Moving to Ste. Genevieve Area (St. Louis, Perryville: houses, neighborhood, buy)

[skellyporter]

Hello all,
My husband and I are relocating to the Ste. Genevieve area within the next 6 months. Any advice on areas to live, stay away from etc. I am an R.N. with a job in place, as is my husband. Any info would be greatly appreciated!

[Sadie85]

Ste. Gen isn't really an area that has things to "stay away from". The most fun that goes on there is a little cow tipping....

[ShadowCaver]

Have you glanced at the info from these sites?
SE MO Regional Planning
Ste. Genevieve Herald
Ste. Genevieve Chamber of Commerce
Sainte Genevieve MO, a Historic French Colonial Village, Oldest community West of the Mississippi
Welcome to the Official Ste. Genevieve, Missouri Homepage
Visitor's Guide to Local Attractions in Sainte Genevieve, Missouri
Ste. Genevieve County Sheriff's Department - you might consider calling them for info/input too...

Sorry don't have specific info for you, regarding what, where, etc. Do yas prefer city [ok, small, quite small town, ~4.5k people] living, old farm house, etc.? One cool thing, besides being such a historic area, is that only ~1 hour from StL [if such is an attraction to yas]. Good luck!

[stegennative]

Well, nothing obvious.

Unfortunately, the Ste Gen County area has been booming with meth labs. Not good. BUT, the local Sheriff and Police Depts are great. The number of busts has been decreasing for several years, and not because they are slacking--the number of labs is decreasing. They're too good at it. Go figger...in Ste Genevieve???

It's a sleepy little town in many ways, lots of REAL history (houses as old as 1770), and as you know already, a surprisingly good medical support structure. The hospital has many specialists who are on a circuit, but are in SG at least a couple times a week.

Housing there is reasonable, you do get what you pay for. Food is a bit on the expensive side, with only 2 real groceries in town, but you HAVE to get Callier's meats. Nothing else in the WORLD like theirs! Gasoline, sometimes more expensive than St Louis (wintertime, especially), but sometimes cheaper.

2 schools, one public one Catholic, both pretty good (but Valle, the Catholic school, is a victim of rising costs and declining enrollment. It's better now than 20 years ago.)

The town band plays a weekly concert summer evenings downtown, at the Valle Desert. Unique, quaint, fun.

You want outdoors things? Hawn State Park is widely known for wonderful hiking and camping, among the best in MO and the Midwest. Pickle Springs is another great hike.

You can let your kids ride bikes in Ste Gen with little concern. Not a lot for kids to do anymore, but they'll find something.

Good restaurants, if not comparable to bigger cities. The normal fast food staples pretty much, no Taco Bell though...but a better semi-fast joint in the former TB building. Several local restaurants are better, mostly downtown.

Shopping is the sore spot. Only a couple of groceries, as I said, and only a couple of department-type stores. Closest Wal Mart is in Perryville, 20 miles roughly. Lots of gift/antique shops for tourists.

Lots of mainline churches, no Jewish or Muslim presence to speak of.

Lots of bars...not as many as 25 years ago though. Definite improvement there.

Local color is the amazing thing. It's a great little town. I"ve been gone for almost 30 years, but stay in touch as you can tell. Enjoy!!!

[skellyporter]

Thanks Everyone for your feedback! It looks like we will be moving futher north than Ste. Genevieve. My husband will be working there but we are looking closer to St. Louis.....Any suggestions on cities? Thanks.....

[sheltie]

Just stumbled on this post and saw my hometown listed and just had to read what others had to say. I have lived in Ste. Genevieve for my 43 years and also work here. After college, my husband and I wanted to raise our children where we grew up. It is a great place to raise a family. My parents also loved spending their "retirement" years here. Much of the other posts have inaccurate information for you - we really only have one big grocery store, the cost of the Catholic school is not rising (compared to others) and the enrollment of families is increasing, although the number of children has remained the same in the past few years. Both schools are very good if you have children. You may want to come for a visit and see what we have to offer. If you are not interested in living in town, there is a beautiful community in the county for many of the city commuters who want to live in the country: Lake Forest Estates.
It just depends on the need of the family-we want security and familiarity. Stores and malls are close enough. We do not miss the traffic, sirens, and most often do not lock our doors. There is plenty that goes on that is good; people just say "cow tipping" because there are many farms and yes drugs are everywhere. We are just bringing the problem forward and have a zero tolerance for it.
Hope to see you in town for a visit.

[kshe95girl]

my hometown, man, do I miss it! It has none of the problems that living here in Fl has....... cant wait til I can buy some property there and move back home........ and how funny is it that 3 posters from SG have already posted?

[kshe95girl]

Originally Posted by ShadowCaver

Have you glanced at the info from these sites?
SE MO Regional Planning
Ste. Genevieve Herald
Ste. Genevieve Chamber of Commerce
Sainte Genevieve MO, a Historic French Colonial Village, Oldest community West of the Mississippi
Welcome to the Official Ste. Genevieve, Missouri Homepage
Visitor's Guide to Local Attractions in Sainte Genevieve, Missouri
Ste. Genevieve County Sheriff's Department - you might consider calling them for info/input too...

Sorry don't have specific info for you, regarding what, where, etc. Do yas prefer city [ok, small, quite small town, ~4.5k people] living, old farm house, etc.? One cool thing, besides being such a historic area, is that only ~1 hour from StL [if such is an attraction to yas]. Good luck!

Good info there, Shadowcaver! SG is such a beautiful town, proud to call it my hometown.

[kshe95girl]

Hey, whoever left me a rep point(thanks, btw)..... our address was 38 Oakwood, what was yours?

[sheltie]

Yes, same neighborhood. Brookdale.
Does your first name begin with a "G" or "F"?