Need help with choosing the right apartment (St. Louis, Florissant: apartments, violent crime)

[akkyy21]

I will be coming to St.Louis for my MBA in University of Washington starting this fall.
I wanted some opinions / information about the two places that my apartment hunt has narrowed down to :

1.) 727 Syracuse Ave, Saint Louis, MO 63130
- $665.00
- 880 Sq. ft.
- Walking/Cycling distance is 1 mi


2.) 710 Limit Ave, Saint Louis, MO 63130
- $695.00
- 1115 Sq. ft.
- Walking/Cycling distance is 0.9 mi


Since I don't know anyone in STL, I thought of putting up these searches here and checking with people if I need to watch out for something.
What do you guys think about these places?

Are there any better options in and around the Univ of Washington area that anyone can direct me to?

[glamatomic]

Hi There!

Oooh two apartments near the Loop. Fun fun!

First of all- one of the responses that you're probably going to get is due to the fact that they are "North of Delmar"- a subject so controversial that even the BBC did a segment on it. However, they are only a block, and a block and a half respectively- north of Delmar so personally it wouldn't bother me (living there)- and it shouldn't bother you. It's just a silly St. Louis stigma.

Anyway, moving on:

The main problem I think with 727 Syracuse is the fact that it is on the corner of Enright, and therefore literally looks over the parking lot of Cicero's, Pubhouse, etc. In fact, this is usually where I park for a night out on The Loop! If noise and shennanigans are bothersome to you, this may be a downside. It's super convenient if you want to take a break away from your studying and have some Toasted Rav and a Schlafly's at Cicero's... but I wouldn't think it would be so beneficial otherwise, being so, so, close to the 'action'. That of course though would be your call.

As for 710 Limit Ave, it is a bit further back and there is a 'building buffer' in between you and the activities of The Loop so it may be a little quieter. I have personally never had a problem with this particular area, but I'm not sure of the Crime Statistics either (I looked on St. Louis County Crime Mapping- and it advised that University City does not report their crime statistics to the service- dang it!).

Anyway- I think either would be okay from a safety point of view... but like I said, Syracuse may have the potential to be noisy.

It seems that apartments are definitely more affordable North of Delmar! If I were you though (and I have a high noise tolerance) I would probably search for something a little further away from the loop (just a block or two further than what you've been looking at) for a quieter area.

Good luck, and I hope some kind folks on here can help you more than I can!

[glamatomic]

I did a quick search for Apartments on Craigslist near Wash U. and came up with the following:

6652 Washington Ave (3 blocks from Wash U- South of Delmar.)

745 Leland Ave (a bit further back than the ones you found- although still North of Delmar)

800 Kingsland Ave (same deal as above)

7270 Forsyth Ave (south of Delmar, less than 1/2 mile from Wash U. More expensive but fab location)

[Hazel W]

[quote]

Originally Posted by glamatomic

Hi There!
(I looked on St. Louis County Crime Mapping- and it advised that University City does not report their crime statistics to the service- dang it!).

Isn't the fact that University City does not report its crime statistics a report in itself? It tells me a lot.

[aragx6]

The north of Delmar demarcation is really only at all valid in the city. In U City it's a non starter -- there are a lot of great apartments north of Delmar in the U City loop. I'd have no real concerns about safety -- it's a urban area and a destination neighborhood so petty crimes do occur, but violent crime is rare.

The point about being directly near the heart of the western edge of the loop is a valid one from glamatomic for the Syracuse apartment, but I honestly doubt it would be terribly loud most of the time. Then again, I've lived on some loud streets in hopping neighborhoods so take that into consideration.

Limit is a nice street filled pretty much entirely with vintage apartment buildings -- most of them from all I've seen are well kept. A friend of mine lived over there several years back but I can't remember his actual address anymore. He never had any problems and he was an easy walk to everything on the Loop. The extra square footage would certainly be nice too!

Feel free to ask any more questions as you have them, and best of luck!

[mike0421]

Originally Posted by Hazel W

Isn't the fact that University City does not report its crime statistics a report in itself? It tells me a lot.

I have utilized that service, and if it matters, I don't believe any towns in the county link their crime statistics to this website. It's merely the city proper.

[zach_33]

It's a total toss up. Both are student neighborhoods from which one could easily stumble home from Blueberry Hill or any other Loop watering hole. I'd lean toward the Limit option for the simple reason of that block having more/bigger trees for curb side shade than Syracuse - I'm a big fan of tree lined streets. On the other hand, the Syracuse location is right next to the U City Library, and on maybe a bit close to the center of the Loop action. From Syracuse you walk through Ames Place to get to campus, which is a beautiful neighborhood. So is Parkview, which you would traverse to get to campus from Limit. I think you're fine with either one, but I'd probably go with Limit.

[zach_33]

[quote=glamatomic;24621069]

6652 Washington Ave

(3 blocks from Wash U- South of Delmar.)

quote]


Glamatomics 6652 Washington find looks might nice to me.

[glamatomic]

Actually a lot of the areas in the county *do* provide their crime statistics. Maryland Heights, Creve Coeur, Florissant and Hazelwood I know for sure do, in addition to some of the smaller municipalities.

[zach_33]

Crime definitely happens in the area - anybody remember this terrible story? Might be the building the OP scoped out on Syracuse. Grad student in critical condition after off-campus assault | Student Life That one seemed to be swept under the rug from a media standpoint, unlike the cop who was shot to death in front of the Starbuck's or the more recent shootout in front of Church's chicken caught on the nightly news. Not to be a fear monger, because I don't think it is worse than an average large urban university, but you'd be fooling yourself big time to say there is no crime in and around the Loop. I still love the area and take my kids there frequently.