Young Professional Potentially Moving to St. Louis

[flynavyj]

The only part of St. Louis that you really want to avoid is North City. The rest has sporadic pockets that aren't as good as other areas. South St. Louis has some decent locations, but the best "young" professionals areas are probably the CWE (central west end) , Washington Ave, and Soulard. The CWE is pretty chill, but i think the commute would be worse to Jefferson Barracks, Soulard would give you the best commute with a straight shot down I-55. Washington Ave. isn't a bad spot either, lots of lofts, sushi bars, and young professionals and probably the most Urban environment downtown I can think of. Soulard is pretty darn city too, but it doesn't give you that "high rise, downtown, metropolis feeling" instead, expect a Southern, maybe even New Orleans type feel...especially during Mardi Gras. When ya moving up?

[AJohnston_STL]

Originally Posted by ComingfromAL

I have a heard that the South and West parts of St. Louis proper are the better areas to live in, the West being the best area.

The VA at Jefferson Barracks is actually in the county, as a poster above mentioned. In other words, it's not in the city. And when you heard that the west is one of the best places to live, they were referring to suburbia - west St Louis County. And that's totally subjective. It's the best place to live if you like suburbia and want a nice, albeit -mostly- cookie cutter cul-de-sac area. In the city, it's in my opinion that you want to avoid north city. The only place I'd live north of I-64 (or "40" as everyone around here calls it) is downtown or in the Central West End. The only neighborhoods I would avoid in south St Louis City is Gravois Park & Dutchtown. I know people who live in Dutchtown that would tell you to avoid it too, but there are some that live there that would probably tout it. I'd avoid it, period. The last thing you want to do is NOT do your research and move directly in to a random city neighborhood and then hate the city because the neighborhood is a rough one. I met a woman who moved herself and her 12 year old son in to Dutchtown without doing any research and sent her kids to the public schools. He was beat up, pushed down stairs, and stabbed with a pencil in the 3 months he went to school there. Her quote to me was "I had no idea the city was like this." Of course being a city resident at the time I took exception to that and said "The city isn't like this, this neighborhood is like this."

So some may disagree, but again I give this advice - stay south of I-64, and only go north if you live downtown or the Central West End - and south of 64, avoid Gravois Park & Dutchtown.

Oh, and if you see an address for a place on Craigslist or something, you can type the address in to Yahoo! Maps and it actually color codes all of the city neighborhoods. So you can map it on Yahoo and it will tell you what neighborhood it's in.

[ComingfromAL]

Originally Posted by flynavyj

The only part of St. Louis that you really want to avoid is North City. The rest has sporadic pockets that aren't as good as other areas. South St. Louis has some decent locations, but the best "young" professionals areas are probably the CWE (central west end) , Washington Ave, and Soulard. The CWE is pretty chill, but i think the commute would be worse to Jefferson Barracks, Soulard would give you the best commute with a straight shot down I-55. Washington Ave. isn't a bad spot either, lots of lofts, sushi bars, and young professionals and probably the most Urban environment downtown I can think of. Soulard is pretty darn city too, but it doesn't give you that "high rise, downtown, metropolis feeling" instead, expect a Southern, maybe even New Orleans type feel...especially during Mardi Gras. When ya moving up?

If all goes well, the beginning of August!

Thanks for all your help!

P.S. I looooove Mardi Gras! I go to "The NO" several times a year.

[ComingfromAL]

Originally Posted by AJohnston_STL

The VA at Jefferson Barracks is actually in the county, as a poster above mentioned. In other words, it's not in the city. And when you heard that the west is one of the best places to live, they were referring to suburbia - west St Louis County. And that's totally subjective. It's the best place to live if you like suburbia and want a nice, albeit -mostly- cookie cutter cul-de-sac area. In the city, it's in my opinion that you want to avoid north city. The only place I'd live north of I-64 (or "40" as everyone around here calls it) is downtown or in the Central West End. The only neighborhoods I would avoid in south St Louis City is Gravois Park & Dutchtown. I know people who live in Dutchtown that would tell you to avoid it too, but there are some that live there that would probably tout it. I'd avoid it, period. The last thing you want to do is NOT do your research and move directly in to a random city neighborhood and then hate the city because the neighborhood is a rough one. I met a woman who moved herself and her 12 year old son in to Dutchtown without doing any research and sent her kids to the public schools. He was beat up, pushed down stairs, and stabbed with a pencil in the 3 months he went to school there. Her quote to me was "I had no idea the city was like this." Of course being a city resident at the time I took exception to that and said "The city isn't like this, this neighborhood is like this."

So some may disagree, but again I give this advice - stay south of I-64, and only go north if you live downtown or the Central West End - and south of 64, avoid Gravois Park & Dutchtown.

Oh, and if you see an address for a place on Craigslist or something, you can type the address in to Yahoo! Maps and it actually color codes all of the city neighborhoods. So you can map it on Yahoo and it will tell you what neighborhood it's in.

Thanks! This was sooo helpful!