Relocation to St. Joseph

[StJoeFanatic]

Originally Posted by RCL

Can any of the people from St. Joseph please elaborate a bit, are there any areas of St. Joseph to avoid?

Very few... and those few are in a state of change at this point, so I would say that in a few years, even those "iffy" neighborhoods will be just fine. (an area called Midtown--however, they are trying to revitalize and have a Weed & Seed program in place as we speak to try to clean it up)

Truthfully, when I moved to St. Joseph 12 years ago, I was single and all alone. I ended up finding a small "inexpensive" apartment in what turned out to be quote "The most crime ridden, worst place in St. Joseph" I was told by new co-workers who thought I should move immediately. (Keep in mind that I grew up in a TINY town, with no one but caucasions and lots of churches. I was very sheltered.) I never really saw anything other than folks "hanging out" I am sure there was some bad stuff going on (drinking, drugs, guns, etc) but I certainly never saw it. I would have never lived there for 1.5 years before moving on to a different neighborhood if I had.

I hope that answers your questions... if you have any more, please let me know!

[christina0001]

Thanks, StJoeFanatic, for answering my question. I had a hunch that the population statistic might be misleading.

[RCL]

Originally Posted by StJoeFanatic

Very few... and those few are in a state of change at this point, so I would say that in a few years, even those "iffy" neighborhoods will be just fine. (an area called Midtown--however, they are trying to revitalize and have a Weed & Seed program in place as we speak to try to clean it up)

Truthfully, when I moved to St. Joseph 12 years ago, I was single and all alone. I ended up finding a small "inexpensive" apartment in what turned out to be quote "The most crime ridden, worst place in St. Joseph" I was told by new co-workers who thought I should move immediately. (Keep in mind that I grew up in a TINY town, with no one but caucasions and lots of churches. I was very sheltered.) I never really saw anything other than folks "hanging out" I am sure there was some bad stuff going on (drinking, drugs, guns, etc) but I certainly never saw it. I would have never lived there for 1.5 years before moving on to a different neighborhood if I had.

I hope that answers your questions... if you have any more, please let me know!

That's a big help, thank you! I just sent you a PM so please let me know if you don't get it. Thank you again for all your time and help here on the forum, it is greatly appreciated!

[tdgrinstead]

Hello everyone,

This is my first post. I am going to St. Joseph at the end of September (28th to the 4th). I am going to scout out the area. My Wife, 13 y.o. daughter and I will move to the K.C or St.JoMO area within the year from Orange County California. If you have ever been to Disneyland in Califoirnia, then you hvae been a block from my house. Any way, we need OUT. I will be staying and K.C and have rented a car so I will be driving around looking a howes, towns etc. What should I make sure to see while I am in town? My hobby is photography (website removed) and I think that I need to be blown away with the beauty of the place to get me to give up on the SoCal beaches that are about 15 min from my current home.

[2beamissourian]

endagered propertys what a awesome idea!!!

I bet that keeps value up! and the eye sore down!

what are property taxes like there?
Schools?
daycares?
I just posted Im thinking of this area as well.......... I have ahome daycare now but am thinking I might go all out with a move..and open a larger scale childcare / preschool. not sure just thinking!

My hubby works in auto parts (mgmt) and would have to find a job ..our farm is ENDANGERED TO A DARN HIGHWAY!

[Thrillcekr]

I've never lived in St. Joseph but I have many friends there and I've visited a million times. I used to be a corrections officer at a maximum security prison in Missouri and I can tell you that, although it's not even close to being the worst place in the world, there are some hoodlems in that town and they do tend to come from the same areas of the city. Anyplace around Messanie is a breeding ground for turds pretty much.

Overall though, you really can't go wrong there. Like I said, there are a couple of shady areas there but about 95% of the place is livable. The north side of the city seems to be the best though. There are some new subdivisions on the far south side as well.

I personally like the place. I like cities that are a bit bigger so I stay down here in KC but I don't think I'd mind St. Joseph. Plenty there for a town its size and it's only a half hour drive to the northern part of KC.

As for the cheap real estate, it's not cheap because it's a real rough neck of the woods or anything. St. Joseph is a city that was built on manufacturing much like what you find in the rust belt out east. When all of those jobs started getting shipped overseas St. Joseph really got hit hard and never has completely bounced back. There aren't an abundance of good paying jobs there so the housing is super cheap. It's really become somewhat of a bedroom community. Many people up there commute down here for work and offset the cost of it by ridesharing.