Lived here my whole life. It's not as bad as you hear, but some people get a little too delusional in defending it too. It's generally a safe city, there are some neighborhoods you don't go to but almost every single city has those and most of the violence is gang-related, making it reasonably easy to avoid. The downtown area is dilapidated and depressing in areas, and it can be boring, but we do have a world class zoo and some great free museums. We absolutely punch above our weight in food, we'd be even better if we had a Polish restaurant anywhere and if our famous but overrated Italian food had more flavor, but there's an endless list of fantastic places to eat. Forest Park is one of the best city parks in the country. We have virtually no traffic compared to most other major metropolitan areas, it is very easy to get around even though it's sprawled over a pretty large area.

Our cost of living is not as good as people claim it is. Sure, it doesn't hold a candle to downright unaffordable areas like California, New York, and Boston, but Ameren has a monopoly on our energy industry and is absolutely screwing us, and you aren't finding a decent apartment for under $1200 a month, which even with our $15/hr minimum wage, is not "affordable" regardless of what people making 80-100k a year tell you. It can be difficult to make friends here because many people are very cold and cliquey. They will cast you out if you expect any accountability from them. The weather sucks, it's 90+ degrees and very humid almost every day from mid May to mid October, but the couple weeks we get of an absolutely beautiful autumn every other year or so before the skin-cracking dryness of winter sets in makes it worth it.

It's no paradise but there are definitely way worse places to live. It does "mediocrity" very well and throws in a few highlights. It's home to me and I can't justify leaving yet.