possible move to kirkwood (St. Louis: house, neighborhoods, movie theaters)

[vlorak]

Hi all,

My family of four may have to move to st. louis area. I have been reading posts from this website to try learn more, but as someone who has never been to MO I would like to see if there are neighborhoods you recommend. Some of the things I would look to find are good school district as i have two elementary school-aged children who thus far have been going to a parochial school here in NY. I don't necessarily need a catholic school for them unless the school district is not great. we love going to parks, beach, museums, movie theaters etc. our budget is up to 600k.
i see the recommendations are kirkwood and webster groves though i looked on zillow.com for our budget kirkwood fits the bill.
can you tell me about people in MO? are they friendly? are they open to new friendships, easy to approach etc.
thanks

[Dawn10am]

Kirkwood or WG would be great! They're really nice, established suburbs with cute downtowns that are still pretty close to the city. 600k would get you an awesome house there. You might not even have to go that high to get something good. The cost of living here is much cheaper than NY. I don't know much about school districts in STL but people on this forum say that the schools there are good. Plus there's a TON of Catholic schools in the metro area that would probably be even better (STL is very Catholic). You won't find any beaches around here, but STL has some really top notch museums, theatres, and parks. Forest Park is the largest urban park in the country and is, in a word, stunning. Some people say that St. Louisans are cold and unfriendly, but I haven't found that to be the case at all. I've found people here to be extremely friendly and easy to get along with. I'm always meeting new people and making new friends. The key is to get involved and to be friendly yourself. Midwesterners are generally more laid-back and open to new relationships than Northeasterners (although that's a gross generalization). I think you'll find that there won't be as much culture shock for you in STL given that STL has a more northeastern/rust belt feel to it than other parts of the midwest.