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I am moving to St. Louis with my boyfriend to start medical school, and need to find an apartment that will allow me to bring my 50 pound staffordshire terrier.
My dog is 5 years old, spayed, doesn't bark, and well behaved. My current landlord can testify to this as we have been living in our current apartment for 3 years.
I am looking to spend no more than $1200 a month (preferably closer to $1000 max) on a one bedroom within a ~6 mile 10-15 minutes drive (one way) of SLU medical center in a safer part of town. I have been looking at CWE mainly since clayton has a ban on my dog but am willing to live anywhere semi close (I have a car) and safe.
Does anyone know of an apartment complex that can fit my needs?
Are there any apartment hunters available to look for apartments for me? I will be in Europe for 3 weeks before school starts and I do not have a lot of time/familiarity with the area to look before I need to move.
I suggest you live in Tower Grove South/Heights, Dogtown, The Hill, or Southwest Gardens. It will be a very short commute to SLU Medical School. You will have no problem finding an apartment in that area for your budget. There really are no complexes, its mostly flats or large houses split into apartments.
I am moving to St. Louis with my boyfriend to start medical school, and need to find an apartment that will allow me to bring my 50 pound staffordshire terrier.
My dog is 5 years old, spayed, doesn't bark, and well behaved. My current landlord can testify to this as we have been living in our current apartment for 3 years.
I am looking to spend no more than $1200 a month (preferably closer to $1000 max) on a one bedroom within a ~6 mile 10-15 minutes drive (one way) of SLU medical center in a safer part of town. I have been looking at CWE mainly since clayton has a ban on my dog but am willing to live anywhere semi close (I have a car) and safe.
Does anyone know of an apartment complex that can fit my needs?
Are there any apartment hunters available to look for apartments for me? I will be in Europe for 3 weeks before school starts and I do not have a lot of time/familiarity with the area to look before I need to move.
Thanks,
Janey
Just be careful you check out the BSL (Breed Specific Legislation) restrictions regarding any close in municipality of St. Louis County. The CITY of STL doesn't have BSL, though, you might do best working with a landlord of a two or four family flat, rather than dealing with an apartment complex. That is to say, you'll be dealing with an actual human rather than a corporation who owns an apartment complex that has "fixed in stone" policies.
My beloved University City has an particularly egregious ban : Chapter 6.08 - DOGS
So look carefully or just, as stlcitygirl recommended, go for Tower Grove Heights or the Shaw neighborhood, which has a dog park, if your dog likes to play with other dogs: Shaw Neighborhood in St. Louis-
South City rocks. Had we found the right house there or had a pit bull dog, we'd be living there now.
Compared to other places I've lived, I've found St. Louis to be particularly dog-friendly. There are a LOT of old buildings that have been gutted and fully renovated inside (stainless appliances, granite, etc.) and many have fenced backyards. The rents seem to run relatively low in St. Louis--I've found the aforementioned rehabs to run in the $700-$800 range for a 1 bedroom in the Forest Park Southeast and Tower Grove areas. The CWE is a very nice neighborhood, but you'll have to fork out more money to live there. Still, a one-bedroom under $1200 should place you in a wide-open rental market. Check out Front Door LLC--they're a big rental company in town and allow pets at their properties. They seem to have a lot of nice units.
I suggest you live in Tower Grove South/Heights, Dogtown, The Hill, or Southwest Gardens. It will be a very short commute to SLU Medical School. You will have no problem finding an apartment in that area for your budget. There really are no complexes, its mostly flats or large houses split into apartments.
I stayed with some medical students when I visited for my interview and they said that Tower grove was not the safest at night if you walk to far away from the medical school. Is this true?
Quote:
Originally Posted by inahandbasket
Just be careful you check out the BSL (Breed Specific Legislation) restrictions regarding any close in municipality of St. Louis County. The CITY of STL doesn't have BSL, though, you might do best working with a landlord of a two or four family flat, rather than dealing with an apartment complex. That is to say, you'll be dealing with an actual human rather than a corporation who owns an apartment complex that has "fixed in stone" policies.
