Where to live...here are my options. (St. Louis, St. Charles: rental car, rentals)

[Dragon Roll]

We saw a great house in Fond du lac. Is anyone familiar with this area? I realize this is Jefferson County and I'm told to generally avoid it, but, could someone tell me why? Is it only because it's not as affluent as the Rockwood School District? Is it much low, lower-middle, middle, or upper middle class? I hate to categorize like that, but, unfortunately the quality of most schools are go along with socio-economic level.

[Dragon Roll]

We did a lot more digging, and we did, indeed, find some really nice 4 bdrm houses in the 200-275 range. The more we look at this award-winning school, the area, and the easy commute for my husband the more we are deciding to make it work. It may mean that we go above what we planned to spend, but, not by much.

[aragx6]

As far as jeff co - if diversity is important to you, you couldn't pick a worse place.

Also, did you see my post in the overlooked neighborhoods thread? I thought of a couple of areas that i think might suit you better, while keeping the commute short. Let me know what you think.

[stevio63]

Originally Posted by Dragon Roll

We did a lot more digging, and we did, indeed, find some really nice 4 bdrm houses in the 200-275 range. The more we look at this award-winning school, the area, and the easy commute for my husband the more we are deciding to make it work. It may mean that we go above what we planned to spend, but, not by much.

If your choice is between Rockwood (st.louis county) and Northwest (jefferson county) you gotta go with rockwood....just make darn sure your in st.louis county...the boundary lines out here are crazy....you would regret not being in rockwood after a few years...

[Dennnis]

Originally Posted by Dragon Roll

My husband has a new job in Fenton and we will soon be looking for a new home for our four kids - 2.5, 4, 12, and 15. We are a relatively young family with both my husband and I in our very late 30's.

I have done much internet research (still doing more) and have read much on these forums and we may have narrowed our choices down some. I know this is lengthy, but, with such a big decision I need as much input as possible!! Thanks sooo much in advance

From what I've read St. Peters is a great town to live in. I like the rec/plex and the homes are well within our range. It seems to have more family "action" then most other towns. I also learned it ranks #60 out CNNMoney.com's list of America's best small cities. The middle schools and high schools look impressive. Also, while DH is away at work there are lots of activities I could get the youngest ones involved in. I don't want to be within a suburb that goes on forever with nothing in it.

His commute would be to Headquarters Park which is on the opposite side of the highway the Chrysler Plant is on. According to GoogleMaps this is a 32 minute commute...how accurate is that? He has a 8:30-5:30 job.

Our other options were:

Fenton (where his place of work is), but, it seems so incredibly suburban with not much to do. How close is it to the city? Because I can always take the kids into the city to do stuff during the day. What parts of Fenton are best for an active family, including one golden retriever? Of course, my husband wouldn't have much of a commute at all - which would be awesome for all of us.

O'Fallon was listed as a best city, too. It was ranked #68. It has great schools, too, but doesn't have the Rec/Plex. I realize the Rec/Plex shouldn't have that much influence on my decision, but, with 4 children this place would be invaluable to us. Where we live currently, we go to the rec center all the time and it isn't half as nice as St Peters.

Thanks and I look forward to the feedback.

I have lived in St. Charles, St. Peters, and now, O'Fallon.

St. Charles is older, with good schools, and the downtown area is awesome, with the ambiance and cobblestone streets.

St. Peters is just another bedroom community, as is O'Fallon.

The schools in St. Charles county are all uniformly excellent, no issues there.

My wife has family in the Fenton area, and to honest, there is just too much of a hoosier feel to it.

Of all the communities in St. Charles county, the most affluent communities are Lake St. Louis, and O'Fallon. This is really the key for me...I LIKE living in an area where there are no cars up on blocks, and where the payday loan places just don't exist.

[la_missourienne]

The rec center that everyone keeps mentioning (and unsure of existence due to odd wording) is called Riverchase. It is just across the highway from the Chrysler plant and has tons of great programs for kids, very affordable whether or not you live in the city of Fenton. I workout there and love it; always lots of families, but not overcrowded. I highly recommend Fenton as your choice on where to live. Aragx6 is right about the commute time for St. Peters to Fenton; my husband commutes just the opposite (only a little further out for us as we are not in Fenton) and it takes him 45 mn on a good day. I will also recommend against O'Fallon--a nice place, it is indeed, but is experiencing growth too fast to keep up with and the traffic/commutes are getting worse and worse for it. Good luck on your move!

[DKVA]

Just a helpful hint in house hunting. We are being relocated to St Louis and this is an invaluable tool so as not to waste time and rule out properties-Microsoft Live Search Maps. All you do is type in the address of the house you are interested in and you can get a live picture of the house and its surroundings (zoom out or zoom in plus satelitte). Many times they are not totally accurate on the address but all you have to do is match it up to the picture of the house you are interested in. I know for us this saved alot of time for us and realtor. We were able to rule many properties-power lines,corner lots no yard, next to an office bldg/highway etc.

[STLCardsBlues1989]

Or go here and type in the address:

Google Maps

You can get the view from the Street. Live Maps Birds Eye is great as well. Might be good to use both.

Probably most of St. Louis is on Street View.

[DKVA]

Alot of the suburbs are not on street view. Take it from a veteran house hunter-mostly the city.

[Kanick]

Originally Posted by alikat1205

there are several private schools. st. paul in fenton, sacred heart in valley park and christ prince of peace in manchester. also, keep looking because i really think you could find something.

Actually those are all Catholic parochial, parish schools. Not that there is anything wrong with any of them but they aren't the same thing as private school. Parochial schools are much more affordable.

I don't think there are many private schools in or near the Fenton area. Most of them seem to be in Ladue, Clayton, Town and Country, etc.