Tell me everything about Maplewood/Richmond Heights (St. Louis, Clayton: houses, neighborhoods)

[MadameFreckles]

We are looking at houses there right now. I have looked into the school district and liked what I found, although it looks like the HS still has kind of low scores but is improving. My kids are 2 and 4 so hopefully by the time they get there it will be better.

Is it a generally safe place, are there lots of kids playing outside? What is the "feel" of the neighborhood like? Are there any bad spots to avoid? Most of the houses in our budget are on the border with the city, around Yale Blvd, and I was wondering if that is a good area in terms of safety. Some of the ones we are looking at don't have garages so I want make sure we would be ok leaving our cars on the street.

[billiken]

When we were looking 3 years ago, we found a lot of houses we liked in the area, but they always seemed to be surrounded by houses that were not properly taken care of/more run-down, which I was not a fan of. Love downtown Maplewood though, and I would be in trouble if I was walking distance to Schlafly!

The stats show the test scores are improving at the elementary level in Maplewood--they look to be on par with the elementary school in Webster that we would've sent our future kids to if we stayed. The high school is still pretty messy, though.

[silibran]

Maplewood, MO

Here is a link to stories about Maplewood in the local paper, St Louis Post Dispatch. I don't know if you've read the ones dealing with schools, but they are there too.

Maplewood has a Metro Link station, to accommodate you if you like to take public transportation: Maplewood Station Information | Metro Transit

It has its own municipal library: Maplewood Library*|* The library participates as a member of a consortium of cooperating libraries in the area. It is not part of the larger St. Louis County Library system. If memory serves, you can search all of the consortium's libraries in one search, and request any item from any of their members.

I love the downtown. I go there mainly to visit Penzeys, which has a spice shop there. Free parking is in the back.

One of my fave local businesses--and one I drive a great distance to patronize--is Brody's lamps in Richmond Heights. Home Page I've bought new lamps from them, and I've had lamps fixed by them. Across the street from Brody's on Big Bend are two really great flea markets!

I like at least some of the old houses I've seen. They are larger but unpretentious older homes that I imagine are very comfortable. But I don't know this firsthand, so I only guess.

I know less about Richmond Heights, but the city is small and lies close to Clayton, a business/finance center and site of St. Louis County government. I've shopped at the Galleria, on Brentwood Blvd. and a few of the many stores nearby, to the south. The city of Brentwood is probably the closest to Richmond Heights, aside from Maplewood. Brentwood seems like a very nice city, and its schools have a pretty good reputation.

Hope this helps!