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Old 09-11-2010, 09:29 AM
 
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Looking for information about best places to live near St Louis. My job will be in St Charles but willing to commute a bit. Largest factors for us are: good schools, short commute to work (~ 30 mins), affordable housing, area where homes will appreciate (unlike St Charles), good shopping and restaurants, and a nice downtown area. Do these areas exist? Any insight would be appreciated.
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Old 09-11-2010, 09:39 AM
 
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Checkout Webster Groves, Kirkwood, and the areas immediately around them. They pretty much exactly fit your description.
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Old 09-11-2010, 09:54 AM
 
Location: Saint Louis, MO
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Agreed w/ above poster. To draw some parallels to Chicagoland, I would say Kirkwood is similar to Naperville in a way--highly desirable, nice downtown, great schools, lots of shopping and restaurants....but not as expensive as the North Shore (whose equivalent is Ladue/Clayton--very expensive). Kirkwood (and St Louis as a whole) is a whole lot less congested which makes commuting and every day life nicer.

Although you've written off St Charles it seems, it also has a downtown area that is quite charming. Housing is a lot cheaper there if you're priced out of Kirkwood.
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Old 09-11-2010, 10:50 AM
 
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Any areas that meet the above criteria with .5 acre lots or greater?
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Old 09-11-2010, 12:05 PM
 
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Maybe but it won't be cheap. These areas are highly desirable because they have excellent shopping/restaurants, schools, and have a ton of character. If you want more space expect to sacrifice some of those things or lower your expectation of "nice restaurants and shopping" to equal "Chili's and Walmart". But you will still have good schools further out.
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Old 09-13-2010, 07:55 AM
 
Location: Tower Grove East, St. Louis, MO
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Depending on your price range, you might find the combo of schools, commute and land in Creve Coeur, Chesterfield or Ballwin. These newer suburbs won't have the downtown feel of some of Chicago's suburbs however.

If you want that you'll want to look in closer at areas such as Kirkwood or Webster Groves -- I always think of those two as having the most Chicago suburb- like downtowns.

Though I second others, that St. Charles might actually provde you exactly what you're looking for and at a good price if you can find something closer to Main St. Appreciation has actually been pretty good in many areas out there, unless you bought in just the last couple of years -- wondering who told you differently?
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Old 09-13-2010, 11:15 AM
 
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I was told St Charles property values would stay stagnant for years versus appreciating in areas such as Chesterfield or Wildwood. I was told this by a former Missouri resident. Would you agree?
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Old 09-13-2010, 02:01 PM
 
Location: Tower Grove East, St. Louis, MO
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I am not a realtor, nor do I play one on television, but my opinion is this: It depends if you're looking at the bottom, middle or top of the market.

The St. Charles area will probably always remain more solidly middle class than the western chunks of St. Louis county, so if you're looking at the tip top expensive end of the St. Charles county real estate market, I think there's a fair argument to be made that you might not see much appreciation. But, that said, there are very good deals to be found in the area because of that high-end overbuilding that took place over the last 5-7 years.

St. Charles county as a whole has seen very good appreciation over the last 15 years up until recently -- everyone I know who owns a home out there from that time period has made significant money on their homes.

The far western chunks of St. Louis county will, no doubt, continue to see growth, but growth does not always equal appreciation. They're still building A LOT of new construction out there and competing if you wanted to sell it in 5-10 years with brand new construction is never a good bet for your home's value.

To me, it sounds as though you were told this by someone who may just be looking at the general cache of the area, not the actual appreciation possibilities. There's an argument that few outer-ring suburbs will continue to see appreciation like they have in the past (nationwide) but that would include far western St. Louis county just as well as St. Charles county.

Only a good real estate agent will understand the market well enough to answer your question. I know a couple in the area if you need a recommendation.
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Old 09-14-2010, 09:50 AM
 
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St. Charles is going to look more like a Gurney or Lake Villa (my mother-in-law lives there). There will be a ton of chain restaurants and strip centers and very little character. Although St. Charles does have a neat little downtown feel on Main street, it is surrounded by cheap looking and dated housing and is not accessible on foot. If you are looking for a suburb with a city feel to it your only options will probably be Kirkwood, Webster Groves, University City, and Clayton. Clayton is pretty pricey and U city can be in the areas where you would want to live. Where you work in St Charles will make a big difference as well. If you are on the Northern end of St. chuck you will have a pretty tough commute from Kirkwood/Webster.

Regarding housing values, you are probably not going to see significant depreciation in the St. louis area anymore but I doubt you will see any appreciation in St. Charles. Kirkwood/Webster/U City/Clayton all are completely built out so the only new construction is tear downs. These areas are highly desireable so you will have existing homes appreciating.
St. Charles still has a TON of vacant land and lots so there will always be a ready supply of new homes. Unless housing has a massive rebound you are going to see prices stagnant in St. Charles for a long time. There is just too much supply and there is no reason to buy a 5-10 year old home when you can buy a new one for the same price or cheaper.
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Old 09-14-2010, 12:52 PM
 
Location: Tower Grove East, St. Louis, MO
12,063 posts, read 31,551,540 times
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^^ Sure, but is the same not just as true for Western St. Louis county (i.e. Chesterfield)
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