Opinions on living in the St. Louis area?

[Cassie]

My husband had a phone interview today that went well, so he has another Thursday. If he gets this job the office is in St. Louis. I know nothing about this area except that it has a high crime rate and may be uncomfortably close to the Madrid fault. I'm a paranoid mom, I want my kids to be safe.
Can someone tell me positive things about this area? IS it dangerously close to the fault line? Is it one of the highest crime areas like I've read? I've lived in the Tucson area for 3 years, so I know there can be safe 'burbs even in a high crime area. What areas or side should one live to be safe? What areas should be avoided? I'm feeling very apprehensive about moving there. I'd appreciate all opinions on this location. Thanks!

[crobar]

I live 60miles from St Louis in Illinois. The crime figures for St Louis are misleading. St Louis city is totally seperate from St Louis County, it is hemmed in completely by other cities, has not absorbed thus in many figures suburbs are not included. It makes all the #'s wacky. I've done a fair amount of traveling I don't believe STL is as bad as Chicago, Memphis, Indianapolis, Cleveland, Washington DC, Louisville, etc. I have one kid in NJ, one near Green Bay, they love STL dearly. Of course St Louis city has a crime problem, but out of 2.5 million in metro area only 250xxx( I think) now live in STL. If you commute a few miles, I think you will love it. Garden Spot of the world.

[Sawmill Jim]

I live not far from Reelfoot Lake in the 57 years i been here we an't had the big one yet St Louis is another story i would look at driving from say Caseyville Il or one of the smaller towns outside the city .Have a Uncle that lives in Hazelwood to much traffic an CRIME an people for me . Few years ago my aunt wonted me to move there an help them take care of their places every expense paid house living an all I'm still in Tn . Caseyville is a nice town compared I'l take my chance on that earth quake any day

[DoubleBee]

We also live about 60- 65 miles from St. Louis, in Illinois.
You don't have to live in or even all that close to the city to work there. My hubby has made the drive daily for about 17 years. Of course when gas is high, it's a pain, but the closer you live the higher the cost of housing.
One place to avoid is north St. Louis city. High crime area.
Also East St.Louis, in IL. Look farther out away from the city on either the IL. or Missouri side.

[frogmammy]

I live IN St Louis City. Like you mentioned, there are good "pockets", and bad, as in every city no matter the size.

In general, south St Louis city is ok, but I'll second stay out of North City. To the west, Webster Groves, Kirkwood, Hazlewood, Ballwin are all good. To the south Oakville, Arnold, Imperial, Festus/Crystal City are all good. To the far north, St Charles, Wentzville and Troy are good.

Many good close Illinois towns..Bellville, Alton, Columbia...only problem with these is he has to cross the bridge to get to the city...and get home.

If your kids are older, St Louis has "magnet schools" for the teens...kids that have an interest in business, the arts, languages, the military (and probably some others...I don't have kids at home!) can attend these schools that have an emphasis on these subjects, so that's a positive.

And as far as earthquakes...don't get a place in the riverbottoms or built on sand and you'll most likely be ok. I would consider a basement a must because we do have our fair number of tornados.

JMHO...

Mon

[TRAILRIDER]

Just buy LOTS of mosquito repellent. My horses got big welts from the squitos there years ago. We were in East St. Louis. Mary.

[Cassie]

It's good to hear the crime may not be as bad as the statistics make it look. I like the idea that it's a good gardening area. I'm going to make a note of all the towns mentioned when/if we start looking and will stay away from the north! I'll definitely have a basement, I've seen too many tornados to not think about that.
We lived in the Ozarks before Tucson, so I know all about those pesky mosquitoes and ticks. I haven't seen a tick in Tucson, but we do have mosquitoes. Is there any place those suckers won't live?!
Thanks everyone for takng the time to give me your thoughts.

[CJ]

You might want to live on the Missouri side if you plan on being out a little ways, simply for the cheaper taxes... I believe Illinois will be much more expensive taxwise.

[Nancy]

We were working and living in the inner city of St. Louis in the 70's. We were with an inner city ministry at the time. Now the crime rate was high there but we were to dumb to know we were in danger The part I liked the least about St. Louis was the high humidity. At 80 degrees I felt it was almost unbearable. Maybe that's just me. But I was youngish at the time, in my 20's and heat didn't bother me to much. Of all the inner cities we lived in while with this ministry, St. Louis was my least favorite and we worked in some of the toughest, Newark, Wichita, and Los Angeles. Don't mean to discourage you though.

