gladiator

Ok Fodors board, you have been helpful before so here goes....I am relocating to St. Louis however I am not an urban dweller. The outer suburbs is my style (yes I know I am one of the few who like a starbux on every corner and strip malls). Anyway I will be working downtown, on Jefferson St to be exact. Creve Coeur seems like a really good spot, and maybe Clayton. Does anyone know what my commute time would be from these places? (Yes I could mapquest it but nothing beats real world input). Also any input on the pros and cons of living in these places would be helpful as well. Thank you in advance!

dweebe

I assume you're coming to work at the old AG Edwards after Wachovia gobbled them up? (Merger? Yeah right.)

Anyway, the suburbs you are looking at are not the type you describe. Both are older suburbs (inner-ring) with most of the housing stock 40 to 80 years old. Both are fine areas and I live in Clayton. But in fact I would describe Clayton as mostly urban.

With Clayton you're looking at a 10 to 20 minute drive to downtown and Creve Coeur is 15 to 30 minutes. However the reconstruction of I-64 will mess with this. But the advantage with Clayton is Metrolink runs through: so you could easily take the train to work. (Wachovia runs shuttle buses from the Union Station stop).

If you're more into the true suburban areas you should look at the following towns outside the 270 loop:
-Ballwin
-Manchester
-Chesterfield
-Maryland Heights
-Hazlewood
-Florrisant
-Oakville
Those are all in St. Louis county and are around 30 minute drives to downtown.

Further out is St. Charles Couhty with the following towns:
-St. Charles
-St. Peters
-O Fallon (MO)
These are all around 45 to 60 minutes to downtown.

You can also look at the Illinois side of the river.
-Belleville
-Swansea
-O Fallon (IL)
-Edwardsville
-Collinsville
All these vary from 30 to 60 minutes rush-hour drives to downtown. But Metrolink also runs through some of these suburbs.

dweebe

Edit: most homes in Creve Coeur are 30 to 50 years old. That area really popped in the 60's.

Most homes in Clayton are 50 to 80 years old. My place was built in 1927.

gladiator

Thanks, Dweebe that was very helpful. And yes, I am part of the Wachovia deal (yes Wachovia is a gobbler. Thanks for listing the commute times too. One hour is too much for me. I will be renting initially, so will end up in one of those typical suburb apts with all the amenities. So I will start looking at the communities outside the 270 loop. I was actually told OFallon, IL is a good place, but I wonder if it is too far as far as social scene is concerned, i.e restaurants, bars, shops,etc. CWE keeps popping up as a place where 30 somethings go??

Liz5959

With the Highway 40(I64) closure scheduled through Jan. 2010, (if they are actually on time), I would suggest heading South, someplace you could commute in to to AG Edwards/Wachovia via I44.

Although I don't understand if you are into a 30's social scene, why you would want to be so far away. There are great new loft aparments all over downtown. Walkable to restaurants and your Starbucks, easy to catch the Metrolink, close to the ball park, they're all newly done, so have many ammenities. You should not just think suburbs - JMHO. And the commute from Creve Coeur (part of which is inside, and part outside of 270), Manchester, Ballwin will be awful until the highway re-opens.

gladiator

Lol...You are right Liz, if it were just me I would move closer, but unfortunately I won't be moving alone and relationships are a compromise (which means I have no choice basically.)
Actually, someone has told my better half good things about OFallon, IL which means I have to look into now...lol.
Highway closures are something to keep in mind as well, 2010 is a long time. Thanks for the info

Liz5959

So, are you looking for school districts? Closer to your "better half's" job? Room for a dog? What is the motivation for deep suburbs? I certainly understand compromise, but I think people could help you better if we understood the reasons for wanting to be so isolated in a new city. There are strip malls and Starbucks in inner suburbs too

I'm sure O'Fallon, IL is a fine suburb to live in, at least the highway is still intact. Although my DD drove in from CT last week, and the only place she got stuck was on the East side. She could see the Arch, but they were in traffic for an hour.

annesherrod

I would really think twice abuot the commute over the bridge coming from Illinois - It is always stacked up!

Clayton is a fabulous area - great school district, shops, restauratns, easy access to the Metro Link, easy to get to Airport and sports events.

Creve Coeur will certainly be a longer commute even when the HWY is completed. The school district is OK. I dont find that it has much character in my opinion. All the subdivisions look alike..... It has plently of strip malls though - all up and dwon Olive St. I loath that street - it is always jammed up too.

Also Clayton has plenty of Starbucks and even better locally owned coffee shops that are 100% better! Next weekend there will be the St Louis Jazz festival and the Taste of Clayton featuring many of the local restaurants in a sreet fair atmosphere. Also the St Louis Art Fair is held in Clayton which has been ranked #1 art fair in the US!

I think you must realize that I lean toward Clayton!! There is some new construction there as well! Amazing and beautiful homes tucked in estalished neighborhoods!

Good Luck!

gladiator

Again, thanks for the insight. We are both single and not worried about kids/school districts at this point. No rational motivation for being in the burbs except that she is spoiled and knows nothing about and can't appreciate urban life....oops, I hope she is not reading this....

tcreath

Not sure if you are still reading this, but I lived on the Illinois side for 26 of my 28 years and its not nearly as bad as everyone claims. Yes, there is traffic but there is traffic everywhere around St. Louis. I lived in Glen Carbon and it took me about 30 minutes, on average, to get to work each day. If it took anyone an hour it was because of either road construction or an accident.

O'Fallon is great. There is a lot of new development there, the mall is close by, lots of restaurants and bars, and you are only 20 minutes or so (outside of rush hour) to downtown.

I live in Charlotte now, but when we lived in St. Louis I never even considered moving to the Missouri side. I rather liked the Illinois side. Many of the towns still have that small town feel, with historic mainstreets.

My husband worked for AG Edwards before it was bought out by Wachovia, but we moved to Charlotte because he accepted a job offer. It took him almost exactly 30 minutes to get from our area in Illinois (Glen Carbon/Edwardsville) to AG Edwards.

Best wishes,
Tracy

homeinvirginia2000

This may be a closed issued by now, but I'm a transplant from DC. I was single there and lived in the more urban areas where I could walk to a good restaurant, ride the metro train to any place in the city or outlying area and catch a good farmer's market too.

Now I have a child and live in West County of St Louis known as Wildwood. It's definitely more suburburban, very cookie cutter two story, four bedroom homes and my commute is a solid 45 minutes on I-44. It's 37 miles door to door. Something I would rethink if I could do it again. Especially with gas prices these days. I drive a compact SUV and it still costs me close to $370/month in fuel. Crazy, but since I relocated within the past couple of years I'd really take a hit on my house, so I'm stuck for now.

My point is, if you and your SO consider all factors, it probably is a better idea to live closer in. I absolutely love the Clayton, CWE area. Shopping, eateries, bakeries, quaint neighborhoods, etc. Very much reminds me of WDC. Kirkwood/Webster Groves is another section I'd look into. This area has a suburb feel, good schools, good neighbors and still fun 30-ish people vibe. Just a nice little area with an easy commute downtown on I-44. Half the drive of mine at least.

The difference between IL and MO....posters are going to go wild on this one....price and view. Being from Virginia I couldn't see myself living among the corn fields of IL. Too flat and too many ears of corn. Sorry. Missouri has many more trees, hilly area and JMO guys...more appealing to the eye. (there I said it, again no offense.)

Just additional things to think about. Good luck to you!