Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > Missouri > St. Louis
 [Register]
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
Reply Start New Thread
 
Old 08-01-2011, 08:05 AM
 
4 posts, read 14,950 times
Reputation: 10

Advertisements

My family and I (wife and two young boys) are considering relocating from the D.C. area to St. Louis to be closer to our family which is scattered throughout the area. However, we’ve only visited STL as tourists before, so we are not very familiar with the residential neighborhoods.

We really like the architectural look and feel of Compton Heights, Tower Grove, and Lafayette Square. It’s also important to us to be in an area with walking access to:
*Parks
*Restauraunt
*Attractions

However, the overriding concern is safety. Not knowing STL, we want to be sure that the neighborhoods that look nice on paper would also be safe and fun for a family. With these considerations in mind, could anyone provide some context regarding the neighborhoods I listed or possibly suggest some others that seem to fit the bill?

Thanks, in advance, for your feedback.

Last edited by Jo_Jaff; 08-01-2011 at 09:24 AM.. Reason: Formatting
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 08-01-2011, 08:19 AM
 
1,783 posts, read 3,869,197 times
Reputation: 1387
What part of the DC area did you live in? I live in DC now (Arlington) so I think I can offer up some good comparisons.

Lafayette Square - Capitol Hill. Beautiful architecture, parks, a ton of stuff to walk to. Some bad areas are close by but violent crime almost never spills over. Property crime does, but you will be fine with an alarm.

Tower Grove - Columbia Heights/Mount Pleasant/Adams Morgan. Up and coming, generally safe but some crime does happen the neighborhood. Has a hippie-ish granola vibe to it. A lot of international restaurants, mainly asian.

Compton Heights - I can't think of a perfect comparable but I think Glover Park/Cathedral Heights comes close. Not a ton of amentities in the neighborhood and generally safe. But unlike those DC neighborhoods I mentioned, there are some transitional areas close by.

Others for your consideration...

Dupont Circle - Central West End, The Loop

Penn Quarter/Chinatown/Downtown - Downtown

Arlington/Bethesda - Clayton

East of the River - North of Delmar Blvd

Are you going to go with private schools? The city schools are generally bad, like those in DC proper. There are some good charters and excellent magnets, but they can be difficult to get into. If you need quality public schools you will need to do the suburbs instead, unless your move isn't for one year from now and you have time to sort through whether you can get your kids into some of the city's good magnet/charter schools.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 08-01-2011, 08:29 AM
 
4 posts, read 14,950 times
Reputation: 10
Thanks, this is great. We actually live in the Dupont/Logan Circle area...so we are compfortable with that kind of city life, but probably wouldn't want anything more "transitional" than those areas.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 08-01-2011, 09:00 AM
 
Location: Tower Grove East, St. Louis, MO
12,063 posts, read 31,467,731 times
Reputation: 3798
All three neighborhoods you listed I would consider quite safe. Lafayette Square is the toniest of the three, but it's also really a micro neighborhood. The houses are stunningly gorgeous, and the restaurants,shops and couple of bars make a super walkable and adorable little strip. Lafayette Park is one of my favorite little parks in the city.

The South Grand strip in Tower Grove has significantly more amenities, tons of ethnic restaurants and has a more eclectic vibe. The houses in Tower Grove Heights are the finest in the neighborhood, but prices have remained pretty reasonable. If you're interested, there are still some houses in the area in need of work, which would give you an opportunity to do it exactly the way you like it and quite possibly build a bit of equity.

Compton Heights has some of the largest lots in the city, and the houses are all different and gorgeous. A lot of the homes have been in families for many years, so there are often updates that need completing, but others have been recently done and can be on the expensive side. Some of them are straight huge (like 7 or 8,000 sq/ft) and can go as high as $800,000-900,000, and others are significantly more modest in both size and price.

A few other areas I would consider looking at:

Central West End -- The CWE is really St. Louis' premier urban neighborhood. There are gorgeous historic homes, an extremely walkable and vibrant street life and just a great feel. Prices can be high, and the neighborhood deteriorates as you head east (though this has improved significantly in recent years) and particularly north (which hasn't particularly improved). There is property crime in the area, as pretty much all urban areas have, but violent crime is exceedingly rare. HISTORY (http://thecwe.org/about-us/history/ - broken link)

Skinker-DeBaliviere is a family-friendly neighborhood just north of Forest Park (St. Louis' largest and most gorgeous urban park, which is actually 500 acres larger than new York's Central Park) on the western edge of the city. Skinker-DeBaliviere is walkable to the metro (light rail) and to the Loop. The Loop used to be called the U-City Loop, but it's spread east into the city limits in recent years. There are nice prices to be had in this area -- primarily because you get the crappy city schools discount. University City, the inner-ring suburb directly bordering S-D doesn't have the most amazing schools, but many parents feel comfortable sending their kids to the nicer elementary and middle schools. Welcome to the Skinker-DeBaliviere Neighborhood

You can also definitely look in University City proper -- there are some gorgeous houses near Washington University.

