relocating to St. Louis (Kirkwood, Webster Groves: rentals, amusement parks, condos)

[rcwolf]

I'm sure you've all heard it before, but my husband is getting a job offer in St. Louis, and we need to find out where to live. We have three kids (7 and twins, 3.5) and want to get them into excellent and challenging schools as my oldest is a real smarty-pants and we want to keep her challenged, but we don't want to do private school tuition for three.

We're in suburbs now and love suburbs, chatting with neighbors where everyone says hi to everyone else. Since we'll know no one, snooty and standoff-ish places/people are what we'd like to avoid. We're looking for a very friendly and safe neighborhood with less than a 40-minute commute (shorter the better) DURING RUSH HOUR. He'll be working near the convention center on 7th Street. I dream of a bunch of neighborhood kids playing on the cul de sac after school. Also looking for a place with lots of recreational opportunities with swim teams, soccer teams, rec. centers to keep us very busy as the kids bounce off the walls if I don't keep them very busy. Interesting/lush environment is a plus as I like to have something to look at and can't stand flat with no trees.

We would like to rent for the first few years to make sure we've picked the right community and then buy after we're sure we're in the right place, but I very much hope not to change schools again. But we'll eventually want to buy a nice house around 300-400K with at least 4 bedrooms. And you guys all have basements out there too! I'm so jealous. Can't wait.

Any help or direction you have to offer would be great! Sorry I rambled on so long.

[aragx6]

Do you like newer style homes or older homes with character?

[rcwolf]

Both, but I think we'd lean towards newer homes just because we won't have a lot of time for remodeling or repairing things that break.

[aragx6]

OK, if you're looking to be in the top schools in the metro in a big house that's newer, I would probably suggest the part of Fenton that is in the Rockwood School District.

If you wanted a more established neighborhood with great schools but homes about 20-35 years old I'd suggest Des Peres (part of which is in Parkway schools, part of which is in Ladue schools, both are great districts), and if you wanted an older home (50-100 years) I'd go with Webster Groves (in the Webster School District)

Get on realtor.com and look around at the homes in those areas and tell me what you think, and I can help you to begin to narrow it down somewhere.

I think it's really smart to rent first, but if we can find you the right place now your kiddo won't have to change schools in the future

[rcwolf]

I've been looking at Fenton. You can sure get a lot for your money. We're really looking for the right neighborhood to rent in first before we totally commit so we can buy a house in the same area once we're positive we're happy with. Definitely don't want to have to move the kids into another school when we buy. I've also noticed there's a lot of rentals that have a lease-to-own provision, so we'll probably look at that if we end up loving the place we're in.

How are Lindbergh schools?

[aragx6]

Lindbergh is one of those school districts that tend to not get as much attention as the big boys. It's smaller, with only maybe 5-6,000 kids instead of 20+ like some of the districts (like Rockwood and Parkway). It probably also lacks the cache of the west county schools, because south county is seen as less desirable.

That being said, their test scores are always off the charts, and everyone Ive known that went there or sent kids there was very happy.

Another valid question for you would be the value you place on diversity. South County (which includes Fenton) is very white. I don't say that to try and stir up drama, but it's something that St. Louisans just know. Fenton is almost 98% white (the rest being Hispanic). Des Peres is about 95% white, and Webster Groves is only about 90%. It's worth considering how important diversity is to you.

[wustu87]

Lindbergh schools are very good -- they have an IB program and an exceptionally gifted program (PEGS) there. And Des Peres is part Parkway and part Kirkwood, but Kirkwood schools are very nice too. Frankly, if you are looking for a friendly, low "snooty" area, Lindbergh or Kirkwood as a whole are other possibiliies in the $300K-400K range with some newer construction and a nice drive into downtown on 44. It is less expensive for what you get than the closer in areas (Clayton, Ladue, Brentwood, etc) and not so crowded and less "snooty". Honestly, I think any St. Louis style "snooty" you may find in the mid-County burbs is nothing compared to East Coast snooty. Some folks here may consider me a snob, and I could never even come close to competing in snobbishness back east!

