Moving w/ family of 5 to STL area. So confused. (St. Louis: middle-class, renting)

[movesalot1]

My husband is being transferred from Des Moines, IA to Fenton for work. Need major help trying to figure out best place to live, schools, jobs, etc. We plan on renting for a bit until we find a house that will work. At least 3 bedrooms because we hve children 5,4 and 2 years. Schools are very important since we will have all three in K w/in the next 3 years. We can afford max housing of $175,000 a year. Pretty much affordable housing, safe community and schools are our top priorities. We can commute if necessary because based on the research I have done it seems this will be the case based on our income. Any info would be of great help. I will need to find a job as an LCSW (Liscensed Clinical Social Worker) and if anyone knows of great places to work as a mental health therapist please let me know. Thank you so much again for any input.

[flynavyj]

you should be able to find 3 bed rooms at $175,000 through the St. Louis Metro area. The area around Fenton would be fine, along with areas pushing further South. Based on your price range, I'd try to stay somewhere around the I-270 Loop, and South of I-70. Doing so will improve commute times, and give excellent school choices. Some of the web based home search engines will allow you to search based on school district, which might be beneficial to you as well. If so, i'd check out school districts such as "Rockwood, Ladue, and Parkway" for starters, then input your price range to narrow down the results. Try (Prustl.com) or the Coldwell Banker/Gundaker site...

[marigolds6]

Parkway District has lots of decent houses under $175k that would fit your family size.
Fenton is about a 20-30 minute commute from Parkway North area down I-270, depending on the day. Parkway South is even closer. I don't think you will find anything in Parkway Central in that price range; but you will find plenty of options in North and South, enough to be picky for a home in good shape.
Ladue SD has a handful of 3 bedroom properties under $175k, but they look to be pretty small still (mostly around 1200 sf).

Rockwood Summit SD might be perfect though. Parts of Fenton are in that district, and there are a couple of dozen houses advertised in your price range. Several 1400+ sf 3+ br homes.

Lindbergh is another solid district directly east of Fenton where you could probably get more house for your money.
Kirkwood is bit more expensive and direct north of Lindbergh. Another strong district, and you can still find sizable houses in your range.
Between all of these, you should have over 100 houses in price and size to choose from.

[aragx6]

I think my first thought would be to look for a Fenton home in the Rockwood SD. Close to work, great academics and athlectics and plenty of homes there should be in your budget.

[moorlander]

Fenton, Arnold, and Ballwin would be my suggestions.

[movesalot1]

Thank you all for your suggestions. All very helpful. I was having trouble because I kept looking at Clayton and Ladue based on recommendations and well, putting it bluntly we are too broke to live in those areas and actually get a house that won't fall apart. :-)

[aragx6]

^Those are certainly top-tier areas, but there are loads of other nice middle-class suburbs where I suspect you can be very happy! Feel free to ask more follow-up questions as you have them!

[scocar]

I just moved to STL from Phoenix and we live in Webster Groves. We love the area and the school district. Fenton has a much more rural/suburban feel to it than some of the inner ring suburbs. Basically just consider what is more to your taste.

If you prefer the less dense, suburban feel with open space, big box stores, and chain restaurants then I would suggest Fenton, Ballwin, Affton, Mehlville, and the like. Basically the further you move south and west the more rural it will get. All those areas have good schools, with Rockwood and Parkway districts in Fenton and Ballwin being better.

If you prefer more of an urban city or small town feel then I would try some of the inner-ring suburbs such as Webster Groves, Kirkwood, Brentwood, Maplewood, Richmond Heights, etc. The inner-ring suburbs will also have more ethnic diversity than the previously mentioned areas. All the inner-ring suburbs mentioned have quality schools as well.