Excited but nervous, moving to St. Louis soon (University City, Kirkwood: transplants, apartment)

[nagel541]

I have recently accepted a fantastic job offer and am scrambling to figure out what makes sense for a young, professional couple who will be commuting downtown. We're likely to rent first, before purchasing a home. After some of the research I've done online, I am very impressed with the stately looking homes and neighborhoods in places like CWE, Kirkwood, Webster Groves, and other areas West of the city and am planning on choosing to live in one of those places.

I am still apprehensive about what I read regarding crime in stltoday.com, and desire a safe, quiet neighborhood. I am turned off by the recent trouble in Delmar Loop. We're a rather progressive, laid back couple, looking for good walkability, and not be reliant on driving for errands and basic needs. I love seeing pictures of the parks and historic neighborhoods. It would be lovely to live close to areas like that.

On the negative side, I understand that North St. Louis and East St. Louis are to be absolutely avoided, and certain areas South too? This is what I've sensing by online posts. I want to emphasize we have yet to visit, but of course we are planning to check it out in person before making the move.

My question is - am I pretty much on target here, or no? Any other recommendations? Are transplants treated well in these neighborhoods mentioned? We want to feel welcome and feel safe taking evening walks. We are looking forward to becoming new contributing additions to St. Louis. We are excited about the change. Thank you for your help!

[rcjhku]

My recommendation is find a job in a different city.

[scocar]

As a transplant myself that lives in Webster Groves I think you are right on with the places you are looking. I have school age children which is why we chose Webster Groves. If I was childless I would more likely look at CWE or Soulard. There are other great suburbs as well that are really pretty urban in feel. Keep Brentwood, Clayton, Richmond Heights, and University City on your radar. Don't let what happened on Delmar scare you from living in U-City. That is isolated to the Delmar Loop. You are more likely to have that issue living elsewhere and visiting the loop than you are living a few blocks from the loop in U-City.

[nagel541]

Originally Posted by rcjhku

My recommendation is find a job in a different city.

Would you be willing to expand on this?

[flynavyj]

Why feed the troll nagel?

OP , do you guys a specific price point you'd like to stay at? If you're really in love with the red brick of St. Louis City, that'll be the place for you. The CWE is a great area, and the stately brick homes down there are pretty impressive. There is a schnucks for groceries, which might work for walking to the store, but odds are you'll be happier driving unless you like making a million trips, or going daily...

I'd second Webster Groves, it'll give you a quick commute to downtown and a great family friendly area with good school and some decent walkability. The homes won't be the classic brick construction you'll find in St. Louis City, but personally i think there's much more personality of early period twentieth century frame construction than the "sea of red" that makes up most of St. Louis City.

Basically, what are you using as a search engine for finding a home? I'm assuming you guys are going to rent a home as opposed to an apartment? If you're willing to be a little cosmopolitan and live in an apartment or loft for a little bit while you home search, Washington Ave downtown is a pretty awesome location. There's a grocery store about 3 blocks from there, and tons of bars and restaurants down there, plus the population has boomed. It's not exactly "sleepy" but if I was in my low 20's and was starting off my career, i'd spend a year or two down there..A couple of co-workers who are either young and single, or young and married are living down there until they start looking to purchase in several years.

Good luck, and get back to us with some details...we'll help. Rcjhku likely won't help...jobs can be hard to come by currently, and that's even more true if you've found a good paying one. Enjoy!

[scocar]

Originally Posted by nagel541

Would you be willing to expand on this?

You really didn't want to ask him to do that. He is going to tell you a bunch of reasons that he hates STL. They are going to be refuted by a bunch of people that love it here. Then a few more people will jump on and tell you why they hate it here. As with every city in America it has it's good and bad points. You can be happy here or miserable here. It's your choice.

[nagel541]

Thank you for the helpful feedback.

I think you described what I'm looking to do really well. Ultimately, we want to purchase a home, but want to take time to do so, so that we can really be comfortable with the right neighborhood. That may take 6 months, or a year, who knows. In the interim, I'm willing to rent out an apartment or loft like you describe in Washington Ave. My wife and I share one car, so being able to walk to get groceries, a cup of coffee, the post office, etc., is a huge deal for us. However, we're in our mid 30s, and are past the college scene -- so perhaps it'd be fun at first, it'll drive me crazy after a couple of months. But that's the least of my concerns considering other problems out there. Since it'd be short-term stay anyway, we may as well embrace it.

We're looking to rent around $1K/month, and find a home around $200K approx. Everyone is suggesting Webster Groves and more and more inclined to agree. I like your comment about the "sea of red". It would be nice to have something different. I'm finding Zillow and Trulia as my search engines and coming up with intriguing results. Do you have any other recommendations?

Thanks again! We are finding many things to look forward in your amazing city.

[nagel541]

Originally Posted by rcjhku

My recommendation is find a job in a different city.

Originally Posted by scocar

You really didn't want to ask him to do that. He is going to tell you a bunch of reasons that he hates STL. They are going to be refuted by a bunch of people that love it here. Then a few more people will jump on and tell you why they hate it here. As with every city in America it has it's good and bad points. You can be happy here or miserable here. It's your choice.

I agree with you and regret responding to this person. This is why the anti-depressant business is so huge. People like this.

[7gkids]

When you find a home to purchase.....taste the water, have it inspected by someone you choose and look the builder up on the BBB website!

Congratulations on the new job!!!!! I hope everything works out great for you.

[scocar]

Originally Posted by nagel541

Thank you for the helpful feedback.

I think you described what I'm looking to do really well. Ultimately, we want to purchase a home, but want to take time to do so, so that we can really be comfortable with the right neighborhood. That may take 6 months, or a year, who knows. In the interim, I'm willing to rent out an apartment or loft like you describe in Washington Ave. My wife and I share one car, so being able to walk to get groceries, a cup of coffee, the post office, etc., is a huge deal for us. However, we're in our mid 30s, and are past the college scene -- so perhaps it'd be fun at first, it'll drive me crazy after a couple of months. But that's the least of my concerns considering other problems out there. Since it'd be short-term stay anyway, we may as well embrace it.

We're looking to rent around $1K/month, and find a home around $200K approx. Everyone is suggesting Webster Groves and more and more inclined to agree. I like your comment about the "sea of red". It would be nice to have something different. I'm finding Zillow and Trulia as my search engines and coming up with intriguing results. Do you have any other recommendations?

Thanks again! We are finding many things to look forward in your amazing city.

One thing to note. Your price point will be difficult to find in Webster Groves. It's not impossible, but there are not that many choices in your preferred price range. We are renting right now. We found a 1300 sq. foot, 3 bedroom house for $995 per month. But we only have 1 bath, and the location is not that great as we are right on the corner of two of the busier streets in Webster Groves. I would venture a guess that if our house were on a quiter street it would have gone for around $1100. We are looking to possible buy when our lease runs up in August. Most of the houses we are looking at that have 3+ bedrooms, and 2 bathrooms start at about $275,000. If you are able to find anything larger than a 2 bedroom in Webster Groves for around $200,000 it will probably be a fixer-upper.

I would suggest looking at Brentwood, Richmond Heights, and Rock Hill as well. They all border Webster Groves and you will find far more homes in your price range. $200,000 just won't go very far in Webster Groves or Kirkwood. It won't go very far in Central West End either for that matter.