urbanSTL

I think I'm narrowing back my search to Maplewood/Richmond Heights again. I keep mapping out the commutes for all these south city homes and I just can't imagine driving on 270 N 10 miles every morning and 270 S 10 miles every evening.



Dammit. I want to live in the city, there's just nothing convenient enough for work for me, considering the 40 shutdown in Jan 09.

Juice13610 wrote:I think I'm narrowing back my search to Maplewood/Richmond Heights again. I keep mapping out the commutes for all these south city homes and I just can't imagine driving on 270 N 10 miles every morning and 270 S 10 miles every evening.



Dammit. I want to live in the city, there's just nothing convenient enough for work for me, considering the 40 shutdown in Jan 09.

If you're going to do Maplewood, you might as well check out Dogtown too - great location.

I live in Soulard and work in Creve Couer. I take I-55 to I-70. 12 minutes to I-170 and then another 10 minutes along Olive (plus the 2-3 minutes down 170) and I'm there. More than a 30 minute commute is rare.



I don't know that Soulard or Benton Park is where you want to be, but just throwing out the idea you don't need to mess with 270 if you live in the city and are close to I-55.

^ I agree. What you really don't want to deal with is the 44-270 interchange at rush hour. It sucks big time.

DeBaliviere wrote:

Juice13610 wrote:I think I'm narrowing back my search to Maplewood/Richmond Heights again. I keep mapping out the commutes for all these south city homes and I just can't imagine driving on 270 N 10 miles every morning and 270 S 10 miles every evening.



Dammit. I want to live in the city, there's just nothing convenient enough for work for me, considering the 40 shutdown in Jan 09.

If you're going to do Maplewood, you might as well check out Dogtown too - great location.

Yeah, I kinda realized that after driving around Dogtown tonight. So, I'm looking in to Dogtown/Maplewood now. I still prefer the city, so hopefully I will get some calls back on the few I called today. We are going to do some more driving on Saturday..

Juice13610 wrote:I keep mapping out the commutes for all these south city homes and I just can't imagine driving on 270 N 10 miles every morning and 270 S 10 miles every evening.

Have you considered Tower Grove South? I work in Despair (Des Peres) and it takes me about 30 minutes to get to work max. I try to avoid the 44/270 Interchange in the mornings but in the evenings it's slow only to around Big Bend. It's smooth sailing from there.



Typical drive in to work:



1. Head west on Hartford St toward Morganford Rd - 236 ft

2. Turn right at Morganford Rd - 367 ft

3. Turn left at Arsenal St - 2.5 mi - 8 mins

4. Turn left at Jamieson Ave (signs for I-44 W) - 0.1 mi

5. Slight right to merge onto I-44 W - 6.4 mi - 7 mins

6. Take exit 277B for US-67 N/US-61 N- 0.2 mi

7. Merge onto S Kirkwood Rd/US-61/US-67 - 2.4 mi - 5 mins

8. Turn right at Morningside Dr - 0.1 mi

9. Turn left at N Taylor Ave - 0.4 mi 1 min

10. Turn left at Manchester Rd - 2.3 mi 6 mins

11. Slight right to stay on Manchester Rd - 0.1 mi



15.1 mi – about 31 mins





Now, my drive home is usually my chance for 'detox' so if Amy is working late, and I want to take the "scenic" route, I do something like this:



1. Turn right at Des Peres Rd - 1.3 mi - 4 mins

2. Turn right at Clayton Rd - 6.0 mi - 14 mins

3. Turn left at S Brentwood Blvd - 0.9 mi - 3 mins

4. Turn right at Forsyth Blvd - 2.2 mi - 8 mins

5. Continue on Lagoon Dr - 1.0 mi - 3 mins

6. Slight right at Grand Dr - 0.5 mi - 2 mins

7. Turn left at Government Dr - 0.1 mi

8. Turn right at Lindell Blvd - 2.3 mi - 7 mins

9. Turn right at N Grand Blvd - 2.4 mi - 8 mins

10. Turn right at Arsenal St - 0.9 mi - 2 mins

11. Turn left at Bent Ave - 367 ft

12. Turn right at Hartford St - 0.1 mi



18.3 mi – about 50 mins



That takes you through Frontenac and Ladue; then through part of downtown Clayton; then past Washington University whose collegiate gothic architecture I am very fond of and never get tired of looking at; then through a slice of Forest Park where you can see the Art Museum and Grand Basin; then down Lindell, where you see some of my favorite buildings in that area, including the Cathedral Basilica; then down Grand where you pass the Compton Hill water tower and from there it's Arsenal to side streets into Tower Grove South.



