Moving from Los Angeles to St.Peters/O'Fallon- Help!! (St. Louis: allergies, mold)

[aragx6]

Originally Posted by STL4eva

[i]


Oh excuse me, I was off by 21 days. Thanks for clarifying that. The weather in STL is still among the crappiest in the country. Growing up there, I always got a kick out of the fat whales sauntering into the garage - the HOTTEST area of the house - and sitting in lawn chairs smoking and drinking pathetic American lager (i.e. Busch, Budweiser), and complaining about the heat!

That's actually a difference of 150 days.

Sitting in the garage? Where did you live. I've never sat in a garage in the middle of summer and drank a beer and smoked a cigarette a day in my life -- that's what the back deck is for!

It's also very apparent the biased angle you come from when you start throwing in little digs about, say our weight -- which is ironic given that just today we were ranked as one of America's fittest cities: Top 25 fittest and fattest cities in the U.S. - Healthy Living on Shine

St. Louis is far from perfect, and I'm often the first to crow about its shortcomings, but your lousy attitude and blatant bias is really unnecessary and I can only hope the OP can see it as clearly as I do.

[stlsmoore]

+1 I agree with ARAGX6

[STL4eva]

While we veer back towards the original subject, I peeked at your link and find the findings laughable and of highly dubious veracity. The validity of these rankings is similar to the Morgan Quitno ranking of St. Louis as America's Most Dangerous City - a completely incredulous analysis.

I find it very unlikely that St. Louis, Cleveland, Nashville and...most of all...Milwaukee(!?!?!)...are considered "fit" cities.

Conversely, as a four-year Phoenician, I find it extremely unlikely that Phoenix and the California coastal area cities (SD, LA, SJ) are "fatter" than STL, CLE, NAS and especially MIL. Maybe I'm biased because I'm a an active runner and roller hockey player, but I spent a week in Milwaukee and saw quite a herd of heifers. It must be all the cheese.

In general, the West/Southwest has the fittest people in the U.S., the Midwest/East has a mixed bag, and the South has the most porkers.

[Ashleybeth]

Wow, thanks so much for all of the detailed responses. I truly appreciate it and I will check out the cities, neighborhoods, parks, and sites that have been recommended on here.

The high pollen/mold may be an issue for me though, and I so don't want to have to go back on allergy meds that make me feel dopey and don't really work (like I used to have to take when I worked in Marin County for 3 yrs in No. California). Would you say the pollen/mold problem is less in places closer to St. Louis like Kirkwood, Webster Groves, etc?

I'll have to admit that I am just drooling over the houses listed in O'Fallon and St. Peters- we only have an 800 square-foot house for 4 of us which cost us around 4 times as much as most of the houses I'm looking at online. We've had no closet space, no cupboards, no storage, no backyard at all, and both my husband and I have had to work like crazy at our jobs to keep up with the mortgage payments for it. I love the finished basements, big backyards, more square footage- just such a difference.

I appreciate all of your input so much. Thank you again, and I'm sure I'll be back soon with more questions!

-Ashleybeth

[aragx6]

I would think allergies are pretty similar throughout the area, but you might find the close-in suburbs with mature trees might actually be worse -- most of the newer suburbs out in O'Fallon won't have many tall trees in them (because they bulldozed 'em all to build the subdivision) so that might be better for your allergies. I don't know though, I'm not an allergy expert.

It's so hard to know what will bother some people and what won't. My SO has terrible allergies in KC and Columbia, but they aren't as bad in either St. Louis or Chicago. The best advice has got to be to just try and visit when they're at their worst so you'll know if that's something you can deal with.

[wustu87]

We've always lived in the older, closer in areas of St. Louis County with plenty of big mature trees (like Webster/Kirkwood etc) and my allergies have always been pretty bad without medication. So I and many other local residents I know just take allergy medications around the clock 12 months a year. Some folks get by just taking medications in the Spring or in the Fall, but now I just consider taking the medicines as a part of life living in St. Louis. I much prefer living in the closer in tree lined neighborhoods, so I just pop my pills and spray stuff up my nose and everything is just fine! A lot of the old prescription allergy pills are now over the counter too, which makes things cheaper and easier to get in generic form.

[photobuff42]

Originally Posted by Ashleybeth

-Ashleybeth

I think you are going to have allergy issue anywhere in the area, especially since you are moving from such a different area. I moved here from Vegas and I drop (eyes), spray (nose) and pill almost every day. The neti pot helps, too.

[STL4eva]

The high pollen/mold may be an issue for me though, and I so don't want to have to go back on allergy meds that make me feel dopey and don't really work (like I used to have to take when I worked in Marin County for 3 yrs in No. California). Would you say the pollen/mold problem is less in places closer to St. Louis like Kirkwood, Webster Groves, etc?


-Ashleybeth [/quote]

The high pollen/mold problem will be an issue as soon as you cross the Nebraska/Kansas border, depending on which way you approach. But as many as the local pundits have pointed out, you can visit the local family practioner and load up on antihistamine.

I have heard that St. Louis is an allergist's paradise....hmmm...

[STLCardsBlues1989]

I've never had allergies before, but I have been tearing up a bit and my throat is really bothering me since last Monday.

But it could just be coincidence.

But from what others with allergies have told me, Missouri is not kind on the allergic.

[zach_33]

just heard the news report "mold spores are sky high as are oak and <something> pollen".. kinda sux, but I am also a fan of big, mature deciduous trees and lush green gardens. It seems like my nose has been stuffed up since I moved here. Good luck on your move Ashleybeth-- I'm pretty sure being able to spread out into a nice house will make up for the itchy eyes or the spaciness from the alergy meds.