St. Louis Nesties
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Possibly moving to St Louis & need advice.....

My DH may be being transfered with his company soon to St Louis...... We haven't a clue about what the best areas are to live in really & just looking for a little input from those of you who know St Louis....

We have a 11 month old son & we're both in our mid-late 20's.  We really like the idea of renting a loft for a year or so until we get to know the whole area better & purchase a home.  Anyways, we've kind of been looking into renting a loft downtown, in Soulard, Holly Hill, and Dogtown........... But we're just not sure if those places would actually be okay (read: safe) with a kid........ Suggestions? 

Thank you for any input!!

Re: Possibly moving to St Louis & need advice.....

  • With a young kid like that, you're in good shape in those areas. 

    Under no circumstances, though, will you want to send the kid to STL city public schools.  So you'll either have to go private or move when the kid is old enough for school.

    And honestly, our "where you should live" recommendation will have a lot to do with where you & your DH will be working.  STL is in the middle of a MAJOR highway construction project, and traffic is kindof a biitch these days. 

    Where are you moving from? STL can be quite the culture shock for those accustomed to real metropolitan living.

    image
  • We'll be moving from (boring!) Oklahoma..... but I'm from Cincinnati originally.

    DH will be working in Clayton & I'm a stay at home mom, but also a photographer, but I shoot on-location so that's not an issue for me.

    Thanks!

  • Hello!   St. Louis is a great place to live, there are alot of kid friendly/family friendly activities as well as activities for adults to go out and enjoy themselves as well.  I think your idea of renting for a year is a great idea before buying, especially in the STL area! 

    Few things to keep in mind:  HWY 40/64 is currently shut down and will continue to be shut down for almost two yeras.  http://www.thenewi64.org/ is a great resource to see the project there are maps and such. St. Louis is not a "typical" city. We are very spread out into "smaller" cities only to be encompased by the St. Louis "metro" area. Like Danielle just said, i'd recommend finding where your DH will be working, decide the "furthest" distance from there and start looking in those areas.    The areas you mentioned are fine for renting for a year....except  I wouldn't rent downtown..., (maybe in the city somewhere but not downtown) but that's just my opinion.

    Good luck!

  • St. Louis is a great place to live!! And there are tons and tons of activities for you to do with your son if you are going to be staying at home with him.

    Also, the city schools suck in St. Louis, so if you do buy in the city, you want to keep that in mind for the future.
  • We rented in University City from the Villages of Wyncrest. I really liked the apartment and they were big enough for 2-3 people. U City is close to Clayton and pretty much centrally located - there's TONS of culture in the area.

    Good luck!
    Baby Birthday Ticker Ticker
  • I just wanted to add that if your DH is going to be working in Clayton, then i'd live close to there in the city somewhere.  Traffic is a biitch to Clayton right now from the county (i can attest), but agree with all of the above, don't send your child to the city schools.  I don't have a lot of experience with recommending areas in the city to live, but i just wanted to throw in there that living close to Clayton would be best, for your sanity! :-)

    St. louis is a great city! Welcome!

    ****My boys....****
    image
  • University City is another option that is close to Clayton.  There are some nice condos and apartments for rent in the area.  Good Luck and welcome to the area!

  • Dogtown is by far the closest to Clayton.  Holly Hills is a great neighborhood, but it's pretty far south, and getting to Clayton with the Highway 64/40 construction from Holly Hills would probably be difficult.  Right now, 64/40 is shut down from I-170 to Ballas.  Getting to Clayton from downtown or Soulard isn't bad right now because you can take 40/64 to Hanley.  However, within the year, they will be shutting down 40/64 from I-170 to Kingshighway, which will make that commute difficult.

    You can do Dogtown-Clayton without any highway driving.  You could also do downtown-Clayton on the Metrolink (public transportation), which wouldn't be too difficult.  A few pp have mentioned University City, which is a good option (very family friendly, but still "hip.").  You might also want to check out the Central West End, which should be pretty accessible to Clayton via the Forest Park Parkway.  Lots of good places to rent there, and it's a really cool area.

    Good luck!

  • I live in Clifton Heights and work in Clayton. It takes me about 10 minutes to get to work. It's pretty safe and there are a ton of young families that live in the area.

    http://stlouis.missouri.org/cliftonheights/

    There aren't really any lofts, but if you're looking for a cute little house to rent, it's a nice area to live. St. Louis Hills is a very good area too.
  • Probably too late, but DH and I are thinking of buying a house and then renting out our awesome loft. It's in Benton Park (next to Soulard) on Sidney Street. It's 2 bed, 2 bath, 1700 square feet, two floor - perfect really! Let me know if you want more info. I tend to check the Chicago nest board more often because I'm from there originally.
  • Faye,

    My husband and I moved to St. Louis from Oklahoma about 4 years ago and I love it here.  I grew up in Oklahoma, but my husband was from here and wanted to come home.  We live in SW City (Lindenwood Park neighborhood) and I worked in Clayton.  With the current traffic shut-downs, my commute to Clayton is wonderful (~15 minutes).  It will probably get worse though when they close the eastern section of the highway.

    P.S. What part of Oklahoma are you moving from?

    *Rachel* Baby Birthday Ticker Ticker
  • ChiBride.... I haven't used the nest in 5 years really so I don't know all the updates, so can I somehow email you on here?  I'd like to hear more about your loft!


    Oh, and we're moving from Tulsa....... Maybe, again, I'm not positive on this move yet.... we should find out something soon though!
  • Faye, You can totally raise a child in the city city. I can't wait to! Sure the public schools are tragic, but it's worth it. PLUS, 3/4 of the county kids goto private schools, so it's a wash! :) I think it all depends on your lifestyle and what you would like to do for fun. Everyone who lives in the county drag their families into the city for games, museums, the zoo, activities, great dining....but the city parents rarely have a reason to head out to the county. I am not saying that to be a snob or anything, my friends live everywhere in STL, and they spend their weekends driving into the city. Housing is tricky. We ended up with 3,000 sq. feet. for the price of a 2000 sq ft home in St. Charles. For us, we wanted more home, less yard and close to the city. We just bought in Fox Park, which is by soulard. LOVE it. We are 2 miles from downtown (if that) and in 2 minutes we can get on ALL of the major highways. My huband also works in Clayton and had not found traffic to be bad heading west to work. We have at least 6 young families in our 2 to 3 block area alone. We've become such great friends! Soulard....is tricky. It depends on what you are looking for. Pubs on every corner, and it does have a reputation for residents having their cars broken into. The other areas, also including : Fox Park, Benton Park, all areas around Soulard are close to the action, huge rehabbed homes, and most neighborhoods are safe. Please let me know if you need a little more help. I'd be happy to give you more information. My pleasure. Sara
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