Single black male moving to St. Louis from Dallas (St. Charles: transplants, apartment complex)

[UP 270]

Hello.

I moved to Dallas early 2022 from the east coast to buy a house and try something new. I've come to the realization I'm not as happy as I'd like to be; if I'm going to put down roots somewhere, I think the place should speak to me and I should be loving it. I'm not loving it. It's too darn hot during the summer, public transportation here is non-existent, not enough trees, and not enough desirable women. So yeah, I've decided to give St. Louis a try. The internet said you all have an abundance of single ladies and the houses are relatively inexpensive--compared to where I came from. The only thing I am dreading is the humidity; the high crime rate gives me pause also but I'm a good shot and have some street smarts. Hopefully it'll be bearable and St. Louis will be everything I want it to be.

About me:
Mid 40s black straight guy that works for the public sector; never married and no kids; don't drink and no drugs. Like to play poker; ride my motorcycle; go to plays, comedy clubs, museums, gun ranges, movies, etc; not really a sports fan. I'd like to settle down with an attractive woman who is not over-weight and preferably has no more than 2 kids. I like to volunteer and hope to find a fire department that could use me. I make $130, 000 year with my only debt being $1,000/month for student loans.

I hope all the info I provided allows you to form a good profile of me and tell me where in St. Louis I can find what I'm looking for.

My main questions:

1) Will St. Louis be what I'm looking for. If not, where should I move to? I work from home so I can go anywhere in the continental US. I want to stay somewhat close to the middle of the North American continent.

2) If St. Louis is it, where in the metro should I consider looking for an apartment and eventually a house?

3) Do you know any beautiful single ladies of healthy weight with no more than 2 kids? Please provide contact info.

[UP 270]

Just in case anyone's sensibilities we're offended, I was joking in question 3 above.

Still looking for advice on 1 & 2. Apologies in advance for my impatience.

[Kathy884]

Welcome to the St. Louis forum.

I personally do think St. Louis city and surrounding close in suburbs are a hidden gem (great area to live IMHO). There is so much to do, get involved with (the cultural activities, medical resources, everything you'd need that a 3 million metro area has). Costs are fairly reasonable. We get four seasons (fall being the longest period of wonderful weather -- long period of time of great weather in the 70s). I think the people are great, and there is a lot of diversity. St. Louis County and City are both reasonably liberal. The political climate changes, though, the more rural you get in Missouri and doesn't seem as welcoming to me outside of the metro area or on the very outskirts.

You are right too that the summer humidity is pretty brutal (I moved to St. Louis from Denver). I walk and play tennis early morning in the summer if I can. When my son was little we spent a lot of summer time at water park / swimming pool kind of places too. There really is no perfect place, though, weather wise. Usually the places with the really great summers you get some brutal cold winters.

It does seem that crime rates are up, and I really hope we can go the other direction on that / get that under control. I think by picking an area to rent or buy that has lower crime rates, that that makes that not really much of an issue.

I'm not the best person to recommend a place in the city or county to get an apartment or house, so I hope others will speak up. If you don't get more responses, search on some older posts about neighborhoods. I've seen lots of recommendations in the past that seemed pretty spot on to me from my limited visits to some of the areas. There are so many cute charming city neighborhoods and great parks. I love the architecture. Some of the suburbs are really cute too and have nice parks and great mature trees all over also. My son (in his 20s) and his boyfriend last January rented an apartment and are in the process of renewing their lease. Both of them were living at home during the pandemic. DS works in the city and they did a lot of looking in the city (Shaw, Tower Grove area, Soulard, Central West End). Eventually, though, they rented at an apartment complex in Creve Coeur (just really liked the layout of the place, the little view of the lake they could get with balcony, and good storage for their stuff for their rental budget). I'm not necessarily recommending that area or anything, but just saying there are a lot of nice apartment complexes there and saying interestingly enough that's where they landed and I would have never guessed that. I really thought they'd go for the city, but I love their apartment.

Best of luck to you. I'm from the Midwest and feel the most at home in the Midwest in metro area with a population of one million or more. That's my kind of target city.

