Denver, Chicago OR STL? (St. Louis, University City: how much, house, neighborhoods)

[MLarma]

Greetings,

My husband and I are comparing cities for an upcoming move that will hopefully be a possible permanent place. We've moved lots (NOLA, B-More, Cinci and now C-bus) for his medical training. He is a midwesterner (Omaha) and I am a Jersey native.

We are looking at three cities and comparing COL, access to nature, jobs/careers for both and distance to family. These three cities all appear to be in driving distance to his and a flight home to mine.

I am a yoga teacher, hoping to expand in the healing arts therapies via integrative health, ect.

We love culture and the arts (I spent much time in NYC growing up), walking neighborhoods, historic architecture but also hiking, natural living, ect.

No children yet but of course thinking about schools --likely Catholic or private.

Thoughts?

Thus far we've loved all the places we've lived with Cinci being our favorite Midwest city (Columbus feels a bit too small).

[BoomBoxing]

I think you'll like all three. It's tough for me to tell you because I love St. Louis more than any city but Chicago and Denver are two of my Favorites as well. Chicago offers the best "big city" feel and culture while Denver offers the most scenic (love the Rockies) and best climate. Meanwhile, stl offers the best value and a more "up and coming" and gritty feel. You can definitely get the best value for a nice house in a charming historic neighborhood with access to great private schools in St. Louis. But Denver and Chicago are really great cities so visit all three and see what your budget will get you. Good luck!

[MLarma]

Also, neighborhoods we'd consider living in each:


Chicago: Oak Park, DePaul University area
Denver: City Park
STL: University City

[flynavyj]

Can't exactly post this on the St. Louis forum and expect an unbiased reply...$1 says that you'll get the respective city's suggestion on each board...Gonna skew your numbers though, i'm a stickler for mountains and the "outdoor activities" that Denver promotes.

[aragx6]

If budget were of no concern, Chicago is really the easy answer. It's a fantastic town, and I loved living there. But we all have budgets, and Chicago is wildly expensive. Beyond housing prices themselves, property taxes are shockingly high. And the corruption in Cook County isn't really overstated by the media. I'm not sure I could bear to buy anything in Cook County or Illinois for that matter knowing how much of it is horribly wasted.

Chicago has fantastic nightlife and unbeatable walkability, Denver has always struck me as super sleepy, rather spread out and very western. St. Louis is a great in between -- I love all the great, distinct neighborhoods in the city.

Denver is great for outdoor activities and Chicago is horrible if you like camping and hiking and such (though of course the lake is gorgeous for the 3 months a year that is really truly nice). St. Louis is a solid in between.

And St. Louis is likely the cheapest of the three.

So yes, I'm likely somewhat biased, but for me it's St. Louis all the way. The SO and I are living in KC right now, but it's not going to stick. He's doing some sweet moving up with his company right now so we'll likely stay another few years, but sooner rather than later we'll be making the permanent move to St. Louis. And I couldn't be happier about it.