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Well Missouri is super green, plus Arkansas, but you scratched that off the list. And whoever dogged Branson is just ridiculous. We are not "Minnie Pearl and Hee Haw" fans but it's a great family spot. Lots to do there.
Branson is considerably smaller than Vegas, and probably much safer. But Branson is known for country-western, and drama productions. I'm not sure how many casinos Branson has. The St. Louis area has like 5, and the 8th largest casino industry in the country (that's what I heard recently anyway). From what I've seen of Branson and Springfield it's hard to go wrong. Yes, Branson has a lot of commercial stuff, but it seems to be much more than that. There are also small towns around the area and on the lakes. Branson brings in a lot of acts, but there's more to it than that from what I've seen. It's a blast. And some people are into the country western stuff. That's not for me, but some really seem to enjoy it.
As far as stuff to do, Branson has Silver Dollar City and White Water (which Silver Dollar City also owns). It's a bit expensive, but a few times a year it should be fun. http://www.silverdollarcity.com/
Of course there's Lake Taneycomo and Table Rock Lake. And Springfield just north.
http://www.branson.com/lake-taneycomo.html (broken link) http://www.visittablerocklake.com/
Check out Google Street View around Branson. Should give you some idea of the terrain. And Branson and Missouri in general is pretty affordable. But you could settle in a town near Branson. It might be cheaper that way. Of course, Springfield is fine, too. Springfield also has a AA Baseball team, the Springfield Cardinals. http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/index.jsp?sid=t440
If the link doesn't work, just try http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&sour...45341614906832
During the summer if your husband can get off work, Lake of the Ozarks is fun, too. Minigolf, go-karts, and the lake of course. There's a couple waterparks up there also. Of course it's seasonal.
I'm not sure about the other cities. In Branson/Springfield area you will still get some snow in winter, not like Kansas City, but you will get some. I'm not sure if that makes a difference for you.
Branson is in the Ozarks. Deep valleys, big hills, beautiful. You'd better have good breaks. Navigating through Branson we've enountered some steep streets.
That said, I don't know much about schools.
Last edited by STLCardsBlues1989; 04-07-2009 at 03:03 PM..
Kansas City is not flat. No really big hills, but gently rolling ones. Some areas around it can be more level.
Also, a majority of the metro is in Missouri. It's cost of living is very similar to Little Rock, yet has vastly better schools, and much more to do. For a larger city, Kansas City is dirt cheap. In fact, it's as affordable as several small towns in Arkansas and Missouri that I'm familiar with. Wages are average to above average, and cost of living is very low.
KC is extremely family friendly, almost to a fault. Some of the suburbs routinely make the "best places to live" lists.
Hard town for singles, because most are married.
I don't know a lot about home schooling in the area, other than a lot of people do it for various reasons, and there's several extracurricular programs available to those students.
Both Kansas City, Kansas, and Kansas City, Missouri have more than their share of crime, but there are large chunks of both cities that are plenty safe. Most suburbs have very low crime rates.
When you see or hear something on TV about Kansas City, like sports, it's almost always the one in Missouri, which is the largest, and hub city. Kansas City, Kansas is basically a suburb. The two cities are next door to each other, only separated by a state line. They each have completely separate governments. Unlike Texarkana, nothing is really shared between the two.
Branson never struck me as a place to actually live (too touristy), but Springfield's a very nice town. I also like Columbia, MO.
The weather is slightly less extreme in Missouri and Arkansas than it is in Kansas and Oklahoma.
If you pick Tulsa, live in a town called Jenks, which is a suburb with the best schools. Little Rock is pretty cool, but is a little sketchy. Kansas City is the biggest, and it of course has major league sports. My personal taste lean away from Missouri. They do have a lot of (a) fire cracker stands, and (b) military schools there. I get the sense that Branson is a strange place, that you should only go to if you happen to like Minnie Pearl and Hee Haw.
My votes would be either Tulsa or Kansas City. Jenks has everything you need. KS City if you want a bigger place, that is a bit more expensive but with more things to do.
Absolutely don't live in Jenks. It's a generic, bland suburb.
Kansas City is not flat. No really big hills, but gently rolling ones. Some areas around it can be more level.
Also, a majority of the metro is in Missouri. It's cost of living is very similar to Little Rock, yet has vastly better schools, and much more to do. For a larger city, Kansas City is dirt cheap. In fact, it's as affordable as several small towns in Arkansas and Missouri that I'm familiar with. Wages are average to above average, and cost of living is very low.
KC is extremely family friendly, almost to a fault. Some of the suburbs routinely make the "best places to live" lists.
Hard town for singles, because most are married.
.
The cost of living is CHEAP for a reason. You say that wages are at or above average. That is definitely NOT true at all for my career field. The wages in KC were HORRIBLE.
Also, I think the bitter rivalry between MO and KS and the "state line" issue hampers progess in terms of overal bi-state cooperation and continued economic development.
I agree that KC tends to be too overly family oriented, and many younger single people leave for other metro areas. The suburbs in KC are very spread out and lean conservative (especially JOCO). The suburbs also seem to have many more churches per capita compared to other suburbs in Upper Midwest metros. After all, KC is pretty far south and is in the Bible Belt.
The cost of living is CHEAP for a reason. You say that wages are at or above average. That is definitely NOT true at all for my career field. The wages in KC were HORRIBLE.
Also, I think the bitter rivalry between MO and KS and the "state line" issue hampers progess in terms of overal bi-state cooperation and continued economic development.
I agree that KC tends to be too overly family oriented, and many younger single people leave for other metro areas. The suburbs in KC are very spread out and lean conservative (especially JOCO). The suburbs also seem to have many more churches per capita compared to other suburbs in Upper Midwest metros. After all, KC is pretty far south and is in the Bible Belt.
KC, pretty far south? Its latitude is geographically central. As far as being in the Bible Belt, I don't remember seeing a bunch of evangelical preachers the last time I was there. KC has a very high percentage of Catholics. It struck as being identical to Omaha the last time I was there. The Bible Belt is much farther north than most people claim it to be. I would agree for it covering the Southern half of Missouri but not the Northern half. St. Louis definitely is not in the Bible Belt, neither is KC.
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Navigating through Branson we've enountered some steep streets. 
