Relocating, need to rent. Apt/house? Looking at kirkwood Webster Grove area (St. Louis: apartment)
Please register to participate in our discussions with 1.5 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Relocating, need to rent. Apt/house? Looking at kirkwood Webster Grove area
I'll be relocating my family from NorCal very soon. Next month!!!!! We will need to rent for the short term. (about a year). We've been hearing a lot of great things about Kirkwood and Webster Groves and some of the surrounding cities. We like the small town feel and community that these areas have, plus the great schools. (I have a child in middle school)
So what is my best option as far as renting? Apartment rates seem very reasonable compared to SFH listings I've seen. We need a 2BR/2B at minimum and under $1800. We have a medium size dog lab/pointer mix as well. I guess since SFH rentals are so individualized, I'm looking for advice/opinions on the apartment/town home rentals available in these areas.
Kirkwood and Webster Groves are excellent areas. Very charming, small town feel (but in a large city), historic downtowns, very safe, good schools, you really cant go wrong. The rent is WAY cheaper here, your money will go a lot further in STL. I would start on Padmapper and Craigslist
At $1800 you will have no problem finding a 2 bedroom in Webster Groves or Kirkwood. The general "feeling" is that Webster Groves is a tad more liberal due in part to it being home to Webster University. But my experience tells me that liberal, conservative, or moderate would all be fine in either area.
There are also other smaller suburbs surrounding this area that are a part of the Webster and Kirkwood school districts. Des Peres, Frontenac, Glendale, Huntleigh, Kirkwood, Oakland, Sunset Hills, and Town and Country are all a part of the Kirkwood school district. Rock Hill, Shrewsbury, Webster Groves, and Warson Woods are all part of the Webster Groves school district. Parts of Glendale and Warson Woods are in each district. This may help in searching for homes/apts in the surrounding area.
I moved from Phoenix to Webster Groves about 8 months ago and love it here. I have a daughter who will be in 7th grade next year. One difference between the two districts is that Webster Groves houses their 6th graders on a separate campus from the 7th and 8th graders. They are still in middle school, but the Webster Groves district has a 6th grade only campus they use to transition the 6th graders to middle school. Kirkwood has 6-8 on one campus.
Thanks for the replies.
scocar, the info about the smaller subburbs is especially helpful. How do most kids get to school? Bus, car or walk/bike? What are the middle schools in Kirkwood and Webster Groves districts?
I found a SFH rental listing in Glendale for $880/mo 4BR 3000 sqft home. Seems like an incredible deal.
I looked up that listing on craigslist - no way is that realistic, plus its over a month old.
Hixon Middle School serves all of Webster Groves, and it's right by the highway. I think Kirkwood has 2 middle schools, but I'm not sure what the boundaries are.
In my old neighborhood (right by Hudson Elementary in WG), there were a lot of walkers, and parents dropping off. I didn't see buses too often.
Thanks for the replies.
scocar, the info about the smaller subburbs is especially helpful. How do most kids get to school? Bus, car or walk/bike? What are the middle schools in Kirkwood and Webster Groves districts?
I found a SFH rental listing in Glendale for $880/mo 4BR 3000 sqft home. Seems like an incredible deal.
Yeah that listing seems really off. I would expect a 3000 sq foot 4 bedroom in Glendale to be between $1500 and $2000. We found a 1500 sq ft 3 bedroom 1 bath in Webster for $995, and were thrilled. But ours sits right on Elm, which is the busiest street in Webster Groves and out next door neighbor to the south is a paint store. I would presume our same house in a better location in Webster would go for closer to $1200.
As for schools Kirkwood has two middle schools, Nipher Middle school serves the south part, and North Kirkwood middle school serves the north. I don't know the exact boundaries. Webster only has one middle school for 7th and 8th graders. It is called Hixon and is right at the Elm and Interstate 44.
I'm not certain about the busing for the middle schools. My daughter had busing available to the 6th grade campus, but you had to pay for it, and we were able to drop her off anyway.
I'm not certain about Kirkwood, but the bus in Webster is dependent on how far from school you live. They probably have more information available, perhaps on their web site, but I know that if you were less than a couple miles from school you had to pay for the bus service.
And I second that there's no way that Glendale listing is legitimate. But your budget should get you something nice in that area no problem.
Best of luck and feel free to ask any follow-up questions as you have them!
I'll be relocating my family from NorCal very soon. Next month!!!!! We will need to rent for the short term. (about a year). We've been hearing a lot of great things about Kirkwood and Webster Groves and some of the surrounding cities. We like the small town feel and community that these areas have, plus the great schools. (I have a child in middle school)
So what is my best option as far as renting? Apartment rates seem very reasonable compared to SFH listings I've seen. We need a 2BR/2B at minimum and under $1800. We have a medium size dog lab/pointer mix as well. I guess since SFH rentals are so individualized, I'm looking for advice/opinions on the apartment/town home rentals available in these areas.
If I was planning on living the rest of my life here, I'd want to live in Kirkwood. I think it is a really nice suburban town, that does not have a bedroom community feel. The schools have a good rep, but I admit that I have not kept up on this aspect. Here is a link to stories about Kirkwood that have appeared recently in the St. Louis paper, the St. Louis Post Dispatch. Kirkwood, MO
The St. Louis Community College in Kirkwood has a nice campus in town. The housing is expensive for what you get in this area, but the town has a really nice vibe.
Some of the bad: trains. They run through the town all over the place, tying up traffic. The layout of the city is odd. It appears to be oh so simple, but the street are not always laid out on a grid. Kirkwood had a tragedy a few years ago; there was a shooting at the City Hall, and people were seriously wounded and at least one person died.
However, I would live there. There is a farmer's market by the old train station, an amazing food store that carries food specialties from many countries: Global Foods Market // St. Louis, Missouri and many small businesses in the downtown. Traffic in the downtown is awful at times, but once you learn to get around, you can navigate.
There are some amazing older homes, and some smaller homes. Most of the homes are older, if memory serves, but there might be some new construction somewhere.
Kirkwood has its own police force and its own library system. Kirkwood Public Library The library is part of a consortium of smaller libraries in the area, and you can search all of them for an item. Kirkwood Public is not part of the larger St. Louis County Library. Kirkwood library has recently expanded and should be quite nice.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $53,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 1.5 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
