Relocating from Sacramento to St. Louis (California, Oakland: where to stay, apartments, rental)

[SactoBankerGirl]

My husband and I both got laid off this past month (yikes) and I am considering relocating from Sacramento (Rancho Cordova) to the St. Louis area. My employer is located in downtown St. Louis and that is where my job is moving to. We have two boys, ages 16 and 7.

Here are my questions:

What is the job market like for the banking industry?
What is a good neighborhood for us to rent an apartment?
Is it worth it for us to move when only one of us has a job there?
How different is it from Northern California?
Traffic? Crime? Cost of living?

Help!!

[STLCardsBlues1989]

I'm not sure about the banking industry, but for a family neighborhood, I would suggest maybe seeing what south city has to offer. Lafayette Square and St. Louis/Holly Hills would probably be good family neighborhoods. Downtown is nice, and has some reasonable rents, but I don't know how kid-friendly they are. If you do plan to live in the city, I would recommend a private school.

"Is is worth it" may depend on how much your job pays. Obviously it's a lot cheaper to live in St. Louis than in California, but you'd probably need to do some calculating to figure out if the cost of moving outweighs your salary.

Cost of living will probably be lower than California. Traffic probably depends on where you live in the city. There are the MetroLink and MetroBus systems. I think crime also depends on the neighborhood.

Of course if you move to St. Louis the weather will be a big adjustment.

Sorry I can't be of more help. Best of luck in your decision!

[ucfjtm]

Originally Posted by STLCardsBlues1989

I'm not sure about the banking industry, but for a family neighborhood, I would suggest maybe seeing what south city has to offer. Lafayette Square and St. Louis/Holly Hills would probably be good family neighborhoods. Downtown is nice, and has some reasonable rents, but I don't know how kid-friendly they are. If you do plan to live in the city, I would recommend a private school.

"Is is worth it" may depend on how much your job pays. Obviously it's a lot cheaper to live in St. Louis than in California, but you'd probably need to do some calculating to figure out if the cost of moving outweighs your salary.

Cost of living will probably be lower than California. Traffic probably depends on where you live in the city. There are the MetroLink and MetroBus systems. I think crime also depends on the neighborhood.

Of course if you move to St. Louis the weather will be a big adjustment.

Sorry I can't be of more help. Best of luck in your decision!

My sister is dying to move to STL from Sacramento, but that's unlikely since they bought a house in 2005 (ouch!) and her husband has a solid job with Intel. However, there's no comparison with traffic in STL to Sacramento. I thought Orlando and especially Sacramento were bad during rush hour, but St. Louis' highways were a breeze.

[ShadowCaver]

One article here that might help shed some light for you: St. Louis Commerce Magazine

As to diffs/sims to NoCal - based on my limited time bumming about that area [which I love, btw], there would be IMHO a non-minor adjustment period yas would need. Vegetation, weather, scenery, culture, prices, etc are quite bit different - some will probably be better, some not so much to you all, in varying amounts. StL is a great city, yet has a small town feel - and is also clustered, in that there is this area, that area, and so forth of the different neighborhoods/towns, but its also has an overall community feel to it. Some excellent universities and colleges, and junior/high schools can be found too. Sports, esp. baseball [Cards], hockey [Blues], and football [Rams] are big - as is college level. Many varied niche spots w/in the region - check out the following two links for idea of this:
St. Louis Neighborhoods
Communities

If yas have any vacation available, or maybe during upcoming holidays [if you can wait that long to make a decision], spend a few days in the city/area, and get a good feel for it all - maybe post when you might do such, and we can post some more specific ideas/thoughts for yas. As to if its worth moving given only one job, depends on your pay, CoL diffs, where yas would live, commute time, normal standard of living, life goals [personal and family], etc. - StL is quite good place to raise a family - and offers some great [and unique] vittles! Good luck.

[Curmudgeon]

If it's any help, we're in Sacramento and moving to NE Missouri after the first of the year since I'm retiring at the end of December. Anywhere we *look* in MO it will cost us anywhere from $15-21 thousand a year less to live than it does here. Everywhere we've researched is from 1-1½ hours north of St. Louis. I think you'll do fine and as for crime, Sacramento is second only to Oakland in CA and worse than NY and Chicago. What does that tell you?

[Fishtacos]

Originally Posted by SactoBankerGirl

My husband and I both got laid off this past month (yikes) and I am considering relocating from Sacramento (Rancho Cordova) to the St. Louis area. My employer is located in downtown St. Louis and that is where my job is moving to. We have two boys, ages 16 and 7.

Here are my questions:

What is the job market like for the banking industry?
What is a good neighborhood for us to rent an apartment?
Is it worth it for us to move when only one of us has a job there?
How different is it from Northern California?
Traffic? Crime? Cost of living?

Help!!

Neighborhood depends on your interests.

St. Louis is very affordable economically.

Sacramento is extremely different from the Bay Area less than 100 miles away, so even North California is very different from other parts of Northern California.

