I spent almost 11 years living in the St. Louis suburbs as a kid and I really dont think it was that bad. I would move back in a heartbeat if I could gain employment with Emersons flight department. There is a lot to do there. If your not a sports fan then there are concerts (used to be the #1 concert town in the nation in the '70's) Forest Park is fantastic so is the St. Louis Zoo, one of the foremost zoo's in the world. Lots of cool outdoorsy type stuff to do within about 1-2 hours drive.