Possibly moving to St Louis (St. Louis, St. Charles: house, employment, school districts)

[madmax52]

My family may be moving to St Louis soon. I'll be working at the air port and my wife is a nurse so she'll be working at the hospital (should be). We just started looking around online today. I'm trying to get an idea what traffic is like throughout the day and what areas might be best to live in for commuting to both. We haven't decided where exactly where we want to be yet. My wife has been looking at Brentwood and Granite City Il. Any opinions on these places? What about commuting from a more rural area? Any input would be much appreciated. Thanks

[aragx6]

What hospital do you expect your wife to work at? There's quite a few to choose from obviously.

If she doesn't know yet, it might make sense to stick to somewhere a little more centrally located than Granite City. Brentwood would seem to make sense, but that's definitely not rural. If you're willing to put up with a commute in the 45 minutes to an hour range you can likely get something pretty rural, but without knowing where your wife will be working (as well as your budget) it's hard to make specific recommendations.

[DinsdalePirahna]

if you are coming from out of state, she will need a a Missouri nursing licence.

[silibran]

You are working at Lambert St. Louis? Or the airport in ILL?

If it is Lambert, then I'd suggest looking west in St. Charles County, esp. if you want a more rural home. Even then, a rural home will be pretty far out, and would involve a long commute. If you move to ILL, your commute will be be rugged. And the state of ILL is distressed.

I suggest you look at a map of the area. Locate your place of employment and decide how far you want to drive. I like Brentwood. Its a nice town, with a good school system. That's the other thing. St. Louis County and St. Charles County have many school districts. If you have children, you will want to move to an area with good schools.

Brentwood isn't rural though.

There are many, many hospitals in this area. And there are other medical centers. She should be able to find employment pretty easily, I would think.

If you can think of some specific questions, it might be helpful for those of use who try to answer.

[glamatomic]

Personally I wouldn't head toward Granite City. Just personal preference, but there are far nice places on the Missouri side, in particular in West County and the Western & Southern parts of the City itself (Brentwood, your other choice was a good pick). I've known people who have lived their entire lives in Granite and are happy with it, but I have personally never found the area appealing or attractive.

As far as commuting from a more rural area- it would be do-able, especially if you and your wife end up mainly on shifts where you're not working 8am-5pm (and therefore able to beat the rush hour traffic).

You may be able to get something with a more 'rural' feel out past St. Charles, or even if you went to Jefferson County to the South (although JeffCo isn't my cup of tea, areas of it may fit your bill). Additionally, out past Eureka on I-44 to the West may have something up your alley.

When are you looking to move to the St. Louis area? Do you have any more specifics about budget, commute time preferences, house size, land size etc? What are your interests / requirements for an area?

Good luck on your move! I hope you LOVE St. Louis

[LAangel9190]

Compared to a lot of metro areas of a similar size, I don't think St. Louis is an awful traffic city. If you are looking for a rural area, you're going to have a difficult time finding anything close to the airport. Brentwood is a nice area, definitely not rural though. It is urban/suburban, with good highway access and a generally well kept and nice area. Plenty of shopping, dining, etc. Through Creve Coeur is very nice. It's pricey in some parts, but you'll get a bigger lot and good highway access as far as getting to the airport concerns. If you're up for commuting from a rural area, I would stick with St. Charles county before going to Jefferson or Franklin counties. It's going to be much closer to the airport, and you'll be going against morning traffic instead of with it. I live in Eureka, on the border of St. Louis/Jefferson/Franklin counties, and I wouldn't want to commute to the airport everyday. It would be about an hour drive, and that's with light traffic, not the typical morning stuff.

All this being said, more information as far as what hospital your wife is looking at, budget/school concerns, etc would be very helpful in helping you out! Good luck with your search!