Location Help? SF early 30s moving near St. Louis (St. Charles: middle-class, fit in)

[Rg2932332]

Hi all,
I am moving to the St. Louis area this August for a job in St. Charles. I am having a hard time deciding where to look for apartment/condo/townhome rentals. As of now Creve Coeur and University City are front runners (very different I know!) On the one hand, I definitely want to be near shopping, a gym with fitness classes, and conveniences like off street parking (preferably a garage) and a washer and dryer. I do like walking, but not for errands per se- more apt to drive to a park and enjoy nature. I'd prefer a 30 minute commute to St. Charles at the most.

I feel like Creve Coeur may have the above conveniences, but a single 30 something I'd like to be closer to the city or at least in an area where there is potential to meet/be around people in a similar life phase. The Loop seems like a good place to be in that regard. Re U City in general I am concerned about safety in particular areas and also whether I'll have to give up the "suburban" conveniences mentioned above. I am moving from Columbus OH and may not even be able to see the rental first, so I really want to have as much info as possible for my search. I am looking for a 2 bedroom and do not care at all if the property is small. I also don't want to spend more than 900 and preferably less if that is possible. I am not limited to Creve Coeur and U City, but based on my search thus far each represents a good proportion of what I want. Hopefully this is not too tall of an order and I can get most, if not all, of what I am looking for in the St. Louis area.


Any and all insight is greatly appreciated, thanks!

[rcjhku]

Don't move to North County. This area has the highest rate of burglary and rape in the St Louis area.

[inahandbasket]

Originally Posted by Rg2932332

Hi all,
I am moving to the St. Louis area this August for a job in St. Charles. I am having a hard time deciding where to look for apartment/condo/townhome rentals. As of now Creve Coeur and University City are front runners (very different I know!) On the one hand, I definitely want to be near shopping, a gym with fitness classes, and conveniences like off street parking (preferably a garage) and a washer and dryer. I do like walking, but not for errands per se- more apt to drive to a park and enjoy nature. I'd prefer a 30 minute commute to St. Charles at the most.

I feel like Creve Coeur may have the above conveniences, but a single 30 something I'd like to be closer to the city or at least in an area where there is potential to meet/be around people in a similar life phase. The Loop seems like a good place to be in that regard. Re U City in general I am concerned about safety in particular areas and also whether I'll have to give up the "suburban" conveniences mentioned above. I am moving from Columbus OH and may not even be able to see the rental first, so I really want to have as much info as possible for my search. I am looking for a 2 bedroom and do not care at all if the property is small. I also don't want to spend more than 900 and preferably less if that is possible. I am not limited to Creve Coeur and U City, but based on my search thus far each represents a good proportion of what I want. Hopefully this is not too tall of an order and I can get most, if not all, of what I am looking for in the St. Louis area.


Any and all insight is greatly appreciated, thanks!

Here is a Craig's listing of an apartment on Delmar (major east/west route in STL/U City) on the southern border of the University Park neighborhood:
7359 Delmar (2 Bdr. apt., hdw flrs.,Liv/Din Rm.) 2 bedroom $680/mo
Here's a listing within the U Park neighborhood:
7360 Amherst (Large 3 bed apt, hrdwd fls, living & dining rms, balcony 3 bedroom/1400 sf $850/mo
One more:
7365 Amherst-(2 Bdr. apt., hardwood flrs, Din. Rm., appls., w/d hookup 2 bedroom $670/mo


The University Park neighborhood is a safe area less than a mile west of the Loop. It's a combination of single family houses, duplexes, and four family houses. Lots of doctor/lawyer/professionals in the single family houses, lots of graduate students with young families in the apartment buildings. Lots of dog owners - there's a dog park nearby - University Park has two lovely parks on the east (Lewis Park) and west (Mooney Park) boundaries. Winslow's Home is a great old timey restaurant/general store that is wildly popular with the surrounding area that is on the southern border of U Park at Midland and Delmar.

We are a married couple who moved to the University Park neighborhood shortly after our youngest daughter graduated from high school in the western 'burbs of STL. We wanted to be closer to all of the amenities of the city and do not regret the move. We had also considered Tower Grove South but found the house that suited us in U City.

Hope this helps.

[Old Trafford]

U- City and Creve Coeur are good choices- reverse commute so its pretty easy -

don't mind Rock Chalk above - just a Kansas redneck who for some reason comes in here and throughs bombs

[zach_33]

Hi, welcome. I lived in Columbus, I also spent many years in U City. If you live in U City you might want to try to stay close to Forest Park Parkway for a couple reasons; first, your commute to St. Charles will be facilitated by having quick access to I-170, and FPP is a straight shot from Big Bend all the way to I-170 (every once in a while the light at Pershing changes, but it's a negligible hindrance). Of course taking Delmar or Olive west to 170 isn't that much of a hassle, I just like the traffic-lightless slide you get on FPP. Second, you'll be doing most of your shopping in Clayton, Brentwood, and Richmond Hieghts, which all lie south of U City, so the further south you are the less driving around you'll do on weekends to shop and run errands (or go jog through Forest Park, or whatever). You might look closely at the three aforementioned communities, btw, as they all have good 30 something professional crowds, good highway access and relatively seamless commuter paths to St. Charles. U City is safe excepting for a few neighborhoods in the northern reaches.

Creve Couer-- I guess there are some apartment complexes where you might fit in out that way, along Olive west of 270. It would make your commute easier but it wouldn't be the path I'd take. If you were going to do that you might as well just move to St. Charles - plenty of apartments out that way with people and places fitting your interests (I would think).

[Rg2932332]

Thanks so much everyone, this really helps! Especially the available rentals inahandbasket, but is it too early to contact open listings? Anyone know if there could be rentals I could find now aside from apt complexes? I'm thinking with so many students in the area preleasing is possible but I really have no clue. Definitely new to this. Old Trafford lol that talk doesn't phase me...I'm a criminologist, I know what's up with generalizations like that Zach33 since you lived in Cbus perhaps this makes sense- my preference is to live somewhere like Grandview. Sounds like Creve Coeur is out unless I really can't find anything else LOL. Much appreciated!!!

[zach_33]

Hmm. Grandview doesn't really have a twin in St. Louis, but if you are looking for an inner-ring suburb that is mix of middle-class, working-class, yuppie chic, and affluent families (this is my sense of Grandview), then you are right to have U City on your list. Maplewood might be the closest match although not quite as desirable (Manchester Rd between Big Bend and Bellevue is highly similar to Grandview Ave between 1st and 5th) but that would take you a bit further from St. Charles. Clayton might also be analogous to Grandview except for the fact that Clayton doesn't really have any working class left to it, and it has a huge downtown all to itself. Yeah, I'd focus on what some call "mid-county": clayton, U city, brentwood, richmond heights, possibly maplewood if you don't mind stretching that 30 minute commute to 35 minutes on bad days.

[zach_33]

U City is like Bexley with a more pronounced liberal skew. Clayton is kind of like Marble Cliff/Arlington Heights only it has a large central business district. If you've ever been to Cincy, Richmond Heights and Brentwood remind me an awful lot of Kenwood.