Relocating to St. Louis from Portland OR (University City, Washington: crime, safe area)

[dagaz68]

Hello, my name is Benjamin and I am attending grad school at Washington U next fall and will be moving in the summer. I have been reading through some of threads listed by others who are moving into the area. I would like to know what is considered to be the boundaries of the north county. Some have said that this is a higher crime area than other areas.
I have been looking at places to live on craigslist and have seen many listings for the Tower Grove Park area and Soulard. Any comments on what these areas are like? Really any information would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks
Ben

[pbelt71]

I moved to St Louis from Chicago (I was raised in Los Angeles and lived there for most of my life), and love it here. I live in the Tower Grove South (TGS) area and love it. It is a safe area, is ethnically and culturally diverse, and there are a lot of cool restaurants and bars on South Grand. TGS seems to be getting a lot of younger people moving in and there seem to be a lot of gay couples moving here as well. I would recommend this area to you, especially since you are from the west coast and are probably used to open minded and unique people.

[KCWKEN]

Benjamin, I agree completely with Pbelt... the Tower Grove area is a great option for young single people or couples w/ no kids. My wife lived there when we were dating (15 years ago), and it was just starting to be trendy then. The area is very lively and close to a lot of St. Louis attractions like Downtown, Fox Theatre, Symphony, Mo. Botanical Garden, Science Center, Zoo etc. South Grand has started to develop a heavy asian population, and there are great Thai and Vietnamese restaurants in the area around Grand & Arsenal. There are lots of older building with great character to them. My advice would be to look along Russell Blvd near Grand and also along Compton (as long as you are SOUTH of I-44). In general, do not go North on Grand much past St. Louis University Campus/St. Louis U. Med Center... it gets pretty rough up on North Grand. Soulard is a fun place to visit (the farmer's market is a great place to shop for fresh produce esp. on saturday mornings), but I'm not sure I'd want to live there. Soulard has a few night clubs & bars that are fun especially if you like jazz/blues. However, there are some really scary areas around Soulard esp. at night (old City Hospital area, or areas south and west of Soulard get iffy)

Since you are looking at Wash. U. you might also want to consider the Central West End, Clayton, University City (all interesting, vibrant areas esp. for college age single folks) The area along Hampton Avenue esp. South of I-44 is very nice (but not as "happening" as areas mentioned above).

In general St. Louis City is Split North/South. Get a map... if you look inside the city limits of St. Louis... find Forest Park. Just north of the park you'll see Delmar Ave. I'd use that as my "DO NOT GO NORTH OF THIS LINE" cutoff point. Farther in toward downtown, a similar street to use as a guideline would be Olive. North of those streets inside the city limits there is very little but economically depressed crime-ridden areas.

As you've probably seen elsewhere in this forum, there is little if any reason to cross the Mississippi River, and East St. Louis might as well be a third world country. Very impoverished, and downright dangerous to visit (I've spent time in Egypt and Morrocco and I'd be more afraid of spending an evening in East St. Louis than Tangiers or Cairo)

As for the local folks referring to "North County", "West County", "South County" etc. The boundaries are not clearly defined... In general I'd say "North County" starts somewhere around I-70 and runs north to the Mo. River. "West County" is harder to nail down... I'd use I-170 (Clayton) as my starting point and follow Hwy. 40 (i-64) West to the Mo. River and everything in that general corridor could be considered "West County"... "South County" again is fuzzy, but as a general guide, I'd say if you're south of i-44, you're in South County. If you're along I-55 corridor, you are DEFINITELY in the heart of "South County".

Good luck in school. I'm sure you'll love St. Louis. Send me a private message if you have any questions.

Ken

Ken

[xian]

Hi. I live in Tower Grove South and CO-moderate a yahoo discussion group for TGS residents and independent business owners. Many of us on the group have since met and have form friendships. We are in the process of planning a Dog Park. We also have a database for tool borrowing, and a garden crop exchange. You're welcome to join http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TGSouth/. Since I'm swamped w/ work I won't be back to check responses here but can be emailed at xianintgs@yahoo.com

Christian

[tntelle]

I am not sure if you ever had this answered.. and im not sure how on earth i even found this.. . I am from Portland and moved here about two years ago... here is my advice.. dont move to Benton Park- its ghetto... Tower Grove is good, Soulard is kinda like 21st street near the hills.. dont venture out too far into the county because there is nothing to do there.. if you want specific tips and more info feel free to email me - tntelle@yahoo.com good luck! -Todd

Originally Posted by dagaz68

Hello, my name is Benjamin and I am attending grad school at Washington U next fall and will be moving in the summer. I have been reading through some of threads listed by others who are moving into the area. I would like to know what is considered to be the boundaries of the north county. Some have said that this is a higher crime area than other areas.
I have been looking at places to live on craigslist and have seen many listings for the Tower Grove Park area and Soulard. Any comments on what these areas are like? Really any information would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks
Ben

[brightmidnight]

Originally Posted by KCWKEN

As you've probably seen elsewhere in this forum, there is little if any reason to cross the Mississippi River, and East St. Louis might as well be a third world country. Very impoverished, and downright dangerous to visit (I've spent time in Egypt and Morrocco and I'd be more afraid of spending an evening in East St. Louis than Tangiers or Cairo)

I've been to Morocco (although not Tangiers, I've heard bad things about it) and I would agree with that assessment. You're fine by the casino, however, and even walking around in that area. There are good reasons to cross the river-- East St. Louis is one small city and there are many things to do on that side of the river. Collinsville has Cahokia Mounds, for instance, which is a World Heritage site.