O'Fallon, MO for family of 4.5 from Flower Mound, TX? (St. Charles: where to stay, sales)

[mamalee01]

Want to know your thoughts on where to live around St Louis. Surfing the web, I like O'Fallon. We're looking for 4 bd 2.5 bath newer homes very close to good schools and (newer) shopping such as WalMart and Target as well as Kohls and JcPenny etc... $285,000 would be at the very top of the budget. Of course the neighbors and neighborhood need to fun and friendly too. Currently we live in a masterplanned neighborhood called Lantana in Arygle, TX. Its active and homes range from $180,000 to $1,000,000. The population is 3700 and we have 5 pools, 2 gyms, trails, and parks. All this is nice and all but it is hard to make friends when the place is so big, it becomes clickish. Anywho, we have other states of interest as well such as Oswego, Il and Cegar Rapids, IA. If you have any input as to a neighborhood suggestion or where to stay away from that would be appreciated.

Thanks, Mama Lee

[STL Relo]

I live in O'Fallon and would say it's a good place as far as STL suburbs are concerned. It ranked as the 3rd safest US city with a +75000 population last year. I don't recall what the criteria was, but I think it related to violent crime. I live in the Winghaven community, which was sort of a "master planned" community, although it didn't really take off like they expected. Part of the subdivision was filled with "cottage homes" that are all identical, which is disappointing. The neighborhood exits onto HWY 40 (some call it 64) so it's very convenient, although the main road (Winghaven Blvd) has a lot of traffic as a result. The golf course itself is excellent (it's a Nicklaus design championship course).

As for shopping/convenience, we have Target, Kohl's, JC Penny, Home Depot, Lowe's, Wal Mart Super Center, and about 4 or 5 grocery stores within a 5 mile radius, which is nice.

Turtle Creek neighborhood has some fairly nice homes around a golf course as well, although some are pretty close together. That just depends on the lot though. Do a search for properties using zip code 63368 and 63366 for O'Fallon listings. Things along the HWY 40 corridor might be a little more expensive than the northern parts of O'Fallon that are closer to HWY 70.


You'll find a few things different here than TX of course. First, you don't get the same house for the money that you do down there. I've been considering relocating to McKinney or something close to that, and found the homes to be larger and often a bit more ornate than what we have up here (in the same price range). It looks like we pay about 1/3 more for comparable homes. You won't get 4,000 square feet for under $300K. However, we do have basements that many people finish and use as living space, so you get a bonus there. If the house has a walkout lot (basement with door leading outside) or a certain amount of windows (I don't know the specifics) you can count finished basements as square footage.

Taxes: Property taxes are much lower than TX, but we do pay state income tax in Missouri. I believe the rate is roughly 6% or so (at least it is for me) .We also have a "personal property tax" paid annually. This is a tax on any cars, boats, RVs, etc. I know, it sounds weird to pay sales tax when you buy something, then pay a tax to own it every year. You have to do that in order to license your car(s), etc.

[rjjmeh]

I live in the St. louis area and have been looking for homes in the Ofallon/St. Charles area also.
My problem with this area is there does not seem to be enough diversity,whenever my family goes across the River to the St. Charles area we are always looked at as if we have snot on our faces. I would love to live in this area, but I do believe that the level of racial attitudes would not be productive for our 12 year old son. We need to live where people are more open minded and have gotten over the 50's stereotype of people of different races and cultures. We have begun to look at homes in the Illinois area and the people there seem to be much more open minded and comfortable around different cultures.
It is hard being a minority here in the Midwest because the people here are so ignorant and narrowminded, it is sad that people of today in 2009 still find it necessary to ingrain ignorance and prejudice in the minds of their children and poison them with untrues.

[cristi5110]

Mr. RJJMEH your attitude is the problem, not racism in O'Fallon.

i grew up in O'Fallon and visit my family several times a year. i also lived in the old south for almost 30 years after leaving O'Fallon.

Mr RJJMEH i knew Rednecks and also lived as a minority in the black community for many years. i saw pure hatred in peoples eyes because of my white skin, and never received one apology, even when i was proven innocent of some charge or another. that type of racism is not present in O'Fallon.

the fifties have been over for almost 50 years. join the rest of the country in treating people the way you want to be treated, not holding on to long dead grudges.


mamalee01 STL Relo has an excellent post in answer to your question.

you may want to also consider St. Peters, the next town east of O'Fallon. the biggest difference between the two is that St. Peters has a nicer city recreation center, called Rec-Plex, than O'Fallon. the recreaton center in O'Fallon is called the Renaud Spirit Center. it has a nice weight room/cardio area and a small pool, but the Rec-Plex has more, and a good discount for city residents. you can look it up online, as the rec-plex has a web site.

there is a lot of traffic, and stop lights, on all the main roads in both O'Fallon and St. Peters. the frontage roads on HiWays 40 and 70 have traffic in both directions and no Texas turnarounds. i miss those when i visit my parents.

the type of home you are looking for will be in the triangle between Hi Way 94 and the two major Hi-Ways of 40/64 and 70.

the drivers are usually good about not speeding too much, except on the Hi-Ways, taking turns on the local roads, and not driving like they do in Houston. i'm not sure where you are in Texas, but i know Houston traffic. lol

i currently live in Kingsville. we pull in the sidewalks about 5 PM.

there is very little difference from one town to the other from the Missouri River Hi-Way bridges to the merger of Hi-Ways 40 and 70 at Wentzville. so check them all out, and enjoy your move to whichever town you choose.

[AJohnston_STL]

Originally Posted by mamalee01

Want to know your thoughts on where to live around St Louis. Surfing the web, I like O'Fallon. We're looking for 4 bd 2.5 bath newer homes very close to good schools and (newer) shopping such as WalMart and Target as well as Kohls and JcPenny etc... $285,000 would be at the very top of the budget. Of course the neighbors and neighborhood need to fun and friendly too. Currently we live in a masterplanned neighborhood called Lantana in Arygle, TX. Its active and homes range from $180,000 to $1,000,000. The population is 3700 and we have 5 pools, 2 gyms, trails, and parks. All this is nice and all but it is hard to make friends when the place is so big, it becomes clickish. Anywho, we have other states of interest as well such as Oswego, Il and Cegar Rapids, IA. If you have any input as to a neighborhood suggestion or where to stay away from that would be appreciated.

Thanks, Mama Lee

Sorry, but you are concerned about living in a "master planned" community, you have to live near big-box retail in a suburb 30 miles out of the city....and then wonder how it got to be cliquish? Try living in an old suburb with real people and less silicone.