bad neighborhoods in St. Joseph, mo (Kansas City, St. Louis: rental car, rental, how much)

[TheSaintJoseph]

sorry for the double post

[TheSaintJoseph]

I am really from there, born and raised, let me let you in on a few things about st.joe. I loved Benton High School (south side near hyde park), very diverse bunch of people, weather your into sports, music, or nothing at all. The kids there are different there its like there are no clicks. I guess if there were any geeks there they were on the sports teams. I know thats not the norm but they were not the popular kids. In fact there are no popular kids at Benton everyone is ok w/ another.Now those at Central High School (mid town) which is a larger and a little more unfriendly for some (unless you have money or a strong personality) i have the latter. It is easy to get lost in the mix. The teachers just don't care! really I mean that.
As far as middle schools. I went to Truman and loved it to. It was kind of wild though. I would suggest spring garden or bode. Only because they are less crazy but my kids will only go to Truman.
Now to houses. there are great, good and bad places i know them all ask away. i will need a cross streets though, its kind of pockets of low income not really areas.
Saint joesph is a great place to retire or raise a family! The job industry is a little more touchy i suggest starting your own business.

[rubato]

What type of business would do well in St. Jo? We're discussing moving there and were driving around today trying to figure out the good from the bad neighborhoods. My hubby's grandmother lived at Lafayette and Noyes and he remembers the corner grocery stores. He wants to find some small business in one of these older neighborhoods that could actually support a family of 3.
So, what does this area of town need? I'm thinking rentals are the way to go? What do you think?

Also, we looked at homes from the Belt to 22nd, both north and south of Mitchell. Is there a specific part of this area that's better? We have an elementary aged child and love the green space in St. Jo. Would love to find a house adjacent to a park and within walking distance to a good school.

Thanks for any advice!

[mjb62676]

St. Joe is the last place I would move to start a business unless it's called "Dollar ______" or Wal-Mart, or Olive Garden.

There have been so many good places that failed there due to people hating change...it's not even funny.

Good to see the South Side join the conversation....

I might add that my in-laws though St. Joe would be a great place to retire to, and have changed their minds entirely in just a few short years. They were like a walking advertisement for the town in the time leading up to moving there and just after they moved there (we tried to tell them different), but have seen the light.

[MoNative34]

Originally Posted by mjb62676

St. Joe is the last place I would move to start a business unless it's called "Dollar ______" or Wal-Mart, or Olive Garden.

There have been so many good places that failed there due to people hating change...it's not even funny.

Good to see the South Side join the conversation....

I might add that my in-laws though St. Joe would be a great place to retire to, and have changed their minds entirely in just a few short years. They were like a walking advertisement for the town in the time leading up to moving there and just after they moved there (we tried to tell them different), but have seen the light.

Can you be more specific on the names of the places that failed??

[carlym]

Originally Posted by mjb62676

St. Joe is the last place I would move to start a business unless it's called "Dollar ______" or Wal-Mart, or Olive Garden.

There have been so many good places that failed there due to people hating change...it's not even funny.

Good to see the South Side join the conversation....

I might add that my in-laws though St. Joe would be a great place to retire to, and have changed their minds entirely in just a few short years. They were like a walking advertisement for the town in the time leading up to moving there and just after they moved there (we tried to tell them different), but have seen the light.

What were the reasons they hated to so?

[NWGuy74]

A couple responses to above posts...

"TheSaintJoseph" claims to be from Benton HS and had good experiences. From personal knowledge, the structure of that school will kill any good experience. With the nit-wit Superintendent of St. Joe schools, a confused leadership has emerged with little hope in a closed-minded part of town. In addition, if you look at the sentence structure, spelling, and grammar used from the Benton grad in that post you should be frightened of sending your child to such a poor school. Aside from coaches sleeping with students and poor leadership, Belton is the pits.

To MoNative34 - I agree, I had a hard time thinking of specific examples of businesses that fail. However, I can think of some the town is missing and some that went downhill in a hurry and are just hanging on. I think St. Joseph is swahili for "restaurant poison." Try to find a good restaurant in the town. They are few and far between. I think by now some St. Joe natives reading this post are saying "uh, what about Olive Garden, Famous Dave's BBQ, Cheddars, Barbosas, or Applebees." Well, by GOOD RESTAURANT I do not mean something like these places. Fine dining does not exist. Healthy dining does not exist. St. Joe is full of a bunch of Ryan's and Golden Corral enthusiasts. Restaurants that start out well end poorly or go down the buffet trail. Barbosas is their version of "Mexican." Well, basically, it sucks. Unless you like everything fried and covered in cheese, it sucks. If you go there to eat (one of the trashy locations), be prepared to soak up a bunch of toilet paper with runny stools. Another place in town, Boudreaux's, started excellent - worth a long drive - but now is horrid. Again, the toilet paper comment applies. Don't even get me started on the Hoof and Horn.

People in St. Joe accept mediocracy as excellence and take offense to people with vision and standards. The people are not nice for some reason. St. Joe is kind of like the bitchy ugly girl - as ugly as she is, you think she would be nice. I don't get it.

[rubato]

MJB & NWGuy74,
Do you think a health food restaurant or small grocery would work in St. Jo? I'm a health nut, but figured the town's dynamic didn't call for that. My ideal business would be a small corner grocery that sold local, organic and healthy. But, we're not independantly wealthy and whatever we choose will have to be a financial success.

[aragx6]

I honestly can't think of many places in the country where that type of business would work. Businesses like that that had been around for 50 years plus have failed because of conglomerates such as Wal-mart.

[mjb62676]

Originally Posted by rubato

MJB & NWGuy74,
Do you think a health food restaurant or small grocery would work in St. Jo? I'm a health nut, but figured the town's dynamic didn't call for that. My ideal business would be a small corner grocery that sold local, organic and healthy. But, we're not independantly wealthy and whatever we choose will have to be a financial success.

I'm being 100% honest. St. Joe is not the place to try that...not even close. Like I said, unless it's cheap and fried...it's not likely to succeed.

Now, I used to love Boudreaux's...sorry to hear it went bad. H&H used to be good too.

Businesses that failed? Boston Market is one...Target was in DEEP trouble last I knew...those people LOVE THEIR WAL-MART!!!!!

As for health food, this is pretty much covered by HyVee's organic/health food section...and I imagine that would be VERY hard to compete with.

The only local business I can think of that has see recent success is Hazel's...and I miss that place dearly.

I heard that Chloe and Bernards is closing, or has closed...they were ok.

As for Cheddar's, 54th, etc....those were all welcome additions in my mind...granted, they aren't "fine" dining, but they are better than the options that were there...

36th Street seemed to think a lot of themselves.

For the record, I'm not much on going out for "fine dining"...If I want a gourmet meal, I'll typically fix it myself.

The good news is, KC isn't too far away.