Greetings. I'm a new member and this post will serve, I hope, as an introduction.
My wife and I at 62 and retired are at a crossroads. We currently own and live in a very large Victorian Queen Anne building with three rental units in an outer borough of New York City.
After 17 years of steady infusions of cash and physical work, we have mostly restored the abandoned wreck we bought in 1987. While we can't imagine owning a property that doesn't contain at least one rental unit, we know that at our ages we can't continue this level of property management indefinitely. So, we wonder, what comes next?
One strategy we've talked about is relocating to an urban center where the pace is a bit slower and the cost of living is lower. The question is, which urban center? At this point--and with winter approaching--my researches are taking place exclusively online, which may distort my perceptions. But based on what I've seen, St. Louis--despite a truly shocking pattern of post-1960s disinvestment and abandonment, profiled on sites such as BUILT ST. LOUIS and ECOLOGY OF ABSENCE--seems actively to be fighting back and with a preservation ethos.
That's an attractive state of affairs for people like us, born and bred urbanites who raised our own children in the same city we grew up in. But we're kind of shooting blind at this point, since neither of us knows St. Louis (I've been there only once, and very briefly, a long time ago, and my wife not at all). So I'm posting here to ask for your thoughts, your perspective, your advice. Here are the principal areas of concern:
DIVERSITY. I'm white and Jewish and a freelance writer; she's black and a former school system program administrator. Married 40+ years, our differing races have never been a problem for us in New York. Would they be a problem in St. Louis--specifically, in its hipper downtown neighborhoods? Which neighborhoods would be most congenial? We're not looking to integrate a formerly all-white community; we just want to fit in, live, and let live. We're most comfortable in the sort of neighborhood we live in now--diverse in every way, meaning not just color and ethnicity, but age and class as well.
MASS TRANSIT. Like many New Yorkers, I don't drive and don't want to. Being able to walk to basic services, and having access to whatever bus and light rail lines are available, are hugely important considerations.
HABITABLE, BUT NOT 'REHABBED.' Distinguished architecture, original proportions and intact details are more important to us than cosmetics or upgrades like granite countertops. As long as the basic systems and structural elements are in sound shape, we can take it from there. The ideal situation for us would be an estate sale of a property that was moderately well taken care of by its former owners, but whose systems and decoration have not been updated in many years.
PLOT SIZE. We need a modest amount of room for outdoor seating and entertaining; and for planting beds for herbs, perennials and dwarf trees.
INTERIOR SQUARE FOOTAGE. In our own portion of the house, a triplex, we now have 2800 square feet on three floors--a pretty vertical arrangement. We could do perfectly well with 2000 square feet, or even less, depending on how it's arranged. Fewer, bigger rooms would be better than a greater number of smaller ones. We like ease of movement from room to room, particularly on the main floor; but we like rooms with doors, so spaces can be made private when necessary.
INCOME UNIT(S). Yes, please. At least one.
NEIGHBORHOODS. Based on my online researches, the St. Louis neighborhoods of Soulard, Benton Park and Tower Grove South and Heights seem promising. Am I wrong? Is there some other neighborhood I should be looking at?
PRICE: Based on a review of properties in neighborhoods like Benton Park, Soulard and Tower Grove Heights and South, we believe we should expect a price in the low to mid $200s.
THANK YOU. I know this was a lot to read, and I thank you for plowing through it. I also have to thank you, in advance, for any information, ideas or random thoughts you may care to share.
bencharif
My wife and I at 62 and retired are at a crossroads. We currently own and live in a very large Victorian Queen Anne building with three rental units in an outer borough of New York City.
After 17 years of steady infusions of cash and physical work, we have mostly restored the abandoned wreck we bought in 1987. While we can't imagine owning a property that doesn't contain at least one rental unit, we know that at our ages we can't continue this level of property management indefinitely. So, we wonder, what comes next?
One strategy we've talked about is relocating to an urban center where the pace is a bit slower and the cost of living is lower. The question is, which urban center? At this point--and with winter approaching--my researches are taking place exclusively online, which may distort my perceptions. But based on what I've seen, St. Louis--despite a truly shocking pattern of post-1960s disinvestment and abandonment, profiled on sites such as BUILT ST. LOUIS and ECOLOGY OF ABSENCE--seems actively to be fighting back and with a preservation ethos.
That's an attractive state of affairs for people like us, born and bred urbanites who raised our own children in the same city we grew up in. But we're kind of shooting blind at this point, since neither of us knows St. Louis (I've been there only once, and very briefly, a long time ago, and my wife not at all). So I'm posting here to ask for your thoughts, your perspective, your advice. Here are the principal areas of concern:
DIVERSITY. I'm white and Jewish and a freelance writer; she's black and a former school system program administrator. Married 40+ years, our differing races have never been a problem for us in New York. Would they be a problem in St. Louis--specifically, in its hipper downtown neighborhoods? Which neighborhoods would be most congenial? We're not looking to integrate a formerly all-white community; we just want to fit in, live, and let live. We're most comfortable in the sort of neighborhood we live in now--diverse in every way, meaning not just color and ethnicity, but age and class as well.
MASS TRANSIT. Like many New Yorkers, I don't drive and don't want to. Being able to walk to basic services, and having access to whatever bus and light rail lines are available, are hugely important considerations.
HABITABLE, BUT NOT 'REHABBED.' Distinguished architecture, original proportions and intact details are more important to us than cosmetics or upgrades like granite countertops. As long as the basic systems and structural elements are in sound shape, we can take it from there. The ideal situation for us would be an estate sale of a property that was moderately well taken care of by its former owners, but whose systems and decoration have not been updated in many years.
PLOT SIZE. We need a modest amount of room for outdoor seating and entertaining; and for planting beds for herbs, perennials and dwarf trees.
INTERIOR SQUARE FOOTAGE. In our own portion of the house, a triplex, we now have 2800 square feet on three floors--a pretty vertical arrangement. We could do perfectly well with 2000 square feet, or even less, depending on how it's arranged. Fewer, bigger rooms would be better than a greater number of smaller ones. We like ease of movement from room to room, particularly on the main floor; but we like rooms with doors, so spaces can be made private when necessary.
INCOME UNIT(S). Yes, please. At least one.
NEIGHBORHOODS. Based on my online researches, the St. Louis neighborhoods of Soulard, Benton Park and Tower Grove South and Heights seem promising. Am I wrong? Is there some other neighborhood I should be looking at?
PRICE: Based on a review of properties in neighborhoods like Benton Park, Soulard and Tower Grove Heights and South, we believe we should expect a price in the low to mid $200s.
THANK YOU. I know this was a lot to read, and I thank you for plowing through it. I also have to thank you, in advance, for any information, ideas or random thoughts you may care to share.
bencharif
