Down 55 or out 44?

I've not spent a lot of time in either place, but want to get out of this shithole of Illinois and take my conservative values with me.  I was out past Pacific yesterday, picking up some parts at a small machine shop in Labadie, MO.  Enjoyed the rolling hills, green forests, and environment.  Saw lots of parked vehicles with the windows rolled down, which tells me that crime in Labadie is pretty low.  On the other hand, Labadie didn't seem to have much, at all, in the way of box stores.  So, I was thinking that maybe Pacific/Eureka might be a little bigger, enoug to have the conveniences I like, such as high speed internet.

On the other hand, Arnold isn't quite as far out from the metro East, and is a pretty fair size, with all of the accommodations I'm used to in the Fairview Heights, IL area.

For those with far more experience than I regarding both communities, which place would you rather live?

I love Arnold.  Its got all the common food places, people are for the most part friendly.  Just like anywhere you are going to have your hoosiers and criminal element, but that is anywhere.  Schools are decent if you have children.  Pretty good location as its about 20 minutes from the City 15 Minutes to Fenton.  The homes are going up in price in the area though.

Email sent......gotcha covered on both fronts.

Lived in in that area for 10+ yrs after fleeing Illinois, and a very active Realtor in the area.  Lots of good properties out here with room to shoot on.  Plus, quite a few are in USDA loan eligible areas.....0% down if you're under the income limits.  Give me a shout and we'll discuss it some more.

Yeah it's a good 40 minutes from Eureka in non-traffic hours.  Clayton and St. Chas Co is the same.....just no good way to get there.  But you can be downtown in 25 minutes if you have to.

Arnold is a little higher on Taxes....44 you will get hit by the sun every morning driving into work.  Traffic sucks on 44...both ways...unless you leave early in the AM and early from work.  Lots of nice places just south of Arnold to check out.  30 is busy as well...but if you go little farther south on 55...things are better.

+1

I live in Arnold, look to Imperial and Pevely they are right next to Arnold and cheaper cost of living along with the convenience of the things your use to close by.

I've lived in Pacific, Arnold, and Villa Ridge, and my favorite by far was Villa Ridge. It's close enough to Union and Washington for most shopping/service needs, and I've always liked I44 better than I55. (...and I grew up next to I55; even rode my tricycle on it before they opened it).

Thanks guys, will check into the areas mentioned, and will try to find the e-mail address I registered with to check it, lol.

I'm single, no kids, and work from home.  So basically, my biggest concern is high speed internet where ever I move.  Now, I don't need 100mb speeds, but I do need something very reliable and around 5-6mb.  AT&T DSL 6mb service would do me fine (it's what I have now), but U-verse would be the cat's meow.

Having a couple acres would be nice, but I dont need enough land to shoot on.  Having neighbors that like blown alcohol drag cars would be a definite plus.

Sent you an IM with my contact info.

No big deal on the high speed, most of the listings have it in the description or disclosures the agents can see (problem is that some are lazy and don't check the box.)  Either way, even in the rural areas, DSL or cable is usually available.  Wildwood still has huge uncovered area.  Unfortunately where I live, no high speed wired, but I have a microwave antenna pulling signal off a water tower a mile away.  It's kind of slow and spotty, but I have a two dedicated 4g hotspots I can use if need be.  Charter wanted $17000 to run the cable another 100-something yards to me, then make me sign a contract to buy the "everything package" for X number of years.

U-Verse sucks...had it and dropped it (its not bad if that is all the speed you need..but come on man ).  Charter is running for like $40 a month right now for 100/5....U-verse isn't going to give you that.

I have Charter now, where I live, for TV.  All of the TVs in the house will regularly freeze and have horrible pixilation.  Some channels black out for minutes at a time.  Charter has been out and tested the lines, concluding there's no wiring issues, which means it's a service issue.  I had U-Verse at my prior home, and it functioned flawlessly.  I was one of the first dozen install of U-verse in Belleville.  I keep trying to get it where I'm at now in Swansea, however I seem to be in a service black hole for U-verse.

I don't care anything about 100mb service.  I care about reliability and ping speed.  I can do what I need to do, if need be, on a 1.5mb dsl line.

Ya, my neighborhood has both.  I'm on dual pair for U-verse (had it for 3 years before dropping it...it was fine, just slow) and Charter has fiber at the front of the neighborhood.  Have you ever thought about getting cell service?  I think Sprint still does unlimited everything for $80....I was around $125 for u-verse and only $40 for charter.  I think you will find the service better over on this side of the river.

Yes watch the internet.  I work remote and VPN is killer on bandwith.  My friend and his wife both work remote now and it is a big issue for them.  As they live that aera and cant get good internet.

+1 for delorean, if you're looking for a realtor he's your guy

Thanks, he and I have been conversing via e-mail.

The taxes are pretty high in Eureka. This is offset by an awesome police force. It's a great group of officers that don't take no shit. There is a community center with a swimming pool and weight rooms, there are a metric shit ton of state parks within a 30 minute drive. I mean a LOT of state parks. Jay Henges shooting range is around 3 to 5 miles from Eureka. St. Louis Skeet and Trap is between Eureka and Pacific. The crime rates are low. The traffic can suck, but it's not as bad as Kirkwood. All and all, it's a god place to live. Wildwood is nice, but the traffic is far worse, and you have a bit of a drive to make it to the interstate. The Eureka school system is great. The high school ranked in the top 500 nation wide several years ago. There is a good veriety of local and chain businesses available.

Pacific is alright if you are in the right area. Certain bits and pieces of that area can get a little rough at night. There are quite a few dope heads in Pacific. Avoid going to their gas stations real late at night, and you should be fine. At least the thuggish types in Pacific are much more mild mannered compared to those in St. Louis. Other than that, Pacific is just fine. Your selection of businesses to visit flat out sucks compared to Eureka, which sucks in comparison to Wildwood. There are some good neghiborhoods around Pacific. I don't know too kuch more about this town, even though I live a few miles away.

Gray Summit and Washington are nice areas. There isn't much going on in Gray Summit. Washington is expanding fast. Union is rough and run down looking along the main strip of the original town. It can get rough late at night if you have bad timing.

If you go house shopping down the I55 route, be observant as to the surrounding neghiborhoods. Jefferson County has a major meth problem. There are some... interesting individuals that lve in small pockets scattered all across that county. Look for a high concentration of pawn shops and or beat to shit looking trailer parks and houses. You should be ok, other than that issue. I don't know much of anything about Jefferson county, other than that is the place where my buddies and I would try to find parties. It can be a wild place at the right time and place.

I moved to Eureka a few years ago, and really like it. I think nowadays the real trouble is finding a country lot with no restrictions that has high speed internet. I settled on a subdivision home that has the high speed internet, but I really wish I didn't have a homeowners association to be bound by. Once my daughter's out of school, I may try moving out closer to Pacific or Washington on a much larger hunk of land with no restrictions, but that's a ways off.

Just saw this...  http://www.citizengo.org/en/29333-missouri-school-district-choses-allow-boy-girls-locker-room?tc=fb&tcid=16014798

Maybe I should re-think my choice about wanting to move to MO if they are going to let cross dressing boys into the girls locker room.  I thought MO was a conservative state?

Mostly, but we also have St. Louis and Kansas City.



 

I wonder how many of those 13,000 signatures on that are residents of the state of MO........probably VERY few (at least outside of STL, KC, and Columbia.)  I doubt hardly any are from Hillsboro.