How do you feel about St. Charles??? (St. Louis, St. Peters: big home, neighborhoods)

[ShadowCaver]

photobuff42 - don't be scared or worried about StChuck; just keep in mind that one person's Grand Canyon is another's 'just a big ditch in the desert' - some love the hustle bustle of NYC, whereas others find the noise, traffic, people, just insane... With that said, yes, StC is NOT StL - it is for the most part a mass of various s/d's spread out over some slightly rolling hills, yet the downtown area and the waterfront are not bad. I've a couple friends that live in StC. They find it convenient - be able to get to various attractions of StL and yet be close to the various state, etc. parks and 'wilder' areas of the state. BTW, StCharles used to be the home of one of the best/my favourite minor league hockey teams [Missouri River Otters], but alas they went defunk... Best can tell ya is to hop on a bird and take a gander of the various options yourself too. Good luck!

[bigfez]

Originally Posted by Moacyr

"Most of St. Charles County is a sea of vinyl subdivisions." Thanks - that is exactly what I want to avoid. Though, historic, "quirky and cute" sound good.

Originally Posted by ShadowCaver

Moacyr - please do NOT take some of these posts to your thread/question personally.

If you haven't, maybe take a ride [in your vehicle] to Edwardsville, St. Charles, and then out Hwy 100 [Manchester Rd], getting a feel for the Ballwin/Wildwood and nearby areas of 'em all. To me, I would think that the Wildwood area, for example, would be quite advantageous for someone as yourself - close to many state, county, city parks and KATY trail, along w/ just a short bop over to I-44 to open up other destinations [ie: Ozarks! ], StL itself, the MO River Valley towns/wineries, etc.

Based on the OP's original statements, this is not what she is looking for. Ballwin/Wildwood may be close to the Katy Trail, but they will not provide the "historic" or "quirky and cute" that she is looking for. Downtown St. Charles has some of those qualities, but it is very limited, and frankly very touristy.

Moacyr, I think you would do well to focus your search on Kirkwood, Webster Groves, and StL city neighborhoods like Tower Grove. I also think Edwardsville is a good suggestion.

Wherever you land, it's bound to be a big change from Durango! I've heard great things about that town. I'm originally from StL, but live in Phx now - I hope to get up there for some skiing...

Good luck to you!

[aragx6]

Photobuff, It sounds to me that you'd like St. Charles.
There are 4 major malls within 15 minutes, downtown St. Charles has a lot of lovely antique and craft shops. Someone mentioned it being touristy, and while I can see what they might mean, many locals frequent the area any nice weekend.

There are wonderful festivals during spring, summer and fall including Festival of the Little Hills.

There are some nice independent restaurants and an adorable winery. If you like wineries, you will also only be about 40 minutes away from some of the most beautiful wineries in the state (Augusta, MO)

You have easy access to many parks and wildlife and if you like bike riding, you can't go wrong with the Katy Trail that follows the Missouri river for something like 150 miles.

Even still, you're never more than 45 minutes from the most urban parts of St. Louis such as the Central West End. And with all the highways there is also easy access to West County (the "ritzy" areas of StL) the airport (close but not too close) and all the attractions of the city.

And it's still a lot less expensive than much of St. Louis County.

That being said: St. Charles/St. Peters (most people use the two names interchangeably as they back right up on each other) has a lot of newer "cookie cutter" developments and a lot of chain restaurants like TGI Friday's and Olive Garden.

People are more conservative there than I particularly like (though you'd never see a confederate flag waving or anything like that- but you will see some Bush bumper stickers), it's not particularly diverse (my High School class had only a handful of black and asian students out of about 450 kids), and there are major differences in the socioeconomic status of the families that live there from the Nouveau Riche that moved in looking for bigger and better homes (there really are 1 million + homes out there now- something unheard of in the 80s and 90s when I was a kid) to the poor who have lived out there along Hwy 94 for years and years.

I would not live in St.Charles again, as I am a city dweller at heart. But it's a nice city with a lot to offer the right person.

[mytjo95]

I've lived in st. charles for a little over 3 years, and have liked it for the most part! Enjoy the area, there's plenty of shops, resturaunts, and other various things to do. In my opinion, downtown st. charles is pretty cool, you have the frontier park, which is a large park that overlooks the missouri river, and katy trail of course, if you travel west (south) on katy trail it'll take you to a little park that was developed by the new page extension, if they'be built a bike trail that starts their at the page extension and rides all the way to creve couer lake, which is a beautiful park, with miles of bike trails. so that would be ideal for you. I do agree with the lack of diversity it has, so if your looking for diversity don't live here. It's middle class, but their are certainly upscale neigborhoods in my opinion, and I also disagree with mediocre salary thing, Most of St. Charles is middle class, and nothing less.

[Fishtacos]

I would not live in St.Charles again, as I am a city dweller at heart. But it's a nice city with a lot to offer the right person.[/quote]


Ok, I'll bite. Your location says Westmont IL, and that isn't exactly city dwelling.

[mercedes1]

Photobuff42 - I think as a single person you would probably like Clayton or downtown better, but you would have a long commute to St. Charles. St. Charles County is very, very family oriented. The historic downtown area is on the river. It is very nice with shops and restaurants. There are many awesome small towns in the surrounding outskirts plus the Mississippi River which would make for great photo opportunities. Also, the St. Charles County library system is rated VERY highly with borrowing agreements with other public libraries available at no cost. You find everything you need in St. Charles County. However, zoning is poor and the traffic is brutal.

[STLCardsBlues1989]

If you're single I would suggest downtown St. Louis. There are 1 bedroom lofts in the city as low as $600/month or $150,000 in some cases. There's also nightlife, sports, restaurants, about any commercial thing you would need in the area.

St. Charles is nice, too, just maybe not as much for singles.

[aragx6]

Originally Posted by Fishtacos

I would not live in St.Charles again, as I am a city dweller at heart. But it's a nice city with a lot to offer the right person.

Ok, I'll bite. Your location says Westmont IL, and that isn't exactly city dwelling.[/quote]


Oh I know I said at heart. I just moved to the Chicago area in July with no money, so my options were quite limited... counting the days till the lease is done...

Everyone always talks about the brutal St. Charles traffic, but I really don't find it to be bad. Trying to drive down Manchester or Lindbergh in the county- that's a whole other story.

[photobuff42]

Originally Posted by mercedes1

Photobuff42 - I think as a single person you would probably like Clayton or downtown better, but you would have a long commute to St. Charles. St. Charles County is very, very family oriented. The historic downtown area is on the river. It is very nice with shops and restaurants. There are many awesome small towns in the surrounding outskirts plus the Mississippi River which would make for great photo opportunities. Also, the St. Charles County library system is rated VERY highly with borrowing agreements with other public libraries available at no cost. You find everything you need in St. Charles County. However, zoning is poor and the traffic is brutal.

Mercedes1, can you define brutal? I will be driving around town on my job. Right now I drive a 12.5 mile commute to my office (about 30-35 minutes), then I drive around all day. I would like to lessen the commute to work when I move. What is the traffic like in St. Charles?

BTW, thanks to all who responded to my initial question. It really has helped make all this more real.

[mercedes1]

Photobuff42 - I sent you a PM.