St Louis, MO

Anybody lives or lived in St Louis. Any recommendations as to which area is safe and has good schools, Elementary and High School.
I did a Google search and came up with some areas but I would like to hear it first hand if possible.
Bonus points if it is near a powerlifting gym :slight_smile:

Stay out of the east completely. Otherwise, it is a hop scotch kind of deal and you have to go visit to see.

Check out Oakville. It’s a suburb south of St. Louis, close to the Mississippi and Meramec rivers. It’s safe and has a great public school system. Not sure if there are any good lifting gyms in the area, though.

Thanks guys.

[quote]Brother Chris wrote:
Stay out of the east completely. Otherwise, it is a hop scotch kind of deal and you have to go visit to see. [/quote]

Three friends and I were on our way to a Bassnectar concert in Nashville, TN (driving from MN). We were on our way through St.Louis and as we were coming out of the east side when someone saw a sign for Popeyes chicken and it was decided that we would stop.

Now I knew already that Compton, CA is safer than East St. Louis so I was uneasy about stopping there…but so the driver turned off the interstate onto the exit ramp.

I instantly felt like I was in a 3rd world country. It was dusk and not a single white person was to be seen so we were glowing like a light bulb. We pulled up to the popeyes and ordered, then we made our way to the window where I saw a turn-style window accompanied by 1" thick bullet proof glass. I took most of my cash and stuffed it in my sock, anticipating that a passer by would surely rob us. We were told to wait for our order.

While we were waiting (probably 3 min, but felt like a half hr) a dude came out of the Popeyes and looked at us, he then looked around the parking lot, he looked at us again, then went back inside. We finally got our food and got back on the interstate.

This was one of the more nerve racking experiences of my life… definitely the most I had ever felt like I didn’t belong where I was. I tried to explain this to my friends but it didn’t seem to register with any of them.

TLDR: I stopped in East St.Louis at a Popeyes and it was scary.

Just about anywhere West County or South County is going to be better than the city itself or North County.

Also:
http://eaglegymstl.com/

Facebook (if you have facebook)

I lived in Jefferson County for a few years. It is to the south of St Louis County. If at all possible, I’d live in Arnold MO (Jeff County) or in St Charles County (to the east of St Louis County). Otherwise, stick to West County or South County.

I lived in Alton, Illinois for quite a few years and used to hang out and work in St. Louis.

If you look at a map of St. Louis and the surrounding area you’ll notice that highway 270 roughly forms a C. I usually tell people, as a general guideline, being outside the C is much safer than being inside it.

If you’re interested in boxing at all, check out Knuckles Gym in Madison, IL.

St. Charles and St. Peters are very nice. Ballwin seems pretty nice too.

Outside of 270 = walmarts + meth
east of the river = strippers + crack

As mentioned it’s pretty hop scotch. Other places worth checking out in no particular order: clayton, ladue ($$$), the hill, kirkwood, richmond heights (parts), webster groves, brentwood, st. louis hills, central west end, and overland.

Thanks again for the responses, if everything goes alright we’ll move there in 3-4 weeks.
Lots of homework to do :slight_smile: