Moving from Columbus, OH to St. Louis, MO (Columbia, St. Charles: cul-de-sac, condos)

[EthelBeth]

Hello,

If there is anyone who has lived in or is familiar with Columbus, OH and St. Louis, MO I would love to here your comparisons of the various suburbs. Is there an Upper Arlington equivalent or a Hilliard or Dublin equivalent in St. Louis. We would like to be as close as possible to Barnes-Jewish Hospital but be a little bit out of the city.

We currently live about 5 minutes from Riverside hospital where my husband works and we love that there is basically no commute. Is there any where that we can have a similar situation in St. Louis?

Thanks so much for your help.

Beth

[aragx6]

I'm not familar with Columbia, but if you share what your area is like we can probably offer you better advice.

Is it older or newer? Mostly single family homes on big lots or condos? Walkable or car driven? Mostly local restaurants or lots of chains?

How much can you spend and what do you hope to get for that?

[chicagoerin]

Hi Beth-I live in Columbus but my entire family is in St. Louis and my sister works at BJC so I am familiar with the areas. The problem with St. Louis is that the nice suburbs are way more expensive than the nice suburbs here. You can probably live cheaper overall in St. Louis but not in an area that has good schools and is safe. I would check out kirkwood, that might be similar to Hilliard. U City has some nice areas but the schools aren't great and it's so much more urban than what you are used to...Best of luck!

[chicagoerin]

PS, as far as an equivalent to Dublin, there is none that is as reasonably priced. My sister and brother in law had to move to a tiny, tiny old house that needs to be gutted in Clayton to get their son in a great school district. The calibur of people there is very comporable to a Dublin or New Albany, yet the houses are astronimically priced. Check out Webster Groves...it's nice, but again more money.

[aragx6]

In Webster Groves or in Rock Hill (which goes to Webster's great schools) you can get a cute, post war single family home fairly inexpensive - by that I mean less than 200k.

Like this place on a huge lot and in a cul-de-sac: Single Family Home - 118 Turf Ct, Webster Groves, MO, 63119 - Realtor.com (http://www.realtor.com/search/listingdetail.aspx?sby=3&zp=63119&ml=3&mxp=20&bd=4 &bth=4&typ=1&sid=cca6d6b92c194a79b52f7342a3cf0a7a& lid=1101391683&lsn=1&srcnt=13#Detail - broken link)

[chicagoerin]

Just so everyone knows what $180k can buy you in Hilliard, OH:

Single Family Home - 2467 PUNDERSON DRIVE, HILLIARD, OH, 43026 - Realtor.com (http://www.realtor.com/search/listingdetail.aspx?ctid=85936&mnp=21&mxp=20&typ=1& sid=4c84ae663d894e1a9b52ca2ebad51b9a&lid=109752888 4&lsn=4&srcnt=48#Photo - broken link)

That post war house is cute..it is just so hard to go from a newer spacious home to an older one.

[aragx6]

Well if you want a newer spacious home for 180k you can head out to St. Peters or O'Fallon and get this: Single Family Home - 113 Barrington Dr, O Fallon, MO, 63376 - Realtor.com (http://www.realtor.com/realestate/o+fallon-mo-63376-1097052530/ - broken link)

But you'll be about 45 minutes from downtown St. Louis.

Or Fenton and get this: Single Family Home - 1255 Kings Trail Ln, Fenton, MO, 63026 - Realtor.com (http://www.realtor.com/realestate/fenton-mo-63026-1094792545/ - broken link)
and be about 30 minutes from downtown

OOH wait! I always forget about the Illinois side since I don't live there. But you get get a newer place in Fairview Heights like this:
Single Family Home - 512 FELICITY, FAIRVIEW HEIGHTS, IL, 62208 - Realtor.com (http://www.realtor.com/realestate/fairview+heights-il-62208-1102115088/ - broken link)
and be about 20 minutes from downtown.

[TGS]

Originally Posted by chicagoerin

PS, as far as an equivalent to Dublin, there is none that is as reasonably priced. My sister and brother in law had to move to a tiny, tiny old house that needs to be gutted in Clayton to get their son in a great school district. The calibur of people there is very comporable to a Dublin or New Albany, yet the houses are astronimically priced. Check out Webster Groves...it's nice, but again more money.

Clayton is one of, if not the most, expensive school districts in which to buy a home in the entire metro area. It is not a true modern suburban area, but a more of a historic urban area with older brick mansions and luxury condos with a great central location. No one "has" to move to Clayton in a run-down house, nor should they unless they have hundreds of thousands of dollars burning a hole in their pocket.

There are plenty of other great school districts with newer and lower-priced homes. Something comparable to Dublin or New Albany here would be the West County area, which has the highly-regarded Parkway and Rockwood school districts. Houses range from the low $100,000s to in the millions.

Originally Posted by chicagoerin

Just so everyone knows what $180k can buy you in Hilliard, OH:

Single Family Home - 2467 PUNDERSON DRIVE, HILLIARD, OH, 43026 - Realtor.com (http://www.realtor.com/search/listingdetail.aspx?ctid=85936&mnp=21&mxp=20&typ=1& sid=4c84ae663d894e1a9b52ca2ebad51b9a&lid=109752888 4&lsn=4&srcnt=48#Photo - broken link)

That post war house is cute..it is just so hard to go from a newer spacious home to an older one.

There are plenty of houses just like this in the St. Louis metro area in safe neighborhoods with good school districts. None of them will be a quick commute like the OP's husband has now, but within a 30-45 minute drive there are multiple suburbs which have basically the same housing stock as the house from Hillard, for roughly the same price. In Missouri, look at West and South County or St. Charles County, and in Illinois look at Edwardsville, Fairview Heights, and Columbia.

[chicagoerin]

Right, but the OP is looking for a similar (5 minutes currently) commute..not 30-45 minutes...

I have spent plenty of time in West County and would argue that it is not comparable to Dublin or New Albany...very different. Perhaps comparable to Upper Arlington.

If schools aren't an issue, then Illinois might work, but again, the OP wants a short commute. My sister lived in Columbia until recently. The schools are not great (compared to some of the St. Louis city schools they are better, but rank average, at best, when compared to other Illinois districts). The commute from Columbia to Barnes just plain sucks.

If the OP didn't want to be close to work I would say TGS had some valid points, but that is not the case.

[Myhodgg]

Hello, I live about 50 miles North West of STL, MO. I love it here. The area near Big Barnes is mostly African American and not real safe. Ladue and Clayton are the expensive parts of the area and safer. I am sorry I have nver been to the OH area you mentioned. Welcome to MO.


If there is anyone who has lived in or is familiar with Columbus, OH and St. Louis, MO I would love to here your comparisons of the various suburbs. Is there an Upper Arlington equivalent or a Hilliard or Dublin equivalent in St. Louis. We would like to be as close as possible to Barnes-Jewish Hospital but be a little bit out of the city.

We currently live about 5 minutes from Riverside hospital where my husband works and we love that there is basically no commute. Is there any where that we can have a similar situation in St. Louis?

Thanks so much for your help.

Beth[/quote]