My beloved University City has an particularly egregious ban : Chapter 6.08 - DOGS
So look carefully or just, as stlcitygirl recommended, go for Tower Grove Heights or the Shaw neighborhood, which has a dog park, if your dog likes to play with other dogs: Shaw Neighborhood in St. Louis-
South City rocks. Had we found the right house there or had a pit bull dog, we'd be living there now.
Thank you I will keep my eye out for BSL restrictions on the website posted.
Quote:
Originally Posted by illini84
Compared to other places I've lived, I've found St. Louis to be particularly dog-friendly. There are a LOT of old buildings that have been gutted and fully renovated inside (stainless appliances, granite, etc.) and many have fenced backyards. The rents seem to run relatively low in St. Louis--I've found the aforementioned rehabs to run in the $700-$800 range for a 1 bedroom in the Forest Park Southeast and Tower Grove areas. The CWE is a very nice neighborhood, but you'll have to fork out more money to live there. Still, a one-bedroom under $1200 should place you in a wide-open rental market. Check out Front Door LLC--they're a big rental company in town and allow pets at their properties. They seem to have a lot of nice units.
Front door LLC has horrendous reviews online so I am a little hesitant to contact them.
Tower Grove South, the neighborhood south of Tower Grove Park and west of Grand is actually quite safe. Shaw, the neighborhood north of Tower Grove Park is pretty safe as well but a little sleepier. Car-break ins occur throughout the city, but in these areas (and all that I suggest in this post) violent crime is rare. Tower Grove East is east of Grand and is definitely less safe, but has been making a great deal of progress. Grand itself in the Tower Grove area is a great strip of retail and restaurants (some of the best ethnic food options in the city). Morganford to the west has a burgeoning strip of chill bars that is great for those few and far between times you'll have free time as a med student. Because of the number of independent and small landlords it is likely one of the best places to find an apartment who will accept your dog.
Soulard is also a solid option with vintage apartments and corner bar/restaurants.
Forest Park Southeast, colloquially called "The Grove" is still in the process of gentrification. There are some great bars and restaurants along the Manchester strip, but as a whole the area is definitely less safe than some of the other options you're looking into. Gievn the plethora of other great neighborhood options and your concerns about safety I might cross this one off the list for now.
The Central West End is a beautiful neighborhood, and you shouldn't have any major problems finding a place under $1,000, but there are a lot of larger company-run buildings and you might have a more difficult time finding a building who will accept your dog. If you do find a place in the neighborhood who will though it would be hard to go wrong.
Other areas to look into include the city neighborhoods of Dogtown, Lafayette Square and Southampton (all very different, but safe and generally close to SLU med) and the inner ring suburbs of Richmond Heights, Maplewood, Brentwood, Shrewsbury and even Webster Groves (the latter being the furthest from the city and pushing up right against your desired 15 minute commute time).
There's more information about all of these neighborhoods and suburbs on this forum, so you might do a search and let us know if you have any other specific question. I also highly recommend St. Louis City Talk's neighborhood guides, which are very useful to a transplant because St. Louis has 79 different and distinct neighborhoods.
Additionally, I've never lived in a Front Door property, so I can't speak to them specifically, but I will say that I've essentially never seen a property management company with good online reviews -- it seems that most people who enjoyed living somewhere don't feel so compelled to go online and share their experiences. I lived in a building in Chicago run by a company called Peak who had quite possibly the worst reviews I've ever seen, and while we did have a few issues with them, there was nothing major and they did come out to fix things when we needed them to.
Front Door has a lot of properties near SLU and is very popular for students. I think they know they can take advantage of students, who have probably never rented before. My friend rented from them, and the previous tenants hadn't moved out by the start of my friend's lease. FrontDoor pretty much told her too bad, give them 3 more days. It's hard to find a decent property management company, in my experience....after years of owning a house, going back to renting this month has been a pain.
