Most affordable west end suburb? (St. Charles, Chesterfield: apartments, for rent, condo)

[VideoEngineerAJS]

I'm from Ohio and I just accepted a job with Isle of Capri and my wife and I are moving on the 26th. I was wondering where there most affordable area around Olive Blvd and 270 is located?

My wife won't be working right away, but I am getting moving expenses and 2 weeks in a hotel so I have time to look for a place. My wife and I would like to find a house for rent if possible. I've been looking around St. Charles and even Arnold. Those two places seem to be nice areas. I've also checked out Chesterfield, Ballwin, and Maryland Heights, but I want to find a place that I can afford just on my salary and Chesterfield and Ballwin at least seem to be more expensive areas.

[sixtwobaldguy]

Ok Arnold is nowhere near chesterfield and 270 but you're right it's a nice area.. redneck according to some but I happen to like it and don't mind pickups and deer hunters. The West part of st. louis has some pretty exclusive areas where you will pay a lot for an otherwise unremarkable home. The traffic right there on 270 can also be annoying, I get slowed down at olive or dougherty ferry pretty often in the afternoon going south bound. I think there can be some good values but I wouldn't rush into buying if you're from out of town. Too many realtors will give you terrible advice that you'll be regreting for years to come. Same goes with this forum, a "good buy" is very subjective and I suggest you stay and rent long enough to decide for yourself what's a good buy. Consider the drive to work, your neighbors, the school district, size of yard,... too many variables for anyone to guess accurately what you will like or not

[wustu87]

As sixtwobaldguy states "most affordable" is very subjective. Is it just you and your wife or are kids included (or coming soon?). If the school district is not a priority this fall, renting for a while makes a lot of sense, especially in the current housing market. I know I've seen houses for rent right by the area where you'd be working (just north of Olive, east of 270) which would be very convenient for you and is a "reasonably" affordable area following my own definition of "affordable" which may vary from yours or anybody elses. That area is actually Parkway North or Pattonville schools which are actually pretty good districts. In this market there are lots of nice houses there that are not selling that people are willing to rent instead.

[VideoEngineerAJS]

No kids, just the two of us and a couple of cats. I'm 26 and she's 22 so we are sort of young. I would like to stay under or at $1000 a month for rent plus utilities, if at all possible.

[wustu87]

Well, $1000/mo for a house in that area will limit your choices, but that just means you have to look at more options! Would you perhaps be happy renting a townhouse/condo? There are plenty of those in the Creve Coeur/Maryland Heights area you should be able to rent for around $1000/mo. If you want to get more for your money you can look further out across the river into St. Charles county, or further north into northern Maryland Heights and into Bridgeton, where you can probably find a smaller or older house for under $1000/mo. It all depends on how much of a commute you want each day versus how much home you want for your money.

[AJohnston_STL]

26 and 22, why are you looking at Olive/270? It may be a few miles closer to work but quality of life for such a young couple I would think would be much better in the city.

[VideoEngineerAJS]

I have continued to look and had some questions about the area at Manchester and Oakland (I guess it's Maplewood?) and also the Southwest Gardens/The Hill area. Are they decent areas? They seem to have relatively affordable and nice looking apartments.

[Central Illinois 1]

St. Charles is not that far away and it has alot of affordable housing. Bridgeton probably also has more affordable options than Chesterfield.

[AJohnston_STL]

Originally Posted by VideoEngineerAJS

I have continued to look and had some questions about the area at Manchester and Oakland (I guess it's Maplewood?) and also the Southwest Gardens/The Hill area. Are they decent areas? They seem to have relatively affordable and nice looking apartments.

Manchester & Oakland is indeed Maplewood. Very nice suburb, inner-ring. Very much urban with a nice downtown, separated from St Louis city by only an invisible line. It is a very nice city, decent schools, great area. You would be about 3 miles from Forest Park, the zoo, Science Center, etc, etc.

Southwest Gardens/The Hill area - very nice areas as well. The Hill is very urban, full of Italian restaurants, locally owned grocers, etc. Southwest Garden is a neighbor to The Hill but I can't tell you as much about it. I bank and grocery shop on the Hill. It also has a couple of nice city parks and sits right off of Hampton Avenue, so a very convenient area.

[AJohnston_STL]

I would also suggest Dogtown to you - it's where I live and is the part of St Louis city that Maplewood is separated from by that "inivisible line" I told you about.