Maybe a move to St Louis... Tell me about it. (St. Louis: 2014, apartments)

[BunnyRaptor]

My company has headquarters in st Louis and me and my gf (we are lgbtq) are wondering if it's cheaper and nicer to live in the st Louis area than here in Tempe AZ. Rent is going up to a almost 1500 a month but our wage per hour stays the same. Inflation has made Arizona suck. So we wanna transfer to either Ferguson or Farmington but know nothing about these areas. Please help.

[MUTGR]

Originally Posted by BunnyRaptor

My company has headquarters in st Louis and me and my gf (we are lgbtq) are wondering if it's cheaper and nicer to live in the st Louis area than here in Tempe AZ. Rent is going up to a almost 1500 a month but our wage per hour stays the same. Inflation has made Arizona suck. So we wanna transfer to either Ferguson or Farmington but know nothing about these areas. Please help.

LOL. Ferguson or Farmington. This has to be a joke. Stay in Tempe.

[BunnyRaptor]

Can you tell me why? It's way too expensive here and the weather is too hot in the summer.

[brickpatio2018]

I know nothing about Ferguson or Farmington, but I can tell you that St. Louis has suburbs as nice as any city in the country. In most cities, the suburbs are covered over in sprawl, but from what I saw, St. Louis suburbs are mostly green, wooded, hilly, and mainly residential with some commercial development in a few pockets. They are well planned and each town has its own identity. There are interstates everywhere.

If St. Louis were to merge the city and the county governments to resolve the morass of St. Louis city government (leaving local issues such as zoning to individual towns), and if the state government were to make Missouri a right-to-work state with no income tax (like Texas, Tennessee and Florida), the St. Louis area could be back on top nationally almost immediately, competing with the likes of Dallas, Atlanta, and Raleigh. The area really has everything else in place pretty nicely.

[BLS2753]

Originally Posted by BunnyRaptor

My company has headquarters in st Louis and me and my gf (we are lgbtq) are wondering if it's cheaper and nicer to live in the st Louis area than here in Tempe AZ. Rent is going up to a almost 1500 a month but our wage per hour stays the same. Inflation has made Arizona suck. So we wanna transfer to either Ferguson or Farmington but know nothing about these areas. Please help.

Farmington is a small rural town in southeast Missouri, 70 miles south and over an hour's drive from St. Louis. How did such a remote, obscure location come to your attention as it relates to St. Louis?

[Veritas Vincit]

People who don't know anything about Ferguson presumably were out of the country or in a coma ca. 2014-15?

[mjtinmemphis]

Ferguson and Farmington moving from Tempe is an insane look for a relocation.

Coming from Tempe, you should consider Maryland Heights. Similar diversity, higher median income and lower median housing costs with lower poverty.

Let me know if you need more information.

[Macmurphy1980]

Guess you could flip a coin. Heads = Ferguson, Tails = Farmington. Then no matter which way it lands, look into better matches for Tempe (which is a decently large suburb of Phoenix) such as Clayton, University City, Brentwood, Maplewood, Kirkwood, Maryland Heights, etc. I'd say U-City best matches Tempe as far as culture. No matter what, generally rent should be a little less in St. Louis metro than Phoenix metro.

[Kathy884]

My son (mid 20s) and his boyfriend (also mid 20s) just moved into a two bedroom/two bath 973 square foot apartment here in Creve Coeur. Just to show you an example of a place in the area, I added a link. I just think it's a really nice complex/place for the price/amenities. https://www.covewestapts.com/

DS works downtown at the Gateway Arch and his commute there is about the same as the commute would be to Ferguson. In fact, the commutes are exactly the same per google maps. He doesn't find the commute bad at all.

There are just so many choices for apartments in the STL metro area. They were looking in St. Louis city neighborhoods, suburbs, all over. There were lots of interesting choices for them. They loved the charm of the city and architecture. In the end though they went for a suburban very practical place with great storage, balcony, tree/little man-made lake views from a little deck -- really nice I thought.

I can't tell you much about Farmington. It would be a much less populated area. St. Louis if you are looking for a metro area is pretty reasonably priced, being in the midwest and has all the great things a city of its' size offers. Spring and Fall are wonderful here. Summers are very hot and humid in Missouri - will be a shock coming from Phoenix.

[scocar]

I would suggest looking at an inner ring suburb like Clayton, Maplewood, Richmond Heights, or University City. It will be more diverse and LGBTQ friendly. Or look into the city as well. Neighborhoods that fit that mold would be Benton Park, Soulard, McKinley Heights, Fox Park, Tower Grove, and Shaw. I live in Benton Park and love it. Cost of housing is significantly cheaper here than Tempe. I am a native Phoenician and ASU alum and still have friend and family there so I am very aware of how housing costs have gone through the roof in the last 3-5 years in the Valley. They are increasing here as well, but not at nearly the same rate.