Might be moving to STL... (St. Louis, Creve Coeur: to rent, mortgage, house)

[KathrynDoucet]

My husband has a job offer in STL. We are a young family, he is 32, I am 25 and our baby is 2 months old. He is willing to drive up to an hour to get to work. We are looking for a place to live where we could walk to a coffee shop or to dinner. We don't expect to be able to walk everywhere...I don't think that would be a reasonable expectation in STL.

I am a stay at home mom and we are more concerned with me not having to drive very far to do "mom" things like grocery shop and eventually take our daughter to school when the time comes. I have a thing about having to drive on interstates very much because of a bad wreck a few years ago so we are looking for an "urbany" area.

Any help or suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks!!

[ShadowCaver]

KathrynDoucet - greetings. Can you specify about what area in StL he will be working? Such would help with the recommendations. Best to yas.
And as TryNStopMe suggested, U City is indeed a good area too.

[aragx6]

I think it would also be helpful to know your price range, that would definitely help with our suggestions.

[TGS]

I think that "The Hill" would be a good fit for you.

It is a traditional Italian area. If you buy a house in the main area of the Hill, then you will be able to walk to a coffee shop (Shaw Coffee), grocery stores (DeGregorio's, Viviano's, Volpi, Save-A-Lot, bakeries), places to eat (too many to mention). There is also a large grocery store, Shnucks, on the far south end of the neighborhood on Arsenal Street. You would be able to get there by city streets, no interstates.

The area is very family oriented. There are two parks, Berra and Sublette. You will also be able to get to Forest Park without driving on the interstate, and it would only be a ten minute drive on city streets. Forest Park has the Zoo, Science Center, Art Museum, History Museum, sports fields, etc. They are all free. The Hill is also close to the Botanical Gardens.

The St. Louis Public Schools, in general, are in very bad shape. However, the Hill has a great public school, Shaw, which is a magnet elementary school for performing and visual arts, and has great test scores and a pre-school program. There is also a Catholic school, St. Ambrose, which is even better and has reasonable tuition. Within driving distance, no interstates, are additional excellent magnet schools, charter schools, private schools, etc.

Other areas that aren't as walkable, but within easy driving distance of all the city amenties without hitting the interstates are St. Louis Hills, North and South Hampton, Lindenwood Park, Holly Hills, Clifton Heights, and Dogtown.

[jasontoon]

I'm 33 years old, and I live with my wife and two kids (soon to be three kids) in Tower Grove South, a block west of Grand. We absolutely love it. We're a five-minute walk from my favorite park in town, a dozen different types of restaurant, at least three coffeeshops, the library, the post office, several corner stores, a used bookstore, a great vintage clothing and furniture store, Kinko's, our neighborhood auto mechanic, a huge ethnic grocery, and several great bars. There are also at least three large supermarkets within a few minutes' drive. And if you're up for a somewhat longer hike across the park, we've got one of the best botanical gardens in the world nearby.

The city school issue is tricky - if your kids can get into good magnet schools, you've got no worries with public schools (I'm a product of the public magnet schools myself). We were very happy with our daughter's public school, although she wound up in a Catholic school eventually through a complicated family situation. I'm a mild skeptic about charter schools, but I've heard some very good things about a couple of new ones.

Other than that one quandary, I completely love the energy, vitality, and walkability of living in Tower Grove South. If you can afford it (and you can still find reasonably affordable places, if you look hard enough), it's a very comfortable yet urban place to live.

[jasontoon]

I'll add that I also really like many of the other neighborhoods mentioned by TGS like the Hill, Dogtown, Clifton Heights, and South Hampton. I'd say they're a little more tranquil/less hopping than Tower Grove South, so it just depends on what you're looking for.

My wife and I, after renting in Tower Grove South for eight years, are looking to buy sometime next year, and we're looking in all of those areas.

Oh, and...you pretty much never need to use an interstate within the city. Even for long jaunts into the suburbs, there's almost always a surface-street option.

[KathrynDoucet]

To answer previous poster questions: He would be working in Creve Coeur. As far as price range is concerned...that is still a big question mark. I'm sure we will have to sell our house here before anyone would give us another mortgage so we will probably have to rent for the first 6 months or maybe a year. I think we could afford up to $1000 in rent maybe more.

Glad to hear about not needing to use the interstate...I know not liking to drive on it is pretty quirky, but that's just me.

A few more questions if anyone has a moment to ask. What company services electric there? Does the same company do gas? What company is the leading telecom service?

[CellarBelle]

Kathryn - do check out Edwardsville, Illinois. We are an Illinois bedroom community to St. Louis. You would be able to grocery shop and run errands within Edwardsville without having to do Interstate driving. We do not have a mall, but you can get to St. Clair Square in Fairview Heights (a good-sized mall with nice shops), via 159 which is not Interstate. That takes about 25 to 35 minutes depending on traffic.

Also, there are a lot of stay-at-home moms in the community, and there are some great Mom's groups to get involved with.

Good Luck!

Originally Posted by KathrynDoucet

My husband has a job offer in STL. We are a young family, he is 32, I am 25 and our baby is 2 months old. He is willing to drive up to an hour to get to work. We are looking for a place to live where we could walk to a coffee shop or to dinner. We don't expect to be able to walk everywhere...I don't think that would be a reasonable expectation in STL.

I am a stay at home mom and we are more concerned with me not having to drive very far to do "mom" things like grocery shop and eventually take our daughter to school when the time comes. I have a thing about having to drive on interstates very much because of a bad wreck a few years ago so we are looking for an "urbany" area.

Any help or suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks!!

[TGS]

Originally Posted by CellarBelle

Kathryn - do check out Edwardsville, Illinois. We are an Illinois bedroom community to St. Louis. You would be able to grocery shop and run errands within Edwardsville without having to do Interstate driving. We do not have a mall, but you can get to St. Clair Square in Fairview Heights (a good-sized mall with nice shops), via 159 which is not Interstate. That takes about 25 to 35 minutes depending on traffic.

Also, there are a lot of stay-at-home moms in the community, and there are some great Mom's groups to get involved with.

Good Luck!

Edwardsville is a great town. However, if you ever plan on taking your kids to the Zoo, City Museum, etc., then living on the Illinois side of the metro area will mean that it will be very difficult to get there without getting on the interstate. Almost all of the bridges crossing the rivers are interstates or very busy highways.

[aragx6]

True true.