Is St.Louis Missouri a good place for a biracial family to live? (St. Louis: appointed, rental)

[HopeandMe]

Hi there!

My husband may be getting an offer to come work in St. Louis, MO. I am white, my husband is black and our youngest who would be moving with us of course is 15. We have always lived in Maryland where biracial families are very common. You can't walk in a store where we live and usually not see at least one other biracial person. I know that there are many places though where we have traveled where we have been almost scared.

I don't want my 15 year old to live in fear so I am wondering if St. Louis would be a good move for our family or if there are suburbs where this is much more common and accepted? It is going to be hard enough for our son to pick up and leave at the end of his sophmore year that I don't want him stressed out even more. We will have a pay increase if the job is offered to my hubby and accepted but we can't do it at our son's sake.

I have heard that the school system is not so good there. What do you think about this? This is the only thing I have heard about the area. Due to high debt incurred from an illness we will not be able to send our son to a private school even with the raise.

Any information you can give me on this will be so incredibly appreciated. We know nothing about the area.

Thanks a million!
Hope

[glamatomic]

Heya

I really don't think you'll have a problem! One of the family's directly nextdoor to me is biracial and a family 2 houses down is also biracial, so it's definitely not uncommon here I don't think you'll have an issue with that at all, although it may depend on which part of the St. Louis region you move to.

As for schools- the schools in St. Louis City are definitely NOT recommended- they actually lost their accreditation some years back, however, in St. Louis County (the 'suburbs') there are plenty of wonderful school districts to choose from, so that won't be a problem. Depending which may be the best fit for you however, does depend on your budget.

Overall, I think that if you're getting a pay increase from what you're earning in Maryland, you'd be making a positive move since the overall cost of living here is a lot lower than most areas of MD.

If you do move here, will you be renting or buying? What is your budget either way? Also, where is your husband's job at, and what is his desired commute time? That will help us here on the St. Louis forum to pinpoint the best area for you and your family to start looking at!

Good Luck! And I hope you love it here! ♥

[wustu87]

We are a biracial family ourselves (Asian/Caucasian) and it has always been a total non-issue for us and our children, especially in the areas and public schools where we lived. There are a lot of biracial families, especially in the closer in suburbs which also have very good school districts: Olivette (Ladue schools), Clayton, Brentwood, Maplewood, Richmond Heights, Pattonville, Parkway (lots of biracial families especially in the Parkway North area.) Biracial families may not be as common out in South County or way out in St. Charles, Jefferson or Franklin counties,

[glamatomic]

wustu has good advice. I kind of wanted to say I didn't think it would be as common further West & further South of St. Louis, but I didn't want to make a sweeping generalization and upset anybody.

[HopeandMe]

Thanks so much for all of the advice thus far wustu87 and glamatomic! Glamatomic we will be renting when we first get there. Our rent here is $1400 a month so if it is possible to get in a nice accepting community with good schools on that a month that would be great. If we have to pay a little more we would be willing to do so. His job would be in St. Louis although I have seen Hazelwood as the city as well. He would be willing to commute 45 minutes (including any traffic) but would prefer less of a commute if at all possible). I hope that helps! Thanks a million for all the help you have and can give!

[glamatomic]

Assuming your husband's job is in either Hazelwood or St. Louis City- I would be looking at West County, Northwest County and Mid County to begin with. Commute times should be a lot shorter than 45 minutes to either Hazelwood or St. Louis proper from all of these regions.

The school districts I would look at first would be Ladue, Parkway, Rockwood, Kirkwood and Webster Groves. Even Pattonville is very reasonable although not quite as desirable as the others listed. Getting into the Ladue School District may be a bit of a stretch on your budget, but not entirely impossible.

I'm not sure what your housing requirements are, but you'll definitely be able to get a 3 bedroom single family in most of the areas listed toward the top of your budget. A lot of the housing stock in most these regions is older (1950s-1970s or older)- so hopefully new builds aren't your thing!

For instance- this house falls within budget and is in the Ladue School District (I double checked) which is far and away the best in the area: 11 Lawrence Dr, Creve Coeur, MO 63141 - Zillow. It doesn't look like the most glamorous house on the planet, but just to give you an idea of what to expect for your money here You could probably get a newer / larger house further west on the other side of the Missouri River, but St. Charles County and surrounds lack the diversity of St. Louis County, plus, the school districts wouldn't be my first pick. Also, the commute time would be a lot longer to St. Louis City.

I hope that helps! Best of luck again!

[metroSTL]

I am in an interracial family much like yours. I am black, my wife is white, and our kids (obviously) are bi-racial. We think St. Louis is a great place for families no matter the make-up or how diverse they are. That being said, we've been to more diverse cities as well. However, St. Louis holds a special place in our hearts so we put down roots here. I will also add that we have never felt that we were in danger around here (although if we ever had to travel to some of the rural areas outside of the metro area, we'd think twice about that... that's the case wherever we live, however). Again, we think you'll be just fine in most areas. We live in what some people would refer to as mid-St. Louis County, but some would say it is South St. Louis County. Basically in the Webster Groves/Shrewsbury/Affton area. One of our kids is school aged and goes to public school. Again, we really like where we live and don't have any problems.

I think you will be fine in St. Louis County. I'd probably recommend Northwest St. Louis County (around Maryland Heights), the Kirkwood/Sunset Hills area, and around Webster Groves. These are nice areas with good schools. I'd not really consider the city of St. Louis, and I feel bad for saying that, but I heavily weighed the schools when I came to that conclusion. Just a quick plug for the area where I live... it is basically right down the street from the city of St. Louis while putting you in higher performing schools. If your husband will work in Hazelwood, the commute wouldn't be too bad as I-170 isn't far away. That highway would take him up North towards Hazelwood.

Don't want to overburden you with so many specifics, but I've lived here for years and can answer any other questions you have. Feel free to send me a direct message if you'd like. Good luck!

[HopeandMe]

You guys make me want to move there! So far I am sold on the people that live there! Thanks for all of your leg work Glamatomic and your feedback metroSTL. If he gets the position I will definately be contacting you if that is ok. If I can ever be of help with any information if you are traveling to Maryland or Washington, D.C. please do let me know! However, I am not getting e-mails with your responses. I just keep checking back to see if I have an answer. I'm not sure why. Oh well...
:-)

[flynavyj]

You guys will be fine here. We have an interracial family and have never had a single problem. With regards to where to live, I agree with all the suggestions given here. ~$1400 will go a long way with as far as rental prices here in the St. Louis Metro (much further than they do in DC). The best school district here is Ladue, the actual city of Ladue is probably hub to the largest pocket of "old money" in the metro region, so good schools simply come with the territory. Luckily, if you're wanting to get into that district, your best bet is in Olivette, you can occasionally find deals in the $180k range, but a solid $200k and you shouldn't have any trouble getting in.

I grew up in the Northwest County area and when the time came to relocate back to St. Louis that's where my wife and I gravitated. We've had a great experience back in the area, great neighbors, great central location, close highway access to get me downtown, etc. We're not really "city dwellers" so being in an urban environment isn't the most critical thing, in fact it's pretty low on our list of priorities. Good luck in your home hunt, but I don't think you'll be disappointed upon arriving here!

[RonnieRedd]

Yes, in north county. When I go to the walmart on florrisant road I see a lot of interracial couples.