Moving to St Louis due to divorce.... where should I live?

[moorlander]

You will find tons of single divorced women of high quality prowling the restaurants and bars around Chesterfield, Clayton, and the Central West End.

see this cougar thread on urbanstl.com
Urban St. Louis • View topic - Cougar Bar (http://urbanstl.com/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=4678 - broken link)

[soon to be single]

good question. Still working on what I will need to pay in child support and maintenance to my ex and then will determine what I have. i figure right now 600- 700 but if all debt is paid off it will be more. I want to really live lite for the first couple years because I want to ensure the kids are taken care of. My big concern is to be in a safe place so the kids can stay with me on the weekends.

[BoomBoxing]

South County might be a good choice for you. It is inexpensive, family friendly for the kids and still close enough to the fun single stuff. You can be downtown or soulard in practically 5 minutes down i-55. Same 5 minute trip south on 55 to Arnold. Housing stock is very affordable, amentities are the typical suburban fare, and crime is very low. I think it would be a good place to start out, and then maybe you can venture some place more exciting .

Just avoid Lemay, if at all possible

[soon to be single]

can you give me some areas to focus on along 55 Boomboxing. When I lived here 8 years ago I was up north so do not no much about the south county area. specfic streets or even complexes would be great. thanks for the help

[BoomBoxing]

Pretty much all of south county has good access to highway 55. In south county, apartments are typically of the mega-complex variety which I am not personally a fan of. I lived at the Vineyards complex, which is at Butler Hill and 55. It was ok but I would not really recommend it to someone with kids visiting. I think you should be able to rent a small house somewhere in the Affton, Mehville, or Oakville area for sub-1000 a month. Those are all solid areas.

[Azalea City Man]

Originally Posted by soon to be single

I want to really live lite for the first couple years because I want to ensure the kids are taken care of. My big concern is to be in a safe place so the kids can stay with me on the weekends.

Good plan. I was just being an smarta** earlier. I'd suggest soemwhere in south county, unfortunately I don't know much at all about south county.

[soon to be single]

I don't want a house as I do not want to take care of a yard or anything like that. I want an apartment/townehome in a secure community. in looking at places, i want a pool so I can take the kids there in the summer, a work out room (got to get in shape) and to be within 30 minutes of the Arnold area. If anyone has any more feedback I would appreciate it. thanks

[flynavyj]

I think you'll find what you're looking for in the majority of apartment complexes, around Arnold, or even closer to the city. Just ask about the pool,as that may be harder to find. I'm currently living in Creve Coeur in a fairly nice apt. complex, but no pool. It does have workout facilities however, and is close to highway access.

I think the Soulard area would be a lot of fun for a newly single guy, and St. Louis city is going to be able to offer the same (if not more) amenities than South County/Arnold. Also, as long as your kids aren't "running the streets" at night, i don't think you'd have to worry about safety or security for yourself or them, plus you'd be around plenty of business professionals, singles, etc. The park system is expansive, I-55 will get you to your family (however it's not 5 minutes, more like 15), museums, restaurants , sporting events, etc, all at your fingertips. But honestly, if you check around the 270, 44, 55 corridors you should easily be within your 30 minute limit. I wouldn't go further north than Page however, as that'll place you outside of, or on the edge of your 30 min. commute. As long as you don't live to far from the highway, you shouldn't have a problem.

[soon to be single]

Thanks everyone. Been a tough weekend at home. Trying to work things with the soon to be ex.

I will be in St. Louis the Feb 9-11th for work so will probably take some time to drive around the south county area to see what I can find.