Tower Grove South, the neighborhood south of Tower Grove Park and west of Grand is actually quite safe. Shaw, the neighborhood north of Tower Grove Park is pretty safe as well but a little sleepier. Car-break ins occur throughout the city, but in these areas (and all that I suggest in this post) violent crime is rare. Tower Grove East is east of Grand and is definitely less safe, but has been making a great deal of progress. Grand itself in the Tower Grove area is a great strip of retail and restaurants (some of the best ethnic food options in the city). Morganford to the west has a burgeoning strip of chill bars that is great for those few and far between times you'll have free time as a med student. Because of the number of independent and small landlords it is likely one of the best places to find an apartment who will accept your dog.
Soulard is also a solid option with vintage apartments and corner bar/restaurants.
Forest Park Southeast, colloquially called "The Grove" is still in the process of gentrification. There are some great bars and restaurants along the Manchester strip, but as a whole the area is definitely less safe than some of the other options you're looking into. Gievn the plethora of other great neighborhood options and your concerns about safety I might cross this one off the list for now.
The Central West End is a beautiful neighborhood, and you shouldn't have any major problems finding a place under $1,000, but there are a lot of larger company-run buildings and you might have a more difficult time finding a building who will accept your dog. If you do find a place in the neighborhood who will though it would be hard to go wrong.
Other areas to look into include the city neighborhoods of Dogtown, Lafayette Square and Southampton (all very different, but safe and generally close to SLU med) and the inner ring suburbs of Richmond Heights, Maplewood, Brentwood, Shrewsbury and even Webster Groves (the latter being the furthest from the city and pushing up right against your desired 15 minute commute time).
There's more information about all of these neighborhoods and suburbs on this forum, so you might do a search and let us know if you have any other specific question. I also highly recommend St. Louis City Talk's neighborhood guides, which are very useful to a transplant because St. Louis has 79 different and distinct neighborhoods.
Additionally, I've never lived in a Front Door property, so I can't speak to them specifically, but I will say that I've essentially never seen a property management company with good online reviews -- it seems that most people who enjoyed living somewhere don't feel so compelled to go online and share their experiences. I lived in a building in Chicago run by a company called Peak who had quite possibly the worst reviews I've ever seen, and while we did have a few issues with them, there was nothing major and they did come out to fix things when we needed them to.
Wow thank you for the great in depth response. At this time from what you have said and research I have done Central West End is my first pick. I will take a look at St Louis City Talk blog that you referred me to and will continue to do my research.
I did not mention it before, but I am not too interested in the bar/nightlife scene as it is not my thing, as well as not having any time once school starts. Secondly, I am a 4'11" 98 lb blond girl and look like an easy target to criminals which is why I would prefer to be in the safest area possible.
If I have any additional questions, I will post here. Thank you again for answering my questions.
I have found some apartment complexes that allow dogs, in case someone with my dilemma stumbles upon this post one day I will post them here.
I almost hate to link to this, but it might be useful to you: the St. Louis Crime Map. The first time I saw this, it freaked me out a little bit and made me feel like everywhere was unsafe. I'd suggest you go into "Incident Layers" and turn off all of the common, petty crimes like "Theft," "Theft from Vehicle," the "Quality of Life" crimes, etc. Car break-ins and thefts happen all the time; most of the time we aren't even aware of them. Pay attention to the major stuff like homicides, robberies, etc. Crime does happen everywhere, but this was useful for me when I was looking for an apartment in St. Louis so I could see where the major crimes were concentrated. I know you mentioned living in the CWE, and overall, I'd say that's a pretty darn nice area of the city. I don't know where you're coming from, but if you have any city-living/street smarts experience (i.e., not leaving valuables in your car, locking up your bicycle, not walking alone at night, etc.) you'll be fine. St. Louis is a great city!
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