[rcwolf]

Thanks so much! That really helps narrow it down. We are in the Bay Area right now in a mostly "snooty" county, but live in the friendliest (read: least expensive) portion of it, still very nice though as the whole county is nice, and it's amazing when you drive 10 minutes south, if you start to chat with someone at the checkout line, they look at you like you're crazy. Can't stand that! That's one of the things I love about where I live now, even though we're a bit of a drive from SF, where we work. Anyway, that really helps narrow it down.

Do many houses have fences around the yards there or is that unusual? Right now I leave the patio door open so the kids can run out in the fenced-in back yard, but what I've seen is there's not too many fences.

Are there buses that take kids to school? How cold are the winters and what do y'all do there in the winter? (do we say "y'all" in Missouri? If so, I'm just practicing.)

Are there places to do downhill snowskiing? Lakes to waterski on in the summer? Amusement parks, waterslides? Camping? Do people hole up for the winter or is there still stuff to do?

We'll probably be out there in a few weeks, so at least I'll know where to look now.

Thanks!

[aragx6]

Lots of questions! Let's see if I can help. Fences are very common, though not every house has one, it shouldn't be hard to find one that does if that's important to you.

Most of the suburbs I mentioned will have bus service, though maybe not all. My sister was in the Webster school district and didn't have bus service, though her school was only about 1/2 mile away. Figure that the inner-ring suburbs might not, the outer rings most surely will.

Winters are colder than you're used to, but they won't kill you. Chicago's (where I am now) are far far worse). The reason is because of the jet stream. It stays well south of Chicago just about all winter, so it stays really cold. St. Louis, however, straddles that line and so the jet stream will dip south for a week and it'll be cold as hell, but thtne it'll come back north and St. Louis will have a few days of high 30s, low 40s, etc. November and March are iffy months, but other than that winter isn't too long.

No we definitely don't say ya'll in St. Louis, though you might here it if you head into southern Missouri.

Downhill skiing? No, not really. there's one place outside of St. Louis and they have powdered snow and bunny hills, but it's fairly lame. But, Lambert is a big airport with plenty of flights out for those times when you just have to get away.

there are several popular lakes, but the most popular is the Lake of the Ozarks (often just referred to as "the lake" by St. Louisans.) It's a big area and there are plenty of hotels and condos and a lot of people own lake houses down there. Its a few hours outside the city.

We have a Six Flags (and a Hurricane harbor water park attached) in Eureka, Mo (an easy drive of 30-60 minutes depending on where you live)

We are big campers. There are some fabulous places south and west of St. Louis as you get into the Ozark mountains. Missouri has some wonderful state parks, definitely check them all out!

And when it snows? Art Hill baby! It's a big hill in Forest Park near the Art Museum. It's a St. Louis tradition.

[stevio63]

"do many houses have fences around the yards there or is that unusual? Right now I leave the patio door open so the kids can run out in the fenced-in back yard, but what I've seen is there's not too many fences.

Are there buses that take kids to school? How cold are the winters and what do y'all do there in the winter? (do we say "y'all" in Missouri? If so, I'm just practicing.)

Are there places to do downhill snowskiing? Lakes to waterski on in the summer? Amusement parks, waterslides? Camping? Do people hole up for the winter or is there still stuff to do?"

Don't know the market for renting a house, but i would concur on the fenton area / rockwood school district...you sound like FENTON PEOPLE!!....yeah, i'm a fenton person, so my objectivity is skewed but you would be in "burb" heaven!! 6 flags 20 minutes away in summer, hidden valley 20 minutes away for skiing (don't expect vail) most subdivisions have swim pools and if not we have local rec. center that does along with gym,weights,etc.

fenced yards are at least 60% in my subdivision and i would hazard to say it could be fenton wide.do have bus service for all levels of kids. we have many state parks near st. louis...babler state park has camping facilities and they are 30 miles away

winters can be weird here....sometimes we have all 4 seasons in the same month! well, maybe not summer but we will have solid days/weeks of cold weather but not too much snow or ice...but you never know in st. louis

welcome, and if you have more questions, fire away