Saint Charles

Homeseekers visiting New Town call it lively, thriving and vibrant, but there’s so much more to value than its evident energy alone. This small but growing planned community of a few hundred people lies in St. Charles, a city just east of the Missouri River. New Town has gained attention for its architecture, abundant green spaces and walkability. Its overall vibe is friendly and welcoming. “New Town is a front-porch-living community, where you see your neighbors regularly and everyone is friendly," says Vince Donati, a Realtor with RE/MAX Edge with over 20 years of experience. "Buyers really appreciate the wide variety of home styles here with features like double front porches. Not to mention the parks and green space steps from your front door." While the median home price in St. Charles is about $225,000, buyers can find new construction homes in New Town for about $350,000 to $680,000 in the River Breeze Estates sub-community. Brand new two-story homes with double front porches are priced between $360,000 and $375,000. Townhouses and single-family homes with less than 2,000 square feet are listed between $280,00 and $315,000. St. Charles, and by default New Town, is named one of the best suburban areas for young professionals in Missouri, according to Niche, and one of the best Missouri suburbs to live in. “New Town buyers are pretty diverse," Donati says. "They include young professionals and young families as well as people who move here to find a new home and a more lively, engaged community.” Kids in New Town can attend public schools in the Orchard Farm R-V School District which has an overall Niche grade of A. Discovery Elementary offers pre-kindergarten through fifth grade and has an A-minus Niche grade. Orchard Farm Middle offers grades 6-8 and has an overall Niche grade of A-minus. Orchard Farm Senior High is ranked one of the top 50 high schools in Missouri out of 511 high schools. It is in the midst of constructing a new school which is expected to open in 2024. It serves just about 600 students and is notable for offering Advanced Placement courses and a Gifted program. St. Charles Soccer Complex Park spans 60 acres with 14 soccer fields. It hosts state, league and recreational tournaments throughout the year. Fountain Lakes Park has three stocked lakes and a popular skate park. Popular among hikers, the Katy Trail runs through St. Charles along the Missouri River. It's the longest rail trail in the United States, stretching 240 miles. The Bridge Coffee House offers fair trade coffee, breakfast sandwiches and cookies. They also offer story times for kids and host get-togethers for local organizations. Domain Street Wine Bar is a great place to share appetizers over a nice bottle of Pinot Noir. They have a regular schedule of live music to look forward too, as well. Second Hand Rose offers a unique array of home furnishings, décor, and interior design services. Midtown Market offers groceries and plenty of fresh produce from local farms. St. Charles offers an events calendar that could rival a big city. Year-round music festivals, free symphonies, marathons and art shows are common. It’s a 5-minute walk from New Town to the St. Charles Riverwalk, which features shopping, dining and seasonal celebrations. The Riverwalk Market is open from mid-April to mid-November and features produce, crafts and live music on weekends. If folks want to meet new neighbors, Realtor Donati recommends joining one of the special interest clubs, hosted by each ‘district’ inside New Town. “There are plenty of clubs to enjoy from book club, wine clubs, and history clubs, to bocci, volleyball, biking and cornhole. There’s always something going on and people inviting you to join.” Residents walk or drive golf carts to restaurants and shops. Most people leave their cars at home unless they’re leaving the St. Charles area. St. Louis Lambert is the closest airport, just 10 miles east via route Interstate 70. For weekend trips it’s less than 60 miles to both Washington, Missouri and Herman, Missouri. For longer vacations, the Ozark Mountains are about 250 miles south of New Town, accessible via Interstate 44.

