Places to consider buying in the St. Louis, MO area

July 15, 2019 7:14 AM

In the next few months we may be moving to the St. Louis area and buying a house. Neither of us has lived there for years and we're overwhelmed by the options. Please suggest some areas we should look in based on what we want:

We currently live in Cleveland Heights, OH and love that we have a walkable neighborhood, are close enough to neighbors that we get to know them, and have just a half-miler walk to a grocery store, restaurants, shops, and a playground (of those, grocery store and playground are probably the most important). Dense, walkable neighborhoods with mostly single-family homes is our preferred style, and having a big yard isn't important (in fact, in some ways we prefer small yards). We've got kids and would like a good school district, though how good is "good enough" is hard to pin down. We're trying to stay close to both Forest Park to be near work and Town and Country and Maryland Heights to be near family.

So far people have recommended looking in Clayton ($$ but not completely out of the question), Webster Groves, and Kirkwood. We'd like to know if those are good recommendations and if there are other areas we should look in.

posted by Tehhund to Home & Garden (7 answers total)

There are parts of U-City that would fit the bill (near the loop, bordering Clayton), but the walkable grocery store probably eliminates that. The schools also aren't great, although sending your kids to private school is a time-honored STL tradition.

Clayton is really nice - you get what you pay for. I kind of remember Webster Groves being expensive too, but it's been a while since I thought about it.

Personally, if I were going to be buying in the STL area, I'd be looking between Clayton and Webster Groves. Richmond Heights, Maplewood, Brentwood, etc., which I think would fit your criteria well (caveat: assuming you're not black).
posted by kevinbelt at 7:50 AM on July 15, 2019 [4 favorites]

I grew up in Webster Groves. Very residential, and you can find areas that are walkable to small business districts. Usually those parts are the more expensive parts, but not necessarily. Try the area around Blackburn Park, which has smaller houses and properties, and is not far from Edgar Road Elementary, the junior high and not that far from the high school. Same goes for Kirkwood, which even has more small business districts, but of course I am legally obligated to say Kirkwood sux.
posted by Liesl at 8:54 AM on July 15, 2019 [3 favorites]

The thing to note about schools not being great in some areas is that studies have shown (don't have the link offhand) that if you are decently well-off and of privilege, sending your kids to not-great public schools likely won't hurt their performance and likely will be beneficial to those around them. Sending your kids to private school is what I would consider an unfortunate St. Louis tradition that tends to have a lot more to do with race, class, and/or religion than actual public-school quality. I'm certainly not saying everyone who sends their kids to private school (or went to private school themselves) in St. Louis is wholly racist or classist, because that would be unfair to and untrue of several MeFite friends, among many others I know, heh. But I am saying it would be nice to see folks who are new to the area reverse that "tradition" a bit, and you should understand its underpinnings.

If diversity matters to you, I would suggest looking at University City (School District of University City); Olivette (Ladue School District at one corner, if you can find a house you like there, and I think the western part might overlap with Parkway Schools); or Richmond Heights (Maplewood Richmond Heights School District). Maplewood and Brentwood are also nice, but like Webster Groves and Kirkwood, they're very white. Anecdotally, I also feel like it's harder to find a place with a decent amount of space that's not super expensive in Brentwood, and the road maintenance and walkability in that fairly commercial area can be problematic. I don't know enough about St. Louis city schools currently to provide any sort of useful insight or overview, but I do know there are also a good few walkable, wonderfully diverse and lively city neighborhoods to which the notes in the above paragraph would also apply.

Walkability in general can be a bit difficult to find in St. Louis. Of the areas mentioned, parts of University City, Olivette, Maplewood, and St. Louis city are probably the most walkable in the sense you're considering.
posted by limeonaire at 9:35 AM on July 15, 2019 [6 favorites]

I grew up in Beachwood although Cleveland Heights is my favorite CLE suburb. I current live in University City, MO and am moving to Clayton soon. I've lived in St. Louis for 17 years so I have a good feel for both cities. I also have 2 young kids. Feel free to PM me with any specific questions.
posted by rglass at 12:27 PM on July 15, 2019 [2 favorites]

I know for a fact that a very adorable house in a great neighborhood has just hit the market.* South City is quite walkable and there are tons of good restaurants nearby. Also the yards are good sized and the neighborhood is close to everything.

Personally, when we lived in STL, we made the choice to live in the actual city limits because that was important to us. South City fits that bill nicely.

*This was our old house and I still miss it. Although the new people did some horrible things in regard to painting in the kitchen, but it's no big thing.
posted by teleri025 at 3:43 PM on July 15, 2019 [1 favorite]

Kirkwood, Brentwood, Maplewood, Richmond Heights, Webster Groves are all nice older suburbs with decent school districts and walkable neighborhoods. Housing stock in these areas tends to be older and a bit on the smaller size. But the homes are solid and they'll hold their value, especially along the booming 40 corridor. Crestwood might be another option. It lacks a town center, but it's centrally located and in a good school district. Crestwood has some great mid-century neighborhoods if you're into that style.

The city of St. Louis has some wonderful historic walkable neighborhoods, but the public schools are not good at all. Many city-dwellers send their children to private schools. South city -- Holly Hills, Lafayette Square, Carondelet, Shaw, Tower Grove ... gorgeous architecture, lots of diversity and great little shops and restaurants. Many of these neighborhoods have community events like food truck Fridays, movies, yoga, and live music in the parks, farmer's markets, etc. Don't mistake a bad school district for a lack of community involvement. A lot of the city neighborhoods are still close-knit.
posted by Ostara at 12:49 PM on July 16, 2019 [2 favorites]

I second Brentwood, particularly near the high school. There has been a wave of teardowns in Brentwood, as some of the smaller homes have made way for overly-stuffed lots, but if you are east of Brentwood Boulevard, you can still find some pleasant starter homes. Brentwood is walkable, but it doesn't have what I would call a downtown--you'd need to be in Kirkwood, Webster Groves, or Clayton for that (and Clayton is probably out of your price range).

Rock Hill and Glendale are close to Brentwood. While there are some housing stock overlaps between the two places, I wouldn't call Rock Hill a walkable community. Glendale is more walkable, and so is adjoining Oakland, but both of these towns are a) really small, and b) pricey due to their proximity to WG and Kirkwood.
posted by stannate at 7:51 AM on July 18, 2019