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I did not grow up in St. Joseph, but have lived here about 32 years. I have not had trouble finding work here, but I have a degree, so that helps. There IS a lot of poverty in St. Joseph, and some people are narrow minded. However, I have found that many people are not that way, including my friends and me. My husband and I live in Museum Hill, which is a neighborhood on the National Register of Historic Places. It is just east of downtown, and not too far from Messanie St. and a low-income housing project that was built on a property that used to be a convent. I think it was put in there in the '60's, but that was before my time here. In regard to crime, we have lived in the neighborhood 20 years and have had no more than the usual problems that you have anywhere. However, we do own a rental property across the street from us, and it was broken into. The tenant went out of town for the weekend and apparently someone saw her putting suitcases into her car. Had we known she would be gone, we would have made a big deal of checking the property frequently so that people could see us doing it. When we go on vacation, we always have someone check in at our house a few times a day to check on the cats, pick up newspapers, etc. We also have good neighbors on each side of us. One is a professor from the University here. Many people from out of town are buying these beautiful historic houses and restoring them. These old houses are not always appreciatd by the locals, but some of us love them. The neighborhood is in transition, and has greatly improved in the years we have lived in the neighborhood.
Housing is very inexpensive here, especially in the older neighborhoods, and there are active groups of neighborhood associations, especially in the older neighborhoods. We do not have the crime of larger cities, or the traffic. The cost of living and property taxes are relatively low. If you want to buy an old house, you will get lots of support from your fellow old-house people. If you don't want to live in a racially mixed neighborhood, you need to find something further east and more expensive in the suburbs. One advantage of the Museum Hill neighborhood is that is racially diverse, and I like it that my neighbors don't all look like me.
You will find all kinds of people in any city, but St. Joseph has an active arts community and many people who are well educated, despite the poverty issue here. Yes, there is lots of political infighting which sets the city back sometimes, and people from out of town who come here and try to make progressive changes are sometimes viewed with suspicion.
If you can't get enough culture here, we are only 50 miles from Kansas City, where we frequently go to independent movies, plays, and musicals.
There are several restaurants we like here: La Mesa, a Mexican restaurant, which recently opened a second location here, Napoli's, an excellent Italian restaurant downtown, Em Chamas, a Brazilian Grill restaurant downtown, and Boudreau's, a Cajun/Louisiana restaurant also located downtown.
I would definitely reccommend St. Joseph if you want to buy a historic house!
Last edited by catperson1947; 06-23-2011 at 11:16 PM..
Reason: spelling and grammar errors
We have lived in the midtown area for about 20 years. We bought an old house for a little bit of nothing and have been restoring it ever since. The neighborhood was a little rough when we first moved here, but it has improved greatly over the years. There is much restoration going on. There is a large cultural mix of race, education, and class, if you don't mind that. Personally, I like it when my neighbors don't look like me. Our next door neighbor is a University Professor from Uganda. There are a husband and wife (airline pilot and doctor), who built a new million dollar mansion (looks like an old house) in the neighborhood. We are in the Museum Hill Neighborhood, which is on the National Register of Historic Places. There are numerous families restoring these old homes. We have never had problems in the 20 years we have lived in this neighborhood. We know there is occasional crime here, but things happen everywhere.
Please don't let other St. Joseph people tell you this is a neighborhood to be avoided. This is a problem in this town--that people are afraid of certain areas. Sometimes people in St. Joseph are their own worst enemies in regard to progress. There are some areas I wouldn't want to live in due to trashy neighbors, but Museum Hill isn't one of them.
I would be glad to show you around the neighborhood (or other neighborhoods) so that you can see the restoration that is going on. I'm not sure if there is some way to send a private message, but please let me know if you want my phone # or email address and I will get them to you! Lisa Rock (you can find her online) is a realtor who specializes in historic houses, and she could be a big help. I do not know her personally, just by reputation.
Last edited by catperson1947; 06-26-2011 at 10:49 PM..
St Joseph, Missouri is like a literary device for a horror novel. This town will consume you. It's a dying town filled with angry, shell shocked natives who cannot or will not accept the truth about this horrible little hamlet. No jobs, no culture and a sea of fast food joints. Anyone can work here if they wish to wear a paper hat. Seriously folks, this town is like death. I cannot wait to escape to the land of the living.
No culture? I tend to think St. Joseph is pretty interesting for its size. They have an art museum and a lot of history. Plus, it's only an hour from KC. Much of St. Joe is very working-class-of-the-past, but some people like that.
What "culture" are you looking for that you're not getting there?
JoeTown has some positve features, but employment opportunities for sure ain't one of them. I know because when I needed a chance to "turn things around" way back in the 80s, I left for the real land of opportunity in Texas where they don't ask you who you know or what family you were born into before offereing you a career opportunity with a good employer if you are qualified. Not that there aren't places like that in the larger metro areas of Missouri, but JoeTown is definitely not one of them.
On the other hand, I think JoeTown would be a very logical retirement destination for some: comparitively reasonable R/E prices, tolerable cost of living, and a climate that doesn't have a really harsh winter while having very nice Springs and beautiful Falls.
And yea, I suspect Central is probably still very snobbish while Benton and Lafayette are more open to all.
BTW, anybody know if StJoe is now technically a part of the KC metropolitan area ?
