South Grand/Shaw (apartments, foreclosures, renters)

[wilhelre]

Does anyone know if South Grand/ Shaw areas are a good place for a young professional? I am relocating from Ohio and am desperate to find a place. The particular building is located near resevoir park. Thanks for all the help.

[TGS]

Originally Posted by wilhelre

Does anyone know if South Grand/ Shaw areas are a good place for a young professional? I am relocating from Ohio and am desperate to find a place. The particular building is located near resevoir park. Thanks for all the help.

That area is really good for young professionals. It is a nice historic area and there are lots of shops and bars. There are a few bad blocks, though. What block is the building on?

If you have a map, you might want to get it out... I am going to give you a lot of street names!

Probably the nicest rental area that no one ever talks about is the Southwest Garden area (west of the Botanical Gardens, south of I-44, East of Kingshighway, and north of Magnolia). This is the neighborhood directly west of Shaw. The landlords have banded together and hired off-duty police officers to monitor the area. Thus, crime is much lower than in the Shaw area, and the landlords tend to take better care of their buildings. There aren't too many slumlords in the area because slumlords don't want to pay for the extra security. For bars, shops, etc. you can walk a short distance to the Hill, which is considered the safest area in the city. It is harder to find an apartment in that area because the renters don't move much. The apartments also tend to be a little less expensive than Shaw.

In Shaw, the areas closer to Tower Grove Park and Flora Place are generally better than the areas by I-44. The Tower Grove South area is very popular with young professionals (south of Tower Grove Park/Arsenal, east of Kingshighway, and west of Grand). The areas closer to Tower Grove Park and the intersection of Grand and Arsenal are the nicest. The streets east of Grand should be evaluated block by block. The same goes for the streets south of McDonald. There are a lot of nice shops on Grand between Arsenal and Utah. The area around Morganford from Arsenal to Utah is also starting to have a lot of nice shops and bars.

Good luck!

[hhillstl]

I know this is an old thread, but it caught my eye because my brother is looking to move near Tower Grove Park but on a very limited income (home needs to be less than 125k!). A friend of a friend recently alerted me to a foreclosed property near her home on the 3800 block of botanical. From everything I have seen, the foreclosed property which just hit the market appears to be well below market value. Does anyone live on/near this block or can speak to this area of Shaw?

[anr_black]

I can't speak about that area, but there are several 1 or 2 bedroom foreclosures south of that area in zips 63109 and 63139 that would be around that price (or less), esp. around the S. Kingshighway area. A 3 bedroom foreclosure just sold on my block for 99K. I know prices in the nicer areas around TG park tend to be higher. Just a thought.

[jlawrence01]

Originally Posted by TGS

Probably the nicest rental area that no one ever talks about is the Southwest Garden area (west of the Botanical Gardens, south of I-44, East of Kingshighway, and north of Magnolia). This is the neighborhood directly west of Shaw.

I think that neighborhood has a greater sense of community since the Botanical Gardens tried to bulldoze the neighborhood in the 90's. That is a nice area.

Originally Posted by TGS

In Shaw, the areas closer to Tower Grove Park and Flora Place are generally better than the areas by I-44. The Tower Grove South area is very popular with young professionals (south of Tower Grove Park/Arsenal, east of Kingshighway, and west of Grand). The areas closer to Tower Grove Park and the intersection of Grand and Arsenal are the nicest. The streets east of Grand should be evaluated block by block. The same goes for the streets south of McDonald.

Your biggest problem in these neighborhoods are property crimes. You will need to have an alarm system and make sure that you leave nothing in the car at nights.

You must evaluate the area within 3-4 blocks. Avoid blocks with board ups. Many insurance companies will not insure a home with board-ups. Avoid blocks where there are a lot of rental properties or fourplexes. Those places would be acceptable in the "old days" when the landlord would live in one of the four units and would be very picky as to who they would rent to. However, absentee landlords generally don't give a **** about who they rent to.