need advice on where to live in st louis (St. Louis: apartments, for rent)

[moving to stlouis]

Hi everyone,
I am new to this forum and need advice on which areas are good around st louis. We are a married couple no kids but planning on family. Husband is starting a job in st louis U hospital. So we are looking for apartments or town homes for rent (range upto 900 dollars) but have absolutely no idea about what areas are better and which are not. We are originally from Pakistan so those areas that are ethnically diverse would be nice. Also information on areas that have lots to do like parks , sports , bowling i.e quite a bit of recreational activities and good schools would be appreciated. I will really be thankful if you people could help us out.
Thanks and have a great day!!

[breer23]

Welcome to the St. Louis area!

Not to be rude or short about this, but there are literally tens of threads here already on this topic...you can use the "search" feature at the top of the screen to find some general info, then once you have more specific questions, it may be more helpful to everyone.

[moving to stlouis]

thanks i will surely check it out.

[breer23]

A couple of things to keep in mind as you're prepping to ask more questions:

1. Will you have a car/vehicle/bicycle?
2. Will you have a job? If so, where will you be working?
3. How soon before you plan to have children? I'm not trying to get personal, I was just thinking of areas you might want to strive for (or avoid) based on activity level (loud sirens can definitely wake the youngsters, but be fun for the parents).

[ShadowCaver]

Another pertinent question - how far would you husband like to commute [time and distance] from SLU Hospital? How far do you want to commute? From his work to anywhere along the I-270 corridor would take [given variables of weather, accidents, etc conditions] will take ~20 - 40 minutes. StL is blessed with a good number of parks - might take a look at a metro area or city map; these might help too: Saint Louis Area Parks and/or Parks, Recreation & Forestry (http://stlouis.missouri.org/citygov/parks/ - broken link)

Welcome to the city, and best wishes to yas...

[moving to stlouis]

Well we dont want the commute to be more than 30 min and less commute is of course sweeter. Also we are looking for good apartments and not houses. Thanks for all the advice. looking forward to more from you guys.

[sixtwobaldguy]

I am not sure you will find anywhere in st. louis that can be described as ethnically diverse. People here tend to be lumped together as either "white" or "black" and have been in USA (and probably the midwest) for a many generations. It isn't that others are not around, African immigrants, Bosnian refugees, and all manner of people live here. I just don't think you will find that kind of diversity in the quantity, even per capita, that one would find in larger cities.

Having laid down that disclaimer, I think you will be able to find a diversity of people to mingle with. Only the most restricted hobbies would not have some kind of following in the St. Louis area. It's entirely possible to meet, converse with, and learn from people all over the globe in St. Louis. You might have to look a little harder for diversity here than Chicago or New York, and you may find the segregation patterns that still exist a little strange, but most people get along just fine here.

As far as where you live there are so many variables. Yard space, cost, risk of crime, walkability, metro/bus access, proximity to things you enjoy--Art, gardens, what have you, and so on. I think that what would be great for me might be a nightmere for someone else. My advice: Go see for yourself.

[malka1]

There are lots of places you can look at. And lots of parks in the area south on Grand where the school of medicine is located. The commute is the question...how far are you willing to drive to be in a safer neighborhood. I would do a search of safe neighborhoods and always can call any county area police to find out about crime rates. Safety is important to me. I like west county and south. It could work for you guys. Best of everything to you and welcome to our city.

[Brickmama]

I would start by looking at some of the Condos for rent Downtown. You could also try Tower Grove South and Tpwer Grove East since it has a diverse mix of people. All has very short commutes.

[cgilker]

Suggest you look at the South Grand and Tower Grove Heights areas (http://www.grandsouthgrand.com/). It is as ethnically and culturally diverse an area as St. Louis has. In one four block stretch going south on Grand from Arsenal you can find a dozen or more ethnic restaurants.

And the commute would be less than 5 miles, by car, bus, or bike.

We lived there for years, without crime. We would still be there today, except for the quality of the public schools (and we did not want to send our kids to private schools).

Injecting my personal biases here, I suggest you avoid the Tower Grove East neighborhoods, especially those south of Arsenal.

The central location of SLU hospital gives you quite a few choices if you want a commute of 20 minutes or less. In St. Louis, the average commute is (I think) just about 20 minutes, so if "close to work" means less than the average commute, you probably could live anywhere within the 270 / 255 ring interstate, and still be 20 minutes to SLU hospital.