St Charles vs Soulard (St. Louis, St. Charles: salons, rentals, sex offenders)

[dzial67]

Hi

We are currently living in England and planning to move to the USA around November. I am English and my wife is American (Chicago/Lakes).

My wife works as an Office Manager in a Dental Practice and we would need somewhere where there are enough dentists to give her the opportunity to get work quickly as she will be the principle earner. I don't anticipate finding anything in my field and would be looking for anything with reasonable pay, hopefully using my brain rather than brawn.

We would be looking to rent initially and then find something small at around $200K - we dont want to have a mortgage. We dont have kids, so 1 or 2 beds are okay though we would like some space and particularly some outdoor space.

We prefer a safe 'town' environment in the sense that we like lots to do and hope to be somewhere where we dont have to drive everywhere. We like eating, drinking and sociallising. My wife is an excellent singer and we would like somewhere that has live music in bars etc.

We've been looking at St Charles for a while and generally it seems to be the right kind of place for us. However I'm a bit worried about having enough work opportunities there and getting into St Louis to enjoy the city is difficult without driving.

I saw someone recommend Soulard on here and it seems to have more to offer for us. I appreciate that it is suburbia vs urban but I think that Soulard urban is less intense considering its proximity to downtown than it might be in other cities.

Comments would be appreciated.

[stlcitygirl]

Soulard and St Charles are VERY different. Here are some descriptions:
Soulard is one of my favorite neighborhoods in St Louis. It's extremely walkable and has everything you want in a neighborhood: Dentist, Farmers Market, Grocery Store, Pet Stores, Salons, Bars, Restaurants, etc. Most of the houses are beautiful red brick and there are a lot of rentals. It's really close to downtown, I have friends that bike to work from Soulard. Once a year Soulard hosts the second largest Mardi Gras in the USA, which is a blast. They also have a pretty great Octoberfest celebration. Soulard is very urban and if you are a city dweller, you will love it. If your wife loves live music, this is the place to be. Here are a couple websites to check out:
Soulard neighborhood historic district, St. Louis, MO
Historic Soulard

St Charles is a suburb of St Louis. What makes it unique is it's Main Street area. The streets are brick and there are alot of neat little shops, restaurants and bars. Depending on where you live, its about 30-45 minutes from Downtown St Louis. If you are looking for a suburban area this may be for you. There is a neighborhood in St Charles called New Town that you might want to check out.

Just an addition, coming from England, you will want to check out the London Tea Room downtown, http://www.thelondontearoom.com/.

[Marksman84]

Originally Posted by stlcitygirl

Soulard and St Charles are VERY different. Here are some descriptions:
Soulard is one of my favorite neighborhoods in St Louis. It's extremely walkable and has everything you want in a neighborhood: Dentist, Farmers Market, Grocery Store, Pet Stores, Salons, Bars, Restaurants, etc. Most of the houses are beautiful red brick and there are a lot of rentals. It's really close to downtown, I have friends that bike to work from Soulard. Once a year Soulard hosts the second largest Mardi Gras in the USA, which is a blast. They also have a pretty great Octoberfest celebration. Soulard is very urban and if you are a city dweller, you will love it. If your wife loves live music, this is the place to be. Here are a couple websites to check out:
Soulard neighborhood historic district, St. Louis, MO
Historic Soulard

St Charles is a suburb of St Louis. What makes it unique is it's Main Street area. The streets are brick and there are alot of neat little shops, restaurants and bars. Depending on where you live, its about 30-45 minutes from Downtown St Louis. If you are looking for a suburban area this may be for you. There is a neighborhood in St Charles called New Town that you might want to check out.

Just an addition, coming from England, you will want to check out the London Tea Room downtown, http://www.thelondontearoom.com/.

Well put, with a caveat:

New Town St. Charles is very nice - it resembles a neat movie set - but the housing is quite expensive.

Soulard definitely wins for the better Pub Crawl

[dzial67]

Is there anyone currently living in or very near to Soulard who could give us some advice?

[Azalea City Man]

Originally Posted by dzial67

We've been looking at St Charles for a while and generally it seems to be the right kind of place for us. However I'm a bit worried about having enough work opportunities there and getting into St Louis to enjoy the city is difficult without driving.

I don't know. You could swim across the river and then walk for 3 days.

