My wife, four year-old son, and I live in Carondelet. We're actually in the portion north and west of Interstate 55, so we're closer to Dutchtown and Holly Hills than the true heart of the Carondelet neighborhood.
We live in a brick bungalow built in 1924 with two bedrooms and approximately 1200SF. It's a Craftsman style house- the front porch has its own gable, there are stained glass windows in the living room flanking the fireplace as well as the master bedroom, an alcove separates the living and dining spaces, and there are French doors leading to the master bedroom from an interior hallway and to the sunporch from the kitchen. There's a cottage-style frame house across the street, and all other houses on the block are one-story flat-roofed brick homes, most of which have shotgun floorplans.
Overall I like my house, as it's a quiet block within walking distance of good restaurants (two of which are great Mexican restaurants), and Carondelet Park is a spirited yet relatively close stroll away. It's a very diverse area with a steadily growing Hispanic population (Saint Cecilia's, the city's Hispanic parish, is nearby).
The cons? Well, like the article that once appared in The Onion, sometimes I feel like I'm the only one gentrifying my neighborhood. (We're already losing another couple with children thanks to the Highway 40 reconstruction...they commute to Chesterfield.) There are some nuisance properties on nearby blocks that are crime magnets and they bring down the neighborhood's appearance and perception of safety. Fortunately, a neighborhood watch program has been established, and there is a plan in place to deal with the problem properties that I think will pay off as long as everyone involved (myself included) stays focused.
So, we like our area for now, as the amenities within walking distance, quiet setting, and the short driving distance to areas like downtown, Soulard, and South Grand are big plusses. However, we essentially bought a starter home, so when the time comes, we'll probably look in another area of the city for our next purchase (with our son's future in mind, it will be preferably somewhere with a relatively stable parish and school). Although we have absolutely no intention of leaving the city, we're also casually looking at neighboring communities like Maplewood, Richmond Heights, and Shrewsbury for our next home (we'll probably move in 2 or 3 years).
I'd love to live in a more urban setting, but my wife and my son are hooked on the idea of having a yard (which I maintain, of course). That doesn't mean I won't keep trying to change their minds, even if I'm completely cool with the idea of staying in the Bungalow Belt.
