Originally Posted by shrike4242

I'd personally look into Fenton and Arnold for houses, as there's lots of new construction out that way for houses that large in the 4-5br size.

I drive it five days a week and would say it's more 7AM - 9AM that's an issue than earlier, and 5PM - 6:30PM is more the issue than earlier in the afternoon rush. I've pretty much driven 270 northbound to work anytime from 2-3AM all the way to 10-11AM in the morning and it's pretty much good most of the time save the times I mention above.

The main clogs in traffic along 270 are from Gravois to Manchester northbound in the morning rush and 40 to Doughterry Ferry southbound in the afternoon rush. They're working to widen it with an additional lane in the next couple of years, so it should be less of a mess than it is currently. It's also been better than it was before they worked on Highway 40, when it was horribly bad prior to that timeframe.

Rest of the time, it's not been an issue.

Originally Posted by confuseousprime

Prices within STL county are going to be above 2k for a 4 or 5 br house. Most of the affluent 'burbs are in that area. If you are looking for a steal with houses I would suggest maybe looking over the river on the IL side. Places like Shrewsbury, Collinsville are closer to the base so they have lower prices on housing out there. You'll just want to make sure to check out the area before you commit because there are some really out of the way towns in that area too, and you'll want to avoid anything that gets too close to East Saint Louis.

The housing prices in that area are coming down right now, a lot of people in that area are out of a job due to the government layoffs on the base. It sucks for them but you might be able to get a deal out of it.

The downside if that you've got more of a 1/2 an hour drive to STL from that side rather than a 15-20 minute drive from the border towns on Saint Louis county. Also, traffic suuucks during rush hour, so coming into the city at around 7 in the morning is terrible and going out of the city at 4 - 5 PM is also equally bad.