Moving from Columbus, OH to St. Louis, MO (Chesterfield, Creve Coeur: for sale, home sales)

[Bethann Nelson]

Hi there,

I don't know if you actually made the move, but we are getting ready to move from Dublin to SL and I wanted to get your thoughts. I hope it has been a good change for your family. Go buckeyes!

[STLCardsBlues1989]

Are you a Jackets fan?

I'm just kidding.

You're welcome here, of course.

[zach_33]

I did go to Ohio State for undergrad, and I live in St. Louis. My brother still lives in Columbus so I visit often. I think Columbus is somewhat easier living than St. Louis, and different-- better in some ways, worse in others. There is no getting around one truth about St. Louis, if you want to live in a school district that compares favorably to Upper Arlington or Dublin, you need to be ready to spend some big city dollars. I think Upper Arlington is one of the most beautiful suburbs, and is like Clayton in some respects, but the average price per square foot in Clayton has to be double that of UA. Same story with Dublin vis a vis Frontenac/Ladue. Dublin Schools may be more like Parkway, so perhaps Town & Country or Chesterfield would be a more appropriate parallel. So housing is a little more expensive and commutes are a little bit longer. All other things being equal, I would probably want to be paid a little bit more to live in St. Louis if I were moving from Columbus.

[chicagoerin]

"There is no getting around one truth about St. Louis, if you want to live in a school district that compares favorably to Upper Arlington or Dublin, you need to be ready to spend some big city dollars. I think Upper Arlington is one of the most beautiful suburbs, and is like Clayton in some respects, but the average price per square foot in Clayton has to be double that of UA. "

I agree..this is the thing about St. Louis that I continue to be amazed at...people think St. Louis is cheap, um, yes...to live in a crap school district. I guess if you don't have kids, it's not an issue, but your dollar will go SO MUCH further here. When my family comes to visit from St. Louis they even comment on little things like the cost of McDonald's or groceries being cheaper. The housing prices blow them away! Also, just as an FYI, if anyone has a child on the autism spectrum, Ohio has a law where you get get 60k per year to use for whatever you need...doctor's, private school, etc. Amazing.

[aragx6]

I think that's ridiculous. Eureka is a fabulous high school -- ranked in the 500s on Newsweek's best high school list and you can get a newer ranch well under 200k. If that's not great schools at a cheap price, I don't know what is.

Or if your kid is smart enough to test into Metro you can go to #122 on the list and live in a $75,000 little house in Dogtown.

[zach_33]

Eureka and Upper Arlington may both have good high schools, but that is about where the similarities end. UA is a 10 minute drive to city center with walkable neighborhoods, frou frou shopping and entertainment, and architecturally significant housing from the early and mid 20th century. Eureka is a cookie cutter exurb that sprouted up within the last 10 or 20 years. But hey, different strokes for different folks.

[chicagoerin]

Oh My Gosh..Thanks to whomever referenced the Newsweek list, I had never seen it before. Makes me more glad than ever to live in Ohio. Our metro pop is roughly half of that of ST. Louis and we have 4 schools under the 500 mark and MO/IL has 2, one of which (metro academic) appears to be more of a city academy versus a community school. One of the schools is in Ladue which is cost prohibitive to most. In Ladue the median house price is listed as 919k! Are you kidding me? Powell which also made the 500 list has a median house price of 313k. This is eactly what I meant in my earlier post that is truly the defining difference between living in St. Louis and living in Columbus. YOU CAN LIVE LIKE A KING/BE IN EXCELLENT SCHOOLS for little money. I am so glad you mentioned this list. It will help me in my efforts to get my family to move to Columbus from Clayton (which even though it's insanely expensive didn't make the 500 list).

[chicagoerin]

PS, Eureka didn't make the 500 list it's 535 but if we are counting "close enough" there are several others I could add to the Columbus list.

[Fishtacos]

Originally Posted by zach_33

Eureka and Upper Arlington may both have good high schools, but that is about where the similarities end. UA is a 10 minute drive to city center with walkable neighborhoods, frou frou shopping and entertainment, and architecturally significant housing from the early and mid 20th century. Eureka is a cookie cutter exurb that sprouted up within the last 10 or 20 years. But hey, different strokes for different folks.

You even said, "All other things being equal." Well, I believe many people would disagree with your presumption on that part between Columbus and St. Louis. While one isn't necessarily better than the other, they have differences too. I don't think they are apples to apples in comparison, or as you put it all things being equal.

[Fishtacos]

Originally Posted by chicagoerin

Oh My Gosh..Thanks to whomever referenced the Newsweek list, I had never seen it before. Makes me more glad than ever to live in Ohio. Our metro pop is roughly half of that of ST. Louis and we have 4 schools under the 500 mark and MO/IL has 2, one of which (metro academic) appears to be more of a city academy versus a community school. One of the schools is in Ladue which is cost prohibitive to most. In Ladue the median house price is listed as 919k! Are you kidding me? Powell which also made the 500 list has a median house price of 313k. This is eactly what I meant in my earlier post that is truly the defining difference between living in St. Louis and living in Columbus. YOU CAN LIVE LIKE A KING/BE IN EXCELLENT SCHOOLS for little money. I am so glad you mentioned this list. It will help me in my efforts to get my family to move to Columbus from Clayton (which even though it's insanely expensive didn't make the 500 list).

However, that is only one aspect of living. I won't downplay its importance to you or perhaps to others, but to make a sweeping comment that the only difference between the two places is this, would be far from accurate imo.