99.9% Chance I'm Moving to St. Louis & I Have Questions! (Washington: real estate, apartments)

[NooYinzer]

Hello St. Louisans (is that what you're called?),

I am pretty certain I'll be moving to St. Louis this summer. I was originally planning on moving to Pittsburgh, but life is crazy how it works sometimes!

Anyway, my reason for moving to St. Louis is mostly personal, and because of that, I need some help from you all since I know practically nothing about St. Louis aside from the things I've read online!

• How is the economy there now? I recently started applying for positions but I have a feeling I'll be disregarded for a while since I'm still in New York and I won't be in St. Louis until the end of June or July 1. I'm in property management now. I'm open to other things, though.
• How severe will the pay cut be moving to St. Louis? I realize everything costs less, and with that, pay is going to be lower, too.
• Does anyone have any thoughts on The Gentry's Landing (http://gentryslanding.com/)? What is offered sounds quite appealing to me, especially considering that even their studios would go for at least $2500+ in New York with everything that the building offers. I've read some reviews but it seems pretty 50/50. I also know that people tend to be more willing to complain online than to praise online unless they're on Yelp. So, any opinions on that building? I'm currently speaking to a woman there for a July 1 unit.
• I have a preference for living downtown but the Central West End seems nice. Which would you say has more to do? I don't mean touristy things. The Arch will eventually become like the Empire State Building to me!
• How bad is the crime in St. Louis? Kidding...I know it varies by neighborhood. I read the other thread already regarding crime.
• Also, I'd be moving without ever having stepped foot in St. Louis or Missouri in general. Any suggestions in regards to anything would be really appreciated!

Thank you all in advance!

[glamatomic]

Hello!

(Yes, we are St. Louisans!). I'm glad that you seem so excited about the prospect of moving to our wonderful city! Obviously it will be a BIG change from New York City but I'm hoping that once you become assimilated you'll love it here as much as I do! (Honestly, for the first few days when I moved to St. Louis, sight unseen, like you, I was thinking what in the world have I done? but by day 3 or 4 I fell in love with this place and have no desire to call anywhere else home!). Anyway, I'll answer your questions the best I can!

Economy: The St. Louis economy is decent enough right now, with the unemployment rate slightly below the national average and the state unemployment rate significantly below the national average St. Louis Unemployment. Depending on what field of work you'll be looking into, and what your education and CV is like, you shouldn't have too much trouble finding a job, although I'd suggest to start looking and applying ASAP. St. Louis has a lot of headquarters of Fortune 500 and Fortune 1000 companies which present a lot of good career opportunities. When my DH and I moved back to St. Louis in December after he got out of the Marine Corps, it took him just 2 weeks to find employment and start working which isn't too bad in my opinion! As far as Property Management goes though, I'm sorry that I'm not familiar with the job market for that! Hopefully somebody else will be able to assist you better in that regard.

Pay Cut: Yup, you're right- there will be a significant pay cut- but honestly, the lower cost of living cancels out the lower pay, and in my experience, you actually end up better off here than in NYC.

Before I moved here the first time, I had a job offer in NYC and a job offer in St. Louis. Although the job offer in NYC paid more on paper- once I crunched the numbers, I worked out that I'd be about $300-400 better off per month in St. Louis than in NY based on my cost of living calculations. I chose St. Louis and I'm glad I did!

According to an online cost of living calculator- you could maintain the same lifestyle in St. Louis for $3300/month that would cost $6200/month in NYC. Oddly enough however, the average household income in St. Louis Metro is about $50,900 which is higher than the $49,400 average in NYC- of course there are various factors at play which shove down the average household income in NYC. In using an online comparison tool for a job-to-job comparison, it shows that an Executive Assistant in St. Louis would earn $44,871 compared with $57,827 in NYC. Therefore, in that field at least, you'd be earning about 75% of what you would be earning in NYC- which isn't bad considering the cost of living here is almost half that of NYC!

