rental place for 600-700 dollars possible in safe neighborhood? (Kansas City: rentals, appliances) - St. Louis - Missouri (MO) - Page 4 - City-Data Forum

kagicre · 09-03-2011, 05:23 PM

Wow, flynavyj, for all your info, that is a great help. I knew about East St. Louis, IL and North St. Louis to avoid them, but there are so many neighborhoods I have no idea about and you don't find to much (or I haven't found it) about others as CWE, University City and Soulard.
I think urban is what I think is right for us, but if we would find something suburban or country that doesn't have more than 30 min. commute we would be fine too. My husband would love to have some chickens and so would our dog LOL. I love eggs LOL.
What is important for me that I can do most of my errands by bike, also going to the dog park with a bike ride not more than 15-20 min. would be great. The organization Stray Rescue I want to volunteer for is 2320 Pine St., St. Louis, so if I can go there by public transportation or on my bike, that would be fantastic. We only have one car and I like to ride my bike together with my dog Angel at my side. It is good exercise for both of us. We are a bit chubby. LOL
I am looking so forward to move.

flynavyj · 09-03-2011, 10:00 PM

Awesome! St. Louis City can definitely work for you. I know Arag had done some digging on apartments/flats for you back in the day. If I was trying to have a pretty straight forward commute up that way, i'd look right down Jefferson Ave. I'd recommend going South on Jefferson Ave, towards I-44, if you go North, towards Parnell, the neighborhoods will get significantly rougher, and more blighted.

The beautiful Lafayette Square/Park is also South on Jefferson. You're probably not going to find any apartments, etc in your price range in that neighborhood, however I think you might have a good chance of finding something south of I-44. If i was going down Jefferson there, the neighborhoods to the East are better and more gentrified than the areas to the West which are a little more "transitional".

I don't know if i'd say the neighborhoods to the West are necessarily dangerous. You will most likely encounter more property crime, and if you're practicing some street smarts you'll likely not be a victim of random acts of violence, but me personally, i'd avoid that side of the street. And i personally don't think it cleans up "remarkably" until you're close to Grand.

There are also some apartments/rowhomes North of I-44, and just West of Jefferson that look nice. But i've been fooled before, and they could be section 8 housing. Not going to say for certain on that, and someone with more experience can chime in to give you a better feel. Good luck, and let us know any other questions that you come up with.

I know this wouldn't be the "urban" setting, but old town St. Charles has a historic charm and downtown/small town feel that's somewhat rare. Anyone who marvels at St. Louis City architecture, would be quick to Marvel at the architecture in Old Town St. Charles as well, as the cobblestone streets and brick buildings are of the same vintage, and in some cases older than most of what you see in St. Louis City. It would totally destroy any hopes of riding your bicycle to to the shelter you've pointed out though, and that might be reason enough to dismiss it.

You could also look further West along Olive St, and Lindell Blvd. I can't be sure you'll find something in your price range. I know my cousin had a 1 Br apartment, in a highrise down that way, and I can't imagine she was paying more than $700/month considering she was living solo, on a recent college grad budget. But it might be worth taking a look at as well.

kagicre · 09-04-2011, 02:10 PM

Thanks, flynavyj, for your get response. We are looking for a house though, not apartment, because of our dog Angel, a labrador-mix that is used to hang out in the yard. And we want a garage too, because my husband likes to use it as a workshop and also for our bikes.
If we have to go out of town to get what we want, that is fine with me too. I saw pictures of St. Charles and it looks wonderful.
Let's see what the future brings, hopefully a nice house with garage and yard in a safe neighborhood, and hopefully my husband finds than also a new job where he is home every night and I get some volunteer job with dogs. St. Louis looks promising and if we can't find anything there we have to go maybe to Indianapolis or so. But I would prefer St. Louis of course.

OzarkChickenLover · 09-20-2011, 06:55 PM

Try Warren County - it's really inexpensive out here. If you don't mind being a ways from the city, it's a good place to live. The schools aren't anywhere near as crowded as they are in the city, they have a Catholic school as well as a couple of private schools, and as the population heads out this way more and more activities and entertainment is appearing. I love the smaller town atmosphere with a few exceptions. The other thing to remember is that it costs less to live out here than in the city.....lower housing costs, lower taxes, lower auto insurance.....for those on a budget, that can be important. Besides, if you get out in the rural areas where you're in the county instead of in the city limits, there's a lot more leeway as far as home based businesses.

OCL

stlcitygirl · 09-20-2011, 07:05 PM

^For someone that wants to get around by bike, that would be a nightmare.

kagicre · 09-20-2011, 09:47 PM

Thank you OzarkChickenLover, I have a look at Warren County. I wouldn't mind living in the country, but as stlcitygirl said, I would love to do as much as possible with my bike. And when we live in the country and my husband has to go to work in the city than the cost of gas would add up too. But we are thinking about it. And school don't concern me much at this point of our live, our children are all adults.

flynavyj · 09-21-2011, 11:20 AM

Grown children would really push me to look at city neighborhoods! Long as your husband isn't planning on brining a rig home, you guys shouldn't have a problem...plus it'll give you that convience of biking etc...And a dog training/grooming service would probably be pretty popular, especially in some of the more popular areas of the city.

kagicre · 09-22-2011, 06:45 PM

No, my husband won't bring his rig home:-) And to bike nearly everywhere would be really nice. And training dogs would most likely at the dog owners home when I do one-on-one sessions.

flynavyj · 09-22-2011, 07:58 PM

sounds perfect, search craigslist ads for South City residences. You may be somewhat limited because of your price point, but i wouldn't doubt you can find something. Just gotta dig, cross reference your findings to google earth, and use the street view...most of South City is pretty safe, but there's a couple spots that seem a tad shady...run down old buildings, vacant store fronts would be pretty easy to spot on street view, along with large groups of people who look like they're not working...i'd avoid areas similar to that, if it just looks perfectly happily residential..might be worth looking at.

If you really come up with a question concerning a location, feel free to ask on here...i'm sure some south city folks can chime in to help you out!

kagicre · 09-23-2011, 10:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by flynavyj

sounds perfect, search craigslist ads for South City residences. You may be somewhat limited because of your price point, but i wouldn't doubt you can find something. Just gotta dig, cross reference your findings to google earth, and use the street view...most of South City is pretty safe, but there's a couple spots that seem a tad shady...run down old buildings, vacant store fronts would be pretty easy to spot on street view, along with large groups of people who look like they're not working...i'd avoid areas similar to that, if it just looks perfectly happily residential..might be worth looking at.

If you really come up with a question concerning a location, feel free to ask on here...i'm sure some south city folks can chime in to help you out!

Thank you flynavyj for all you help. We will looking into South City, that's for sure when we come to St. Louis in 1 or 2 weeks. We are packing now our stuff.