rhinorules

Swansea, Illinois is a beautiful family oriented city located about 15 minutes from downtown St. Louis and 15 minutes to Scott Air Force Base. If you are looking for that suburb feeling without the busy city life you have found the right place! Swansea lies between Fairview Heights and Belleville with the majority of its homes in the Belleville School District. With a booming real estate market you will find some great new construction or a lovely historic home, whatever your tastes might be! With several amenities including its own Metrolink stop, commuting is easy to other stops in Illinois or downtown St. Louis. With close highway access you can easily reach St. Clair Square mall or its many restaurant and parks all within 10 minutes of your front door!

O'Fallon, Illinois is a beautiful family oriented city located about 15 minutes from downtown St. Louis and 10 minutes to Scott Air Force Base. If you are looking for that suburb feeling without the busy city life you have found the right place! With several specialty shops including St. Clair Square in neighboring Fairview Heights, you have more than enough shopping to keep you busy! An easy commute is possible with several Metrolink stops in Swansea, East St. Louis, and Fairview Heights. O'Fallon has a very desirable school district and their high school is one of the best in the area. The housing market is booming with several new construction areas as well as several local parks and attractions. If you love St. Louis but not the headache of city life, O'Fallon is the place!

Holly Hills is a great little one way street that connects you to Hampton and Kingshighway. With many local churches nearby it's easy to walk to mass or ride a bike. With local parks nearby it's nice to use Holly Hills to stay away from the busier streets. There are rentals as well as homes on this street making it popular with singles and families. There are local restaurants opening up everywhere including new places on Lisette and January. If that doesn't tickle your fancy you can try the national chains a few 5 minutes away.

Forest Park Avenue located near SLU and Kingshighway is a 3-4 lane road that is very noisy and very heavily used. Connecting directly from Highway 40 this road will lead you straight to Barnes and Children's Hospital. There aren't a lot of lofts/apartments in this area until you get close to the Central West End. Lots of college and medical workers live and work in this area and parking can be a problem. With street parking being the only alternative in most cases it's hard to cross streets and get to your destintation without paying for more popular parking garages. The ambulances and helicopters are in constant motion and that can cause lots of noise. Evenings are fun with local college students and residents enjoying the Chase Park Plaza or Forest Park. CWE is heavily laden with shops, restaurants, living, and clubs. Nice if you are single, bad if you have kids.

McCausland was my lifesaver during construction on Hampton. McCausland snakes around from the South City area to lead you directly to Clayton proper. With a nice crossover of Highway 40 this is a great commuter route. I wouldn't recommend living on this street, it is very busy during most hours and there aren't a lot of resources available to you without heading to Brentwood or Clayton. This road is very narrow and windy and can cause stress during morning hours. There were some repairs being done to portions of this road which has helped with the holes that were becoming bigger and bigger. With Highway 40 construction, this road is a definite hit.

I love this street in Ladue, it's located right off Highway 40 tucked away in a wooded, neighborhood area. Old school money is the thought that comes to mind. The trees are mature and older, the houses are spread apart by acreage and there are walking paths to the main roads and parks close by. Every house is unique in this area and rarely put up for sale. The road is bending and curvy so no speeding! The road signs are not easily readable so caution is key. Many professional families live in this area with older children. Nice for a retiree. Many pets in this area too with some wildlife. No city sized lots here!

Bonita is a lovely, one way street in South City. There are kids out all the time playing and with a sudden resurgence of young families moving in I don't see this trend ending anytime soon. The homes are older homes, mostly all brick with detached garages in the back. Street parking is always available and alley access is located in the rear. Bonita is close to Hampton which has many local markets, stores, eateries, local sites, and highway access. There isn't too much noise on this street but from time to time you can catch the sound of the trains in the distance. Very family oriented area.

I worked on Forsyth Blvd. for 5 years and loved the area! You are definitely in the heart of Clayton, next to the Ritz and park with the local swimming pool a couple blocks away! The smells coming from Barcelona, Carmines, and the other local restaurants are lovely in the summer time. Located extremely close to the jail I have never felt unsafe walking around the area. While being highly commercialized it is not a place for children to be running around. If you go east on Forsyth you will run into neighborhood areas with huge homes. It's beautiful when everything is in bloom! You will constantly see woman walking their children to school or dogs running alongside their jogging companions. Washington University is very close to the area so college kids are definitely around in the evening times. It's just lovely.

I have friends that live off of Lemay Ferry and I love going to visit. You pass several busy highways including 255/55 and Lindbergh but once you get past them and the South County Mall it's nice and quiet. Eventually leading to the Arnold area you can live in the big city but feel like you are out in the country. Most of the retail shopping are major outlets, nothing very specialized. The restaurants are your typical fast food and dining affair. Rich and Charlie's is one of our favorites! You can hit 255 to head to Illinois very easily if that's what you desire, and the JB bridge is not as busy as the Poplar Street bridge.

I lived on Watson Road 5 years ago and it was beginning to deteriorate even then. I worked close to Crestwood Mall and the roads were definitely in need of repair. Traffic wasn't insanely busy but it did get busier the closer you got to 270 and Kirkwood. Watson is a nice alternative to using other major roads to get East and West without using the highways. It's great for singles because you don't have to worry about kids and pets running around where they should be. Lots of apartments in the area including areas close to Shrewsbury. I liked the location, just not the noise.

Kingshighway is an awful road, I hate traveling down it! The road needs a makeover for sure, and the number of pot holes keep growing! You can easily get to 44 and 40 from Kingshighway but the lanes are narrow and people drive very fast. I've got scratched a couple times it's almost like a derby race! There are local shops which are nice to use if you live in that area, but that's about it. We frequent Uncle Bill's, and even that is taking your life in your own hands. The lights are never in sync with one another so it's lots of stop and go, stop and go. There is a lot of street parking which makes it hard to drive in the right lane during busy times. Overall, avoid it!

I have many friends that live on Itaska and it is a very popular street great for families and friends. Itaska is a one way street with street parking which makes people slow down for children and pets. That's a good thing! Although it's an older street it is lined with beautiful mature trees it is in great shape. During the holidays many of the surrounding streets, including Itaska, decorate and have outdoor gatherings. Located close to Kingshighway and Hampton, you are right in the middle of a city with a country feel. Alley access helps keep cars off the street and the lawns are always manicured. The alleys were even repaved a couple years ago which is nice! People have pride. If I start looking for a house, it will definitely been right here!

Telegraph is home to some of the finest restaurants and commerical shops in South County. Although it is a very busy street, especially during rush hour, you can easily navigate the streets and hit most of the major highways. Although it's not a great street for homes/children, if you are looking for food, shopping, highway access this is definitely a one stop shop for anything you need. Our favorite is Frankie G's!! Road construction around the area (255/270) can leave you waiting longer than expected, but I recommend using this road at night to get to and around the city.