Wash U location question

[Syranope2]

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I found a nice house at a nice price just south of the med school, but I'm not sure if I'll have a chance to go out and see it. It's on Taylor, a few blocks south of 64. I was wondering if anyone knew what the neighborhood was like out there. Are the houses nice with yards and trees and stuff? Or is it kinda ew? Thanks for the help 🙂

 

[beriberi]

Just south of the medical school can be very sketchy. It where I would buy if I wanted to invest, because that neighborhood is growing (I can think of six new businesses in the past few years). Things are going up tremendously in value and there are some great gems. However, it is very patchy. 4 years ago, no med students lived there, now a handful in every class do. I am not sure I would want to rent/buy sight unseen in that area--you could be next to a really bad or abandoned house.

 

[johnd]

Just got done searching for houses several weeks ago in st louis and agree completely with what the previous poster said. You might get stuck with a place that would be hard to resell due to the surrounding neighborhood. A desirable area can turn into an undesirable area in a matter of blocks. Also, most of these houses are really old. I would be really, really nervous about buying one of them sight unseen.

It might help if you knew the name of the city its in. THe more desirable areas are probably clayton (prob too expensive), university city, richmond heights, webster groves from what I saw.

 

[beriberi]

Let me clarify a bit more: I would buy in this area (if I had physically been in the house and seen that it was not near a crack den) because the houses are old and nice and I think the values will skyrocket in the next 5-10 years.

I would never rent in this area because you have a lot of people who have little impetus to keep their house nice (i.e. Slum lords) and there will be no financial benefit to you as a renter for taking a chance on a developing neighborhood.

If you are renting sight unseen, stick to the CWE or Debaulivere area where there is a ton of student housing (though surely more expensive). Most people move after their first year anyways.

 

[MSHARO]

Yeah..I'd stay away from that area. CWE is prob. your best bet if you are looking for walking distance. If you are looking to spend a little more (much higher resale in return though) look towards the other side of the park in DeMun area. It isn't walking distance (10 min drive in the morning, 15-25 in the evening) but the places are awesome, it is a cool, very safe neighborhood, and right on 2 parks. I lived there when I was in grad school and ended up making a pretty good profit when I left.

 

[bchang74]

I grew up in St. Louis and am doing my residency at WashU, and i would say that I would avoid buying in that area.

I agree with the others who have posted replies....if you are looking to buy within walking distance, I would look in the Central West End: specific streets would be: Laclede, West Pine, Maryland, McCausland. I would not go any further east than Grand, any further North than McCausland, and any further south of Forest Park Expressway.

A good place to look would be Union / Debalievere (sp?) and Waterman Blvd.

However, i just bought a house in St. Louis and prices in the CWE are quite pricey.

After having bought and sold my own homes, remember that the most important thing with real estate is location, location, and location.....people say that it is better to have the worst house in a good neighborhood, than to have the best house in a bad neighborhood.

Also, keep in mind that with St. Louis, people / real estate agents primarily search for homes based on School District, when it comes time for you to sell, you want to appeal to as many buyers as possible, and most people are not entralled with St. Louis City Schools.

If you are student, clayton is probably out of your price range. Good places to live that are still affordable are: Brentwood, Maplewood, Rock Hill, Webster Groves, Kirkwood.

Also, I am assuming that you are going to have a car (almost a must in St. Louis), if that is the case, keep in mind that Interstate 44 is where most of the affordable housing is, and traffic is a lot lighter on I-44 compared to I-64/40...personally, my new home is in Ballwin, MO about a 20 - 30 minute drive on I-44 to the medical center (I-44 exit at kingshighway, then north to kingshighway to the medical center (~2 miles on Kingshighway))....

One more thing, the Washington University Medical Center Housestaff Auxillary, publishes a pretty good guide that talks about where to live in St. Louis....you can find it here:

http://www.wumcha.com/WUMCHA_Welcome_Guide_2004-05_webversion.doc

Hope that helps...
If you have any other questions, feel free to PM me....

 

[beriberi]

I think the above poster means McPherson, not McCausland.

Otherwise--I would agree. There is a lot of affordable housing in the south city area (south tower grove park)- nice area, 10 minutes from school.

 

[Syranope2]

Thanks for all your help. I didn't make it clear above that we'll be renting rather than buying. The house is actually located on Taylor and Gibson, two blocks south of 64. My roommate's aunt lives in St. Louis, so she might take a look at it for us. But now I probably won't agree to anything without going out there myself. (Although you guys really have taken the wind out of my sails - I was very excited about it 😉 )

 

[bchang74]

thanks to beri-beri...i did mean mcpherson and not mccausland.

I just wanted to say that if you are renting another resource that you might consider is the GME office at the medical school...i know that they have listings for rental properties for the residents, but i am sure that they would share it with you if you were a medical student.

if you need the phone number to the GME office, let me know.

Also, i lived in an apartment on West Pine (4949 west pine) (between Euclid and Taylor)...it was a good deal....$450 / month included all utilities, except cable TV and phone (but A/C and Heat were included)......

Ben

 

[Smoke This]

Thanks for all your help. I didn't make it clear above that we'll be renting rather than buying. The house is actually located on Taylor and Gibson, two blocks south of 64. My roommate's aunt lives in St. Louis, so she might take a look at it for us. But now I probably won't agree to anything without going out there myself. (Although you guys really have taken the wind out of my sails - I was very excited about it 😉 )

Taylor south of 64 is not a good area. Some medical students live on the side streets off Taylor just south of 64 like Arco, Choteau, and Gibson which are actually decent buildings, but this area overall is definitely sketchy. I would be afraid to walk back from the medical center at night to there.

 

[DireWolf]

St. Louis Hills/Holly Hills/Shrewsbury are also safe, affordable neighborhoods. And they have access to I-55 and I-44, which are the best highways in terms of traffic.

I have several friends who work/go to school at WashU and SLU that have bought homes in these neighborhoods.