Moving to Saint Louis-need help! (St. Louis, University City: apartments, lofts, low crime)

[Trishyj]

My husband is considerng taking a job in St. Louis. We know nothing about the area. We are originally from MD and have been living in Louisiana for one year. My husband will be living in St. Louis by himself for a indefinitely. My kids have already started school and I am not ready to move again!!
Anyway-he would be working at Barnes-Jewish hospital. He would like to get an apartment nearby.
Can someone tell me if living in the city is a bad idea. Is it a dangerous area. If not, can you recommend some nice apartments? I was looking at The Cupples which looked very neat. Also, if it is a bad idea where would you recommend him to look for an apartment. He does not want to commute too far. He used to drive to DC from MD and it took about 3 hours roundtrip. In Louisiana it took him about 7 minutes of no traffic to go to work.

Once I decide if I am going, I will hit you guys up for some city/neighborhood ideas and read through the other posts about neighborhoods!

Thank you so much as we really need help.

[RickMG]

Trishyj,
There are quite a few great apartment buildings within walking distance of Barnes-Jewish Hospital and it's a terrific area to live as well. Most of the area just north of the hospital are either doctors or students of Washington University. I know that's probably an overstatement, but it seems that way. Euclid Avenue from the hospital almost all the way to Delmar is a very preppy area with great casual dining, fine dining and sports bar type places. Lots of things to do and with a Metro Link station just next to the hospital you can go many places quickly.

The apartments are mostly from Lindell to the hospital. I know two people who live in the Del Coronado Apartments. The link to find out about the place is:
http://www.emporis.com/en/wm/bu/?id=127246 & http://forrent.com/search/detail.asp?site=1009457
Del Coronado Apartments
4949 West Pine Boulevard, Saint Louis, MO 63108
phone: (314) 367-4949


They have security, gated parking and optional garage parking. Mostly students, but all types of people do live there. Forest Park is across the street from the hospital and is probably the most trendy park in St. Louis. If I worked at Barnes, and was by myself, I couldn't think of a better area to live in.

[HomesickBren]

Trishy,

The area surrounding BJC (Barnes-Jewish-Christian Hospital) is one of the most delightful residential areas in St. Louis. (My mom lives nearby.) The list of options for apartments is overwhelming, although finding a house on a nice street might be a bit pricey. The entire area around BJC is called the Central West End. (CWE) Your hubby can walk to work!

Not far from the CWE are Skinker/DeBaliviere, University City, Grand Center, and Tower Grove--nice areas with housing in every price range, dirt cheap to extravagant! I am especially fond of St. Louis big, old flats: Large apartments in buidings with 1, 2, or 3 others. These areas abound with really nice ones. Houses are also available in some of these neighborhoods, and aren't as expensive as the West End. The commute from each neighborhood is easy (no freeways!), and public transportation would work, too.

If your family moves to downtown St. Louis, which has amazing loft development, your husband would be able to drive to work in 15 or 20 minutes, more or less, depending on traffic. (stlouislofts.com; loftworks-stl.com). I spend HOURS looking at these! Drool.

South Grand is a funky, up and coming area: I'd look for a house in this area if I were you. The prices are shooting up quickly. (This is where I plan to live when I return.)

I could go on and on.
I'm so homesick!

[sarahbeth]

There's a number of great sites out there that can allow you to search for homes in the St. Louis area and give you a litle bit of information about the communities and schools. Try out removed which allows you to search for-sale properties but also make sure you take a look at the community section. . . there's a school comparison and community comparison chart there which should be pretty helpful.

[Juice13610]

Unfortunately, Cupples station is basically low-income. For 2 people you have to make less than 32,000, which is absolutely ridiculous.

ApartmentGuide.com

[Gina23]

unfortunately, my response is to "look elsewhere for a job." sorry. you can have my old spot there... worst 7 years of my life.

[2beamissourian]

I personally would consider having him comute - many people do this frm smaller areas .

I personally could not live IN St. LOuis - but have comuted.
A small town close to ahigh way with easy comutiing is Brighton Illinois.
It has low crime rate / country setting/ Family town!

[CaseyB]

My daughter and her husband are grad students at Washington University and she walks to and from the school. She says it's fairly safe.

[rcefstsfecr]

Originally Posted by DeborahWade

I personally would consider having him comute - many people do this frm smaller areas .

I personally could not live IN St. LOuis - but have comuted.
A small town close to ahigh way with easy comutiing is Brighton Illinois.
It has low crime rate / country setting/ Family town!

Brighton is a good hour commute based on distance alone, not to mention if 40/64 backs up.


I personally would have to agree with not going to live in St. Louis City because of the poor school district. If your husband is coming alone first then an apartment in the CWE wold be great! If you do decide to join him look at Clayton, Webster Groves, Brentwood, Maplewood/Richmond Heights. Clayton and WG have great schools, but housing is more expensive.

[dashels]

Central West End is by far my favorite area of St. Louis, as long as you find an apartment that is a secured building your family will be fine. CWE has come a long way and there are a lot of well to do people that choose to live in this area. The only thing I would suggest is private school for the kids