Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > Missouri > St. Louis
 [Register]
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
Reply Start New Thread
 
Old 11-01-2010, 08:55 AM
 
Location: Tower Grove East, St. Louis, MO
12,063 posts, read 31,485,827 times
Reputation: 3798

Advertisements

Quote:
Originally Posted by wustu87 View Post
That's the Boulevard Saint Louis with the P.F. Changs, Magianno's, Nadoz and Crate and Barrel. They were originally supposed to build that all the way down to highway 40, but I believe due to the economy that has been slowed down and scaled back. It is an interesting concept but does seem weird having this supposedly "urban" street built across a major artery from a large suburban mall. I go by there every day and occasionally visit some of the stores and offices there on the Boulevard. It does have a Disneyland-like "instant urban area" effect, similar to the South 40 dorm area of Wash U. Weird place, but that doesn't mean I won't go there since we live so close to it.
Is there any housing? Without housing it's more just of an outdoor mall to me.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 11-01-2010, 09:04 AM
 
Location: St Louis County (63117)
321 posts, read 998,861 times
Reputation: 150
Quote:
Originally Posted by aragx6 View Post
Is there any housing? Without housing it's more just of an outdoor mall to me.
Yes, there are apartments located over the retail areas. I have always been curious how popular they are for renters. Getting to the Richmond Heights Metrolink station from there would only take a minute so they would be extremely convenient (as is driving via 170 or 40) but living there you are almost completely surrounded by retail. There is actually a nice residential neighborhood just to the east of the Boulevard, but you cannot actually get to it directly which is really annoying. I know someone who used to live in a house in that neighborhood who would have loved to been able to walk to the Metrolink station and Boulevard area from his house. But they made it physically impossible even though he can see the Metrolink station from his street.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 11-01-2010, 09:15 AM
 
Location: Tower Grove East, St. Louis, MO
12,063 posts, read 31,485,827 times
Reputation: 3798
Quote:
Originally Posted by wustu87 View Post
But they made it physically impossible even though he can see the Metrolink station from his street.
"Urban" planning at its best, eh? How stupid!
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 11-04-2010, 08:20 PM
 
2 posts, read 4,881 times
Reputation: 10
Default And I also forgot to inform you of this important feature in New Town.

If you sell your home in New Town not only do you have pay a realtor's commission but also an additional 0.2% commission to the general fund of which Greg Whitaker and gang continue to control AND decide where this money gets spent. Kind of a shocking truth.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Kirkwood home View Post
I have lived there and here is my best description. I recently moved back to Kirkwood--the real deal. Living in New Town is like a community with a breast augmentation--it looks really good, but just does not feel the same!

I could go on and on--bought my home for $451K, appraised at $512K in 2007. Just was foreclosed on (personal choice) after trying to sell the home for $325K for 1.5 years. No it does not and has not flooded this area but you may need a boat to get to this area.

Yes--it is exactly like the Truman Show--very easy to get sucked in and then extremely hard to get back out. Other problems--Greg Whittaker is the King of this neighborhood and the worst thing that could ever happen to it. Greg wants in your pockets--for ever.

The homeowners association fees go up by 8% each year and are near $800. This includes you post office box rental each year of $25. And includes pools for your live in family only (guest are $10 each per day). You also pay a Neighborhood Improvement Fee each of 20 consecutive years at $350. If you do not get a pool pass you are not allowed to swim in the lakes either. The place is like a lady who loves make-up--high maintenance. Move to Kirkwood, Glendale, Des Peres, Brentwood and get all this at the real deal FOR FREE!

Lived in New Town for five years.

Home now in Kirkwood--the real deal. Nothing is fake or fantasy about Kirkwood!!!

Me
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 02-10-2012, 04:47 PM
 
3 posts, read 3,726 times
Reputation: 11
Default new town living

There are pluses and minuses to living here. The people who live here for the most part are really nice. You get a community feel to it. Its nice to get out and walk the area, pretty much any time of the year. From where I live, I am very close to the market, mail center, amphitheatre type area and such. I've always felt comfortable walking around at night, at different hours alone. I have more negative to say about this place and positive. The General Assembly has made it difficult place to live and enjoy it. There are so many strict rules and they will watch you closely. I wouldn't rent in here at all. The leasing office is a joke. The manager in there is typically rude! You have to keep after the office to get anything done. It takes months to fix anything. I thought at move it that things would get done in a timely manner, but I was SOON proven SO wrong. They will tell you one thing and then tell you another. The office can't keep anything straight. The office doesn't always return your calls in a timely manner. It took them 2 weeks to give me my mail keys and couldn't give me an answer as to why. No one seems to know where spare keys are at, if you need them. We are moving out due to all the frustration caused by the leasing office. Which is ashame because it is a nice place and a nice area. If you move here be prepared to be frustrated and keep on track of things. If you don't things will not get done.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 03-27-2012, 09:05 AM
 
