Before Scottrade, I'd been with 3 or 4 different online brokers...all of which I'd had to leave because they charged inactivity fees or threaten to close my account for the low balances. Thankfully, Scottrade does not charge inactivity fees or impose a min balance which is great for the small-time investor like me who makes maybe 1-2 trades a year and needs a home for my stocks. They have many branches so you can talk to a human being or submit your paperwork in person. I've also had no problems talking to a human being over the phone. Low commissions and you can get free trades if you refer a friend. They also don't charge any fees if you wanna transfer stock to a charitable organization. For the San Gabriel branch, parking lot gets full but you can park at the San Gabriel Hilton with no charge.

PROS: many local branches, low commissions, no inactivity fees
CONS: can't think of any