Florissant - tell me everything you know

[BoomBoxing]

Originally Posted by citizenoftheworldtoday

I live in a very accessible, walkable, bike rideable area. I can walk to anything I need. I can get on the highway in less than 5 minutes. I have great neighbors who are interesting people. They are involved in making the world better. There are many artists. There is great community. I love the Ferguson Farmer's Market it is a fun uplifting event every week. I like the summer park concerts in Ferguson and Florissant. I really appreciate the great people who run the independent businesses. There is a garden club of fabulous human beings that has been around for more than 50 years. There is interesting historical buildings. I save so much money on gas and so much time since there are little and big nearby stores at which I can get anything I need.

Due to my relatively low living expenses, my life is enriched since I have a lot of spare change for travel and entertainment. If I had bought a $350,000 house somewhere else I would just be paying off my house rather than visiting my out of town friends and going to Europe.
I go to concerts when I want to the movies when I want to the theatres when I want.

I can get anywhere in St. Louis easily from Florissant from the wineries and bike trail over in Grafton to the wineries over in Augusta to Forest Park to downtown St. Louis to Creve Coeur Park to Sioux Passage Park and the great Sunset Park Trail...etc..

Fritz's and Doozles have great frozen custard. Crowds gather all year round. Old Town Donuts has great donuts. de.Lish has great coffee and cheese cake and sandwiches and soup and music on Fridays. Hendel's Market Restarant is one of the most atmospheric places around town. DeLeos is a new comer with great soup and sandwiches. Goeke's produce has almost all groceries you really need with a friendly staff. Stems and Dooleys brighten my home with great floral arrangments. Stems has very fun classes. Andreas and Brief Reflections have great 2nd hand finds. I can not count the number of compliments I get on my clothes that I bought from those two stores. The staff at Macy's at Jamestown are the the most friendly. The Wildbirds Unlimited staff are very helpful and if you need anything for your house Handyman Hardware is the place to go.

I also feel like I have hit some higher level of civilization because all kinds of people live together and get along. It is really uplifting.

I have only had good experiences here. Since Ameren trimmed the trees the storms have caused the area little trouble. In 2001 when the hail storm mentioned in some other posts hit, I needed a new roof anyway. St. Louis in general is fortunate not to have been devastated by the storms that hit so many other places in the country.

Live Long and Prosper to all.

That's great to hear. I really enjoy what you said about spare change for travel and entertainment. I live in an extremely expensive city and my travel expenses are largely limited to coming home to St. Louis on a semi-regular basis. There's a lot to be said for having a low cost of living that a lot of people don't think about.

[tofuluvr]

Originally Posted by citizenoftheworldtoday

I live in a very accessible, walkable, bike rideable area. I can walk to anything I need. I can get on the highway in less than 5 minutes. I have great neighbors who are interesting people. They are involved in making the world better. There are many artists. There is great community. I love the Ferguson Farmer's Market it is a fun uplifting event every week. I like the summer park concerts in Ferguson and Florissant. I really appreciate the great people who run the independent businesses. There is a garden club of fabulous human beings that has been around for more than 50 years. There is interesting historical buildings. I save so much money on gas and so much time since there are little and big nearby stores at which I can get anything I need.

Due to my relatively low living expenses, my life is enriched since I have a lot of spare change for travel and entertainment. If I had bought a $350,000 house somewhere else I would just be paying off my house rather than visiting my out of town friends and going to Europe.
I go to concerts when I want to the movies when I want to the theatres when I want.

I can get anywhere in St. Louis easily from Florissant from the wineries and bike trail over in Grafton to the wineries over in Augusta to Forest Park to downtown St. Louis to Creve Coeur Park to Sioux Passage Park and the great Sunset Park Trail...etc..

Fritz's and Doozles have great frozen custard. Crowds gather all year round. Old Town Donuts has great donuts. de.Lish has great coffee and cheese cake and sandwiches and soup and music on Fridays. Hendel's Market Restarant is one of the most atmospheric places around town. DeLeos is a new comer with great soup and sandwiches. Goeke's produce has almost all groceries you really need with a friendly staff. Stems and Dooleys brighten my home with great floral arrangments. Stems has very fun classes. Andreas and Brief Reflections have great 2nd hand finds. I can not count the number of compliments I get on my clothes that I bought from those two stores. The staff at Macy's at Jamestown are the the most friendly. The Wildbirds Unlimited staff are very helpful and if you need anything for your house Handyman Hardware is the place to go.

I also feel like I have hit some higher level of civilization because all kinds of people live together and get along. It is really uplifting.

