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.

You're going to be hard pressed to find an apartment in Chesterfield that you can afford on first year FO pay. Second, there's no easy way to get to Lambert by road. Third, I'd avoid anywhere near 40 because they're about to start a major project to expand it closer to the city but they're anticipating traffic backups way out west because of all the commuters.

St. Charles and St. Peters are good. Look north of 70, there are some better deals on that side of the interstate. It's also less densely populated and access to STL is easy via 370.

Your best bet for afforadable apartments is going to be Maryland Heights/Creve Coeur or North County/Florisant(just make sure you go far enough north) area. Either one has a 15 minute drive to the airport. While St Charles is nice, its a longer drive and I believe the apartments tend to be newer and more expensive. Lots of my coworkers have bought homes and condos in the new developments out there.

I concur on Chesterfield being expensive. Tends to be full of doctors and such. Even the south western corner of Creve Coeur gets pricey. In Maryland Heights, stay away from West Pointe apartments. They are cheap, but the management is not tenent friendly. Pheasant Run off of Dorsett is low priced and backs right up to Creve Coeur lake.

Seriously check out University City. Its centrally located, its not sterile and stuffy like Clayton and Ladue, and it is pretty affordable if you look in the right places. The airport is a nice 15 minute drive to the employee lot. That will come in handy when you are on airport reserve.

If I had to live in STL again.....I think I would jump off the arch to end it

I grew up in STL and love it there. It may not be for everyone. If you want to live cheap near the airport, try Florissant. If you want to have a little more fun, try U-City or Central West End near Forrest Park and Wash-U. There's some cool old neighborhoods near there. If you want something upscale but still affordable, try Soulard. Once you go over the bridge into St. Charles, traffic is an issue, but it's affordable and good neighborhoods.

its been said already but the areas around the airport are not that safe, but you can find neighborhoods within maybe 15 minutes if you have a car. thats what i would recommend if at all possible.

I grew up in north city st louis, so if you have questions feel free to ask

Do you work for TSA?

I call BS on this. I grew up 5 minutes from the airport. Not the nicest area, but you're not going to get mugged on a daily basis. 15 minutes west/southwest gets you to much nicer areas. There are some crashpads right by the airport that are on the iffy side but I wouldn't consider them "dangerous" parts of town. I've been a ramper for 5 years and worked all shifts. I"ve never once had an issue going to any of the restaurants around Flight Safety at 2pm, or for that matter 2am. Just be smart, don't leave expensive things in eyesight in your car, don't carry around a bunch of cash.

Yeah, if you grew up in North St. Louis (city, not county) you probably should wear kevlar. I've told people in my class that it's not a good idea to get off 70 between the airport and downtown.

Ain't that the truth. I also made the mistake of driving Delmar to downtown once. Got a bit rough east of U City.

Now see, I think nothing of that. Just not after 10pm.

Thanks for all the help guys! I just interviewed with Pinnacle yesterday and got the job so I won't be joining you guys at TSA now. I'm headed out to Memphis in August. Maybe I'll see you around anyway!