Richmond Heights... (St. Louis, Kirkwood, Clayton: apartments, condo, townhome)

[Scottiegal]

We are looking into relocating to the St. Louis area. any feedback on the Richmond heights neighborhood as far as safety and friendly neighbors?

[Hector2]

Richmond Heights can be broken down into a few distinct areas. The west side of the city that borders the cities of Ladue and Brentwood and Clayton (like between Brentwood Rd and McKnight Rd) has upscale single family housing and is largely in the Ladue school district (oddly enough, RH is broken up into four school districts--Ladue, Maplewood/RH, Brentwood, and Clayton). That area is desirable and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend, but housing in that area will start at $500,000 more or less and go up from there.

The east side of the city has an area around Little Flower church and school on Boland that is filled with nicely maintained brick houses (think between Dale and Clayton Rd and west of Big Bend). This area is more affordable than the west side but the homes are smaller. There is a fairly tight knit community here that is largely focused on the Catholic parish Little Flower.

To the east of Big Bend, there is a less cohesive neighborhood that is the most affordable (note that part of this neighborhood, north of Wise Ave, is in the Clayton school district and will be more expensive for that reason). You can walk to a grocery store from the neighborhood and there's also a corner market at Wise and Belleview. This part of RH is not unfriendly, but I didn't find it to be the most friendly place either (I think I met more neighbors in a month at my current house in another inner-ring suburb than I did in 9 years in this neighborhood).

There are also two private neighborhoods in RH along Clayton Rd--Hampton Park and Lake Forest. Absolutely beautiful houses and neighborhoods...pricey, brings to mind a quote from a favorite movie: "It is so choice. If you have the means, I highly recommend picking one up."

Safety will be best on the west side. East side will have the odd stolen bike or car break-in, but nothing to be too concerned about.

[gypsyjudy]

Originally Posted by Hector2

Richmond Heights can be broken down into a few distinct areas. The west side of the city that borders the cities of Ladue and Brentwood and Clayton (like between Brentwood Rd and McKnight Rd) has upscale single family housing and is largely in the Ladue school district (oddly enough, RH is broken up into four school districts--Ladue, Maplewood/RH, Brentwood, and Clayton). That area is desirable and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend, but housing in that area will start at $500,000 more or less and go up from there.

The east side of the city has an area around Little Flower church and school on Boland that is filled with nicely maintained brick houses (think between Dale and Clayton Rd and west of Big Bend). This area is more affordable than the west side but the homes are smaller. There is a fairly tight knit community here that is largely focused on the Catholic parish Little Flower.

To the east of Big Bend, there is a less cohesive neighborhood that is the most affordable (note that part of this neighborhood, north of Wise Ave, is in the Clayton school district and will be more expensive for that reason). You can walk to a grocery store from the neighborhood and there's also a corner market at Wise and Belleview. This part of RH is not unfriendly, but I didn't find it to be the most friendly place either (I think I met more neighbors in a month at my current house in another inner-ring suburb than I did in 9 years in this neighborhood).

There are also two private neighborhoods in RH along Clayton Rd--Hampton Park and Lake Forest. Absolutely beautiful houses and neighborhoods...pricey, brings to mind a quote from a favorite movie: "It is so choice. If you have the means, I highly recommend picking one up."

Safety will be best on the west side. East side will have the odd stolen bike or car break-in, but nothing to be too concerned about.

Here is a breakdown per the above comment:
http://www.richmondheights.org/docum...strict_Map.PDF

[Scottiegal]

Thank you for the info!

[gypsyjudy]

Originally Posted by Scottiegal

Thank you for the info!

You are very welcome. RH is a very diverse are, and you have many options in various price ranges. Very convenient to anything you need or want to do, too. However, the more affordable homes sell very quickly (My definition here being below $450,000). I live in Maplewood, which shares the school district. I am watching the market, as I am looking to sell early next year, and it's amazing how fast homes fly off the market, especially 2-3 bedrooms. I know a few people who have sold and are living in apartments waiting for houses to come on the market in the M/RH area. Craziness. Absolute craziness. Good luck to you. I think you will like this central location a lot, especially coming from Chicago.

[Scottiegal]

We had a similar situation. We lived in a townhome community in the suburbs of Chicago and had a realtor contact us with a interested buyer and offer. We were never on the market! We sold, and lived in an apartment until we found our current condo. Well my husband got a job offer in St. Louis...so we are going to move again. He now commutes Monday a.m. And comes home Thursday night. It's a heck of a commute, so I've been researching online and we will probably end up moving within 6 months to a year. We visited new town St Charles over the weekend but I didn't care for it, no offense to any new towerers. St charles was a bit too rural for me, so we are looking at closer to the city...websters grove, maple wood, Richmond heights, Clayton etc. why are you moving if you don't mind me asking? And again thanks for your great info!

[gypsyjudy]

Glad to help. Sent more some info PM. All of those areas are good, including Brentwood, Ladue (Kirkwood, too but farther out). No offense to SC, but I wouldn't live there, either.