I have only had good experiences here. Since Ameren trimmed the trees the storms have caused the area little trouble. In 2001 when the hail storm mentioned in some other posts hit, I needed a new roof anyway. St. Louis in general is fortunate not to have been devastated by the storms that hit so many other places in the country.

Live Long and Prosper to all.

Great response! This is what I want.

[glamatomic]

You and me both

[tofuluvr]

I am going to check out the Ferguson area when I come back in July. I'm inspired now. There are some great houses for awesome prices and the community seems very involved and diverse.

[glamatomic]

tofuluvr: When I was back in the 'Lou house hunting just a couple of weeks ago, I looked at both Florissant and Ferguson and was greatly impressed because I'd heard such negative things about both areas (even when I lived in St. Louis before I'd heard a lot of negativity).

Ferguson is awesome- and there is so much potential. My husband and I checked out an older house on Spring Street, and even though it wasn't right for us- the location was within walking distance to Ferguson's 'downtown' with the Farmers Market, Coffee Shop, Aldi, Shop n Save, Bakery, etc. I've still been keeping my eye out at properties in the Ferguson area because I really was impressed.

When I last lived in the Lou, the most common thing I heard about Ferguson was that it was "so close to Kinloch" (which has a really, really bad reputation), but DH and I even drove around Kinloch to see what the deal was- and Kinloch is virtually gone. The only people we saw were a couple of (what we assumed to be) Brick Rustlers. It's just filled with abandoned streets now for the most part, there's barely anything there at all so I wouldn't assume it to pose any problems.

As for Florissant, there were definitely pockets of it that were really nice and gave off a pleasant 1950s suburban feel. A couple of properties I've been looking at there are also a very short distance to shops and amenities, but Florissant in general gives off a more autocentric vibe than Ferguson. There are definitely some very, very nice neighborhoods though that we saw which seem to show a lot of neighborhood pride.

Either way, in spite of what some people say about North County, it's where DH and I are still looking and we're fully confident that it will be the right decision for us from both a financial point of view and livability point of view.

If you haven't done so already, check out http://www.nocostl.com

Best of luck!

[stlcitygirl]

^I agree about Kinloch, it was horrible, but I don't think there is anything left of it

[flynavyj]

In many ways it therefore has some of the stigma that was associated with Downtown St. Louis, probably not so dangerous anymore, but blatantly desolate. I'd also worry about the quality of the very few individuals you'd run into in Kinloch...I also highly doubt we'll see a massive revitalization of Kinloch, unless you see a major revitalization effort for the rest of North-Central corridor as well.

[Amercity]

Its a okay suburb. Personally i would consider somewhere in mid county or West county because there are more opportunities and its closer to the city.
However crime rates are rising in florrissant

[flynavyj]

I'd be interested in the "more opportunities" aspect, with the exception of better school districts, i can't think of any services that Florissant is lacking, so I'm unsure what opportunities you're referring to? If you're trying to stretch your dollar, I think North County is unfortunately overlooked to often. There's some great housing stock, and typically good proximity to highways or even the city if that's your cup of tea. I have a friend commuting to the brewery from NorCo in approximately 15-20 minutes taking surface streets...it'd take ages if he went all the way around, but it has very close proximity to St. Louis City for him.

[glamatomic]

North County is awesome if you're looking for Mid Century Modern (Modest) awesomeness like I am. As for amenities- I personally don't think it's lacking.

Groceries Stores? Check.
Gas Stations? Check.
Restaurants? Check.
Doctors, Dentists, Lawyers, Banks, etc, etc? Check.
Libraries? Check.


Plus, it's really not far from everything St. Louis itself has to offer (Art Galleries, Museums, unique Restaurants, Farmers Markets, Parks, Theaters, Night Life, etc).

If Florissant *wasn't* close to St. Louis, obviously I'd rethink it though. The same goes for ANY of the towns in the county though... they wouldn't be half as good if they didn't have St. Louis on their doorstep (although some may beg to differ- I've met my fair share of County residents who wish the City didn't exist at all! Tsk!).

I've also discovered that I'm quite fond of areas in Bellefontaine Neighbors. Out of all of the areas we looked at while house hunting the other week, it was actually my husband's favorite which I thought was interesting. I have to admit though, there are some really, really neat houses in Bellefontaine. (Gosh I wish it wasn't pronounced Bell-ah-fountain though... ack... pronounce the French word correctly!).

Anyway, my point is... I plan on living in North County from a budget point of view, but also because it's got plenty of the kinds of houses I desire