Apartment Search Suggestions (St. Louis, Washington, Clayton: apartments, for rent, condos)

[PurpleSparkle]

Hello. I will be moving to St. Louis to complete an internship. Since I heard parking and traffic are bad in the Hospital Campus area, I would like to live where I have close access to the Metro Line or Metro Bus. The Forest Park Metro Link Station is very close to my internship. My main concerns are safety and cleanliness. Based on my current apartment experience, I am really trying to avoid roaches. I do not mind living in the suburbs and and taking the Metro in, although I like the convenience of living close to the Forest Park area. I have to admit that a close suburb w/ grocery stores, etc. is appealing. Any comments about Richmond Heights? Thanks!

[RickMG]

Richmond Heights would certainly fit all your criteria with the exception of being close to Forest Park. I'm not sure, maybe someone else could help you with this, but I believe the metro line that goes to Richmond Heights would have you changing lines at Washington University to finish your trip. That can make a very short trip take a lot longer than you might want. As for the problem you had with bugs at your last apartment. This could happen anywhere, including the best apartments as nobody has control of how clean your neighbors keep their place, but properly treated you should be able to keep the place bug free. Look in the St. Louis Post Dispatch classifieds for condos or homes for rent as well as a local apartment guide. The Post's classifieds can be found on stltoday.com.

[PurpleSparkle]

I will check on that Metro Link route. Thank you again.

[Jon Rose]

This might be a bit late for the original poster to read it, but the Forest Park Metrolink stop is the one just before the fork; as long as you pay attention to which Westbound train you grab there, it's a straight shot between it and Richmond Heights.

As far as that goes, the Brentwood I-64 station is nearing completion. You can already take several busses to it, then walk down the ramp to the Brentwood Metrolink platform. For me, living in Richmond, this means just walking 30 feet from my house to the bus stop that goes right to it. There's a Dierberg's right next to the station too, but they hosed the design of the station just a bit and it's a really roundabout path to get to it from the station. Not terribly long, just a little annoying.

And for what it's worth, there are the two busses serving a WUSTL route that also overlap with both the Brentwood Metrolink stop and the proper Richmond Heights one.

[RickMG]

Originally Posted by Jon Rose

This might be a bit late for the original poster to read it, but the Forest Park Metrolink stop is the one just before the fork; as long as you pay attention to which Westbound train you grab there, it's a straight shot between it and Richmond Heights.

There's a Dierbergs right next to the station too, but they hosed the design of the station just a bit and it's a really roundabout path to get to it from the station. Not terribly long, just a little annoying.

This is really good to know, thank you. I hope the original poster sees this as well. You mentioned Dierbergs. The Metro spokesperson came and talked to our office and said that the reason the station makes it hard for Dierbergs customers is that Dierbergs made such a stink because they didn't feel that Metrolink riders were the kind of customers they wanted in their stores. That's metro's spokesperson's words, not mine. She was really happy about how it was finally done and hoped that Dierbergs really regretted it in the long run.

[Soulardian]

What kind of vibe do you want?

For a funky, artsy feel, try up-and-coming Maplewood. It has lots of new shops, a great brew-pub (The Bottleworks) and grocery shopping.

For a more college and med-school professional feel, try Clayton. U City has a funky element to it around The Loop, but away from the Loop it's more college/med to the west or dangerous to the north, expensive to the south and reclaiming the ghettos to the east.

You could go out as far as Shrewsbury now that the Metro is finished. Shrewsbury is a nice bedroom community, and it is next door to Webster for funky restaurants, grocery stores, and entertainment once you get home.

[PurpleSparkle]

My apartment search has greatly narrowed based on your info. Also, a lot of it is good to just know in general.