Doug and I have just returned from our long-awaited dream vacation in Europe. We did all the normal touristtype thing. Museums, monuments, and parks wowed us as they would any American who appreciates history.
The thing that wowed us most, however, was the rate of inflation in the four countries we visited. Paris and Zurich were the most expensive, with hamburger going for $4.00 a pound and gasoline $1.50 a gallon. All the clothing was at least three times the cost of ours, except wools in Scotland.
Ma Bell has nothing over the French Madame Bell. If you want a phone, be prepared to wait from one to three years. The monthly rate is twice that of Southwestern Bell, and to compound the problem, a listing in the telephone directory costs about $100. Because of this ridiculous charge, many people do not list their phone number. Consequently, recycled phone numbers appear in the directory with their old users, making the directory more a nuisance than a help.
If you think that the necessities of life are bad, real estate is even worse. My brother’s apartment in Paris is a good example. It was built in 1907 and looks like the building at Waterman and Skinker. It has three bedrooms, living room, dining room, and den. The brass door handles and high ceilings with plaster relief reminded me of many of St. Louis’ older homes.
His apartment also has many of the problems of our older homes. Low water pressure in the shower was quite a problem with five extra adults visiting. The average monthly rent for an apartment like this (with no yard in front) is about 47,500 francs or about $1000.
We did not have first-hand knowledge about real estate in London, Edinburgh, or Zurich. We did read a lot of Real estate ads, however. My mother found a listing in Amsterdam. It was a four bedroom house selling for about $150,000. London has very few single family houses, except in the suburbs. Most of the houses that we saw for sale were called semi-detached villas, and were reminiscent of the brownstones of New York or the row houses of the Soulard area. These were divided up into flats or apartments. The cost was about $75,000 for an entire unit, and rent for a two-bedroom apartment was $500. per month. Edinburgh was the cheapest place to live. The average three bedroom house (row house style) with front and back yards was about 1$1,000. We found nothing comparable to the size of the homes in our area, or to the prices.
Things are rough all over, but Skinker-DeBaliviere is still a bargain, and St. Louis still has more to offer in housing and otherwise than many European cities its size. Be thankful for what you have because you can’t find it anywhere else.
Originally published in The Paper, November 1974.
Read this article in the original newspaper issue.
Original source: SD_Times1974_11.pdf, printed page(s) 3; PDF page(s) 3.
