grab a brew and some chicken wings to celebrate while watching the Carindals wipe the floor with the Cubs. . . .. . . who ranked significantly below us in the survey I might add. 

Sarah Grobe, Director of Marketing
Prudential Select Properties, Your local choice for real estate
DiscoverStL.com | Facebook.com/DiscoverStL

Just take a look at St. Louis' accomplishments. . . . 

2010

Forbes Magazine ranked St. Louis #8 on the list of the nation’s Best Housing Markets.

Forbes Magazine ranked St. Louis #22 on the list of  Best Places for Business and Careers.

Money Magazine ranked O’Fallon and St. Peters as two of the Best Places to Live. 

Bicycling Magazine ranked St. Louis #38 of Top Places to Ride in the United States.

The National Trust for Historic Preservation ranked St. Louis as one in a Dozen Distinctive Destinations.

Convio ranked St. Louis #8 in the nation’s Most Generous Large Cities.

2009

The League of American Bicyclists ranked St. Louis the 15th Bicycle Friendly Community in the United States.

Relocate America named O’Fallon one of the Top 100 Places to Live.

Forbes Magazine ranked St. Louis the 16th Best City for Singles

Art Fair Source Book named the St. Louis Art Fair in Clayton the #4 Top 25 Fine Art Events.

The Los Angeles Times named St. Louis as one of the Most Underrated Destination of the World.

Central Connecticut State University named St. Louis as #2 in America’s Most Literate Cities.

The Corporation for National & Community Service ranked St. Louis as #13 in Highest Volunteer Rate in the nation. 

Parenting Magazine named St. Louis one of the 100 Best Places to Raise Kids.

2008

Forbes Magazine named St. Louis the 15th  Best Cities for Young Professionals

The National Association of Home Builders named St. Louis the 2nd Most Affordable City.

Best Life Magazine named St. Louis one of 100 Best Places to Raise a Family.

Money Magazine named St. Charles, St. Peters and O’Fallon as some of the 100 Best Places to live.

HomeVestors of America Inc. named St. Louis No. 8 in the nation for Real Estate Investing.  

Pollstar ranked the Pageant #4 on the Top Club Venues in the World.

Pollstar ranked  The Fox Theatre ranks # 11 in the Top 100 Theater Venues in the World.

Pollstar ranks Verizon Wireless Amphitheater # 9 on the list of Top Worldwide Amphitheaters.

Money Magazine ranks Arnold #13 in Most Affordable Communities. 

Parents Magazine names the St. Louis Science Center #5 on the 10 Best Science Centers for Families list.

2007

Forbes Magazine named St. Louis the 7th  Most Affordable U.S. Real Estate Market.

Forbes Traveler Magazine named the St. Louis Science Center one of the nations’ Top 25 Most Visited Museums. 

The American Planning Association named the Delmar Loop one of the 10 Great Places in America. 

Parents Magazine named the St. Louis Zoo the #3 Best Zoos for Kids.

At the Prudential Convention last month, one of the speakers – Peter Shenhan -  asked us, “what is the narrative about your brand?”

And that got me thinking about our story.  Who is Prudential Select Properties?  And what is our relationship to you?

The St. Louis real estate market has been defined by two major shifts over the last decade.  The first, as you all know, is the market shift.  But I’ll let George digress about that.  The second shift has been quieter.  As national corporations have taken over local real estate companies, the decisions that were once made by individuals living here are now made by national directives. 

Prudential Select Properties, when formed in 2002, was created to keep our local market. . . well. . . local.  St. Louis is our hometown.  We grew up here.  We live here.  We work here.   Who knows, you and I may even be neighbors. 

The thing is, we  know St. Louis.   We know its neighborhoods – we go to the Hill for Italian, hit the Loop for people watching and know Dogtown is the place to be on St. Patty’s day.  We were here when the Arena went down and can remember when Wildwood was actually country. 

 We know its quirks.  Our favorite summer treat is handed to us upside down too.  We can correctly (ehem or should I say incorrectly) say Gravois, Chouteau and Spoede.

But most of all, we know its market . . . because we live in the market.  Our decisions are made based on the same trends that your family experiences right down the street.     

Our journey here, with you, is an effort to describe who we are from the inside out.  We’d like to collectively present you with the voices that make up our company and our culture. 

Until the next time,

Sarah Grobe, Director of Marketing
Prudential Select Properties, Your local choice for real estate
DiscoverStL.com | Facebook.com/DiscoverStL

Oh, and in case you were wondering, I went to Ursuline. How about you?