[UP 270]

Thanks for the response Kathy.

I did some research and it looks like St. Louis's weather is very similar to Washington, DC's weather. I did not find the humidity in DC too bad so I think I'll be able to cope with St. Louis.

[SnazzyB]

St. Louis and DC DO have similar weather patterns. They're lateral to each other, so D.C. gets our weather, as it blows east. lol

I live in St. Charles County...a bedroom suburb of St. Louis. St. Charles County tends to run conservative politically, if that matters to you.

Places you might want to check out:

Soulard
Webster Groves
Kirkwood
Chesterfield
Creve Coeur

On the East side (Illinois)
Alton
Godfrey

I, personally, think Alton is a neat town. Lots of history there, and neat old houses, antique places, restaurants, etc. It's considered one of the most haunted places in the U.S....if that sounds interesting to you.

[mjtinmemphis]

I think St. Louis may be a good spot for you. Plenty of trees and culture. The dating scene is pretty bad. I'm not saying it can't be done if you can network your way around it but most of the nice women over 35 are married with children from my experience.

There is a difference between the city and suburbs. If you like urban living, I would choose the city or inner suburbs. If you like suburban living, I would look in St. Louis County. There is a totally different setup coming from most Sunbelt cities especially Dallas that I think you would appreciate.

St. Louis offers many moderate to safe options for living. Make sure to look at facts before signing a lease or purchasing a home.

What amenities are a must have in choosing a neighborhood? (Bike infrastructure, whole foods, nightlife) St. Louis is very eclectic in neighborhood selection.

[UP 270]

After reading most of the recent threads on this forum and looking at the murder maps I could find, these are a few areas I'm considering:

Kirkwood
Maplewood
Brentwood
Soulard
Webster Groves

Can anyone suggest a good apartment complex near these areas. No more than $1200/month and must have a nice gym in the complex. Near grocery store and social attractions and little crime.

Soulard is quite the outlier as far as violent crime is concerned. Seems like there is crime close by but Soulard itself is somewhat of a crime-free bubble. I'm referring to the murder map found here:

https://graphics.stltoday.com/maps/homicide-map-embed/

[STL74]

Murder is almost always personal. It’s not really on my radar. If you end up anywhere you park a car outdoors, it’s best to be cautious. This isn’t really an STL thing but car break ins and thefts are rampant in the US these days. Soulard and Lafayette Park are very cool. Benton Park has been really popular. The Grove (which started as a gayborhood and has evolved into a hot neighborhood in general). Central West End is the most complete urban neighborhood in STL (although price might be too high, not sure). Your other areas are on point. Parts of U City are worth looking at as well. Generally south of Olive, altough Delmar becomes more of a divide the closer to the city you get (really the city part of the U City Loop, although things have been slowly improving). U City has a lot to offer as long as you don’t need public schools.

I haven’t lived in an apartment in a while, so no help there. But I do think transplants do better in the city/inner ring suburbs.

[mjtinmemphis]

As a Black male in my 50s, I am loving the Central West End. Tons of cultural amenities and networking opportunities. Very nice restaurant selection and good grocery options with Straubs, Whole Foods and Field Foods.
Crime would be similar to Adam's Morgan in DC. There are options throughout the area but the neighborhood gets more expensive the closer one gets to Forest Park. The population seems less eclectic and more stem based due to Barnes Jewish Hospital and Cortex innovation district.

Just another location to consider. Median rent is $936 with housing price median is $346k including condos and single family homes. Remember, the closer to Forest Park, the more expensive. Closer to Vandevender you get more college students.

275 on the park starts at $767 at 275 Union
Jackson Arms 4482 Lindell starts 804 for studios

Higher end is the 100 at 100 north Kingshighway. (100 above the park) topping out at 6k. Plenty of options in between. You get what you pay for. Most new luxury apartments with amenities will start at $1200.

[UP 270]

Saw Illinois has lower income tax than Missouri. I'm thinking it would be smart to live on the Illinois side of the Mississippi? Thoughts.