Clayton, What is it like? (St. Louis, Chesterfield: condos, lawyers, homes)

[annacart04]

What can you tell me about Clayton -- Do they have good schools? Do most people send to private or public schools? What is the town like? Is is family friendly? How is the housing market? (We would be in the 500-600K range) Is it conveniently located to parks, shopping, kids activities, and good restaurants? What are the drawbacks?

Anything you could tell me would be appreciated.

Thanks!

[aragx6]

Clayton is a great inner-ring suburb. The public schools are very good, as are nearby private schools. Most send their kids to public school, but private schools are also an option. It's convenient to everything you could want.

Your budget will put you in the middle of the pack as far as housing goes. You'll probably be looking at an older (about 50 years) American traditional two story with 4 bedrooms in an older tree-lined suburb. Kind of like this one: Single Family Home - 626 Audubon Dr, Clayton, MO, 63105 - Realtor.com
or this one: Single Family Home - 812 S Central Ave, St Louis, MO, 63105 - Realtor.com

[Fishtacos]

Originally Posted by annacart04

What can you tell me about Clayton -- Do they have good schools? Do most people send to private or public schools? What is the town like? Is is family friendly? How is the housing market? (We would be in the 500-600K range) Is it conveniently located to parks, shopping, kids activities, and good restaurants? What are the drawbacks?

Anything you could tell me would be appreciated.

Thanks!

1) Schools are very good. Some send to the public schools, and some, because of the high wealth of its residents send their kids to the elite cost private schools. A mix of both, but some of the best public schools are in Clayton.

2) Town is upper middle class, has its own viable business district with lots of lawyers, bankers, financial people. It's very spotless clean. It contains the county courts building as well. It is a very walkable area containing several blocks of little shops, boutiques, restaurants. It's a very well kept older area.

3) It is very family friendly.

4) Housing market. There is a variety. You would be middle end, generally speaking. There are many 7 figure homes in Clayton. Clayton contains many tree lined streets of very nice older homes, mixed in with 7 figure tear downs which are built to resemble the older ones, mixed in with high end town homes and condos. Clayton would classified as top 5 suburbs in terms of cost in the area.

5) Very conveniently located to parks. Shaw park on its Western End is very popular with picnics, almost a dozen tennis courts, out door ice skating, swimming, and very competitive swimming and diving programs, outdoor, softball fields etc...right at Western end of downtown bordering Ladue, one of wealthiest enclaves in town. On the Eastern end of Clayton is Washington University, a beautiful top 10 academic University in the country, which is bordered by Forest Park, one of the largest urban parks in the country. Forest Park is my favorite place in St. Louis. Clayton and Wash U both have metro link stations. Lots of higher end little boutiques and shopping downtown Clayton. The Galleria, a large mall is on border of Clayton and Richmond Heights, a few street drive away, which has all the big mall type of shopping. Lots of kids activities and lots of restaurants, from casual to high end Morton's and Ruth Chris' steaks. Big box stores can be found a miles down the road in Brentwood for those store needs. One of its best points to me is its walkability. That's always a challenge in suburbs. Wide variety of religions, from nothing, to Jewish, to Catholic, to other. Clayton also has annual family friendly festivals, taste of Clayton, St. Louis Art fair, etc....

So, as you can see, it has pretty much everything you mentioned right at your feet, in a central location, not far from the city or other burbs further out.

Drawbacks? Not many. It's expensive to some non-upper middle class people who cannot afford to live there. It doesn't have a lot of diversity in terms of race and ethnicity, but that simply just resembles St. Louis. University City is one of the more diverse parts of St. Louis to its North, so that isn't an issue. If you are seeking more space, more seclusion, huge lots with a lot of money, then Huntleigh, Ladue, or Town and Country are more for you. Clayton is a compact place. Again, depending on whom you ask, it could be a little too upper middle class for their taste. However, it is extremely close to a couple of areas that fill in those voids nicely. University City is a fun, diverse bohemian area a few blocks away, and Brentwood and Richmond Heights offer retail needs.

There are a lot of things to like about Clayton. I'm willing to bet most responses you will get will be very positive, with the main negative being affordability to some. It's a highly desirable area in the inner ring suburbs of St. Louis. It's 15 minutes max to downtown via hwy.(when reconstruction is complete.)

[Bobster]

Fishtacos and Aragx6 hit the nail on the head!

[jojojohnson76]

Downtown Clayton is an awesome secondary downtown to the St. Louis area.

[annacart04]

Thanks for all the feedback, especially from fishtacos, very thorough. We are trying to decide on a move to St. Louis from the Cleveland area and since I have never been there, I am really interested in all that everyone has to say about the area. Other areas that I have looked into were Webster Groves and Kirkwood, and since my husbands office would be in Chesterfield, we are looking there too. I just found out an old work friend lives in Clayton and so I thought I would look into that area as well.

You have all given me a lot to think about. Thank you!

[Fishtacos]

Originally Posted by annacart04

Thanks for all the feedback, especially from fishtacos, very thorough. We are trying to decide on a move to St. Louis from the Cleveland area and since I have never been there, I am really interested in all that everyone has to say about the area. Other areas that I have looked into were Webster Groves and Kirkwood, and since my husbands office would be in Chesterfield, we are looking there too. I just found out an old work friend lives in Clayton and so I thought I would look into that area as well.

You have all given me a lot to think about. Thank you!

St. Louis won't be radically different from Cleveland, but imo a little more to offer.

The other 3 areas you mention are all good family friendly areas. Chesterfield stands out amongst all of your picks as being different from the others. Chesterfield is a more modern place with bigger lots, newer homes, have to drive everywhere, although they have everything you seek and they are building a downtown in the near future, but it will always be a driving town. Chesterfield is very popular and areas around it are booming(Wildwood) with new construction. Some people like to be a little further out.

Obviously Webster and Kirkwood are very similar and very different from Chesterfield. Old historic 100 year old homes, wider variety of 7 figure homes and much cheaper homes. Walkable downtown areas, and short drives to the rest.

You really couldn't go wrong with any of your 4 choices. It's a matter of personal preference. Those are some of the more desirable areas in St. Louis for many families.

[Bobster]

Again, Fish beat me to the punch!