Relocating to STL (St. Louis, Creve Coeur, Washington: job market, place to live, prices)

[moorlander]

Other walkable areas to consider:
maplewood
kirkwood
webster Groves
Soulard
South Grand/Tower Grove
Central West End
Main St. St. Charles
There are also some charming walkable areas in North county and in the metro east but i'm not too familiar with them.

[lisa53109]

Thanks for all the information. I'll have to check out those other walkable areas. I really don't "hate" anything, I LOVE humidity, cold weather and dog poop not so much, terrible traffic doesn't bother me (I don't think I've ever honked my horn) and I wouldn't move without a job! LOL. Keep the info coming though. Good and bad, I'll hear it all!

[adivineeternity]

I'm not really a regular (unless you count lurking as regular activity), but I felt the urge to chime in. St. Louis is wonderful, in my opinion. I lived there for seven years before going to college and have been looking for job opportunities myself, as I would love to move back now that I've graduated.

It's a good thing you love humidity, because St. Louis has a lot of it. It's got some of the wackiest weather I've experienced in my life, and I want it back. It can get pretty cold in the winter, but it's actually very manageable with a good coat. Dressing in layers is recommended most of the year, and I found it better to check the weather by stepping outside instead of using weather reports, then assuming I would just need to layer my clothes, anyway. I don't think I went anywhere without a sweatshirt, at minimum.

As far as neighborhoods, University City is definitely on my list, as well. I would certainly check it out. Lots of life there and a fun area of the city overall.

And beware St. Louis drivers. They're crazy! As are the roads. There are worse areas, of course, but goodness... Make sure your brakes are in good condition. I love the city like no other, but the drivers there scare me sometimes.

Also, if anybody ever tries to tell you St. Louis is so dangerous and you should only live there if you want to get shot and robbed or something, ignore them. St. Louis is like any other city. If you use common sense and don't run around with huge wads of cash in your hands or do stuff to draw negative attention to yourself, you'll be fine. I wandered around at all various hours of the day and night with friends and never felt unsafe. Simply minding your own business and not being an idiot is enough to keep you safe in almost any area of the city.

Good luck with everything!

[zoomzoom3]

Yes, I recently relocated to Florida from St. Louis. I had no problem whatsoever finding a job here & it's not too hard to find work here in general. Weather is great here too, can't beat 70's in February, and not having to drive on ice/snow is great. Traffic is also not bad here either. Housing is very affordable due to the market tanking down here. I found a newer 1,700 sq. ft 3-bed, 2-bath condo in a nice area here for $99,000. The only big drawback here is the topography of the land, it's flat as a pancake. At least St. Louis has some hilly areas where you can hike. I love the "St. Louis is paradise on earth attitude here." In reality it's one of the worst places in the US to live. I've visited many cities & metro areas in the US and the only ones worse than STL are probably Detroit and Cleveland.

[Smtchll]

Originally Posted by zoomzoom3

Yes, I recently relocated to Florida from St. Louis. I had no problem whatsoever finding a job here & it's not too hard to find work here in general. Weather is great here too, can't beat 70's in February, and not having to drive on ice/snow is great. Traffic is also not bad here either. Housing is very affordable due to the market tanking down here. I found a newer 1,700 sq. ft 3-bed, 2-bath condo in a nice area here for $99,000. The only big drawback here is the topography of the land, it's flat as a pancake. At least St. Louis has some hilly areas where you can hike. I love the "St. Louis is paradise on earth attitude here." In reality it's one of the worst places in the US to live. I've visited many cities & metro areas in the US and the only ones worse than STL are probably Detroit and Cleveland.

the title says "relocating to STL" not "relocating to Florida" If we wanted to hear this, we'd go to the Florida forum. St. Louis isn't for everyone, but neither is Florida. Some people like 4 distinct seasons.

[BoomBoxing]

Originally Posted by zoomzoom3

Yes, I recently relocated to Florida from St. Louis. I had no problem whatsoever finding a job here & it's not too hard to find work here in general. Weather is great here too, can't beat 70's in February, and not having to drive on ice/snow is great. Traffic is also not bad here either. Housing is very affordable due to the market tanking down here. I found a newer 1,700 sq. ft 3-bed, 2-bath condo in a nice area here for $99,000. The only big drawback here is the topography of the land, it's flat as a pancake. At least St. Louis has some hilly areas where you can hike. I love the "St. Louis is paradise on earth attitude here." In reality it's one of the worst places in the US to live. I've visited many cities & metro areas in the US and the only ones worse than STL are probably Detroit and Cleveland.

You couldn't pay me enough to live in Florida. I'm not going to say something stupid like "it's one of the worst places in the U.S" but it does not appeal to me in the least bit. Nobody on here acts like St. Louis is paradise on Earth but it's way better than people like you make it out to be. I can only hope one day all the negative nancies like yourself leave St. Louis for "greener pastures" like Florida.

[aragx6]

Originally Posted by zoomzoom3

Yes, I recently relocated to Florida from St. Louis. I had no problem whatsoever finding a job here & it's not too hard to find work here in general. Weather is great here too, can't beat 70's in February, and not having to drive on ice/snow is great. Traffic is also not bad here either. Housing is very affordable due to the market tanking down here. I found a newer 1,700 sq. ft 3-bed, 2-bath condo in a nice area here for $99,000. The only big drawback here is the topography of the land, it's flat as a pancake. At least St. Louis has some hilly areas where you can hike. I love the "St. Louis is paradise on earth attitude here." In reality it's one of the worst places in the US to live. I've visited many cities & metro areas in the US and the only ones worse than STL are probably Detroit and Cleveland.

I like Cleveland and St. Louis. Both cities have a great rust belt vibe that I dig. I think of them both like mini-Chicago without the unholy cost of living, horrifying traffic, and epically cold winters.

I'm not a big fan of the sun belt. I'm not a big fan of new architecture, I like having four seasons, newer sun belt cities are painfully spread out, almost always with poor public transit infrastructure, sports fans tend to be fair weather at best because most residents are transplants, and they just don't have the cool historical vibe that the rust belt has.

I'm not so haughty as to suggest what I like is what everyone will like (unlike some people, cough cough) but to the OP and to anyone else considering St. Louis: If you like four seasons, wonderful public spaces and parks, very low cost of living, walkable, vibrant and dense city neighborhoods and gorgeous historic homes, museums and office buildings, you should definitely consider St. Louis.

I'm not sure where in the St. Louis area zoomzoom lived, but from experience on this forum (and in living in the St. Louis area for 18+ years), those who move to St. Louis and live in the exurbs often end up unhappy. I think a big reason for this is that the exurbs often have relatively few transplants, which makes acclimating and making friends difficult.

[stlcitygirl]

I lived in Florida and HATED it. It was like pulling teeth to meet anyone and overall just plain boring.

[zoomzoom3]

Originally Posted by stlcitygirl

I lived in Florida and HATED it. It was like pulling teeth to meet anyone and overall just plain boring.

Where were you located? I'm in West Palm Beach & it's great here in my opinion. People here seem to really dislike central/interior Florida like Orlando, Gainesville, etc.

[zoomzoom3]

STL didn't make the list

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