The taxes paid by New York City's businesses keep smaller residential property taxes low--ridiculously low, given the astronomical sales prices now fetched by even the lowliest hovels.

But real estate taxes in St. Louis--at least in the neighborhoods of North St. Louis, where my wife and I are looking at houses--seem not to have advanced much beyond their late 19th-century levels.

Along with fantastically low selling prices of beautiful 19th-century houses, these very low tax levels are a major attraction for anyone interested in relocating to a vibrant city with an affordable cost-of-living--like my wife and me. But at these levels, you wonder how the city can afford to keep the streetlights on.

What's bringing you to St. Louis, Dan - besides cheap land and lefties?

Thanks for asking, Dave.

My wife and I have been thinking about relocating to a place that's cheaper and easier to live in than New York--where we've lived all our lives--but a place that looks, acts and feels like a city, complete with reliable mass transit, a progressive political presence, and enough grit and edge to make things interesting.

There's not much to choose from when you can't afford New England and won't live in the South, Mid-Atlantic, Southwest, West or Upper Midwest. Still, we looked at Cleveland (too cold, downward spiral not yet checked); Cincinnati (too corporate, too Republican); Milwaukee (not particularly interesting); and even Detroit (interesting in a perverse way, but too far gone and out of control).

St. Louis is intriguing for the same reason Vienna is intriguing. The empire collapses but the imperial city remains. Here it all is, the physical remnants of the city's great wealth and power. Certainly it's a city reduced in regional and national importance post-World War II, but it's blessed with enduring civic treasures--institutions, architecture, history, distinctive communities--that form a real infrastructure through which the city can stage its reinvention.

But there's something else we've noticed. People who live here are passionate about St. Louis in a way we recognize as city people. The object of that passion is magnificent and tawdry and exquisite and degraded and you embrace each contradiction with open eyes.

The cheap housing available in many St. Louis neighborhoods is certainly an attraction (and it's not just cheap; often, it's extraordinary). But the real draw is the sense of possibility that the city exudes. That makes St. Louis a very attractive place to be.

Dan,

One area that you might want to consider in North St. Louis is bounded as follows:

N. Grand on the west, Natural Bridge on the north, St. Louis Avenue on the south, and Glasgow on the east.

It's a fourteen block area situated on the southern end of the Third Ward, close to Fairground Park, and right across from the site of the old Sportsman's Park (current site of the Herbert Hoover Boys Club).

What impressed me most about the area was:

Predominantly single family homes, in generally good condition (with some 2-families mixed in);

Significant number of owner-occupants

Comparing this area to neighborhoods just east of it, you will note a much higher percentage of smaller apartments and homes to the east (which makes sense, these areas are older the further you head east).

In contrast, by this stage in the city's development, more single family homes were being produced, however still at a more modest scale than what you find on the west side of Grand, near O'Fallon Park, etc.

The homes in the area I'm referring to have beautiful architecture, but are more manageable in size from a rehab cost perspective.

Plus, when you're done, you can have a home in the 2000-2300 square foot size, versus, the 3500-4000 square foot sizes closer to O'Fallon that are more than most people want to deal with from an ongoing maintenance perspective.

A few other things about this area that are appealing:

the generally well-maintained yards;

the noticeable lack of widespread demolition;

the general quiet and lack of cut-through traffic.

From one recent ride I took through the area with a local resident and neighborhood-based developer, it was clear that a lot of the neighbors know each other.

If you want more information, feel free to email me.

RB

Thanks, Rick. I've printed out two copies of your very detailed post--one for me, the other for my wife.

Though I think I kinda know the area from various sources, I'll check it out more closely based on your recommendation.

Very good of you to take the time to do it!