Someone on city-data today was asking me about Castle Point. He wants to buy a house and fix it up. I don't know anything about it. So, I looked it up. Being in North County my first reaction was to be hesitant about buying anything there. But looking on the satellite image it looks like it has decent density (although suburban) and there's a community college, a high school, and a Jr High nearby, as well as a decent sized park. I believe the property he's looking at is a 3BR $52k house on Lord

http://www.robertsuggshomes.com/St_Loui ... 04558.html



It looks like the area is doing better than others in North County (as far as density anyway), but is the area as dangerous as North St. Louis is atleast perceived to be?



Some rapper's profile on Bebo (I know not the most reliable source) said that he grew up in Castle Point, an area with a lot of crime.



Anyway, I'd like to help this person, but I just can't. I did refer him here, but I haven't heard a reply from him yet. Here's the original post:

Anyone know what castle point area is like?



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My friend and I are considering doing a rehab project out of state. He was given a lead in castle point and neither of us have a clue what the area is like. Based on the sales price of this small home I can't imagine its great, but is it ok? Any help is greatly appreciated as wd don't want to make another mistake as we did in Detroit.

Here's a wiki image of the basic area

http://wikimapia.org/#lat=38.762115&lon ... =0&m=h&v=2



Thanks.

It is shocking how low density this old suburban area is, and how rural the area feels driving along Hwy 367, Halls Ferry Rd., and Bellefontaine Rd.



There are stark contrasts between new suburban areas in St. Charles County and these old North County suburban areas from the 1940s and 1950s. The older suburbs have fewer businesses along residential collector roads and fewer areas of high intensity use.

I grew up just across Halls Ferry Rd. from Castle Point. I haven't been through there in a few years, but it's a strange little pocket of dense squalor with a long history of being a bad neighborhood. As i'm told by my father who grew up in the same house, from nearly the time the subdivision was built it was a rough neighborhood. The Jr. High and High School nearby are both in the Riverview Gardens school district, which has had continual problems over the past 20 years, and the retail strip which backed up against the neighborhood, which used to contain a kmart, schnucks, 84 lumber, and Grandpa's store is now completely vacant and boarded up, with the exception of the kmart, which is now a self-storage business. If you're hesitant about North County in general, you should take a drive through the area before you even consider purchasing.



Qualifier: Like i said at the start, i havent been through the area in the past several years, and there is the possibility that things have turned around, but in the 90's i personally felt the area was more dangerous and crime ridden than most any other area in the city, ranking with Kinloch and small pockets of N. City

Well, if it were me I would look elsewhere, especially if I were buying to fix up and resell. At $52K, that house is already near the upper end of the price range for current Castle Point properties up for sale -- and there are a lot of them, just check www.cbgundaker.com.



Real or perceived, that particular area of NoCo has long had a reputation for crime and gang activity.



Personally, I would look more in the Ferguson area.



Just my $0.02.

I really appreciate the help. I passed it on.



I am kind of curious what kind of mistake he made in Detroit, but I'm not sure I should ask.

Where is Castle Point located in north St. Louis County?



I'm using 'Microsoft Streets and Trips' and I can't find it among the 4,000 little bergs in the area north of University City and Clayton.

I believe its about 6 miles southeast of Florissant.

steveinphila wrote:"Where is Castle Point located in north St. Louis County?"



It's on the north side of Chambers Road between Halls Ferry Road and Lewis & Clark Blvd. The streets in the development are all named for positions of royalty, i.e. Duke, Duchess, Empress, etc.



I recall that on the St. Louis County web site, Castle Point had been designated a housing preservation area, along with other 50's/60's era housing developments in the area, including Hathaway Manor North and Hathaway Manor South. Whether this did anything to stablize the area is highly questionable.

I see it now - bounded by 270 on the north, Chambers on the south, Lewis and Clark to the east and Halls Ferry to the west. It's surrounded by the cities of Bellefontaine Neighbors, Dellwood, Ferguson and Moline Acres.