Good safe area for young family (St. Louis, University City: cul-de-sac, fit in, apartment)

[Meghannk]

My husband will be attending St. Louis University in the Fall. We are a young family (just us and one 5 month old daughter) from Southern California who are looking for a good safe neighborhood in St. Louis. We need to rent an apartment since we will be there less than 2 years (and gone with an internship in between). We want to be relatively close to the campus, or at least where a bus or metro ride doesn't take to long to reach the university. We don't want to be in a loud party area, one that looks sketchy, or doesn't have places to go with children (nice streets to walk around, parks, etc). I am finding some places that look okay on craigslist, but have no idea if the area is good. Any suggestions of a neighborhood that might fit our family?

[moorlander]

Are you used to living in urban areas? Everyone has a different interpretation of what "looks sketch" means. What are your budget and bedroom/bathroom requirements?

I would say a lot of people in your situation live downtown, tower grove, the central west end and Clayton. None of these neighborhoods are quiet suburban cul-de-sacs but they are very popular with young families. I would certainly recommend my neighborhood (moolands in Clayton) as there are 3 surgeons in my building. All depends on your budget.

Beware, you might just really like it here and decide to stay after your 2 years are up.

[aragx6]

Depending on your budget and neighborhood desires I would look at Central West End, Downtown, and Tower Grove South in the city and Clayton and University City would be good urban suburbs for you to look at that would be very near SLU as well.

And if you share some of the peroperties you're looking at, we'll all be more than happy to let you know about the area!

[Meghannk]

Thanks for the quick responses so far- I hop to hear more! Our budget is around $800 a month for a 2 bedroom apartment. "Sketchy" to us is drunks roaming around at night, teenagers/punks being loud and roaming around, the grocery stores, etc being a little trashy, feeling a little nervous about the people around me, worrying about things being stolen all the time, you get the idea. I guess I also want to know what areas to be wary of.

[billiken]

Areas of St Louis City that are family-friendly and safe to the point of almost feeling suburban IMO: St Louis Hills, Southampton, North Hampton, Lindenwood Park, The Hill. These areas are served strictly by buses though, and it won't be very efficient to use them to get to SLU.

You might also consider Tower Grove South or Shaw as they're so close to SLU and fit in your budget. I'd say the area has changed a lot in the last decade and become pretty hip, but crime is still something people are at the very least very cautious and aware of, and the grocery store isn't exactly squeaky clean. If you're more used to suburbia, it would be a change, but if you're used to city living, it's not bad.

I think $800 is unrealistic for more popular areas like the Central West End, Downtown, and Clayton that were mentioned.

[AJohnston_STL]

I would check out Dogtown as well. It's a few miles from SLU but it is a nice neighborhood and the crime isn't too bad at all (there are car break ins, but usually very little to no violent crimes).

[flynavyj]

True, and the only time you'd have to worry about drunks around Dogtown would be St. Patty's day...

I'd recommend areas around South Grand, it'd be a pretty straight shot to get to SLU, and you'd have bus access, however you won't have very much metro access.

Areas that are really close to SLU (within a couple blocks, and residential) aren't all that great. In fact, i think most of St. Louis would consider them "sketchy". But there are plenty of areas within the metro, that would work well for you, and keep you within a short commute to SLU.