3 posts, read 3,726 times
Reputation: 11
Nice concept poorly excuted! the general assembly is a joke. Its not worth it, especially if you intend to rent there. The leasing office manager will lie SO much to you that its ridiculous. Nothing gets done around there. There are problems with the roads that go unfixed for MONTHS! The area went bankrupt last year and a bank owns most of the property out there. Like someone else said there a lot of existing homes for sale. I lived there as a renter for 2 years and every week it seemed like someone was moving out. Homes in there have been on the market for a long time. One home I saw was for sale when we moved in and was still for sale when we moved out. There are home owners renting their homes because they can't sell them. It is creepy when you first see it but the more you are there the less creepy it seems. If it wasn't for the Leasing office and the General Assembly, I would be content with still living there. Its not worth the hassle to move there. If you want constant frustration and ridiculous rules, then by all means, move there but i would highly advise against it.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 03-27-2012, 02:21 PM
 
Location: Saint Louis, MO
3,483 posts, read 8,959,095 times
Reputation: 2480
Quote:
Originally Posted by craftgal314 View Post
Nice concept poorly excuted! the general assembly is a joke. Its not worth it, especially if you intend to rent there. The leasing office manager will lie SO much to you that its ridiculous. Nothing gets done around there. There are problems with the roads that go unfixed for MONTHS! The area went bankrupt last year and a bank owns most of the property out there. Like someone else said there a lot of existing homes for sale. I lived there as a renter for 2 years and every week it seemed like someone was moving out. Homes in there have been on the market for a long time. One home I saw was for sale when we moved in and was still for sale when we moved out. There are home owners renting their homes because they can't sell them. It is creepy when you first see it but the more you are there the less creepy it seems. If it wasn't for the Leasing office and the General Assembly, I would be content with still living there. Its not worth the hassle to move there. If you want constant frustration and ridiculous rules, then by all means, move there but i would highly advise against it.
FWIW many of the home sale issues you cite could be found in all but the most desirable neighborhoods. Newtown's location and HOA/Rules makes it appeal to a smaller demographic of home owners and renters, which in turn will rule out some of the people who'd have purchased a home there had it been located closer to the metro area. Achieving the same level of "self sustaining" community might have been more difficult to do in a more populated area however, you really have to start from scratch or else you'll just end up with a unique set of homes within the greater metro region...The housing market, poor economy, and limited interested all contributed to what is now viewed as a failure in New Town...At it's inception, it was rumored that New Town type housing developments would spurt up all over the country...Many of the community design plans might survive in future developments, or at minimum be considered over a true "sea" of houses that are totally car depenedent that developments were turning into.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 03-27-2012, 03:58 PM
 
Location: Saint Louis, MO
1,197 posts, read 2,269,591 times
Reputation: 1016
The wife and I took a drive out to New Town after reading this thread. It seemed very desolate. It was in the middle of the day during the week, but there was nothing going on. Most of the businesses looked closed. I looked like a brand new development with only about 20 residents. We stopped in at one of the sales offices and remarked at how affordable the prices were. We then stopped at a leasing office and remarked at how expensive it was to rent there. It was a strange combination. They had 4 bedroom, 2000+ square foot homes for under $200,000. But their rentals were in excess of $1500 for anything more than 2 bedrooms.

Where we lived in PHX there was a similar community called Verrado. It was even further out in the boonies than New Town though. Verrado started up while the housing boom was still going on and due to the growth in the Phoenix area it grew much faster. It actually has enough families that live there that it has it's own elementary, middle, and high school.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 03-27-2012, 04:04 PM
 
Location: Tower Grove East, St. Louis, MO
12,063 posts, read 31,485,827 times
Reputation: 3798
Quote:
Originally Posted by scocar View Post
The wife and I took a drive out to New Town after reading this thread. It seemed very desolate. It was in the middle of the day during the week, but there was nothing going on. Most of the businesses looked closed. I looked like a brand new development with only about 20 residents. We stopped in at one of the sales offices and remarked at how affordable the prices were. We then stopped at a leasing office and remarked at how expensive it was to rent there. It was a strange combination. They had 4 bedroom, 2000+ square foot homes for under $200,000. But their rentals were in excess of $1500 for anything more than 2 bedrooms.

Where we lived in PHX there was a similar community called Verrado. It was even further out in the boonies than New Town though. Verrado started up while the housing boom was still going on and due to the growth in the Phoenix area it grew much faster. It actually has enough families that live there that it has it's own elementary, middle, and high school.
Those same houses were once selling for nealy 400k. I can only imagine anyone who bought there early will be underwater on their mortgage until something like the end of time. Sad really.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 03-27-2012, 04:19 PM
 
Location: Saint Louis, MO
1,197 posts, read 2,269,591 times
Reputation: 1016
Quote:
Originally Posted by aragx6 View Post
Those same houses were once selling for nealy 400k. I can only imagine anyone who bought there early will be underwater on their mortgage until something like the end of time. Sad really.
Not if they are anything like people in Phoenix. They'll just get a mortgage broker to draw up rental papers on their house to show extra income, then qualify them for another home loan. Then after they get the new home they'll allow the first home to go into foreclosure.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.


Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:


Settings
X
Data:
Loading data...
Based on 2000-2020 data
Loading data...

123
Hide US histogram


Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > Missouri > St. Louis
Similar Threads

All times are GMT -6.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top