St Louis where to live?

[hillymum]

I know nothing about Mo so please help me out here! If you could live anywhere in or in a decent commutable distance from St Louis where would you be? I am looking for somewhere where I will be able to have a .20 acre back yard. (or there abouts)
TIA!!!

[greenmagick]

If money were no object, I would pick Webster Groves or there are some areas in south city were there are big yards. However, there are a lot of great places around so a lot would depend on personal interests, commute, if public schools are an issue, etc. University City is my favorite of the area, but most of the yards are too small for my taste or the few that have double lots or big yards are out of my price range.

[3xx1xyFamily]

I recently moved to STL with no prior knowledge of the area. After spending sometime looking around I really like Webster Groves, University City, Ladue & Creve Coeur, but we ended up choosing a house in a small community called Bel Nor, the surrounding areas aren't the best but the community itself is friendly and beautiful. I don't have school aged kids, so I haven't looked into the school district yet.

[Masel]

Brentwood. There are a lot of houses for sale there. It is close to everything though highway work will make some commutes annoying for another couple years. There is a wide variety of house and lot sizes.

[AfricanQueen99]

Once the highway opens back up you'll be able to get to most outlying areas within 20-30 minutes (from the city, if that's what you mean by STL since we refer to our city and our county as that).

I can live anywhere and would still choose a place within either the Parkway or Rockwood school districts. That's a pretty big area and will give you mid-sized houses with a nice sized lot.

If you're looking for "quaint" or cool parts of town I'd suggest Brentwood/Richmond Heights or Webster Groves (all those school districts are pretty good, too).

[greenmagick]

oops, I forgot to mention Kirkwood. I would love to live within walking distance of their farmer's market:)

Really, there are so many great areas to live....let us know more of what you are looking for and we can probably offer a ton of options.

[SomedayMom]

I grew up in Creve Coeur. I went to private schools, but that is Parkway School District. It's a nice area, but a little on the pricey side. My parents could not afford their house now.

We are moving back and we chose to move to Wildwood. We'll be working farther out though...St. Charles area most likely, possibly Eureka or around there. I love Wildwood...we have a 2 acre lot, trees, wildlife, but we're still relatively close to the major areas of Chesterfield and the new Wildwood Town Center. It would not be the most convenient for a downtown commute though.

My husband would not go for some of the other places I like. As far as older houses with character, I love the central west end, webster groves, kirkwood. I also love Clayton.

For school districts...Rockwood, Clayton, Lindbergh, Ladue, Parkway...I'm not up on the others.

People in St. Louis also think direction. North, South, and West County, central county. I would choose west or central followed by south. I would personally not choose north, but there are nice areas there too I'm sure.

Then you have St. Charles, a bit of a tough commute and very suburban, but growing fast. You also have the suburbs on the east side...we have a few friends in Edwardsville and they love it.

I think the city has some great areas with cool housing, but horrible schools. So the choice to live in the city has to consider what your schooling choice will be. If it's home or private, you can find some great spots. If it's public, you may not want to consider it.

[treehuggermama]

I live on the Illinois side of the river and there are some great spots around here too that are only a 20min drive to downtown STL. O'Fallon in particular has a great school district, is family friendly, smoke free in restaurants and there is a ton to do with preschool aged children. If you want more info feel free to PM me.

[prairiesprite]

Are you looking for good public schools? Price range? If you are looking for .2 acres that tells me you would lean toward either St. Louis City proper or one of the walkable inner-ring suburbs (Clayton, Maplewood, Richmond Heights, U-City, Olivette or maybe near the downtown parts of Kirkwood or Webster Groves). However, it can be a challenge to find something affordable in these areas in a good school district.

[MommyDOK]

I highly recommend renting for 6 months first. THere are many, very different areas to St.Louis, each w/ their own pro's and con's. You'll know more once you get here and get settled.

If you are working downtown, I would not go too far out---St. Charles, Creve Coeur, Wildwood etc. bc you will spend lots of time/money commuting---even w/ the new 40.

Prices are great right now for homebuying, but you'll still get good prices in 6 months.

Another thing to consider is property taxes. They vary widely in the county/city and Illinois.
Good luck!!