field school lofts/lister building CWE (St. Louis, Washington: appointed, apartments, to rent) - City-Data Forum

jribe · 03-12-2012, 03:21 PM

Hi Everyone,
I was wondering if anyone has any experience with the area and/or buildings of either the Field School Lofts or the Lister Building apartments?

They both seem really nice, but i wanted to know about the safety of the area.

Comments/thoughts appreciated

thanks!

aragx6 · 03-12-2012, 03:29 PM

The CWE does tend to degrade somewhat as you head east towards SLU, but I would live there near Taylor with little to no concern. It does get less overall pedestrian traffic than the heart of the neighborhood, but it's not dangerous.

As far as the apartments themselves I don't know much -- hopefully others can be of more assistance!

mike0421 · 03-13-2012, 07:47 AM

This specific street has been commented upon multiple times in previous threads in the St. Louis forum. It truly is transitional street, almost as much as Delmar, when it comes to using Olive Street, when it comes to safety, and using it as a gauge. Some people will have more of a spine when it comes to excusing property crime i.e. car break-ins, as a consequence of city life, while others will be less forgiving. If violent crime is your gauge, and you can tolerate property crime, then you are probably safe here, at Lister. If you have less of a tolerance for property crime, you'd want to move a few blocks more south and/or west. I live in the heart of CWE, and have never been victimized. I have used the city parking garage at Lindell and Euclid without incident for 6 months. You can get a pass for $60 a month, then it would be a matter of walking to Lister on Olive from there.

As others have stated, once you go north of Delmar, it seems to be a whole new ball game. Many abandoned and denuded buildings, and areas of clear parcels, due to demolition. There's a psychology behind living under these conditions that does not lend itself to the prospect of safety.

flynavyj · 03-13-2012, 09:51 AM

Yeh, that location popped up a few years ago when I was looking for a place to live when moving from KC. On a weekend, I drove down there to get a feel for the immediate area, the lofts looked fantastic, and so did the old school building, however the surrounding area left something to be desired. While I didn't feel that it was "unsafe" physically, it didn't seem like a place i'd leave twenty-thousand dollars worth of automobile outside...I also think parking options didn't work well for me, with a couple of several thousand dollar motorcycles to pen up as well.

aragx6 · 03-13-2012, 11:01 AM

According to it's web site Lister includes gated parking and also has garage parking available and Field School includes Garage -- property crimes can and do happen in that area (as with all of CWE and the entire city really), but if I had garage or even gated parking I wouldn't be much worried about the possibility.

jribe · 03-13-2012, 05:40 PM

Hi everyone,
thanks for the replies! I am mostly concerned with the safety in regards to violent crimes; i can deal with property crimes. I have a year old car- but once i moved to STL i dropped the deductible to $100 due to the vast stories of vehicle crimes here. I'm not planning on walking around the area a ton- just need to be able to walk my dog around safety in the early morning and evenings.

thanks again,

mike0421 · 03-13-2012, 07:09 PM

Hey Jribe, I thought about you as I drove home from work tonight, and I decided to make the voyage to that building, that address and neighborhood. I want to amend what I wrote earlier: it's a sketchy area. This is a very dynamic neighborhood, the look/feel changes literally block to block. I was able to better evaluate this place. I personally would look further south, perhaps another 2-3 blocks, if it's precisely from Lister. If you go further west on Olive, towards Euclid, there's improvement. Between Boyle and Taylor, Olive feels no different than if you are north of Delmar. If you go north of Washington Ave on Euclid, there is almost virtual transformation from CWE vibe to a more depressed neighhorhood. You want want to be careful here, my .02.

jribe · 03-14-2012, 04:09 AM

Hi Mike,
that was really nice of you to drive by- thanks! We're not from STL (or MO for that matter) so we really have to depend on asking people where a decent area is.. I'm disappointed that area is sketchy- the place was so nice inside

Our issue is we're trying to find a place to rent with a 2/2 for under $1300 that will accept 2 small dogs- not an easy task as i have been looking.

Has anyone heard anything about Del Coronado (4949 W Pine); or West End City Apartments (275 Union)? I keep seeing a place that seems decent- and then has awful reviews on places like apartment ratings.

If anyone lives in the area and knows of a place that may work- i'd appreciate it!

thanks for all the help!
J

mike0421 · 03-14-2012, 09:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jribe

Hi Mike,
that was really nice of you to drive by- thanks! We're not from STL (or MO for that matter) so we really have to depend on asking people where a decent area is.. I'm disappointed that area is sketchy- the place was so nice inside

Our issue is we're trying to find a place to rent with a 2/2 for under $1300 that will accept 2 small dogs- not an easy task as i have been looking.

Has anyone heard anything about Del Coronado (4949 W Pine); or West End City Apartments (275 Union)? I keep seeing a place that seems decent- and then has awful reviews on places like apartment ratings.

If anyone lives in the area and knows of a place that may work- i'd appreciate it!

thanks for all the help!
J

I actually had an arranged tour of West End City Apartments last year, and while that address is wonderful, I was underwhelmed by the buildings proper. It was essentially an extended college dormitory, and I noticed upkeep issues, and I am not the most observant person in the world. Also, parking is a problem at this place. The parking is mostly unsecured, and it is scarse.

Del Coronado, on the other hand looks wonderful from the outside. I walk or drive by this building every day. I have not had the pleasure of entering the building, but the lounge area from the outside looks first rate. That said, you will most certainly have to rely upon the city parking garage on Euclid and Lindell, but that's not a bad thing. I've used it and had no issues with it. The location of Del Coronado, too, in my estimation anyway, is preferrable to West End City apartments.

aragx6 · 03-14-2012, 09:28 AM

Agree that 4949 W Pine is the best location of them all.

As far as sketchy in the Taylor/Olive area: I don't enitely disagree with the assessment, but at the end of the day if you look at crime stats for the last six months it's really no more or less dangerous than any part of the Central West End. Feel of an area is important, and I've definitely chosen apartments based on that before and surely will in the future, but based on what I'm seeing in that area you're really no more likely to be a victim of a crime there at Taylor and Olive versus at Pine and Lindell. If anything simply being closer to the heart of the CWE and thus walking in more pedestrian filled areas is what would possibly make it safer. But in either normal city precautions must be taken.

SLMPD- Crime Mapping