First founded in 1769 and named Les Petites Côtes (The Little Hills) by French fur traders, History is very much alive in Old Town St. Charles. Just steps from the Missouri River, restaurants, taverns and small stores can all be found in Colonial Revival buildings lining Main Street, a popular destination for shopping and taking in the historic atmosphere of the city. At night time, the clop of hoofs can often be heard bouncing off bumpy brick streets as horse-drawn carriages pass folks walking to local dinner spots and ice cream parlors by the glow of gas streetlights. Thanks to the infusion of modern shopping, dining and entertainment options into the community’s storied streets, this slice of the city continues to see an influx of new residents, and recently built suburbs have added to the area's housing supply. "St. Charles is really booming these days," says Steve Roth, a local resident and Realtor with MO Realty. "People love the nightlife and beautiful scenery with the river right there, I think it'll only continue to grow." One anchor for the community is Tony’s on Main. Tin ceiling tiles and exposed brick hint at the building’s vintage character, but it houses a casual, modern bar and grill where locals and visitors alike can sit at high-top tables and chow on pizza or pasta. Lewis & Clark's Restaurant offers an American menu of burgers, steak and seafood, coupled with an outdoor view of Main Street from the third-floor patio of the Victorian-era townhouse that it's located in. Shoppers can look through boutique clothing stores like Abigail's Apparel and Jake's on Main, or stop for a snack from cafes like Picasso's Coffee and Grandma's Cookies, a local bakery selling seasonal creations and freshly-made goods. West of Main Street, St. Charles is also full of supermarkets and big-box stores, from Schnucks Fresh Food to Walmart, keeping errands close and convenient. Another large draw in the area is the Hollywood Casino, which is located just across the river from Old Town St. Charles with a hotel, restaurants and frequent concerts hosted in its 20,000-seat amphitheater, says eXp Realty agent and St. Charles resident Brenda Souter. Homes in Old Town St. Charles follow the area’s long history, ranging from white-columned Greek Revival properties built near Main Street more than 150 years ago to traditional, vinyl-sided houses constructed in recent decades. Near Old Town, properties tend to be more historic, dating through the midcentury and often sitting on narrow lots. Closer to the west side of the community, tree-lined residential streets and comfortable quarter-acre backyards become the norm. Smaller cottage homes from the early 1900s can be found from about $100,000 to $200,000, though most properties sell from about $250,000 to $500,000. Souter explains that this is a tight market, with homes rarely coming up for sale and selling quickly when they do. Though this makes Old Town St. Charles a competitive housing market, Souter says the flip side is local homes tend to maintain their values well. The neighborhood is also known for being relatively safe, with a CAP Index crime score of 4 out of 10. The City of St. Charles School District is building on to George M. Null Elementary, where many of the neighborhood’s students go from kindergarten through fourth grade. Graded a B-plus by Niche, Null Elementary is building a new gym as part of an update to the campus. Fifth and sixth graders attend the B-rated Jefferson Intermediate School, where Niche reports there is a teacher for every 10 students, compared to the national student-to-teacher ratio of 17-to-1. Students progress to Hardin Middle School, which gets an A-minus from Niche and offers extracurriculars for high-tech hobbies like esports and analog interests like board games. Students can also take unique electives once they advance to the B-rated St. Charles High School, where they can enroll in civil engineering architecture or sports & entertainment marketing. Just a block east of Main Street, Frontier Park offers a peaceful respite from busy city life. Green lawns and shady trees invite locals to spend time relaxing outside, with the Missouri River providing fishing opportunities and scenic views. Those who want to get out on the river can put their boats in at the park's public access boat ramp. A statue of Lewis and Clark also commemorates this location as the last stop in the famous duo's journey before setting out to explore the Louisiana Purchase territory in 1804. Running right along Riverside Drive, the 240-mile-long Katy Trail is a gravel path that follows the river through several of the region's parks, creating a scenic backdrop for running, biking or birdwatching. Kids may prefer Jaycee Park, which has a playground designed for children of all abilities to dash across its bridges, slip down its slides and bang on its musical instruments. When the snow falls, a hill on the west end of the park becomes a popular sledding slope. Old Town St. Charles is a local destination for community events, with family-friendly activities and live music planned throughout the year. In August, Main Street closes down to welcome the Festival of the Little Hills- an arts and crafts festival with more than 300 local vendors selling handmade items. The stage and vast lawns of Frontier Park host live music all weekend long while families watch magic shows or let their kids loose in the bouncy house. September brings Oktoberfest to town-along with beer, brats and the Wiener Dog Derby- while Legends & Lanterns celebrates the Halloween season in October. Residents can see businesses decorated with Jack-O-Lanterns during the Pumpkin Glow, or ponder ghosts and ghouls while walking along the Haunted History Trail. While the gridded, sidewalk-lined streets of Old Town St. Charles make it easy to walk or bike around, a car is necessary to get beyond the immediate area. Interstate 70 forms the southern border of the neighborhood and is the fastest way to get to Downtown St. Louis, which is about 24 miles across the Missouri River. "It's nothing to drive about 30 to 40 minutes to work somewhere in the St. Louis area," Roth says. Commuters can also expect to encounter traffic during rush hour. When traveling out of state, St. Louis Lambert International Airport is also on the way to downtown, located just 10 miles east of Old Town Saint Charles. To find the closest medical center, Barnes-Jewish St. Peters Hospital, residents can head about 6 miles west along Interstate 70.