STL, St. Charles or Lake St. Louis? Moving help (University City: to rent, loft)

[riterwings]

Hi
Would welcome any assistance in moving from Huntsville, AL to St. Louis area. Husband relocating to St. Louis with job near airport in STL. Our 15th army move. Young empty nesters (early 40s) now with this move. Don't have to worry about schools this time.

Have lived in many types of homes/settings. Love lakes, so checking out Lake St. Louis. Is it a 'retiree' area though? Don't want that yet.

ST. Charles is by the Katy Trail and love to cycle/hike. And seems closer to airport.

Buy then again, the army has never sent us to a city, so may love to try city living for a change. Haven't done that since Savannah, GA.

I'm a screenwriter/filmmaker/freelance writer (depending on where the army sends us at times). I love the university type of atmosphere.

I hate to mention this, but we did get stuck in a very conservative, ultra religious community in Alabama for four years. Wouldn't have minded that (grew up in WV with Pentecostal father) but people were pretty mean or rude (or just didn't talk to you) if you didn't share their political or religious views. (Because we are army and officers, people made many incorrect assumptions about us).

So don't want that. We are independent to moderately liberal and don't attend church (mainly because it felt forced here).

Strange that in 23 years and with 15 moves we've never given those types of issues consideration. But after here, we feel we must.

We do have four pets. Two elderly dogs so don't need a huge yard and two cats. Would like single home instead of apt. Would love to experience ST. Louis for the three years we'll be there!

So dilemna is city vs. suburbs vs. farther out by the lake.

Please feel free to comment. Thanks! Going to look at homes this weekend for three days. So please rush comments. Thank you much and so looking forward to this new adventure!

[STLCardsBlues1989]

I'd recommend the city, but I like city living myself, so I might be biased. If you want a University feel you could try to University City, though it's outside the city itself. I would recommend the Central West End as well. But there are a lot of fine areas of the city. Lafayette Square in South City has beautiful "painted ladies" rowhouses.

St. Charles and Lake St. Louis are fine, too, but to me you sound like you'd like to try the city. Plus, the city tends to be more liberal than suburbs (just a generalization). One thing I like about the city is public transportation. It's not perfect, but I prefer it more than suburban driving. The City has some Italian restaurants on the Hill, and you'll see some Irish pride in Dogtown (not an official neighborhood apparently.) Soulard has Mardi Gras every year. Downtown is a bit more pricey. There are new loft developments going up there, mostly in old department stores and office buildings.

To me it sounds like the city would be best for you, especially since you don't have kids in school to worry about.

But I'll admit, I don't know a lot about Lake St. Louis or St. Charles. We take a vacation every year or so to Lake of the Ozarks. So if you don't want to live on a lake there are lakes nearby for vacations. I believe there are some in Illinois, too.

You sound like city people to me: more liberal, no need for schools, not strict churchgoers. If you want to attend church (certainly your choice) there are plenty of good churches in the area. I attend a pentecostal Assembly of God church in a small town here. I love it, but I understand that well-meaning people can be pushy. Not everybody likes to be in a town where everybody knows your name.

I hope you enjoy St. Louis. You sound like city people to me, but others opinions may be helpful. Welcome to Missouri!

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[aragx6]

Hi! Welcome to St. Louis!

I grew up in St. Charles, and it's a nice area, but I absolutely think you guys should look into St. Louis; it's a really great city with so much fun (and often free!) stuff to do.

You'll find all of St. Louis more liberal than Alabama to be sure, but St. Charles county is definitely the most conservative area in St. Louis, so if you're looking for something more liberal this time around I'd look elsewhere.

That's not to say you'd have a bad experience out there. The area is predominantly Catholic, so you won't find its residents as preachy as evangelicals come sometimes be- Catholics are more the type to judge you quietly behind your back (LOL! No harm intended!) Plus, while conservative, folks in St. Charles are more politically conservative (John McCain) rather than socially conservative (the Mike Huckabee type you find in parts of rural MO)

But you're young empty-nesters and you don't have to worry about schools so why not give the city a chance? Because of the pets, you'll definitely want a SFH, so you'll want to look in neighborhoods like Dogtown. Here's a great example and this looks perfect for you!: /3BR - NEW REHAB! HOUSE w/ fireplace, hardwoods,yard (broken link)

Though I guess to really make suggestions I'd need to know what your budget will be...

[Azalea City Man]

I think St. Charles is a very neat place, and I am one of those typical liberal city-dwelling folk I guess .

You sound like city people to me: more liberal, no need for schools, not strict churchgoers.

Quite the generalization there ... Aside from the sarcastic comment above, I actually consider myself to be a "right down the middle moderate", yet have no need for schools, and am not a strict church-goer.

