st louis vs chesterfield (St. Louis, University City: crime, house, neighborhoods)

[neng100]

I will be moving from the east coast to St. Louis - the job will be in Chesterfield. I would love to live in the city (inspite of the commute) but worry about safety for my freshman child who would have to use the metro solo to get to private school and back. I see the city's rankings as most dangerous city - is this deserved? The burbs are not for us - but should i seriously forget about living in SL city?

[stlcitygirl]

I know several people that are raising children in the city. The dangerous areas are confined to pockets in certain neighborhoods. Those are not hard to spot and of course you can inquire on this board. Chesterfield is nice, but far away from the action and is just a typical suburb. I would suggest you check out some of the inner burbs (Brentwood, University City, Richmond Heights, Maplewood or Clayton. These areas are right over the city line and close to everything. They tend to have a more urban feel and they are all on the metrolink line, I would try to find a house close to a stop for your child.
The most dangerous city is highly askew and can be confusing. St Louis city and county are divided, when they stats are gathered, they are only gathered from the very small city limits. If they counted the entire metro area, like every other city, we wouldnt even break the top 50.

[SouthCityFriend]

My husband works out of an office in Chesterfield and commutes from our home in south city STL. We love it here! We moved from Oklahoma City 2 years ago and knew that even though his office was in Chesterfield we did not want to live there. I can not speak as to what is it like to have children in the city, as we are yet to have any, but despite growing up in a very safe Dallas suburb, I never feel unsafe or threatened here. There are certainly areas I don't visit and areas I visit only during the day or with my husband but have had zero experiences with crime. (closest we have come is our pumpkins walked away this fall from the front of our house) We have ridden the Metro on several occasions and have had no problems there either, although I would think twice before sending a young student on it alone. Maybe someone else can speak from experience on that question.

Continue to consider city living! You will certainly find people here you have something in common with!

[billiken]

Quite honestly, if the burbs are not for you, you'll likely hate Chesterfield. There are some suburb options that don't feel nearly so suburban.

The city rankings in terms of crime are somewhat interesting, because where we stand in comparison to other areas depends greatly on the boundaries used to define St Louis. I think I've read that the St Louis Metropolitan Area as a whole isn't even close to being ranked as the most dangerous. So, forget about the rankings, and know this: there are some dangerous areas of St Louis, but there are plenty of nice areas as well, and everything in between.

I've seen students of all ages on the MetroLink before--they stand out with their uniforms. I think it depends where your student is going to school.

In terms of commute, St Louis rush hours aren't nearly as bad as other cities, and you'd be doing a reverse commute anyways. Traffic isn't a huge problem here.

[neng100]

Thanks all - that was very helpful. Could anyone tell me what commmute time to Chesterfield is during morning rush hour - say 7.30am?

[hhillstl]

30-45 minutes depending on where in the city you are coming from and where in Chesterfield you're headed. It's certainly better now that I-64 (usually referred to as Hwy 40) is finished.

And I agree with the posters above - if you don't particularly like suburbs, you won't like Chesterfield. It is pretty much summed up by this postcard I saw in a little grocery store called "local harvest" in the city. It's a picture of an enormous parking lot, asphalt stretching out in all directions with no color except for some parking stripes and industrial-looking parking lot lights. The caption just said "Welcome to Chesterfield."

[billiken]

I think Chesterfield's biggest claim to fame is Chesterfield Commons--the largest continuous strip mall in the country, or something. Best part: it's on a giant flood plain. It kills me.

[neng100]

Originally Posted by hhillstl

30-45 minutes depending on where in the city you are coming from and where in Chesterfield you're headed. It's certainly better now that I-64 (usually referred to as Hwy 40) is finished.

And I agree with the posters above - if you don't particularly like suburbs, you won't like Chesterfield. It is pretty much summed up by this postcard I saw in a little grocery store called "local harvest" in the city. It's a picture of an enormous parking lot, asphalt stretching out in all directions with no color except for some parking stripes and industrial-looking parking lot lights. The caption just said "Welcome to Chesterfield."

Right - the burbs would be rough on us - if we pick the sl city option (probably near the Barnes metro stop) then the school would probably be in the Dabeliviere neighborhood - its a bit of a walk from the metro stop to the school - at Delmar st. the neighborhood along the walk looked a little lonely...difficult to judge safety.

[Azalea City Man]

When you say the fresman kid will be taking the metro to a private school, what do you mean? Do you mean the train? A series of buses? Both? If buses, what areas? If the train, what stops? That would greatly help out with an answer on whether the metro would be safe for him or her or not.

If you can get in CWE or South City (or whatever area near Highway 64), the commute is a straight shot down the highway. I'd say 25-30 min from Kingshighway/64? Better yet, might want to look into Richmond Heights or Brentwood. Very easy access to 64 and closer to Chesterfield ... yet still close to STL city.

[ktCakes]

Yes, what school? That makes a bit of a difference. You could be talking an hour bus trip with multiple changes. Plus, most kids carpool to high school. It's what I did and my son did for a couple of years.

We live in the city and happily raise our children here. There is so much for them to experience, so close by.