Clayton is one of St. Louis' nicest suburbs -- certainly the most expensive of the inner-ring suburbs anyway and is definitely worth looking into. The prices are steep, but the schools are fantastic. Downtown Clayton is walkable and a major office building hub, and some of its neighborhoods are very nice with a bit of walkability thrown in.

Wow, that's a ton of info. Hopefully it's helpful, but feel free to ask any follow-up questions!
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 08-01-2011, 09:17 AM
 
4 posts, read 14,950 times
Reputation: 10
Thanks so much for the comprehensive response. The one question comes to mind about the neighborhoods just north of Forest Park (I believe these include several of those you mentioned). For example, I see some houses asking $1m+ less than 1/10th a mile from some asking less than $125k. What explains the inconsistency?

Last edited by Jo_Jaff; 08-01-2011 at 09:27 AM..
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 08-01-2011, 09:31 AM
 
Location: Tower Grove East, St. Louis, MO
12,063 posts, read 31,467,731 times
Reputation: 3798
Delmar is an exceedingly stong demarcation line in St. Louis. Skinker-Debaliviere's northern border is Delmar, but were you to search realtor.com simply by the 63112 zip code, you would definitely see large price variances.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 08-01-2011, 10:43 AM
 
Location: Saint Louis, MO
1,912 posts, read 4,665,922 times
Reputation: 918
I think this probably just shows what a difference it makes being North vs South of Delmar. That neighborhood just north of Forest Park is pretty popular due to its proximity to area universities, the MetroLink, Forest Park, the Central West End, and the Loop. However, it's pretty astounding how things drop off once you hit Delmar. It's one of those things you almost have to see to believe--you go from Forest Park, to gated streets with gorgeous homes + condos, to an area that has experienced very little gentrification. Regardless, I kind of disagree with the assessment that it's a family oriented neighborhood. Lots of young people, not a whole ton of strollers. It wouldn't be on the top of my list if I had kids.

I think you're on the right track w/ Lafayette Square, Tower Grove (I'm not as familiar with Compton Heights). I would definitely look at University City as well, particularly the southern part (although Delmar as the dividing line isn't as prevalent in U-City, particularly in Western U-City).
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 08-01-2011, 12:53 PM
 
Location: Tower Grove East, St. Louis, MO
12,063 posts, read 31,467,731 times
Reputation: 3798
Check out Skinker-Debaliviere's stats. 20% of residents are under 20 years old and 40% are older than 40. Of two or more family households (which is 60% of the neighborhood) more than 70% are families.

Welcome to the Skinker-DeBaliviere Neighborhood

If you're talking about the neighborhood directly to the east, DeBaliviere Place, then I could see considering it as a bit younger -- there's more apartment buildings as a whole in that neighborhood and it's seen as the cheaper alternative to the CWE.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 08-01-2011, 12:58 PM
 
Location: Tower Grove East, St. Louis, MO
12,063 posts, read 31,467,731 times
Reputation: 3798
For comparison, here's Dupont Circle's demos: Dupont Circle People & Dupont Circle Demographics - Zillow Local Info -- Far fewer children.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 08-01-2011, 01:01 PM
 
Location: Saint Louis, MO
1,912 posts, read 4,665,922 times
Reputation: 918
Quote:
Originally Posted by aragx6 View Post
Check out Skinker-Debaliviere's stats. 20% of residents are under 20 years old and 40% are older than 40. Of two or more family households (which is 60% of the neighborhood) more than 70% are families.

Welcome to the Skinker-DeBaliviere Neighborhood

If you're talking about the neighborhood directly to the east, DeBaliviere Place, then I could see considering it as a bit younger -- there's more apartment buildings as a whole in that neighborhood and it's seen as the cheaper alternative to the CWE.
Interesting--I learn something new every day! Most of my friends do live on the eastern side--I guess I typically lump these two areas together.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.


Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:


Settings
X
Data:
Loading data...
Based on 2000-2020 data
Loading data...

123
Hide US histogram


Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > Missouri > St. Louis

All times are GMT -6.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top