International Diversity in St Louis? General thoughts on the city (St. Louis: renting, condo)

[Maru22]

Hey!
I just became a member of this forum after reading through some of the threads here in the St Louis board, which I found very informative. My parentes are moving to St Louis next year, they are a married couple (early 50s), and they are currently living in Toronto, but they are originally from Buenos Aires, Argentina. Culture change isn't going to be a big shock or anything, since due to my dad's job they have moved around for a while, and they have been living in Toronto for a while now which in that sense isn't that big of a change, plus they are fluent in english (and spanish as well).

I am basically doing some research for them because none of us know anything about the city, and are a bit nervous about this move. The live by themselves since me and my sister are both in college in another country. They are moving because my dad works as a manager in a multinational company and part of his job has always been moving around depending on where the project he is working on is being installed in.

So what I would like to know, first, is if there is an international community in St Louis at all... How is the diversity there. Currently they are living in Toronto which is a very diverse city, and that has been nice. It's always nice to have people who have also had to move countries around because they share the same experiences. Also, this makes for more interesting cities I find.

The next thing is, where do you recommend that they live in? Like what are the nicest neighborhoods to live in, or are the suburbs better? They always tend to like living in the city waaay better, they've never lived in suburbs really.

Again I don't know anything about StLouis, though some of the posts here made me a bit nervous, all that talk about "3rd world" and whatnot, but I'm inclined to think that's a massive exaggeration anyway lol. But I do want to know a bit about the quality of life, the climate (how hot and cold does it get?)... Also my parents are very outdoor-sy people, so I want to know about parks, and green areas and stuff...

I'd also like to know what is there to do for younger people? I mean is it an active city or more on the relaxed side? Since I am 22 and will probably be visiting them and stuff...

Any other information that you see important is VERY welcome, what can they expect when they get there, how are the people, the city in general... Just anything you can think of to make us more knowledgeable about this city!

Thanks to everyone in advance

[Amercity]

You will find we are not nearly as diverse as Toronto and our ethnic enclaves very lacking. The foreign born population in st.louis is 6 or 7% for the entire metro area which is not bad for the midwest but terrible compared to toronto.

People here are generally tolerant of other races, even in the farthest, rural regions of the metro area

Generally the most common immigrant populations you will find in st.louis will be from Russia, East Europe, China and India

[aragx6]

Do you have an idea of what their housing budget will be? That would help us make more tailored suggestions. It would also be helpful to know where your dad will be working so that we don't suggest something that would cause him to have a longer commute than necessary.

But as a first crack, I would suggest the Central West End, which is St. Louis' nicest, most walkable neighborhood or the inner-ring suburbs of Clayton and University City, which are both relatively diverse (in large part because of nearby Washington University which draws a very international crowd), safe, more urban and walkable than you might expect a "suburb" to be, and progressive. There's a lot of other options, but those wouldn't be a bad place to start your research.

Climate is a mixed bag in St. Louis -- we have four full seasons and both summer and winter can be on the extreme end, but personally I love it and wouldn't have it any other way. It can also fluctuate a lot; it's usually fairly cold for Thanksgiving (the American one in November that's this Thursday), but meteorologists are suggesting instead it will be in the mid 60s instead. So it's always a bit of a surprise!

St. Louis is a really fun city regardless of your age. It has a busy bar scene, a ton of festivals and street fairs, and plenty of cultural amenities. If you give us an idea of the sort of things you enjoy doing in your spare time, as well as your parents, we can suggest plenty of fun activities I have no doubt.

[Maru22]

Thanks everyone for all the responses! They are all extremely helpful, I've been doing a lot of research lately, and it definitely seems like Clayton or University City will be the best choices for them, since they like the city feel of neighborhoods, where you can at least walk to your local drugstore. Kirkwood sounds like a nice option as well. The problem with those as you guys mentioned is that's it's probably harder to find nice housing there for your budget than in other areas.

To answer some of your questions, we don't know the exact budget yet. They will be renting since the move is not permanent. Since they are expats they company usually covers the cost of renting, though I'm not sure the budget they will be given for this time. Since it's just the two of them right now though, they don't want a huge house or anything. My dad travels quite often too, and my mom doesn't like staying home alone in a big house, so they'd be more comfortable in something like a townhouse, maybe three bedrooms for when we visit, but something like that.

Also my dad is going to be working in an office downtown, close to the Busch stadium.

As for spare time, in my case when I go visit I won't know anyone... So that will be interesting haha. But for my parents they like outdoor activities, nature, walking, running, my dad is very sport-sy... He likes to play tennis.

Thanks again, this is all being very helpful and I am now much more on track with research for them than I was before coming here!

[moorlander]

The western inner ring burbs are quite diverse. 8 years ago I purchase a condo in a 6 unit building in the Moorlands neighborhood of Clayton and 3 of my six neighbors are foreigh born. I'm actually the only one born in the midwest. I have one neighbor from Dubai, one from india, and one from somewhere in south america, one from Boston, and another from San Francisco. The building on one side of me is entirely filled with asian families with small kids.

People often stereotype Clayton as being overly affluent and stuffy but not my street.

I also think your parents should look at renting a home in the Central West End. Those historic homes are to die for.