St. Louis is a Midwestern city and feel, and has more in common with Eastern Cities. Sacramento is a very sunny place, much sunnier than St. Louis but St. Louis isn't bad in that dept. Sacramento is much warmer and drier than St. Louis. St. Louis has all 4 seasons and in equal length, so you will get a little bit of everything. Sacramento has a much larger Asian population than St. Louis and a much larger Hispanic population than St. Louis. St. Louis has a much larger African-American population than Sacramento.

St. Louis is about a million more people in size of a metro area and it feels bigger than Sacramento.

You won't be able to drive 2hrs away to the Bay Area and its offerings in St. Louis, but you can hit Chicago in about 4.5 hrs North.

St. Louis is a great place to raise a kid or be a kid. It's very family oriented and very affordable for its size. Traffic is nothing like the Bay Area to Sacramento's South. Traffic is not bad at all in St. Louis. Every place has its share of crime and St. Louis is no different. Much of it is isolated to certain sections of St. Louis, where you wouldn't be spending your time. You will also find more amentities in St. Louis than Sacramento.

As long as you approach St. Louis (or any new place) with an open mind and appreciate it for its uniqueness and not compare it to your previous place, you will do fine.

The warmer drier, sunnier climate, the nearby side trips of Tahoe, Bay Area etc...and all they have to offer, and the Hispanic and Asian populations would be the biggest things you will be leaving behind. The rest will be welcome changes for you.

Good luck.

[jlmwusa]

Originally Posted by SactoBankerGirl

My husband and I both got laid off this past month (yikes) and I am considering relocating from Sacramento (Rancho Cordova) to the St. Louis area. My employer is located in downtown St. Louis and that is where my job is moving to. We have two boys, ages 16 and 7.

Here are my questions:

What is the job market like for the banking industry?
What is a good neighborhood for us to rent an apartment?
Is it worth it for us to move when only one of us has a job there?
How different is it from Northern California?
Traffic? Crime? Cost of living?

Help!!

Check out the St Louis newspaper online. Maybe it will help you with some of your questions. Banking jobs: Bank of American and US Bank are big STL. PLus their are of course credit unions and independent smaller banks.

[joe stixpuck]

Good posts here! Most of my answers reflect those posted before, but hope provide some added insight and help you make an informed decision. Moving so far is never an easy proposition, especially when one has family....

From my understanding, the banking/finance sectors in the Midwest were more conservative in practices which left them less impacted than on the East/West coasts.

Neighborhoods REALLY vary and depend upon your personal likes/dislikes and finances. There are lots of great places that'll be affordable within a short commute into the downtown area. Post what you're looking for in more detail and you'll surely get plenty of great recommendations. The area mentioned by STL is generally family-friendly, cheap rents and short drive into downtown though.

The 'one job' issue really depends upon what line of work your husband does. Also depends on whether you're making the same money in the StL job as in Sacto.

Fishtacos covered the NorCal differences very well. StL is nothing like SF Bay Area (nowhere is!), but then again neither is Sacto. I think if you liked Sacto then you'll enjoy StL. The summer humidity will take some getting used to, but I was back for the summer and the weather was nicer this year than either Sacto or the Bay Area...and no haze or smoke from forest fires! Winter weather can be very unpredictable, but I liked that aspect. There is a budding wine industry (if that matters) within about the same drive as to Napa, but of course not of the same size or quality. A few very scenic wineries though, and without the congestion. There are nice recreational places, but they are not so spectacular as NorCal and just different...variety is good thing though! GREAT professional sports teams/fans, although a couple franchises aren't doing so hot at the moment. Political climate tends more conservative, but generally less the closer one is to the city.

Traffic flow is MUCH better than Sacto. Once again, that'll also vary depending on where you choose to live. I think 64/40 (runs East-West from West County to Downtown) is shut down still for improvement. StL is pretty easy to navigate and get around.

Crime varies upon where you live...just like Sacto. Doesn't take long to figure out where to stay away from, and in general I never worried much about it even when in the 'rougher' areas.

Cost of living is much cheaper, especially when it comes to housing. You'll be very pleased, and should have lots of rental options, if not the possibility of purchasing a home.

Good luck if you make the move! St. Louis is an interesting and great place. Nice place for a family to relocate for sure.

[SactoBankerGirl]

Thanks for the info! We decided to take the plunge, so of course, I have more questions!

- We are definitely going to rent to begin with. Is it worth it to prioritize a place that has a pool? How long is the 'swimming season'?

- What's the Metrolink like? My work is near a Metrolink station. Should we try to find a place near one of the stations?

- Illinois vs Missouri apartments and houses for rent.

Thank you!!!!

[OA 5599]

You'll be able to use a pool from roughly late May through early October/late September. This depends on your preferences though....if you only like hopping in the pool if it is over 90 degrees outside, you'll be restricted to a few days in June, most of July, and a few in August. The weather in Missouri is highly variable, so some summers (like this past one) it won't be very hot at all, and during others it will be. Weather.com has weather averages for every zip code in the USA which should give you an idea of what the climate is generally like, but it can be a lot hotter or colder.