JoeTown has some positve features, but employment opportunities for sure ain't one of them. I know because when I needed a chance to "turn things around" way back in the 80s, I left for the real land of opportunity in Texas where they don't ask you who you know or what family you were born into before offereing you a career opportunity with a good employer if you are qualified. Not that there aren't places like that in the larger metro areas of Missouri, but JoeTown is definitely not one of them.
On the other hand, I think JoeTown would be a very logical retirement destination for some: comparitively reasonable R/E prices, tolerable cost of living, and a climate that doesn't have a really harsh winter while having very nice Springs and beautiful Falls.
And yea, I suspect Central is probably still very snobbish while Benton and Lafayette are more open to all.
BTW, anybody know if StJoe is now technically a part of the KC metropolitan area ?
St. Joseph is not part of the Kansas City MSA. It has it's own metropolitan statistical area that includes Buchanan, Andrew and Dekalb counties in Missouri and Doniphan county in Kansas, with an official 2010 population of 127,329.
About what you said in regard to the high schools in St. Joseph, I know that I've heard the "south end", where Benton High School is, talked down on as being the "white trash" part of town. I know the north end is the nicer part of town. So I figured if any of the high schools were snobby, it would be Lafayette, not Central. Is Central where most of the suburban St. Joseph kids go to school? If not, why is more "snobbish" than the others?
About what you said in regard to the high schools in St. Joseph, I know that I've heard the "south end", where Benton High School is, talked down on as being the "white trash" part of town. I know the north end is the nicer part of town. So I figured if any of the high schools were snobby, it would be Lafayette, not Central. Is Central where most of the suburban St. Joseph kids go to school? If not, why is more "snobbish" than the others?
The most affluent parts of town are found in the east and northeast residential areas of the town, and those kids go to Central hence the "snobbish" tag. I know because I went to Central myself, even though the east side neighborhood where I grew up was a more modest part of the overall east/northeast area economically speaking.
You have to understand that historically the Southend and Northend of St Joseph were where the stockyards and brewery respectively were located, which meant a predominatly blue-collar population to work in those factories/plants. Now they haven't had a brewery in Northend for a longtime though I think there's defintely some significant residual of the packing houses in SouthEnd.
The most affluent parts of town are found in the east and northeast residential areas of the town, and those kids go to Central hence the "snobbish" tag. I know because I went to Central myself, even though the east side neighborhood where I grew up was a more modest part of the overall east/northeast area economically speaking.
You have to understand that historically the Southend and Northend of St Joseph were where the stockyards and brewery respectively were located, which meant a predominatly blue-collar population to work in those factories/plants. Now they haven't had a brewery in Northend for a longtime though I think there's defintely some significant residual of the packing houses in SouthEnd.
I hate to beat this to death, but I'm curious. When you say east and northeast residential areas, do you mean the newer/modern suburban areas that are mostly east of the belt highway or is there still a lot of affluence/middle class within the historic neighborhoods, such as right around Central High School and to the north, like along Ashland? I know there are some beautiful and neat historic neighborhoods, but I figured they were mostly abandoned by the affluent and considered "ghetto", which is how it is in most places these days, even small towns.
While I absolutely love the historic central St. Joseph neighborhoods west of downtown and just north of Frederick, the whole town is neat to me, even the south end. The place seems to be stuck in the past, but in a neat way. I don't quite know how to explain it, but one feature I find neat is in the working-class parts of town, there are still Dairy Queen places that you WALK up to and gather around VS drive up to and go inside. Just something about the place reminds me of what working-class neighborhoods of the past must have been like, like northeast in KCMO or Central Ave in KCK.
I hate to beat this to death, but I'm curious. When you say east and northeast residential areas, do you mean the newer/modern suburban areas that are mostly east of the belt highway or is there still a lot of affluence/middle class within the historic neighborhoods, such as right around Central High School and to the north, like along Ashland? I know there are some beautiful and neat historic neighborhoods, but I figured they were mostly abandoned by the affluent and considered "ghetto", which is how it is in most places these days, even small towns.
While I absolutely love the historic central St. Joseph neighborhoods west of downtown and just north of Frederick, the whole town is neat to me, even the south end. The place seems to be stuck in the past, but in a neat way. I don't quite know how to explain it, but one feature I find neat is in the working-class parts of town, there are still Dairy Queen places that you WALK up to and gather around VS drive up to and go inside. Just something about the place reminds me of what working-class neighborhoods of the past must have been like, like northeast in KCMO or Central Ave in KCK.
To me the Ashland Av area was the essense of northeast upper-crust residential locations, but you have to understand that I left JoeTown 30 years ago: even that city gradually changes over such a lengthy period of time.
It's interesting how so many people today are so nostalgic about the "working-class", blue-collar lifestyle of the past and yet so intolerant
of the idea of a contemporary economy with a signifcant manufacturing presence ? I'm not saying you are, of course I don't know that, but many people today have that attitude.
Ashland Avenue is still very nice and highly coveted as a neighborhood, despite the seemingly hundreds of suburban neighborhoods that have sprung up in the northeast part of town in the last 20 years or so. I am not a "suburban" type of person, so I love living in the historic area, and would love to see more people become interested in historic preservation. We have saved an 1898 house and an 1885 house from falling into ruin, and although we will never get as much money out of them as we have put in them, we are proud to have been a part of the resurrection of the neighborhood, and have had a beautiful old house to live in all these years.
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