Yet another Where to Live?? (St. Louis, St. Charles: real estate, low crime, houses)

[Airguy]

I've read some of the "Where should I live?" posts and decided to post one of my own. I will provide some detail. My wife and our 2 girls (4 and 6)currently live in Mississippi. She is from here and I'm Canadian. We live in a very nice small town with a great school district, wife is involved in the PTA, church, etc. So we're pretty entrenched in the community as a whole. We're looking for the same.

Private school isn't out of the questions but I will have 2 very shortly in school and would like to avoid it if at all posible. We are current really pleased with our public school. I will be looking at houses in the $200-$250k range, preferably the $200k range.

It also looks like the company I will be working for is close to 270 on the Western side of town. I wouldn't mind a 30-40 mile drive if there are some small towns on the outskirts. Any suggestions where to start looking? Oh and I have to be within an hour of the rink, I've been jonesing for some live NHL action for 10 years, long enough I'd even settle for the Blues .

Feel free to pm me with any links or info. I might even let a real estate agent have my email addy.

[CellarBelle]

Hi Airguy. I encourage you to look at Edwardsville, Illinois if you are looking for a great school district. Check out GreatSchools.net and Interactive Illinois Report Card. I have a 7 and 10 year-old in the district and it is great. This is our 5th year with kids in the schools here. Our district ranks as one of the top districts in Illinois, and the metro-St. Louis area. How far west on 270 will you be? I can get to the St. Louis Mills Mall - so my boy can play ice hockey - in 30 minutes when the traffic is moving.

Also, we go to a LOT of Blues games, and we can leave our house and be in the parking garage in 30 minutes provided we don't wait until too close to game time. And, I don't know if your girls play hockey, but we have a great league around here, Twin Bridges Lightning, for youth. You can check out their website at USA Hockey. Our girl doesn't play, but our boy does and he has 2 girls on his team. We practice on the east and west side of the river depending on where our ice time is.

And about those Blues... before you know it, you'll be lovin' the Blues, and not just settlin'.

Edwardsville is a great community - we are a growing town that is very family-friendly. We have a very large bike trail system, brand-new YMCA, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, and a quaint downtown area. Google Edwardsville and see what you think. The great thing is we are near St. Louis, so we get to enjoy all the wonderful things it offers.

Good Luck! No matter where you end up, you're going to love the people in this area. Top-notch folks!

[ShadowCaver]

CellarBelle [again ] gives an excellent suggestion. However, as you are gonna be that far west, IMHO, I would suggest more in line of St Charles, Washington, Eureka, or something in that region... good schools, close to that part of I-270 - main issue will be traffic, as I-70 going east can be a bear, as well as I-270, in the rush hour periods [of course, you are listening to a driver that has very little patience when it comes to traffic - I love, absolutely, love to drive, but despise traffic , so what you see in the StL area is still not a Chicago, Boston, LA, etc. kind of traffic, just more than this hillbilly cares for ]. Some other thoughts are to look at the area w/in the triangle formed by the MO River, I-270, and I-44, as there are some interesting smaller burbs that might be of something that might fit your liking.

As to the Blues - ummmm,,, as CB indicated, you will bleed Blue, with a smile on your face...

[Airguy]

Thanks for the info. Traffic doesn't bother me too much. I tend to be able to travel on off peak hours. I have been looking (as much as I can) from a few hundred miles away in the areas you've mentioned. Are there any advantages to living on the Il side? Property tax, State tax etc?

I keep being drawn to the Eureka area. How are the schools? Is there a sense of community? Is there a downtown or small town feel? We really don't mind driving to shop or eat. Both of our girls are very active in sports, dance etc. Edwardsville seems very similar to where we are and would still be an option. Thanks for the great info. It is appreciated.

As far as the Blues, I am a born and bred Montreal Canadians fan. Would kinda be like asking you Cards fan to be Red Sox fans just because you live in Boston heh. I'm just excited to be back in a major league market.

[Fishtacos]

Edwardsville is upwards of 40-50 miles from 270 in West St. Louis County(not counting traffic). And if you like it there, go there. However,you won't have a shortage of communities much closer to where you work on the MO side. I would be more inclined to inlcude Edwardsville when the work is downtown.

STL doesn't get much traffic compared to bigger cities, however there will is the beginnings of a massive hwy reconstruction project that won't be completed for a few years and the entire hwy will be closed for a while. just an fyi.

I would like to see the Metro east build from downtown out as opposed to way out in...but that isn't what is the case unfortunately right now.

As for Eureka(home of Six Flags Great America)...I can tell you that hwy 44 has amongst the least amounts of traffic in STL...and you can ride it all the way out and all the way in to downtown STL as greater speeds than some of your other choices, ...and of course it isn't a bad ride to hwy 270 where you will be working. Where and 270 will you be working? That would help to know too. Eureka is "out there" a bit but still considered part of the metro area. It's about 40-45 minutes from the city. ...The area directly North of Eureka called Wildwood has been a hugely booming area in recent years in STL.

[Airguy]

Thanks for the posts. Definitely some food for thought there. It look like I'll be in between I64 and I70 close to 270, Maryland Heights I think.

It really looks like Wildwood, Ballwin, Glencoe etc would be fairly close. I know it's hard to refine my search on the internet but it's just nice to rule some places out and not waste my time when I start house hunting heh.

Do some of these places have definable downtowns, local festivals etc? I know kind of tough questions to answer. Thanks again I appreciate the info. It all helps.

[ShadowCaver]

Airguy,,, might check out the thread http://www.city-data.com/forum/misso...al-events.html for festivals in MO, StL, etc.

[taylorpc]

I went to a Eureka Days festival sometime last summer... great community feel! They had carnival rides and an "oldies" concert.

Eureka would be a good bet... you may also look into New Town St. Charles... though I'm not sure about the price range. It's a town-within-a-town kind of feel, with its own post office and such.

[northbayeric]

I'd take a good look at Fenton as well; it's just past I-270 and about 6 miles east of Eureka. Great parks, low crime rate, convenient location near I-44, State Highway 30 and I-270. Eureka's in a great area too; my only slight reservation with Eureka might be that you'd want to live not too close to Six Flags.

And I've heard great things about Edwardsville, Illinois as well. I just think you'd be setting yourself up for an unnecessarily long commute from there considering that Fenton, Eureka, Ballwin, Ellisville, Manchester and Wildwood would all be desirable places to live. Taxes in Illinois are probably higher than in Missouri, but if I'm mistaken on this, jump in and correct me!

The Rockwood School District covers Eureka and a good portion of Fenton and I believe a part of southern Ballwin. It's at the top of the heap or pretty close as far as school districts on the MO side are concerned. All the best to you, and keep us posted on what develops!

[Debbie Walus]

Did you say that you will be working around 270 on the western side of St. Louis County? I would suggest St. Charles County--great schools, great houses. etc.

If you'd like any further info, let me know. I'm a real estate agent here in St. Charles, MO.

Debbie Walus