bad neighborhoods in St. Joseph, mo (Belton, Benton: low income, rentals, homes)

[St. Joe Ken]

I don't go in much for local politics.

I like Joe Town for other reasons. Hyde Park, Kug Park, The Parkway system and the downtown entertainment. Ok, lets face it, the downtown bars . (Downtown is not to be mistaken for Midtown)

I was born and raised in St. Joseph. I relocated to Minneapolis for two and a half years. I could'nt wait to save up enough money to move back.

I can't go anywhere on a friday or saturday without running into classmates and good friends, and no, not just at the bars.

[GraniteStater]

Originally Posted by St. Joe Ken

I don't go in much for local politics.

I like Joe Town for other reasons. Hyde Park, Kug Park, The Parkway system and the downtown entertainment. Ok, lets face it, the downtown bars . (Downtown is not to be mistaken for Midtown)

I was born and raised in St. Joseph. I relocated to Minneapolis for two and a half years. I could'nt wait to save up enough money to move back.

I can't go anywhere on a friday or saturday without running into classmates and good friends, and no, not just at the bars.

Why didn't you like the Minneapolis metro? I have heard some good things about that area. The Upper Midwest is MUCH different compared with the Lower Midwest in my personal opinion.

[northbayeric]

That's a very interesting question, as my wife and I want to move to St. Joe, and we have relatives on her side of the family that moved to Chaska, MN (southwest Twin Cities outskirts) a little over a year ago when our one brother-in-law got a job reassignment. Generally they seem to like it up there, including the colder weather, but don't like the congested freeways closer to the downtowns. I've never been up to Minneapolis. The Mall of America must be an incredible edifice.

[GraniteStater]

Originally Posted by northbayeric

That's a very interesting question, as my wife and I want to move to St. Joe, and we have relatives on her side of the family that moved to Chaska, MN (southwest Twin Cities outskirts) a little over a year ago when our one brother-in-law got a job reassignment. Generally they seem to like it up there, including the colder weather, but don't like the congested freeways closer to the downtowns. I've never been up to Minneapolis. The Mall of America must be an incredible edifice.

I have traveled through Minneapolis before, but I usually visit Minnesota to do some ice fishing with some people I know.

[northbayeric]

At some point once we get settled in St. Joe, and we get the chance to head up to Chaska to visit our relatives, we'll have to try to continue north to Bemidji. Probably during the summer! My brother has gone ice fishing before with a few of our other relatives who live way up there. Ever been ice fishing in Bemidji? That's where the ice belongs! Not on Faraon Street or Frederick Avenue or Noyes Blvd. in St. Joseph!

[mjb62676]

Originally Posted by St. Joe Ken

I don't go in much for local politics.

I like Joe Town for other reasons. Hyde Park, Kug Park, The Parkway system and the downtown entertainment. Ok, lets face it, the downtown bars . (Downtown is not to be mistaken for Midtown)

I was born and raised in St. Joseph. I relocated to Minneapolis for two and a half years. I could'nt wait to save up enough money to move back.

I can't go anywhere on a friday or saturday without running into classmates and good friends, and no, not just at the bars.

This is in line with my experiences in St. Joe. The natives love it, and love each other.

[mamagirl55]

Some of the post's on here are not telling you folk's the whole truth about St.Joe.I was born and raised here.Between 10th & 22nd street from Olive to Edmond is one of the biggest drug areas in St.Joe.People get mugged,women get raped,people are shot at and shot.During the summer Messanie street between 22nd and 13th is not safe to walk down in the summer.Very unsafe if you are white and a female.There's a lot of history here,but there are some unsafe area's.

[carlym]

Thanks Mamagirl55..That's the way my st. joe daughter sees it also.

[NWGuy74]

St. Joe reminds me of something I just left in the toilet. It stinks and I was glad to have it out of me. The superintendent of schools is a bobble head that will surely lead the school system further down the toilet I just left. I grew up around St. Joe and still live in the area and it is a joke. The north shopping area is a much needed improvement and is nice, but the town has a lot of idiocy to overcome. I'd move to northern KC area instead. You still get a good dose of white trash, but not as much as you find in St. Joe. If you move to St. Joe, make sure to get you a pair of overalls for your fine Sunday clothes.

Also, as far as the people being nice - don't buy into that bs. People in St. Joe, KC, etc... are buying into the theory of "them there people is out to get me!" Basically, St. Joe and KC are in the shape they are in today due to St. Louis weighted state legislature and the southern and western part of the state getting a majority of education and improvement dollars. People in the south part of the state complain about not getting enough money, but they get two to three times per student compared to our area. It is almost to the point of "if you can't be 'em, join 'em."

As you can tell by now, I am a disgruntled NWMO resident. I want St. Joe to be a nice place, but it isn't. I want KC to be a nice place, but it isn't yet. Development does not change people as some (including myself) used to think. It is all about me me me and I am about to have enough. If you are a young couple starting a family, find another area.

[ShellyT]

I have to agree with Mamagirl and NWGuy74.

I lived in St. Joe for about 10 years and my husband lived there for 32 years. I have family still there including my mother, brother, mother in law, aunts, etc.

We moved to Liberty MO about 2 years ago and it was the best thing we ever did. We LOVE the area so much more. St. Joe just seems so trashy to me. And there IS crime. Now not as bad as Los Angeles (where I was born and raised) but there is crime and it just seems like not many people care what they live in. I know there are many parts of the town that are poor but you can be poor and still pick up the trash from your yard and clean your house.

Anyhow, I guess it really just depends on what you are looking for and what your family situation is. The schools are ok, not great. My poor kids were so far behind when we moved to Liberty and one of my kids was in St. Joe's rainbow program (gifted program) and was still behind on Liberty's regular school curriculum.

I know they added the nice big shopping center there and that is great but it didn't make all the bad areas go away.

Anyhow, that's my input!

PS. One thing I wanted to add that I forgot. In St. Joe, you can have this really nice looking house and then right next door is a trashy house and then a nice one and then a trashy one, etc. It seems like you can be in a nice area and then drive down the road just a bit and you are in a bad area. That's one thing I noticed about it right away when I moved there. Where in CA where I am from, you have your good areas (and it's all good) and you have your bad areas. They are not mixed like St. Joe is. We lived in the Deerpark area when we were there. Our house was nice, always kept clean outside but looking across the street you would think you were in the ghetto by the way the people kept their house and it was like that all through the area.