Well, in all fairness, the majority of the murders in St. Louis happen in about a 3 square mile area known as "north st. louis" and the downtown (while unimpressive and a bit boring) is relatively safe. Plus, unlike many metropolitan areas, there is a distinction between the city of st. louis, and the county of st. louis. The city of st. louis has only ~350,000 people, whereas the county plus the city has approximately 1,300,000 people. If you use the 1.3million number like many metros instead of the 350k number, the rates are much less scary (unless you're in north city).