Possible move to St. Louis w/ large family needs housing & school sugguestions

[skeating]

Going to Illinois side is probably a good idea. Looked at those areas within the last couple weeks and we loved Edwardsville and surrounding areas. The town has a quaint side and it is very clean. There is plenty to offer you in your price range. They have everything for you within the town so you don't have to travel for your everyday needs.

We are looking at the area to retire and so are our parents. Taxes on real estate are a little higher but you don't have personal property tax so that does help balance things a little.

The streets are well maintained and the towns are clean that is a plus....

We used to live in West, North, and South County in St Louis area, then we moved to the Ozarks and now as babyboomers we are moving back and that was a real shock how St Louis areas have changed. We have been told by our friends that the big move is on to go toward Illinois. We are seriously considering that direction.

[tcdain]

Originally Posted by aragx6

Edwardsville and Glen Carbon will definitely be farther than 30 minutes. I would think with traffic it would be 45 minutes or slightly more.

Actually 27.3 miles and a 32 minute drive per Microsoft streets and trips

It also depends on what time the driver would commute. Traffic does not run all day in a jam from IL to St. Louis.

[aragx6]

tcdain: That's exactly what I was saying. Sure traffic isn't bad all day, but if you are commuting during rush hour, I would be shocked if it took less than 40 minutes.

[tcdain]

Originally Posted by aragx6

tcdain: That's exactly what I was saying. Sure traffic isn't bad all day, but if you are commuting during rush hour, I would be shocked if it took less than 40 minutes.

It all depends on the bridge your taking. Coming in from highway 270 is much better during rush hour than crossing at highway 55. It is also not to bad coming around from 255 south end. I would say 45 min would be a good average during rush hour. I am just saying it is not as bad as most people think it is. I would guess that during rush hour many of the cities above would take the same amount of time. For example if you were going down town from say St. Charles I would think rush hour traffic would be comparable.

[aragx6]

I totally agree. That's why i would suggest an older house in Webster Groves or Kirkwood.

[TGS]

The original poster wants a house within a 30 minute commute to Wash U. I agree with aragx6: as nice as Edwardsville is, that just isn't the right place. I used to drive to Edwardsville all the time from Clayton and it took about 45 minutes with traffic.

There are plenty of good areas much, much closer. Webster Groves, Kirkwood, and U City should be completely examined and eliminated from consideration (and I don't know how anyone would, those areas are so nice) before the original poster needs to start looking in Illinois.