Nice safe small town midwest area to raise children (Owensboro: for sale, crime rates)

[redfish353]

My wife and I are looking for a nice, clean small town to raise our newborn child preferably in the midwest. We plan on moving from south Florida to get away from the crime, obnoxious attitudes and horrible schools. Looking for somewhere where people are respectful, humble and have manners and English is not the second language. Some of the towns we are considering include:

1. Glasgow, Kentucky
2. Marion, Kentucky
3. Mansfield, Missouri
4. Mountain Home, Arkansas
5. Kalona, Iowa
6. Arthur, Illinois
7. Washington, Indiana
8. Ethridge, Tennessee
9. Mountain View, Arkansas
10. Berne, Indiana

We are not concerned with big city amenities as we are basically home bodies who enjoy the more simple things in life like fishing and the outdoors. As far as jobs...........i am a 16 year police officer so I should be able to get another law enforcement job anywhere when the economy recovers. Thanks for any input you might have about these towns, right now our primary concerns are a descent school system (one that does not have gang problems, etc.), affordable acreage and somewhere I can drive and live without having my windows rattled by loud base.

[eok]

You should consider Owensboro, KY. Even if you have no use for most of the advantages of a city, there are some advantages for everyone. Such as if you ever have a heart attack and need to get to a hospital fast. Having a nearby Home Depot, Lowes, Sams Club, Best Buy, etc., can be very handy, even if you spend most of your time at home. And Owensboro is small enough to not have most of the problems of a big city. I consider it the perfect compromise between rural and urban. There is a cornfield in my neighborhood, and I'm within walking distance of all the stores I mentioned above, and a lot of others.

If you live in a very small town, how far is it to the nearest AAA office, or the nearest credit union office? You can stay home 25 days per month, but those other 5 days you're going to want to go somewhere, without driving all day. What if you want to go to a mall sometime? Even if only one mall trip every two months, it's nice to not have to drive three hours each way.

[redfish353]

Thanks so much for the reply. I had never heard of Owensboro before, but it sure does look nice. Was checking the crime statistics and it's a pretty safe place for a mid size city. Thanks again, we are planning a drive through there next summer when we check the other towns on the list.

[kygman]

I lived about 25 miles from Marion, Ky. for about 30 years. It's a nice small town. There is an Amish community a little ways out of town. This time of year is a good time to drive through the Amish areas to see what produce or whatever they have for sale. They have signs out in their yard telling what they have for sale. Living in Marion and want to go to "the city" for some shopping or just to get out, Marion is nowhere near three hours each way. You'll be about an hour from Paducah, Ky. and maybe an hour or a little more from the Henderson, Ky. and Evansville, In. area. For recreation, two of the largest lakes in this part of the country is 45 minutes to an hour away.
As far as law enforcement work, the town of Sturgis, 25 miles away, has had trouble keeping a full police crew. With a small town and not being able to pay a lot for police officers, it's hard to keep them for very long. If he wants a little rougher law enforcement job, there is a state penetentiary outside Fredonia, about 15 miles away, or the main penetentiary at Eddyville, about 20 miles away.
If you want to check housing prices, check out realtor.com and just put in Marion and the price range you're looking for.
Good luck and, no matter where you decide to move, I hope you find a good place.

[redfish353]

Thanks kygman so much for the great post. Actually, the small Amish community outside Marion is one of the biggest draws for us.....we can't wait to see it. When comparing crime rates for Crittendon County and the surrounding area, it also appeared low. As far as law enforcement, he is looking for a quite small town with little crime to work in as he has spent 16 years working the disgusting streets of gang ridden South Florida. So it would actually be a pleasant change to work around law abiding people for once. Thanks again for the incite and the wonderful information.

[kygman]

If he's a policeman in Sturgis, he'll have fun the third weekend in July every year. That's when they have the Little Sturgis Motorcycle Rally. I think there were only around 16,000 there this year. Not a lot of trouble in town.They get back in the back of the rally area for the partying and everything. Town is crowded for the week before, and a few drunks, but never saw anything major.

[HoldMeBack]

Try looking at Bowling Green Ky. also. The people are wonderful, it's not to expense to live there, beautiful, great college town. There should be lots of threads on Bowling Green to check out. That's where we are retiring to one of these days. The shopping is great, downtown superb, but of course I'm a little biased. Good luck

[Central Illinois 1]

Originally Posted by redfish353

My wife and I are looking for a nice, clean small town to raise our newborn child preferably in the midwest. We plan on moving from south Florida to get away from the crime, obnoxious attitudes and horrible schools. Looking for somewhere where people are respectful, humble and have manners and English is not the second language. Some of the towns we are considering include:

1. Glasgow, Kentucky
2. Marion, Kentucky
3. Mansfield, Missouri
4. Mountain Home, Arkansas
5. Kalona, Iowa
6. Arthur, Illinois
7. Washington, Indiana
8. Ethridge, Tennessee
9. Mountain View, Arkansas
10. Berne, Indiana

We are not concerned with big city amenities as we are basically home bodies who enjoy the more simple things in life like fishing and the outdoors. As far as jobs...........i am a 16 year police officer so I should be able to get another law enforcement job anywhere when the economy recovers. Thanks for any input you might have about these towns, right now our primary concerns are a descent school system (one that does not have gang problems, etc.), affordable acreage and somewhere I can drive and live without having my windows rattled by loud base.

I wouldn't consider most of these towns to be midwest. But it sounds to me like you want a very conservative, "non-diverse" area in which to live. So pretty much any of these towns should fit that bill. They wouldn't be my first choices by any stretch, but to each his own I guess.

[timelesschild]

Just so you know - small rural towns often have meth-lab culture under their surface.

I would investigate this before making a move. Talk to local law enforcement to see what they are experiencing in their area.

[kygman]

Not alal of them, timeless. It's amazing how people like to run down small towns. Since redfish is a 16 year police officer, I would imagine he would have thought of that already.