99.9% Chance I'm Moving to St. Louis & I Have Questions! (Maryland Heights: apartment complexes, rent)

[NooYinzer]

Is all of the growth in St. Louis primarily taking place in the suburbs? It seems as if most job opportunities are in the suburbs, especially in those office parks, which I dislike.

[glamatomic]

Originally Posted by NooYinzer

Is all of the growth in St. Louis primarily taking place in the suburbs? It seems as if most job opportunities are in the suburbs, especially in those office parks, which I dislike.

I wouldn't say all of the growth, but unfortunately this has been an ongoing trend for the past few decades at least. Although some businesses are starting to move back downtown, the trend toward the suburbs definitely hasn't slowed entirely. That's not to say that downtown isn't improving, it is, but they've still got a long journey ahead.

[NooYinzer]

Originally Posted by glamatomic

I wouldn't say all of the growth, but unfortunately this has been an ongoing trend for the past few decades at least. Although some businesses are starting to move back downtown, the trend toward the suburbs definitely hasn't slowed entirely. That's not to say that downtown isn't improving, it is, but they've still got a long journey ahead.

I see. Literally EVERY offer I've received has been in the suburbs, especially Creve Coeur! How is that even pronounced?

I really would prefer to work in the downtown area or at least along the metrolink. I hate the suburbs with a passion.

But I'll just deal.

The more I read about St. Louis, the more comfortable I've actually become with moving there.

[Dawn10am]

Originally Posted by NooYinzer

I see. Literally EVERY offer I've received has been in the suburbs, especially Creve Coeur! How is that even pronounced?

I really would prefer to work in the downtown area or at least along the metrolink. I hate the suburbs with a passion.

But I'll just deal.

The more I read about St. Louis, the more comfortable I've actually become with moving there.

"Creve Coor." Not like the original French. When I first moved here I pronounced it "Crev Coor" (like it should be) and was quickly corrected. Also be aware that Gravois is pronounced "GRAV-oy" instead of "Grav-WAH" and Lemay is "LEE-may" instead of "La-MAY." The only French place name that is pronounced like it should be is Des Peres.

Downtown St. Louis has been losing jobs for a long time, but it is now becoming more of a residential/destination neighborhood, which is not necessarily a bad thing. If you can't work downtown or in the City proper I would definitely suggest at least living there and using the Metrolink as much as is feasible. That way you'll at least be able to live an urban lifestyle and you can rub that into your co-workers' faces

[glamatomic]

With that said, however- if your job is out in the suburbs (Creve Coeur, Maryland Heights, etc) you will need a car. The bus system out to the suburbs is horribly inconvenient and will turn a 25 minute commute into a 1 hour + commute!

[olinjoseph]

Originally Posted by NooYinzer

I see. Literally EVERY offer I've received has been in the suburbs, especially Creve Coeur! How is that even pronounced?

I really would prefer to work in the downtown area or at least along the metrolink. I hate the suburbs with a passion.

But I'll just deal.

The more I read about St. Louis, the more comfortable I've actually become with moving there.

Let me see if I can offer some perspective here...

Creve Coeur is a perfectly fine place to work, and (even for a suburb) a pleasant part of St Louis. As an East Coaster, you will need to adjust the way you think about cities. I have moved from the South (Orlando), to NYC, Nashville, and now the Midwest. They are all completely... completely different.

STL will have a bit of everything, which makes it unique (in my opinion). You won't have complete density thoughtout (like NYC), but you will have the dense neighborhoods with great lofts or housing stock and some accessible public transit. In cities like Orlando, this type of living is nearly impossible to come by.

But, like Orlando, sprawl is just a part of life here. You NE'sters are all packed in together. In the midwest, we have plenty of land around us

Therefore, it's just natural that our city spreads out. So, you'll need a car. A car is just part of life here. I've tried to go without... we're just not there yet (as a city). Instead of trying to adapt to what you are used to, I'd recommend adopting.. and seeing how it goes. Yea, we use more gas here, drive a little farther for work, and live a little farther apart. But, at the end of the day, the advantages REALLY stack up too. You'll see

[glamatomic]

Like olinjoseph said, there are definitely huge advantages to having a car in St. Louis, even if you are going to live and work downtown and rely on the metrolink.

I think the biggest thing for me is the convenience of having a car in order to explore more of our wonderful region. When I first moved here, I loved taking day trips out to Missouri Wine Country and other small towns within a short driving distance of St. Louis, especially when they had festivals on or something interesting happening. On weekends, as I've mentioned before, I also enjoyed the ability to roadtrip to Kansas City, Chicago, Memphis, Nashville, Louisville, Cincinnati, Indianapolis and other cities within a few hours of The Lou. We're fortunate enough to be so well situated that you can make it to these places before lunch time if you leave after breakfast, and each city has something unique and different to offer.

So basically I guess what I'm trying to say is, even if you leave the car in the garage during the week, you'll want your car on the weekend for further exploring

[kc chris]

Are there a lot of town homes out in Creve Coeur, Maryland Heights, St Peters area? I'm looking for a place to rent and don't really want to go with an apartment.

[marigolds6]

Tons of places to rent in Maryland Heights along Bennington/McKelvey area off the Page Extension.

[glamatomic]

kc chris- there are a lot of apartment blocks in Maryland Heights and Creve Coeur which have townhome configurations for some of their floorplans (ie: 2 stories). Would that suffice?