Gentrys Landing: I had a friend who lived here, he thought the apartments were okay but nothing to be over the moon about. Personally, I much prefer some of the new Lofts that have gone up downtown in the old warehouses. Some of them definitely have the 'wow' factor that it sounds like you're looking for! With that said though, as I've never lived in Gentry's Landing myself I won't be swift to pass judgement- I'll leave that to others here to chime in with their experiences and insight!

Central West End: Personally, if I had to pick between the CWE and Downtown, I would choose the CWE. Even though downtown has been steadily improving over the last number of years (and has definitely improved since I first moved to St. Louis), I just find that the CWE retains a more positive energy if that makes sense. It's a beautiful area with some wonderful architecture and lots of amenities. With that said though, the Washington Ave area of downtown especially is making a huge resurgence.

Things to do: I'll be honest, when I moved to St. Louis 8 years ago, I was baffled by the lack of things to do downtown in comparison to other cities I'd lived in (Brisbane, Australia and London) beyond 'touristy things'. However, I'm pleased to say that's changing and I've seen huge improvements in both downtown, CWE and in other areas of St. Louis since I first moved here. It still doesn't have the energy or vibrancy of somewhere like Chicago or New York City- but a lot of positive things are happening. New stores, restaurants, clubs and bars seem to be always opening up- and although there are still large pockets of downtown which remain sleepy, there have definitely been a lot of positive steps in the right direction which have made downtown a lot more 'livable' than it would have been when I first moved.

Crime: Crime is horrible! Stay away! This is the most dangerous city in America! (Yup, I'm being TOTALLY sarcastic- thankfully you've done your research! You'll be absolutely FINE! )

Moving to MO: I was in the same boat as you... like I said I turned up here sight unseen for a job opportunity! I've heard a lot of criticism of St. Louisans along the lines of them being unfriendly/unwelcoming to outsiders but I have never, ever found that to be the case. Make the effort to get out there, socialize, talk to people and make friends, and it happens- just like anywhere else in the world! I was actually overwhelmed by the warmth and friendliness of St. Louisans when I first moved here. It's all about having a positive attitude though- go into a situation expecting to be liked and expecting to like people and it happens! Although I found that through work, my apartment, my neighborhood, and through my then-frequent bar and club ventures that I was able to meet people and make friends- a route that has been successful for others is to join meetup groups. Now that I'm married and pregnant I'm considering joining some meetup groups after baby comes to meet other mothers

Aside from making friends though... I would say to come into it with a completely open mind and no preconceived notions. I honestly came here not knowing what to expect, and that was probably a good thing. I also learned, however, to not compare St. Louis with other cities (especially not places like NYC, Chicago, London, etc). St. Louis definitely has it's own thing going on- it's a lot quieter than what I was used to but I've since found that to be beneficial. It's got a lot of incredible amenities (Galleries, Museums, Theater, etc) for a city of it's size, breathtaking architecture if you're willing to seek it out, and a lot of very different, eclectic neighborhoods filled with fascinating stores and restaurants (almost any cuisine you can imagine is represented in St. Louis- not on the scale of NYC of course but there's usually something to be found for everyone!).

One thing I will say though- is that St. Louis is very autocentric. Although there is the metrolink (light rail), buses and a proposed trolley system, I couldn't imagine living here without a car! It definitely doesn't have the overall walkability and accessibility of NYC.

Anyway, I hope all of that helps! Best of luck to you- and I hope you love it here as much as I do!

[NooYinzer]

glamatomic,

I'm mildly excited! I don't know what to expect and I honestly have not heard a lot of good things about St. Louis besides affordability. It doesn't exactly have the greatest reputation because of crime but coming from NYC, I know that crime tends to be concentrated in specific neighborhoods.

Anyway, hopefully one of the positions I have applied for (or will apply for) will turn out to work in my favor considering the situation.

