Living in the Exurbs

In 1966, we bought a 4 bedroom house with a basement in the exurbs of St. Louis in St Charles County, the fastest growing county in the US at the time.

Our subdivision was Greenwood Acres with 30 homes just across the Missouri River In Weldon Springs with quick access to Highway 94 and Highway 40.

My first job was Campaign Director for United Way. I worked in downtown St Louis and had an office in St Charles. My commute to downtown was 20 miles and took 30 minutes. Most of our neighbors worked at McDonnell Aircraft in St. Charles and North St. Louis. In 1967 I started my Personnel career at Kearney Electric. I moved to Monsanto Headquarters in 1968 and to Washington University in 1971. I played electric bass in Jazz Trios In St. Louis on the weekends. My commutes got shorter.

Our subdivision had a well for water, propane tanks for gas and septic tanks for sewers. We knew that eventually we would have county water, sewer and gas. We had electric and phone, but we were partially “off the grid”. We bordered other subdivisions on one side and farmland on the other side.  We had a 1 acre lot and put in a large garden at the back of the lot. We planted corn, vegetables and strawberries. We picked our fresh produce every day. We bought eggs from a nearby farm. The adjoining property had a large pond and a horse. When the pond froze, we went ice skating. There was a small grocery store across from the subdivision entrance.

Our septic tank worked well and we had the sludge removed from the tank every year, but I needed to expand the drain field.  I hired a neighbor with a back-hoe dig a 12 by 30 foot hole in the back yard.  I had 3 inch rock delivered and dumped in the hole. I leveled the rock and had another load of smaller rock delivered.  I leveled that rock. I bought pipes and connectors and installed them from the septic tank over the rock. I had sand delivered and leveled it. I had topsoil delivered and leveled it. I planted grass seed. I did this work in my spare time and it took 2 months to complete. The cost was minimal because I did the work.

We did our own maintenance and upgrading. We poured a by-pass driveway pad and a large patio around our back door. We painted inside and outside, replaced doors and carpeted the living room and hall. We had lots of family barbeques. My brother lived next door taught me how to do everything. We expanded plumbing, installed central air conditioning, finished concrete and planted our gardens.  My brother had 4 kids and we had 6 kids.

We lived close to family and spent time with relatives. We packed up the kids and spent many Sundays with Marlene’s parents, aunts and uncles playing pinochle. We also went to my grandma’s house with my aunts and uncles for Sunday dinners and holidays. The kids got to know their cousins.

Marlene and I were married in 1964 and lived with my mom to save for a down-payment on a house. Our first daughter was born in 1965 and Marlene became a stay-at-home mom.  My brother called me in 1966 and said the house next door was available for loan assumption for $750 down to pay back taxes. My mom moved with us to be closer to her work and be with her grandkids. She rented her house while she lived with us and moved back to it when we moved to Kansas in 1975.

We enjoyed living in our first house from 1966 to 1975. We bought it for $16,000 and sold it for $36,000. Our mortgage payment was $150 per month. We lived cheap and we lived well.

The exurbs in Atlanta Metro are the counties outside of Fulton, DeKalb, Cobb and Gwinnett counties that form the core around the City of Atlanta.  The exurbs include

Cherokee, Forsyth and Hall counties to the north, Bartow, Paulding and Douglas counties to the West, Fayette, Clayton, Henry and Rockdale counties to the South and Walton county to the East.

Cherokee County has new homes ranging from $200,000 to $300,000 and up. Its cities include Canton, Wodstock, Holly Springs. Forsyth county cities include Cumming.

Clayton County has new homes for $200,000 and resales averaging $134,000. Its cities include Forest Park, Morrow, Riverdale and Jonesboro.

https://www.knowatlanta.com/atlanta-metro-counties-cities/

Metro Population by county

Fulton 1,04,423

Gwinnett 920,260

Cobb 755,754

DeKalb 753,253

Clayton 285,153

Cherokee 247,573

Forsyth 227,967

Henry 225,813

Hall 199,335

Paulding 159,445

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlanta_metropolitan_area

Cheaper housing costs are found in the lower population, outer counties.

Norb Leahy, Dunwoody GA Tea Party Leader