Do you plan on visiting the STL area first? Out of curiosity, what drives you guys to move from England to STL with no guarunteed jobs? Congrats of your plans though. Personally, I would chose Soulard ... but I prefer urban areas. St. Charles would definitely be a bit safer, but Soulard is not unsafe by any means.

[dzial67]

Originally Posted by oscottscotto

I don't know. You could swim across the river and then walk for 3 days.

Do you plan on visiting the STL area first? Out of curiosity, what drives you guys to move from England to STL with no guarunteed jobs? Congrats of your plans though. Personally, I would chose Soulard ... but I prefer urban areas. St. Charles would definitely be a bit safer, but Soulard is not unsafe by any means.

I'd rather stay OT if possible but to answer a couple of questions. We have family in MO, have travelled through STL, STL has been recommended to us and our research (seemingly endless research but it is a big decision) makes it one of the top contenders.

Why leave England - not enough time and space to explain but nothing sinister - just one of those life choices.

Gauranteed Jobs - do you get those anymore! The opportunites for my wife to get a job are reasonably good - worth taking the risk- but she wouldn't get a USA job offer while she is still in England - needs to be over there with an address, telephone number etc etc.

[dzial67]

I should also say thank you to all the posters - Thank you!

[AJohnston_STL]

dzial67 - as far as "getting into St Louis to enjoy the city is difficult without driving." It's actually closer to impossible. You could take a bus, but I'd imagine a trip from St Charles to anywhere in the city would be at minimum an hour, but I'm guessing an hour and a half.

Soulard and St. Charles, it's actually kind of funny to even compare the two

St. Charles does have "main street," but other than that, it's typical suburbia. Strip malls, mile after magnificent mile of surface parking lots, big box retail, etc. If you don't mind the suburbs, I don't see a problem with St. Charles personally - but, if access to the city is important, then I'd think you wouldn't want to be there.

Soulard - very urban, restaurants and bars everywhere, active night life. Plus you have the added benefit of the Soulard Farmer's Market open year-round Wed-Sat (very large farmer's market mix of indoor/outdoor), and from Soulard, Downtown is an easy bike ride away.

Since you don't have kids now but plan on them, the school system won't be a problem for at least 4-5 years, so I'd suggest Soulard for now - there are other great neighborhoods in the city, like Dogtown, Central West End, etc. CWE is quite expensive, in my opinion, depending on where you live now. If your wife knows anything about the rent in Chicago, the most expensive neighborhood in St Louis is *probably* (I don't know for fact) cheaper than one of the cheaper neighborhoods in Chicago.

Also, there are plenty of suburbs that are closer to the city that are going to be just as good as St. Charles - Maryland Heights, Creve Coeur, etc. Once 64 re-opens the trip from Creve Coeur to St Louis city will probably be about 15-20 minutes.

[ahgilmore]

I grew up in St. Charles and it is a perfect place to raise a family. However; the culture in the area is definitely lacking. Main Street in St. Charles has a similar feel to Soulard. Although it should be noted that the crime in that particular area is not the greatest. The closer you live to the casino and main street, the closer you are to an area of town where the convicted sex offenders live. This is due in part to location. There are no schools in close proximity. You will be driving everywhere in St. Charles. Cabs are few and far between and the metro-link does not go out that far.

I have lived in Soulard for 4 years now. It has tons of culture and a small town feel. It is a bar town; however Soulard is home to people of all ages who partake in all of the annual festivities. The neighborhood association is visibly active in this neighborhood and being a single woman, I like the fact that my neighbors know me and look out for me. I will point out that if you plan on moving to Soulard; please note that your car may be broken into at some point and always walk or run with 2 people when it gets late. Location is great for finding employment in the area. There is easy access to HWY 55/70, 40/64, and 44. Also, there are several amazing listings for all brick homes that have been renovated for around $200,000.

[STLgasm]

One distinction must be made as well-- Soulard, St. Louis City and the inner-ring suburbs (University City, Clayton, Maplewood, Richmond Heights, etc) are generally very liberal and diverse. St. Charles is MUCH MUCH MUCH more conservative socially and politically. If you're coming from the UK and Chicago, my hunch is that you should stick to the City of St. Louis or the inner-ring suburbs. There are many great neighborhoods that fit what you're looking for, so don't limit yourself to Soulard (although Soulard is FANTASTIC).