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Finding Your Feet Without Getting Swept Away by Someone Else’s Passion



Maps make fabulous visual aids for talking about St. Louis. They explain so much about what unifies us and what divides us. And sometimes, they’re the exact same things. 


I recently brought some of my favorite local maps along for a presentation to a group of business leaders who were all relatively new to St. Louis. They immediately recognized and commented on the overwhelming passion St. Louisans feel for the places we live. We love our neighborhoods. LOVE them. It’s harder to find a needle in a haystack than a St. Louisan who is neighborhood agnostic. 


St. Louisans are equally passionate about all kinds of things: schools, restaurants, grocery stores, medical facilities … the list goes on and on. 


The catch is that it’s easy to fall into the trap of talking down other options—and this can ultimately cause divides. I remember commiserating with a transplant who had found the perfect school for her children, but instead of celebrating the decision, she was worried about sharing the news with her colleagues because they had advocated hard for a competing educational institution. 


Our team at Acclimate takes the perspective that St. Louis is full of good options, and we encourage newcomers to find what works best for them. That’s true for their home, their kids’ schools, their medical providers, their pet sitters, their interior decorators, their restaurants … We love that there’s a healthy level of competition in the metro area, and we want to strengthen it through mutual respect. 


The independent restaurant scene is a fabulous example of this. You just don’t hear chefs bad-mouthing other dining establishments. Just the opposite, in fact. They frequently dine at each others’ businesses and collaborate on projects together. Whether it’s a seasonal pop-up eatery or a farm dinner or a catchy new flavor of donuts or ice cream, the synergies are constant. The weird tribalism that exists in other spheres is nonexistent among restaurateurs. 


By putting ourselves in newcomers’ shoes, we’re able to explain St. Louis in a way that makes it seem more like a treasure trove to shift through and find your gems and less like a hot mess where going in the wrong direction could get you burned. 

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