Thanks for all your comments, coming from someone who knows the area. They are very helpful in putting this whole event into context.
It looks like a beautiful city, from these photos.
Do you recall if the Pope drew a crowd that large when he was in St. Louis?
There were actually three separate events:
The youth rally at what is now Scottrade Center where the Blues play - about 30,000 or so.
Papal Mass at the Dome which seats 67,000 and there were at least 10,000 on the floor plus those in the Convention Center when they went through.
There was Evening Prayer at the Cathedral which seats 2,500 and I understand that the galleries were open as well.
Remember, the pope came in January and thanks to the Pink Sisters we had decent weather. Still had huge piles of snow, but the temps were above freezing. Altogether, it was a different experience.
You are quite welcome for the commentary. This city gets a bad rap sometimes and our airport does need renovation, but the current mayor (Maronite Rite Catholic) IS making an effort and there is an amazing amount of landscaping and renovating of the big, old, historic downtown buildings happening. The project in what was the Old Post Office is just stunning. It was really well done. I work downtown and there's an amazing difference to ten years ago. We still have our issues that all bigger cities have, but overall, this is a great place to live so long as you consider weather an adventure.