West County / North County (St. Louis, Florissant: low income, sex offender, crime)

[stevebidw]

I've seen alot mentioned in these threads about North County as not so great, West County as better. How are these areas divided? Where does North County end and West County begin?

[Ftball_Mom]

Yeah, I would like to know the same thing. I keep hearing about the three sections of St. Louis county but when I look on a map, I can't find any natural or manmade boundaries that would separate the three sections. Does anyone have a map that shows the boundaries?

[CellarBelle]

I would highly recommend you check the crime stats for any area you consider for living. City Data does a nice job presenting the information. Also, look at the population increase/decrease. While you can get good buys in areas with population decreases, it can be an indicator to future house appreciation and problem areas.

This can be tedious work, but it won't take long to figure out healthy, thriving areas once you get used to looking at the data. I would actually just pull out a map and start punching in, on city data, the names of the towns/cities in different areas. Then, you should be able to start targeting the area that fits your needs. Also, if you go to www.greatschools.net, you can look at the schools for the area you are considering. This is another great indicator of the viability of an area.

When we moved to the area in 2003, we came from a town we were very happy with. I actually printed out the data for our town, and used that data to compare against other towns. When I found a town with similar crime stats, schools and demographics, I targeted the area and found a great place to live. It is tedious and time-consuming, but it beats living in an area that does not fit your needs.

I'm sure you will get some posters that will tell you more specific information about "boundaries" and such, but I recommend you do your homework and compare it to the information that you receive from posters. Everybody has a different definition of "the perfect place to live". I think my town is awesome, but I know people that have left the area running as fast as they can. It just depends on what you are looking for in a community.

Good luck!

[Northwoods Voyager]

Right on, CellarBelle! I lived in St. Louis most of my life and have seen major changes, some good, many more depressing. The areas are divided by economic factors, schools crime, etc. Where I spent some of my childhood, I find hard to recognize at times. The area is somewhat blighted now. Very low income housing has taken over and crime also has been occurring on a regular basis. How sad.

During my childhood, my cousins and I walked everywhere at the ages of 8, 9, and older.
I would not walk around these areas at the present time. There are no true 'lines' that mark any boundaries between most of these areas. There are good and bad in many. Individuals try their best to improve and maintain their properties. It is the few that make the difference.

St. Louis is still a great city. It just depends upon what you are seeking and desiring, whether it be housing, employment, recreation, and/or schools. Good luck and take the time to do homework.

[skeating]

North County: 270 & St Charles Rock Road and continue to head north. West County:270 & Dorsett then head south and west. Hwy 44 & 270 this will head you east and west. South County: 270 & 44 go south on 270 or west on 44 or north & south on 55. 270 is a main barrier when thinking of land layout. 270 go north and south. 44 goes east and west. 55 goes north and south. Use these highway barriers to get a feel for north county areas and south county areas as well as the west county areas. Maybe this will help you.

[CellarBelle]

Oh, and one more thing. Before you write a contract on ANY house, go to the sex offender registry for your state and check the address of the home you are purchasing. I recently heard a horror story of someone with a young child and their agent didn't remind them to do this. They wrote the contract and then found out that next door was a repeat offender that preferred young children. They were under contract at that point, and it cost them dearly to get out of it. This can happen in neighborhoods of all socioeconomic ranges - regardless of location, so be sure to do your homework before you write your contract!

[SashaBlue]

Is Florissant considered North County? What is it like?

[stlsteved]

Originally Posted by SashaBlue

Is Florissant considered North County? What is it like?

Florrisant is definitely North County but is considered one of the better areas in North County; however be careful where you live even within Florrisant and do your research on the neighborhood before you commit...word of mouth and scouting out the area at different times is what I would suggest. The upside of Florrisant is that it is very affordable compared to say, West County, and the houses for the most part are nicely kept - strict building codes there I believe. Also, the neighborhoods there are very spread out and nice looking with lots of trees...they don't make them like that anymore


If you can afford to spend a bit more, check out the Maryland Heights area...it is pretty much the borderline between West and North County and IMO you get a better area for a bit more money.

[kirkwoodginger]

To give you a better idea of boundaries pull out a map of St. Louis. The city pretty much ends (and the county starts) at Brentwood Blvd. where it crosses Hwy 40/61.
You'll see that coming from downtown you can take Hwy 70, I-55, I-44 and 40/61. They all cross over Hwy 270. Where they cross over (everything west of there) is approximately what is considered "West County".

Everything that sits between Hwy 44 and 40/61 is Central St. Louis County. It also goes a little further North to approximately Page avenue (including Clayton, Ladue and Creve Coeur. Everything north of Page and north of Hwy 70 is north county and everything south of Hwy 44 is pretty much South county give or take a Sunset Hills and Crestwood.

It's kind of hard to explain but if you look on a map you will see a triangle where 40/61, 270 and 44 meet. Everything inside there is central and the rest just sort of flows out from there.

I realize it's confusing but that's the general summary and you definately will need a map to draw it out. Once you do it should be pretty simple to understand.

Let me know if you have any other questions as I'm happy to help.

[Bobster]

Having lived in Maryland Heights, which I considered to be a cross between west county and north county, I'd say that was the dividing line between the two. I now live in Florissant and it is definately North County! Any further north and I'd be in Alton!


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