Young family moving to St Louis from Denver with child with IEP (St. Louis: apartment, to rent)

[SiouxMama]

We are a young family moving to St Louis at the end of the year from Littleton / Denver. Right now we live in a very walkable community. My husband walks to the light rail station and takes the train everyday to work. I can easily walk my son to school, the rec center, and to our little downtown area. We live next to amazing trails and love being outside enjoying the weather. Our son is starting Kindergarten in the fall and has an IEP. He is currently going to a center based school and we are extremely happy with all of the services he's currently and going to receive at the elementary school next year. He also receives speech and occupational therapy at the children's hospital here.
I'm very overwhelmed with all the options of areas to live. We have been talking about Edwardsville (I just started going back to school and pursuing engineering). It seems people like the schools and it's a college town. My husband will be traveling for work so he can commute so that we can live near a university. Are there any other areas to look at? We are not sold on edwardsville. We would like rent to be no more than $1300 / mo. Also does MO or IL have a buy in Medicaid program for children with disabilities?
We love living here and super sad to leave. I would really like to live in an area as close to the one we are living now.
Thank you in advance!

[ll0OoO0ll]

How is Rolla, MO for you?

[FrankMiller]

Are you going to school at SIUE? If you want city amenities it seems like you would probably prefer someplace along the MetroLink like University City or Maplewood in St Louis County (which I suppose means you'd be talking to the StL County Special School District for the IEP), but that would be a 40min drive to Edwardsville.

[billiken]

STL is a bit different because the light rail does not reach very far into the suburbs. I think Edwardsville sounds like a good idea, although I'm not as familiar with the IL side of the metro. You might also consider UMSL. Kirkwood is somewhat similar to Littleton. Nice downtown, some more subdivision-like development outside of it, great schools, good proximity to a lot of what the area has to offer. Sorry, I know nothing about IEPs or medicaid.

[jo_mama]

it would be helpful to know where your husband will be working, as commutes can be hard moving through some parts of the city. if he were working in west county, for instance, i would not recommend settling down in edwardsville.

edwardsville is a lovely community. i graduated from siue, and it's a great school. edwardsville is not a typical college town, though. there's a quaint downtown area, and lots of higher end beautiful homes. siue isn't much of a party school, anyways, but the students who choose to live off campus normally have to live down the road (collinsville, glen carbon) to afford the rent. that being said, you might be able to find something to rent in your price range because of the student demand. edwardsville schools are excellent, and there's a great community of families there.

IEPs are fairly common, so i can't imagine you'd have any problems in that regard as long as you stay out of st. louis city schools. illinois has a great medicaid program for children, but i'm not sure of the qualifications for that anymore.

edwardsville is not convenient for public transportation, but our metrolink system is pretty limited in it's uses. if your husband works somewhere along metrolink he might consider driving down 255 to a metro stop just bypass traffic.

i imagine you might find the weather here a little hard to like, considering that you currently enjoy being outside a lot.

good luck

[SiouxMama]

My husband will be working near forest park (I believe the east side). I'm from Northwest Arkansas and liked it ok there. My husband and I met at the university of Arkansas. We are not looking for a party scene. We do enjoy going to festivals and farmers markets. We really dislike cookie cutter neighborhoods. We understand that public transportation is not utilized there like it is here. My main concern is getting into a school district with great teachers who really understand IEPs. I don't want to be in a district that is known to have problems implementing or following IEPs. I'll give everything to be in the right school. We are currently in an apartment to be in our district and to afford all his medical expenses.

[FrankMiller]

Well, Kirkwood does have a farmers market and walkable neighborhoods, as well as a convenient trip into the city (Forest Park) along I-44 or nearby I-64 depending on the address. It has a highly-rated school district, but St. Louis County funds the Special School District for kids with specific needs, so depending on your situation you might be under the purview of the SSD, and I'm not sure how that works.

Unfortunately I have no idea what the Medicaid situation would be, but luckily we're a bi-state region, so hopefully you can pick whichever state suits your needs best.

[OuttaTheLouBurbs]

It sounds like your husband will be working in the Central West End. That's good. The CWE is one of the premier parts of the city, and apart from downtown has the most to offer. It's directly connected to the Metrolink, StL's light rail system, and has quite a few festivals and events to keep up with, particularly in the park. Lots of good food in the area too.

Only problem is that the CWE is still in the city, and living in the city means city schools. However, the CWE is across the park from Clayton, which is known for equally trendy urban living and has very good schools. Clayton also has a direct connection to the Metrolink as well. If you can get it in your pricing range, Clayton is perfect for you.

[jo_mama]

i agree with previous posters about the areas they mentioned. kirkwood and clayton are both great places to live. kirkwood is a magical small town within the city, and clayton is a more expensive area with obvious benefits. might be tricky with your price range, but if you look hard enough and are willing to like smaller, then you'll be okay.

i have a friend who works in the st louis special school district, and she can tell some horror stories. i doubt an iep would put a child into those schools. my niece and my nephew both have ieps and live out in o'fallon, mo, and are doing fine. they both have the same advocate (you'll have to pardon me for my limited knowledge, here, but i can probably ask around for more, lol) who acts as a liason between the family and the school and makes sure the iep is followed, etc. my sister does not have enough good things to say about this advocate she has, so maybe that's something to look into?

going back to edwardsville . . . siue is a leader in education, as far as those majoring in education. i know they have resources on campus for various therapies for children. i worked in the campus daycare, which is phenomenal, and we had a number of children who would head over to the campus proper for different sessions. dcfs is also a great resource. and everything else you mentioned - farmer's markets, parades, festivals - it's all there.

[Hector2]

If you want something close to the feel of Littleton and with good school districts I would look in no particular order at Kirkwood, Glendale, Webster Groves, Brentwood, and Clayton. Brentwood is the least walkable of those. Clayton is the only one where your husband would possibly be able to walk to a metro stop and overall it sounds like exactly what you're looking for although maybe not quite suburban enough. It's also going to be the most expensive and I don't think you'll be able to rent a house for the price you want--but it's worth a try. Edwardsville is nice but not walkable at all unless you live right off Main St.