Single female looking for nice and convenient place to live? help please? (St. Louis: apartment complexes, rentals)

[lotus921v]

So, here's the deal. I'm relocating from Buffalo, NY to the St Louis area, and have never even been there before. I'm going to be working in Chesterfield, but would prefer to live in an area closer to the city. I'm fine with commuting about 20 minutes to work because I expect to be travelling a lot as well, and convenience to the airport would be handy as well. I've seen the loft district, and it's GORGEOUS, but wayyyy too far to commute to Chesterfield every day.

I will have just finished grad school, and even though I'm 31, I still want to be a cabs ride away from a fun area to go out. I've heard the CWE is a fun trendy area, any opinions on that? Any other suggestions?

I'd like to live in a nice suburb, with a more educated/professional vibe, and am alright with spending 900-1000/month on a 2 bedroom apartment. Convenience to shopping, supermarkets, and a nice gym (are there any Gold's out there?) would be awesome.
I figure an apartment community would give me more of an opportunity to meet friends as I don't know a single person out there... any suggestions?

Also, I'm pretty sure I want to take up kickboxing as well. Are there any good training gyms or studios that anybody has heard of? LOL, I'm looking for the hitting the bag kind, not the bounce around cardio kind

Lots of questions, I know, but ANY help at all would be GREATLY appreciated!

Thanks in advance!

[Brickmama]

If you can handle the commute I would recommend the loft district. Keep in mind the interstate will re open later this year which will put your commute at 25-30 mins. Its a great place to live for a single.

[STLCardsBlues1989]

If you want a suburb, maybe try University City. But I would think the Loft District would meet your needs the most, but the commute will be problem until the Highway opens up.

Just searching online, there's a Gold's Gym at 515 N 6th st. I don't know which building it is in. There's the fitness factory also (1314 Washington): http://76.246.118.30:84/ It's right next to Grace Lofts. CWE is fine, too, but Downtown (other than the commute) may meet your criteria a little more. Of course there's the Missouri Athletic Club at 405 Washington Ave.
There's also a Schnuck's going in Downtown. There are a few apartment buildings Downtown and lofts turning to rentals.

[STL Aviator]

Originally Posted by lotus921v

Also, I'm pretty sure I want to take up kickboxing as well. Are there any good training gyms or studios that anybody has heard of? LOL, I'm looking for the hitting the bag kind, not the bounce around cardio kind

There's a place in the Central West End called The Boxing Gym that opened up a year or two ago that I think might meet your needs.

465 N Taylor Ave
St Louis, MO 63108
314.361.9300

The Boxing Gyms

It appears they have other locations as well.

[Brickmama]

If you change your mind there is a place called the Rock located at 3001 Locust close to the loft district.
www.rockworkout.com

[lotus921v]

I've looked a bit at the loft district online, it's just that a long commute like that makes me nervous when I'm just moving into the area... That's definitely a haul, and if I get stuck in traffic or bad weather... it's just going to make it worse
Who knows, I might move out there after a year, but initially i'd like to be somewhere inbetween Chesterfield and downtown so I have easier access to both?

The Boxing gym and The Rock workout place look pretty sweet! Thanks for those tips! When I originally looked up kickboxing, a place called Finney's showed up, but their website is down... it looked like they were pretty well known. Does anybody know what happened to it? Is it still around?

[aragx6]

My suggestion for a suburb that will give you an easier commute to Chesterfield, but will give you access to everything in St. Louis would be Richmond Heights.

It has an inner-ring feel with older homes, and if you could find a place on the metro line that'd be ideal. it doesn't run late, but you could always take it into the city and then take a cab home later on.

It's right near a large shopping mall (the Galleria) and just about every other amenity you could need, and you should be able to keep your commute in the 20 minute range.

Also consider Clayton, Maplewood and University City.

If you have more questions, feel free to ask!

[lotus921v]

are there any apartment complexes that anybody could recommend?

[wustu87]

I would add to aragx6's suggestion with Brentwood (right next to Richmond Heights) and if you are willing to pay just a little more (~$1300), you could live in the new Hanley Station apartments practically next door to the Brentwood Metrolink station. Otherwise you could rent in the Brentwood Forest condo complex in your price range which is just a mile to the west but actually puts you even quicker access to highway 40 to Chesterfield (you take High School Drive south to Pine, White or Litzinger, and west to McKnight to avoid Brentwood/Eager which is always a crowded mess.) Brentwood definitely has an "educated/professional vibe" and the mid-County YMCA is right there too.

[Fishtacos]

Originally Posted by lotus921v

So, here's the deal. I'm relocating from Buffalo, NY to the St Louis area, and have never even been there before. I'm going to be working in Chesterfield, but would prefer to live in an area closer to the city. I'm fine with commuting about 20 minutes to work because I expect to be travelling a lot as well, and convenience to the airport would be handy as well. I've seen the loft district, and it's GORGEOUS, but wayyyy too far to commute to Chesterfield every day.

I will have just finished grad school, and even though I'm 31, I still want to be a cabs ride away from a fun area to go out. I've heard the CWE is a fun trendy area, any opinions on that? Any other suggestions?

I'd like to live in a nice suburb, with a more educated/professional vibe, and am alright with spending 900-1000/month on a 2 bedroom apartment. Convenience to shopping, supermarkets, and a nice gym (are there any Gold's out there?) would be awesome.
I figure an apartment community would give me more of an opportunity to meet friends as I don't know a single person out there... any suggestions?

Also, I'm pretty sure I want to take up kickboxing as well. Are there any good training gyms or studios that anybody has heard of? LOL, I'm looking for the hitting the bag kind, not the bounce around cardio kind

Lots of questions, I know, but ANY help at all would be GREATLY appreciated!

Thanks in advance!

If you have never been to St. Louis, how would you know that downtown to Chesterfield daily is too far? Many people do it each day. It's not beyond the realm of possibility imo, and is in the 30 minute ish range. You say you prefer to be closer to the city. I would not rule out the Loft district that you like so much. The commute is reasonable in comparison to many other major metros.

St. Louis is not a great cab town, just an fyi.

You heard correct about the CWE.

You then lost me by talking about burbs. You can take the Metrolink from the city to the airport and back to fly in and out of town, as you said you needed to do.

You'll make friends and meet people by getting involved in activities in which you enjoy, more so than where you live.

You come across to me as clearly someone that wants to live in the city, so that's where I recommend. You will have several choices of areas, many of which have been covered here many times.

If you are thinking suburbs, I'd recommend Clayton/U.City/Brentwood and a few other places for an out of towner.

You need to decide if you are an urban or suburban person, and/or how much that matters to you. Your 20 minutes isn't all that much less than going from city to Chesterfield daily. Just an fyi.