Moving to St. Louis (Kansas City, Chesterfield: apartment, renting, loft)

[jfsinger]

A new member to the forums here. Looks great!

I'm considering a position that would take my wife and I to St. Louis from Atlanta. My office would be in Chesterfield, but my we are empty nesters, 50-ish, who have left the suburbs and now enjoy intown living, culture, dining, etc. Having visited St. Louis this past August, we were very attracted to the Central West End area. However, that seems to be a 30 minutes or so commute to Chesterfield. That's probably not a deal killer because I'll be traveling quite a bit over 4 states, and thus would not go to the office every day. We'll be comfortable purchasing a home up to 500K or so.

Ideas of a neighborhood for us? Thanks!

(Also, the job could take us to Kansas City, at my option. Any thoughts on SL vs. KC?)

[STLCardsBlues1989]

Kansas City is smaller, has MLB, NFL, and MLS. St. Louis has MLB, NFL, NHL, and hopefully soon MLS. I don't know that they're all that much different. KC is more evenly split between KS and MO. STL metro area is almost entirely on the MO side. St. Louis City is small, 62 sq. miles, while KC city is large, over 300 sq. miles. St. Louis City has higher density. As far as the flavor of the cities I'm not sure. Each has its own neighborhoods with their own charm.

Central West End may be fine, but I understand the commute issues. From my understanding Clayton, a suburb, is still pretty urban. It's a more expensive area, though. But if commute is not a major deal, the Central West End may fit you. Downtown also has some nice loft and apartment buildings recently or in the process of being completed. Are you looking for a more trendy area with a more college-type atmosphere, or are you looking for a more quiet, yet still urban, neighborhood?

[jfsinger]

Thanks! Probably looking for the more quiet, yet still urban, neighborhood. While walking through CWE on morning, I was impressed. We're definitely looking for a house with some dirt around it (though not a big house and not a lot of dirt!).

[STLCardsBlues1989]

There are some cute houses in Southwest St. Louis City, around the St. Louis Hills area. Seems to be more of a family-oriented quiet area, no MetroLink, though. Also, some parts of South St. Louis, maybe with the exception of Soulard (January - Mardi Gras). No MetroLink train there either, just buses.

[STLCardsBlues1989]

And wherever you decide to move in St. Louis, you probably don't need to spend $500k. You can probably get a decent home for half that, depending on how big of a house you want.

[aragx6]

I hate to convince anyone not to live in the city, but with 40 (I-64) closed until the end of next year your commute would be pretty terrible indeed - more like 45 minutes plus.

I might instead suggest a place near Downtown Kirkwood or Webster Groves... Kirkwood has the better downtown. They're walkable with cute shops and indie restaurants. Family-oriented, but with a twist.


That would cut your commute, probably in half. Check it out.

[Fishtacos]

Originally Posted by aragx6

I hate to convince anyone not to live in the city, but with 40 (I-64) closed until the end of next year your commute would be pretty terrible indeed - more like 45 minutes plus.

I might instead suggest a place near Downtown Kirkwood or Webster Groves... Kirkwood has the better downtown. They're walkable with cute shops and indie restaurants. Family-oriented, but with a twist.


That would cut your commute, probably in half. Check it out.

I'll disagree. I'd hate to see newcomers buy somewhere just because there will be 15 months of hwy construction. I would hope the purchase is more long term thinking than that. That simply isn't a long time. And, the commute is not daily.

Renting for 6-12 months while the construction on hwy 40 finishes up is viable option. If you are not interested in renting I would suggest buying where you like w/o regard to the hwy construction. There are alternative routes and people have done fine with them. Kirkwood and Webster have walkable areas, a downtown, etc...but they are still very suburban, a great place to be a kid or raise a family. It would be a better commute intially, and both are very good areas to suggest, but I'm not sure if it matches the interests of these empty nesters. They are worth a look, along with Clayton as far as inner ring burbs go to match your interests.

I'd begin looking in the Central West End. That's a good choice, and clearly matches the interests very well. I believe Clayton, something near the downtown Clayton area is also viable for you, it's just on the West side of Forest Park and has plenty of public transit for the city besides driving. Both of these areas are highly desirable areas and therefore will not be all that inexpensive.

Chesterfield itself, is a nice family area, burb, outer rung, but doesn't match your interests and needs.

[jfsinger]

Originally Posted by Fishtacos

I'll disagree. I'd hate to see newcomers buy somewhere just because there will be 15 months of hwy construction. I would hope the purchase is more long term thinking than that. That simply isn't a long time. And, the commute is not daily.

Renting for 6-12 months while the construction on hwy 40 finishes up is viable option. If you are not interested in renting I would suggest buying where you like w/o regard to the hwy construction. There are alternative routes and people have done fine with them. Kirkwood and Webster have walkable areas, a downtown, etc...but they are still very suburban, a great place to be a kid or raise a family. It would be a better commute intially, and both are very good areas to suggest, but I'm not sure if it matches the interests of these empty nesters. They are worth a look, along with Clayton as far as inner ring burbs go to match your interests.

I'd begin looking in the Central West End. That's a good choice, and clearly matches the interests very well. I believe Clayton, something near the downtown Clayton area is also viable for you, it's just on the West side of Forest Park and has plenty of public transit for the city besides driving. Both of these areas are highly desirable areas and therefore will not be all that inexpensive.

Chesterfield itself, is a nice family area, burb, outer rung, but doesn't match your interests and needs.

Thanks to all for your comments! I think Fishtacos summed it up nicely. I'm actually in favor of renting for a while to check things out, but my wife hates the idea. Since I'd not be commuting to Chesterfield every day, I think I could live with the construction hassle for a while. The burbs, even Kirkwood (where we have friends who live in a beautiful, historic home), don't appeal to us. I think we'd likely be happiest in CWE or Clayton.

The good news: we've been looking at houses in Atlanta in a CWE-type, intown neighborhood, and I believe comparable homes in CWE will cost about $100K less than in Atlanta!

[aragx6]

^^Fabulous! I didn't mean to say don't live where you want to live -- in fact such advice from me would seem very ill-placed since I actually moved into Chicago so i could have the life I wanted -- commute be damned! LOL. I have an hour + commute now, but I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world!

I was only concerned because you seemed a bit concerned by a 30 minute commute and I just wanted to make sure you recognized that it will probably never be that short and that for another year it will be far longer.

If you can live with that, I think CWE is fabulous and perfect for you!!

[Fishtacos]

Without the Hwy construction, the commute shouldn't be more than 30 minutes or you are seriously doing something wrong. Of course the Hwy construction will be complete in a year's time. And, remember, the Hwy project purpose is expanding the Hwy to help ease traffic.

To the original poster, out of curiosity, where in Atlanta were you looking? Buckhead? Midtown?