I've noticed many of my peers (and just people in general) trashing my home, the city of Springfield, Missouri. And I honestly cannot understand why. It's actually pretty ridiculous, I think.
Keep in mind I'm not someone who gets to travel the world and go to whatever country/state/city I please since I failed at college, I don't have a lot of money and my parents aren't millionaires. But I have been to my fair share of places around the United States, and while I definitely prefer certain places, Springfield definitely stands up against some particular trashy egotistical bloated disasters.
Rarely have I walked around downtown in Springfield and actually felt like I was in danger. Most of the "incidents" I've had are a couple people asking me if I smoke pot, or if I have a cigarette, or change, or whatever. That all happens everywhere. I won't say I feel 100% safe, of course. I HAVE had some things stolen from my car downtown, a guy grabbed my friend Aaron and started yelling crazy obscene things at him, me and my friends got "threatened" by some redneck at Hooters (not downtown but still) but these things happen. Springfield is pretty easy going otherwise, not counting the north side of course.
On the other hand, I don't even feel safe driving down 71 in Kansas City because people are going 30 mph over the limit and merging wherever and whenever they please without warning. Never mind being in the city itself, or downtown. Kansas City is awful, perhaps the worst place I've ever visited. Every time it is just completely awful. Maybe the occasional person is nice, but the whole place is just a big urban wasteland disaster and I hate it. I haven't been to St. Louis in years, but from what I remember it's even worse (East St. Louis in particular, I just remember it being VERY black, VERY dilapidated, and very scary).
Another thing: for the 160,000 or however many people there are, traffic is not that bad at all. Usually. Unfortunately they had to go Fallout 3 on the 60/65 intersection and make it very Kansas City-esque, but other than that and a couple other areas, it is not bad at all. Ozark was MUCH worse traffic-wise last year, before they finished adding lanes. I've never had to wait 30 minutes at one light in Springfield like I've had to in Ozark. I've never come to a dead stop in four lanes of traffic during rush hour like in Kansas City, or in eight lanes like in Seattle. Speaking of traffic matters, what is the deal with Joplin? If you want to trash a city, why not Joplin? That place has almost nothing going for it, other than a convenient location (between Kansas City, Tulsa, Springfield and Fayetteville). It's not really that big but it's SO congested and pretty trashy.
Another thing I hate is when Springfield gets some new store or some trend hits here and everyone thinks it's "cute" that Springfield finally got something or that it's not cool anymore now that it's in Springfield. I was reading reviews of the Orange Leaf here and some broad from California was talking about how cute it was that quaint little Springfield got an Orange Leaf but of course it paled in comparison. Who cares, really?
I have to admit that I can name more great local attractions in Seattle and Portland than in Springfield, but part of that may because we actually looked for those kinds of things there more than here, where we take it for granted. We have some pretty cool places though. Grad School is one of the best restaurants ever, and nobody can deny that. Everything they have there is amazing. Trolley's is another good restaurant, as well as the Spring Creek Tea Room (okay, it's in Ozark but still... oh, and my mommy works there lozl) and there are some great coffee places too. So yes, there are some great places here, it's just that nobody bothers to look for them.
There ARE some things I don't like about being here though. I hate that there is only one actual record store, and the only reason it stays in business is because they also sell bongs and other related items. I don't like that few big name bands ever come through here, and we have to suffer through an adventure in Kansas City to see our favorite bands. I don't like the influence Branson has over the area, but that's not necessarily Springfield's fault, just bad luck. I don't like all the rednecks, but honestly there are rednecks in most of the country, not just Missouri. I cannot stand the weather, but again, that's a midwest thing. We went to Arkansas a couple months ago and it was even worse there.
It seems that some of the people I went to school with are fairly content here, while the rest like to criticize everything about Springfield, while my friends from Nevada generally seem to like it more here. That's kind of funny I guess. I just don't understand all the hate.
Queen City fo' lyfe brah.
ReplyDeleteI personally love Springfield compared to other places in Missouri. Maybe it's just because I live in a town with a population of 1600, but I don't know. Springfield is the only place I have been around here where I can strike up a conversation with a random stranger, or at the very least be smiled back at. Here, if you smile at someone or say hello you get dirty looks, among other things. Most of the people I find there are fairly friendly...minus drunken rednecks in Hooter's, which at least give you something to laugh at..
ReplyDeleteI agree. Of course there are dicks here, but compared to most places around here people aren't too bad, other than the trash. I can't remember a single Kansas City native who wasn't a dick, and if they weren't they were really shady. Well, the guy at the counter at the hotel we stayed at when we got snowed in was nice, but regardless... Springfield isn't perfect, but it's definitely a cool place.
ReplyDeleteSpringfield has its trash, as does every other city, but I'd peg it against any other town in Missouri at least. It's big enough to be a big deal, but small enough not to have too many big issues.
ReplyDeleteNo matter where you go, there's always going to be idiots. And, like you said, there's a wicked coffee shop scene there. I dig me some Springfield.