[Cusingeorge]

St. Peters, Chesterfield, Fenton, just about anything "west county" is good.

St. Louis is a great place, but you do have to pay attention to where you are. North county is rough, east of Maryland Heights is rough also.

Do not worry about the New Madrid Fault, much more activity down around Cape Girardeau/Sikeston.

[65284]

East St. Louis has a crime problem that makes St. Louis, MO seem piddling by comparison. I have lived in the Peoples Republic of Illinois, never again if I can possibly prevent it. Stay on he West side of the river unless you enjoy high taxes, very restrictive gun control laws, and extreme left wing liberal state state government with lots of corruption thrown in for free.

[Big Dave]

I would go spend the Summer with my Uncles family who lived in Creve Coeur which is a suburb of St Louis. There was some great times there and as a teen no crime to speak of. The people are rather stand offish. I took three years for the grocery sacker to talk to my aunt even when spoken to. Different parts of the country have different ways. Never felt a quake but, did see a tornado from where we were hit St. Louis. Pull up the newspaper and read about the area you are going to.

[Tricky Grama]

My DS and family have lived in Ballwin-a western suburb-for 18 yrs & love it. Younger DS lived in St. Charles & Wentzville, but long commute to the city. Personally, I LOVE St. Louis. However have not lived there.
My mom's family all were from there and she would go every summer to stay w/g'parents when she was a child. She re-located to St. L from the middle of KS when she was 75 and thought she'd already died & gone to heaven.
I think it's the greatest small city.

Patty

[AudzR]

I grew up about 45 miles east of STL in Greenville, IL and I love to visit STL. We most recently lived in Edwardsville and both of my sil's live in it's sister city Glen Carbon both are great small towns and good places to raise kids. I love TN and that's the only reason that we wouldn't move back (that and ongoing family drama up there).

[Karenrbw]

I don't know how far out you are looking when you say the St Louis area. Be aware that property taxes close to the metro area are pretty high. If you can get a little ways out of the city, you can find a nice, small town to live in.

[frogmammy]

Cassie,

You might keep this in mind also...a WHOLE lot of times when people refer to St Louis they include St Louis county...not just the city! That St Louis office job may VERY well be on the western or north-western side of the metro area...in fact, that's what/where they're calling "centrally located jobs" now. Rather irritating to me as that is a good twenty miles from where *I* live...and I'm just a hop and a skip to downtown!

If he ends up on the west side, you might consider Washington, MO. Mid-size hilly river town within a 45 minute commute (about, anyway) In the middle of wine country. Lot of things going on there, Very historic and touristy. Near Union, MO land is probably a lot cheaper but it's a poor area....there's also Owensville (smaller) and Bland (which is smaller yet and indeed, bland). Lot of choices to the west.

A little closer in, I have "doggy" friends (meaning people into dog showing/performance/etc) in Dittmer, House Springs, High Ridge. They tend to live there because less rules/laws concerning animals.

And BTW, that's something you'll need to check before moving into some place...some of the smaller towns connected to the city can have very stringent laws as to how many animals you can have and what kinds.

Mon

I just moved out of Crestwood, MO. It's by 44 and Big Bend/270. I liked the area, but I'm too country for it. We had low taxes there, but that was because of the mall....the mall that's dying, but they're trying to revive it via an art scene. The school district was great (Lindbergh), with our local grade school becoming a Gold Star School. Neighbors were awesome, too.


We just moved near Staunton, IL. It's so neat to hear of so many 'neighbors' on this board! I'm rather dismayed that no one has introduced themselves to us yet and we've been here 2 weeks. (OK, one guy did, but we hired him to do some work on the house before we moved here.). I hate to say it, but folks in Crestwood were way more friendly than they are out here in this small town.

As for earthquakes....there are 10 ways out of St. Louis County and City. NINE of them require bridges. Only Mancester Road (Route 100) is the only one that doesn't require a bridge once you get past 270.

[Cassie]

Thanks everyone, this has been so helpful. I'm taking notes.

[crobar]

St Louis zoo is free,or was, and 3rd rated in country. Botanical garden (called Shaw's garden) is 2nd or 3rd best in country. Several times rated the most affordable city (average home prices vs. average incomes) in America. Man, they have the baseball Cardinals. Haven't ever lived there, but love visiting.