[aragx6]

Sure Main Street St. Charles is a neat place, but I would hope you wouldn't say the same of the rest of the area. It's nice, the schools are nice, the people are generally nice, but there's nothing special about it really.

[deb1305]

I am a Realtor. I have lived both in the city and county of St.Louis. I thought about moving to St. Charles for a minute...but changed my mind. I do not mean to offend anyone. there are a lot of different places(nice) that will only take you minutes to get to airport. Choose wisely!! email me back and I will give you more ideas. Thanks

[lslone]

I have lived in Lake St Louis for 30 years. I am 53 years old. Out of possibly 10 neighbors close to me maybe one house has retired people in it. Lake Saint louis is a great family area that has plenty to do. Its like being on vacation at home. I have a 3000 sq ft house with a pool on the golf course.I will be selling shortly for 250K if I don't find a job soon. Housing is very affordible here. You can find houses on the older side of the lake at a more reasonable price.

[sixtwobaldguy]

"City living" is dubious at best. This is st. louis, not LA. You aren't going to often find yourself standing next to Clooney or hell even George Micheal for that matter. Once you live here you will see how laughable the idea of being from the city vs county really is. It's like arguing whether Nebraska or Iowa is trendier, what would one do measure the state by which has the least amount of corn? The whole place, IMO, has a very small town feel to it which isn't really a bad thing, it's just not like the big cities of the world even though it's actually fairly large. Some people really need to be dramatic though, they want to talk about living in the ghetto, or people getting jacked, or some crazy stuff that's so irrelevant to normal St. Lousians lives it's not even really thought of. Some of these people must be really young, that's all I can figure. If you want my opinion, there's isn't a heck of a lot of difference having lived in both the city and the county. Both have good and bad areas. You have forest park in the city, but it's also easily drivable from my county home too. In the county you have plces like castlewood park, but it's easily drivable from the cty too. It's not chicago, you won't have to worry about how far away things are. Outside of staying away from the poor people, most of the talk here is just overly dramatic IMO. Every part of the area has interesting things to see and do and most places are easily drivable within an hour from each other.
There are a few places out on the western edges of st louis area (like some parts of st charles should be OK) I would look at that would still allow the easy drive to the airport. I would not consider anything in the immediate area of the airport though.

[MrZetec]

I live in Lake St. Louis, and if you are like me your love for the water is more then the negatives that come up, even though in Lake St. Louis there are not that many negatives. Lake St. Louis lake is a nice lake for skiing, fishing and just going around on a pontoon.

I actually wake up at 5 about 2-3 times a week to go skiing before work, which I actually work in Lake St. Louis, there is nothing better. If fishing is your thing the lake has a wide variety of fish and there are some really nice quiet coves to spend a Sunday at.

Lake St. Louis was actually picked at #9 best place to live in the country for cities under 50k people by CNN Money. Houses median price is right at 183, according to CNN, plenty of places to rent. While there is not as much to offer to you as say the downtown area, the Lake to me is worth it, plus you are only 35 min drive to downtown. I am 26 so I also like spending time with other people, and meeting new ones also, so I think it is a good balance of things

To me the yes Lake St. Louis is a very conservative town. People just want to keep their money, it is a great place most houses do not have fences it is like a a park setting, yes there are a lot of churches in the area, but I am not religious, and never feel that I have to. Get used to questions like "where did you go to high school", and "did you watch the cardinals game?"

[DinsdalePirahna]

I'm a "west/east coast liberal" and live in Lake Saint Louis. Sure it is conservative (I get a crack out of telling my coastal friends that I buy groceries at the Walmart on Ronald Reagan Boulevard). But there are enough liberals here so you don't feel lost. That being said, most of the people I've met, libs and conservatives alike are very giving and non-judgmental.

Contrary to popular belief there are a lot of younger families here and there are lots of great activities for the kids.

I moved here because I like water sports. But if you play golf or tennis, the Community Association has pretty decent facilities. The CA Club house rivals many yacht clubs and country clubs that I have been to. The food is decent and inexpensive. The entertainment is good - You won't see anything cutting edge, but you can still have an enjoyable, inexpensive night out, close to home.

And if you really feel compelled to go into the city, you can make it there in about 45 minutes or less. I make the trip at least 4 times a week and I consider to be an easy drive. It would be nice if the Metro came out this far (but there is still a large element of narrowminded "thinkers" in Saint Charles County that believe the inner-city gang bangers will come all the way out here, rape their wives and daughters and then return back to the 'hood with their large screen TVs and air-conditioning units)

There is a pretty good size creative community here (I'm talking about musicians, writers, designers - not the little old ladies that paint pretty pictures). Its not organized and there is no real vibe that you would find in a City or a artists' village like Woodstock, NY, but it does exist.

If you enjoy outdoor, especially water activities LSL is a great place to live.