lifetime New Yorker seeks Refuge!

[STLCardsBlues1989]

Welcome to MO!

It's always great to hear of someone rehabbing a house. I hope your cafe idea is successful.

Someone in Benton Park is opening a place called Foam. It's in a rehabbed 19th-century pharmacy and it'll be a microbrewery/coffehouse/music venue. Should be interesting.

What is your son studying? Wash U is a great school, but hard to get into. SLU and UMSL are pretty good as well I believe. And there's University of Missouri in Springfield, which I think is less than 4 hours away. Wherever he goes I wish him well.

[aragx6]

Your son should certainly check out University of Missouri, Columbia, it's the flagship school, very big, very diverse and many of his dorm-mates would probably be from St. Louis anyway!

Anyway, if you open up that cafe, let me know where it is and I'll be there!

[jakatie2658]

Regarding law schools, Wash U is currently ranked 19th in the country. If you graduate in the top 25% of the class or above, you should be able to get a job in most major cities. SLU would allow you more opportunity locally. However, if you rank in the top 10%, you should be able to get a job with major firms in other large cities. If you are interested in health care law, SLU has ranked #1 in the country for the past 5 years in the health law specialty. In addition, SLU has a part-time evening program which is ideal for working adults. I am currently in the PT evening program and love it. About half the students in our class are non-traditional and come from a variety of fields. Depending on if you're willing to take class over the summers, you can graduate as quickly as 3 1/2 years (just 1 semester longer than the regular day curriculum) or you can stretch it out to 5 years.

Good luck with your move!

[Hammer25]

I have gone to Blu CitySpaces and I must say, it is not all it seems. Parking is behind 7-eleven. There are so many difficult people who hang around the building. I have a friend who lives next to the building and there was recently 3 stabbings across the street and a few months back there was a homeless woman who was raped and murdered. There's a church behind the building, which feeds the homeless. Although the insides are nice but small, if it was situated in a different neighborhood, I would have purchased. I wouldn't be caught dead living there

[aaronstlcards]

Originally Posted by STLCardsBlues1989

Welcome to St. Louis, Dana!

As far as diversity, North St. Louis City is majority black (from my understanding) and South St. Louis is mostly white, but I think both are fairly accepting.

North City has been neglected over the years, but it's on the rise. It's more known for crime, but there are some nice neighborhoods there and some beautiful old buildings.

South City is generally considered safer. Lafayette Square will generally be more expensive. Soulard is a nice area as well and has the farmer's market. Tower Grove has some nice areas I think. I don't believe there's MetroLink to South City, though, just buses.

The Central West End may be more diverse racially, as well as University City (a suburb, not in the city). Clayton is wonderful, too, but it's more expensive and farther from the city core.

Southwest of the city there are some maybe more affluent neighborhoods such as St. Louis Hills, which has some beautiful brick buildings and is generally safe.

The area around Forest Park has some beautiful homes that were built for the 1904 World's Fair. And Forest Park itself is bigger than Central Park in NY. There's also Tower Grove Park south of it and Carondelet Park south of that which are a decent size as well.

Downtown used to be more abandoned, but some of the old buildings, department stores, office buildings, have been rehabbed into wonderful lofts. The cheapest to buy you will probably find is the BluCitySpaces, about a block from Union Station, in Downtown West. It's a building that was formerly a Plaza Apartments building (there are others there that are still Plaza Apartment buildings). I've heard the area can be kind of shady, but I guess the price makes up for it. $80k for a studio, $120k for a 1 BR, and $150k for a 2 BR. Blu CitySpaces - Downtown St. Louis Condos
There are some condos for sale and some for rent in downtown. They can reach, I think, anywhere from $800 maybe $1500 a month for the very best.

You could check out the Cupples Apartments. They're a block from Busch Stadium and one bedrooms start at $562/month. They also have will give you a special rate if you make below a certain amount (maybe $17k a year, I think, but I could be wrong). The site has contact info. It's possible that they're filled up.
Cupples Station Loft Apartments[id]/6091/
Cupples Station Loft Apartments :: 1023 Spruce Street - St. Louis Lofts
Click to discuss to learn other St. Louisans thoughts about it.
Pets allowed. It's a block from Busch and not much farther from the Arch.

Also check out St. Louis Lofts, Saint Louis MO for some info on lofts. The site probably isn't up-to-date, but it gives websites for most of the developments, and you could probably search them on Google or something.
Downtown's website Downtown St. Louis Partnership - Home
st louis, MO apts/housing for rent classifieds - craigslist apartment listings

I only listed a couple of the downtown loft developments, but there are plenty more. So, try some of the links I gave you and think about it a bit, ask around on here, too. Some things I probably can't help you with, since I don't live in STL, but I'll help as much as I can.

I'm sure I probably forgot an area. I don't live in St. Louis, so my perceptions could be wrong, but these are the perceptions I get from talking to residents. If anyone wants to correct me, please do.

I'm sure you'll like St. Louis just fine. The only thing I'd worry about it is city schools, but it doesn't sound like that's an issue for you. And it's generally cheaper to live in St. Louis. And living in New York I'm guessing you're used to weather. The public transportation isn't as good as New York, I'm sure, but I think just getting to work and back it may suffice.

Things to do: Forest Park (the Zoo, Festivals, Outdoor activities), The museums (art museum, contemporary art museum, City Museum (a lot of fun) and some other museums (can't remember them all), Baseball, Hockey, football, hopefully soccer in a couple of years, The Hill (Italian restaurants), St. Patrick's Day Parades (Dogtown and Downtown), the Arch, the Anheuser-Busch Brewery.
St. Louis, MO: Visitor Information & Travel Planning Resources
Some more there.

What kind of job are you looking for? Just curious.

North St. Louis city isn't just mostly black, it's at least 85-95% black. And actually, south St. Louis city (along with CWE and U-City) is a major melting pot of races, religions and cultures in St. Louis. Now if you go southwest in south city, the area is very majority white. But the neighborhoods in South Grand, Benton Park, Soulard, Shaw, Tower Grove East are very diverse. Maybe 20 years ago you could say that about south city, but defintely not today.