Economy and Industry
St. Louis metropolitan area is home to 19 Fortune 1000 companies, which ranks 4th in the US for cities in which Fortune 1000 companies maintain their corporate headquarters. A few of these companies include Monsanto, Express Scripts, Ameren Corporation, Emerson Electric, Charter Communications, Energizer Holdings, Commerce Bancshares, Peabody Energy, Sigma-Aldrich, Centene Corp. and Reinsurance Group of America.
St Louis also hosts 8 of the country’s largest private companies, which include Enterprise Rent-A Car, Graybar Electric, Edward Jones, McCarthy Building Co., Apex Oil, World Wide Technology, Schnuck Markets and UniGroup.
Bio-Research and Development
St Louis is quickly becoming known as the nation’s BioBelt due to the fact that it is home to nearly 400 plant and life science companies with more than 16,500 employees and one of the world’s largest botanical gardens.
BRDG Park, is a Bio-Research and Development Growth Park located at the Danforth Plant Science Center. As their acronym implies, BRDG Park is a bridge that helps companies span the transition from innovative ideas to commercial success. Located across the street from Monsanto, the world’s leading scientific company based on plant sciences, BRDG Park is the world’s largest independent research institute focused on plant science. There is currently over $500 million in local venture capital devoted to biotech along with 16 venture capital funds with nearly $1.7 billion under management.
Founded in 1859, The Missouri Botanical Garden is the nation’s oldest botanical garden in continuous operation and a National Historic Landmark. The garden is one of the world’s leaders in botanical research and science education, as well as an oasis in the city of St. Louis. With over 79 acres of varying plants and gardens, locals and tourists flock to see the Japanese Garden, Ottoman Garden, Children’s Garden and the amazing Climatron. One of the main goals of the Missouri Botanical Garden and it’s researcher’s is to strengthen scientific expertise in developing countries to protect and manage biodiversity before it’s too late.
Arts, Culture and Entertainment
St Louis has been known as the "Gateway to the West" because of the important role it played in the westward expansion of the United States. The Gateway Arch, is arguably the city’s best-known landmark as well as a popular tourist site. This Memorial commemorates the acquisition and settlement by the citizens of the United States of America of all of the lands west of the Mississippi River that are part of the nation today.
The St. Louis Zoo was ranked in 2004 by Zagat Survey’s U.S. Family Travel Guide as the No. 1 zoo in the country and the No. 4 overall attraction. And the Magic House-St. Louis’ Children’s Museum, was ranked by Family Fun Magazine as the No. 1 most appealing national attraction for children, beating out even Disneyland and Disney’s Magic Kingdom.
Forest Park, which is about 60 percent larger than New York’s Central Park, is home to the Saint Louis Art Museum, one of the top 10 comprehensive art museums in the country and one of the best-attended on a per-capita basis. The park’s Municipal Opera, the nation’s oldest and largest outdoor theater, offers more than 12,000 seats for classic operas and musicals. The park is also the site of the Missouri History Museum and the Saint Louis Science Center, which is fourth in the nation for the number of people it serves.
Recreation
St Louis is home to 3 professional sports franchises, the NFL St. Louis Rams, the MLB St Louis Cardinals and the NHL St Louis Blues. The St. Louis area also has more than 100 public and private golf courses and is home to some of the best trails for cycling, running, and walking. A 600 mile network of hiking and bicycle trails and greenways that follows the area’s great rivers, “The River Ring” is currently being developed by the Great Rivers Greenway District. Since 2000, 150 miles of trails and bicycle routes have been completed, including 77 miles of on-street bicycle routes in conjunction with Bike St. Louis. The city is also famous for the important contributions it has made to beer in the United States due to the large number of breweries in St. Louis during the 19th century, most notably Anheuser-Busch and Falstaff Brewing Corporation.
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