Living in St. Louis
 

Well I think I finally decided that I am going to go to my class wtih TSA in August. Now comes the search for somewhere to live. What's a good part of St. Louis to live in that is affordable on 1st year pay that isn't too far from the airport. I know that's a lot to ask for a place to live. Any suggestions are appreciated!

The areas right around Lambert are not the best. You could look for a place in Maryland Heights, or Creve Coeur. They are within 15 minutes driving and are to the southwest of the airport. There are some decent apartments/townhomes in University City which is pretty much directly south of the airport about 10 minutes away. I wouldn't want to live within a 5 mile radius of the airport, and anywhere to the north and east of the airport isn't the best place to live either.

Don't do it.... It may be just a notch up from living down in MEM... You should definitely invest in a good Kevlar.

Most of the areas to the North and West of the airport are decent and affordable areas. Stay away from the areas immediately South and East (St Ann in particular). Generally, outside of I-270 is ok. South of I-70 and West of Lindbergh(US67) is generally ok. You can find a 1br apartment for ~500-600 a month west of 270 between Olive and Dorsett.

I live in Maryland Heights right now. Its somewhat "multi cultural", but safe and reasonably priced. PM me if you want any specifics about places in the area.

I was born and raised near the airport. NO, it's not the best neighborhood but it isn't bad. If you want to be closer to the city itself, University City, Richmond Heights and Creve Coeur. I lived in University City through most of college. Half is really nice, the other half is iffy at best. I'd avoid getting into the city because of the construction on I64 (we still call it highway 40). It's going to be a nightmare.

If you're looking more for the suburbs try out towards Maryland Heights and over in St. Charles. While a little farther away both are about the same duration of drive due to the highway options (three bridges across the MO river and Lindberg).

Feel free to PM me as well. I know the area well, I'm in the class starting next week so I'm sure I'll see you around.

Hey I am currently living there and am actually looking to get a place with another pilot there... if you're interested in getting in on it just PM me and we can at least make contact.

Another option is East of the river in Illinois like O'fallon. Nice, a little cheaper and still within an hour to the airport.

i'm another guy who was born in raised in STL and still work here. I live in bridgeton, used to be nicer, but the airport buyout brought in bad apples and kinda made some parts of the neighborhood take a dive. We now live close to Maryland heights in a still nice part of town. Creve Coeur is still a nice part of town, if you go way out towards wentzville you can find cheap housing, but you can expect a long drive to work, and god forbid you get off around rush-hour cause you'll be sitting in traffic for a ton of time.

Thanks for all the input so far guys! Keep it coming! What do you think about St. Charles, St. Peters or Chesterfield?

We've had drug busts and high speed chases in front of our St. Ann crash pad, but its cool. Makes the walk to the airport (the shuttle is refusing service) more exciting. St. Charles is really nice, and near Spirit of St. Louis airport there are some new developments. The Peine Lakes Apartments are brand new and are offering some good deals on brand new apartments that wouldn't be bad to get into at all. Plan on a 20 min drive to get anywhere good. If you stay near the airport you will be disappointed with the neighborhood, but further away is actually pretty nice and affordable. St. Charles is a lot better than downtown St, Louis so you will probably want to be closer to the west than the east side. Hope it helps. See you on the line.