I'll look into the lofts you mentioned. I'm pretty open to where I end up living since I know it'll be an improvement from NYC's expensive closet spaces that people seem to go crazy for here (sigh).

I'll also look into the CWE more than I am now. It's closer to Forest Park, which I think I'd like for running.

I'm aware of the car situation. It actually breaks my heart but I'll live and become a big boy that drives like the rest of America! That's actually one of the reasons I preferred to live downtown, especially Gentry's Landing. Everything seems to be within walking distance, including two grocery stores and one shop that would sell organic products. But we'll see!

I do hope I end up liking it.

[BHboston]

On this topic of St. Louis and jobs... does anyone know which job boards/websites are most active in the area?

I've thought about looking for jobs in St. Louis if I decide to relocate again, but many websites that are popular in my field (government/nonprofit sector) in other cities don't seem to get a lot of use in St. Louis.

[NooYinzer]

BHboston, have you tried idealist.org? That site has a lot of nonprofit positions advertised on there.

And yay! Another person from the East Coast going to St. Louis! I'm not alone!

[uiscebeatha]

I've lived downtown for about four years now and I've really enjoyed it. I rented for the first few years, but recently decided to buy a condo in one of the buildings in the Old Post Office district; love it there. Most of the amenities of a residential area are within walking distance including a grocery store, Macy's, brand-new movie theater, bookstore, dozens of restaurants/bars/etc. I generally only have to drive when going to work or to make the occasional trip to Target or other big box retail locations. I don't know a whole lot about Gentry's Landing, but it looks a little isolated. You'd have to walk west several blocks & cross a couple of major streets (4th and Broadway) to get to the places to go/things to do. I'm sure it's worth a look though, and I don't know your price range.

I've never felt particularly unsafe when walking around downtown, but you do have to keep an eye out for the occasional sketchy-looking person, especially after midnight or 1am. Also, I'd recommend somewhere with secure parking. Car break-ins do happen.

Central West End's a great area too. I've heard that the apartment layouts are a little more old fashioned (smaller rooms, dated HVAC systems), but they look very nice. It looks like they tend to be more pricy than comparable square footage elsewhere in the city. I'm not an expert on the area though.

Good luck!

[BHboston]

@ Noo Yinzer - I am more in the daydreaming stage for now; I love Boston but barring a dramatic change in fortunes I wouldn't ever be able to afford to buy anything here.

Idealist is great for Boston and New York but last time I checked for St. Louis, there was only 1 job posted on there and it was for one of those shady door-to-door canvassing operations! That's why I was wondering what the "go-to" sites were for St. Louisans.

In any case, I wish you the best of luck with your move! St. Louis has so many interesting neighborhoods and IMO (based on a short visit) one of the most unique cities in the Midwest. And the bang-for-your-buck factor for real estate and rental prices looks like it can't be beat.

[NewStLouisan]

I'll also look into the CWE more than I am now. It's closer to Forest Park, which I think I'd like for running.

You might also want to look at the areas near Tower Grove park, particularly Southwest Garden, Tower Grove South, and Shaw. Maybe even Clifton Heights. While I love living in CWE, and I think it's more walkable than the neighborhoods I just mentioned, it can't hurt to check those places out (they're all very nice neighborhoods!).

[glamatomic]

I was just thinking that Soulard may also be an option- everyone I've known who's lived there has loved it.

BHBoston- I'm sorry I can't help you out with regards to government/ non-profit jobs. Hopefully someone else will be able to make some suggestions!

The low cost of living in St. Louis is definitely one of the reasons I love it here as well. In St. Louis, you can 'achieve the American Dream' of home ownership very affordably, while still having access to incredible cultural amenities and the offerings of a major city.

[Brickmama]

I have lived in the CWE and currently reside downtown. Both are great areas but I prefer downtown. There are more places of variety to walk to and find its easier to live without a car. Plus downtown is on a major upswing and continues to add amenities.