Hold the Mustard, Jack

Jack Carl, the proprietor of downtown St. Louis' only authentic deli, doesn't mince words. When a suited customer asked him whether business had picked up with the influx of new "loft dwellers" in the neighborhood, he said: "It's all bullshit." The longtime downtown business owner was referring to the hype surrounding the rebirth of downtown, which is pegged to rehabbed residential developments in old warehouses along Washington and Locust Avenues among other places.

One reason that Carl may not have seen an increase in business is because the people moving into these pricey digs don't really inhabit the place where they live. Instead, they treat their new urban homes and neighborhood the same way they would if they lived in a West County burb. When they come home from work, they shut the door and turn on cable.