St Louis Housing

Started by rubjosh
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rubjosh

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So I matched at Barnes, and I really don't remember much about St Louis from my interview. Currently doing research on housing, and wondering if anyone (residencts, students, people from st louis) has any advice. Have heard really good things about Chesterfield, Richmond Heights, Ballwin, Kirkwood and Webster. But they seem pretty far from Barnes and Im not a big fan of a long commute. Clayton I heard is nice, close to the hospital, but pretty expensive. Central West End I guess would be the best because it's closest to the hospital. Is the area nice? And how about downtown? I heard a lot of new housing is going up, but is it nice, safe, afforable, etc?

Any advice? I will be there for 5 years so I will be buying and not renting. Any info would be greatly appreciated. Good luck to all who will be starting residency in two months!
 
rubjosh said:
So I matched at Barnes, and I really don't remember much about St Louis from my interview. Currently doing research on housing, and wondering if anyone (residencts, students, people from st louis) has any advice. Have heard really good things about Chesterfield, Richmond Heights, Ballwin, Kirkwood and Webster. But they seem pretty far from Barnes and Im not a big fan of a long commute. Clayton I heard is nice, close to the hospital, but pretty expensive. Central West End I guess would be the best because it's closest to the hospital. Is the area nice? And how about downtown? I heard a lot of new housing is going up, but is it nice, safe, afforable, etc?

Any advice? I will be there for 5 years so I will be buying and not renting. Any info would be greatly appreciated. Good luck to all who will be starting residency in two months!
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I'm graduating from WashU this May and know the area pretty well. I think CWE is the best place to live, because you don't have to drive. With the new highway project in sight for St. Louis (major expansion of 64/40), I'd seriously think hard about living anywhere that would require commuting on 64/40. The project is expected to start in early 2007. So, eliminate Ballwin, Brentwood, Chesterfield. Kirkwood And Webster Groves are fine, because highway 44 is usually not congested (but I suspect it will probably get worse as more people will use 44 to avoid the construction on 64). Clayton and Richmond Heights and University City are also fine, because you can drive on city streets to get to work. Downtown is not safe, but it is probably OK because you'll be driving from a parking garage to another parking garage.

Besides CWE, other popular places are the DeBalievere area (I'm sure I spelled that wrong) and Dogtown. Both are about 5-10min drive or 10-15min bike ride away from Barnes.

New housing is almost always NOT affordable on a resident's salary, unless you are selling your condo is LA and moving with some serious cash (250-400K). CWE is generally is more expensive than the other areas, with the exception of Clayton. Condos and townhomes in CWE are $150s-250s. Houses are 350s and up. In CWE, you'd want a place with secured parking. I don't know if you walked around CWE when you interviewed, but there are a lot of nice restaurants, coffee shops, and bars in this area. Both Straubs and Schnucks (grocery stores) are within walking distance and another one will probably be open soon after they finish the construction of the latest condo high-rise located a block away from the med campus.

You can PM me if you have more questions or want to hear about my CWE condo which will be on the market soon (sorry for the shameless ad 😳 ).
 
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