Long and WAY out of the way? Yes. However I always feel better when I get home after taking this route.



I drive about 30 miles each day on average so I have to put gas in my Civic about every 10 days or so.



Anyway, are you looking to rent or buy? I don't know much about the rental market in this area but if you're looking to buy, I can recommend an excellent real estate agent who specializes in City neighborhoods and is extremely good to work with. I'm sure he could take you to some spots that you would have never found on your own.



Good luck in your search! Sorry for the long post.



Dustin

After several hours of driving around Dogtown and The Hill, I've decided they must be good areas because nobody is renting a damned house out. Seriously, I bet we drove 4-6 hours and we found 7 numbers to call, 5 of whom who are yet to call back.

Juice, there are several apartments to rent in the moorlands. It's not far at all from dogtown and your commute to CC would be a snap. In fact, there are several for rent signs on my street alone, and many of them are very affordable.

The Moorlands...is that a neighborhood or complex or what?

^ Thanks, I will check it out then.

^Well, remember; there's a reason the house is so cheap.

Juice13610 wrote:Wow. Talk about a total 180 in my mood.



I just looked at the STLMPD.org crime stats for Dec-Mar. Holy sh*t.



Is Dutchtown really that bad? I mean, we are getting a good deal, but damn...I'm leaving a wife and 10 month old home alone all day.

Yes. Personally, I would not live in Dutchtown.



Where I would rent:

Shaw

Clifton Heights

Southwest Garden

Dogtown

Hill (areas around Shaw/Hereford)



Maplewood is nice. I lived there for a year before I bought my house on the Hill.



Sidebar on the Crime Stats: Thank you for posting this; It's been a while since I've seen this data. Forest Southeast has terrible stats! Look at Academy and Foutain Park. Wow. Textbook example of "Stigmatized Property"



Is the Moorlands Hi-pointe/Skinker/Clayton area? Is the Moorlands within the city limits?



Good Luck, man

Do not rent that house. ttricamo's list is a good one.



The Moorlands is/are part of Clayton, BTW.

Thanks again guys.



Does anyone have any suggestions to look online besides Craigslist and Backpage? We've been doing a lot of driving (6 hours?) in the past 2 or 3 days. Gas is too expensive to do this every day until we move.

^ another option is Coldwell Banker Gundaker, though I'm not sure how good it is at finding rental properties.

The Moorelands is a great neighborhood, but I think it might be a bit out of Juice's price range.



You might try Garcia Properties. They own lots of nice buildings just West of Kingshighway, South of Arsenel. I think most of them tend to be one-bedroom, though.



One of the Garcias is a member of this forum, and is building a new home for themselves in the nieghborhood.



http://www.garciaproperties.addr.com/

Yeah, it's a pretty safe bet than anything in Clayton is out of my price range. We're pretty discouraged about the Dutchtown house. If we could only describe how perfect this place was



I checked out Garcia, and you were right, everything they had available was 1 br. We would really like a house, a duplex being our second choice. We live in an apartment right now and the noise is awful.



I know finding a house in that range is difficult, but I also think its doable. We just aren't going to get the nicest house in the nicest part of STL.

Juice

You may have better luck in the next couple months. Fewer people move in the winter so less properties become available. I wouldn't give up on Dogtown, esp. the south side of the neighborhood--streets like Dale, Mitchell. I've seen quite a few houses for rent in that area. If you have questions with an address feel free to PM me.

So we all agree that Tholozan in the Northhampton neighborhood is a nice area? The crime stats look great compared to Dutchtown.





I just remembered the house in Dutchtown, so I'm going to go cry now.

Tholozan is a great street. I live on Lindenwood just a couple bocks over.