Looking to relocate to mississippi (Jackson, Biloxi: apartments, rental, crime rate)

[nikki2883]

Hey everyone im looking to move to the starkville or columbus area, which one do you think is better job wise and high school wise? Ive never been to mississippi but everyone i run into tells me i shouldnt move there its in a state of depression but i cant tell why arent people leaving then? I just wanna live quiet and peaceful while maintaining a decent job. Im looking for people who either live or really know about the two towns. Looking to relocate next july! How is the crime? Whats the main crime? How are the people? Which neighborhoods are safer? Are there alot of things for kids to do? Is there public transportation? What do you like about your/the two towns? Please get back to me about anything you feel would be good for me to research or just your thoughts period! Thanks for taking your time out........

Greatly appreciated,

nikki

[Mouldy Old Schmo]

Nikki,

There are universities in both Starkville and Columbus. Mississippi State, a large university, is in Starkville and Mississippi University for Women, a small co-ed university, is in Columbus.

[Listener2307]

Nikki, what kind of skill sets or education do you bring with you?
That makes a huge difference, and if we knew a little more about you maybe we could help.

[hunterseat]

I moved from MS!! One of the (very few) things that I miss is the wide open spaces available to ride my horse!!

[GrandviewGloria]

Nikki, you do realize that college towns are generally tough places for "finding a job", don't you? The students not living on their parents' money take ALL the unskilled/entry-level positions. In Mississippi, those kids are generally super-attractive and hard to compete with.

The entry-level SKILLED jobs are ALL taken by the spouses of grad students. And the jobs beyond entry level are taken by spouses of people teaching at the universities, and by grads from those universities, who naturally have the inside track on those career trajectories.

And as Listener says, we really need to know more about you. Do you have a high school age child? Are you about to enter high school? Are you certified to teach in a high school?

Are you a real person? Or are you working at a VOLAG, seeking to infect communities with "People" from "exotic" places?

I have to ask, because VOLAG "volunteers" (generally working for plush salaries, funded by innocent American taxpayers who have no choice in the matter) frequently go online to scope-out new places to infect. They ask vague questions, because they are fronting for amorphous groups of people who generally don't speak English, can generally read in no languages, and who are new to concepts like flush toilets and Equality for Women. So, VOLAG "Volunteers" ask vague questions, because they have no idea, really, what their "clients" are like. They don't know, in advance, the specific "needs" of their clients, and so they are vague.

Assuming you're a real person, and not a VOLAG "volunteer", we really need to know more about you.

If you are from a VOLAG, you should know that trying to "settle" kids (and families) from violent 'cultures' overseas, or from violent American inner cities, will result in their being brutalized (and eventually killed) by the enormous underclass already in Mississippi (as you've already experienced, when trying to plop them down in Atlanta). As for the middle class whites in university towns - people the VOLAGS count upon to be Liberal 'Useful Idiots'.... You will not find those in sufficient quantities, in either Oxford or Starkville. Mississippi is nothing like Minnesota or Iowa. There are not huge pools of suicidally-altruistic Scandinavians in Mississippi, waiting to lay their lives down, Amy Biehl style, for a "cause". Most Viking families, like most Hebrew Families, moved away a long time ago. What you will find is a white population heavily descended from Lowland Scots and Irish Protestants (with lines straight back to County Antrim - Belfast). They're territorial. They're hostile to outsiders. Celts, like Slavs, are better at defending their turf from outsiders - because they don't over-think. And they won't put up with people who treat wives as chattel slaves, and who mutilate their daughters. Got it?

Oh, and VOLAG folk usually discover that in Mississippi there is generally no public transportation, and that the "Services" are all already overwhelmed by the state's huge underclass, and that those "Services" are mostly staffed by beautifully-dressed, Gospel-singing, four-hundred-pound connoisseurs of Barbecue'd Ribs and Chocolate Cream Pies, who are not amused by exotic people from exotic places.

But again, if you are an actual, real person.... we need to know a whole lot more about you. In general, it's a horrible idea to move to a college town in Mississippi, looking for a job (for the reasons I've outlined). But if we knew more about you, then maybe we could suggest some unfilled niche somewhere.

[nikki2883]

Hahahaha I AM A REAL PERSON!!!!! I HAVE HS GRADUATE WORKED A COUPLE YEARS AS A RECEPTIONIST SO I HAVE GREAT PC SKILLS AS WELL AS MS OFFICE SOFTWARE SKILLS AND OTHER SOFTWARES. CURRENTLY IM WORKING AS A HOUSEKEEPER FOR LAWRENCE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE (APPLETON, WI) I HAVE ONE CHILD SHES 15 AND I WANT HER TO GET THE BEST EDUCATION POSSIBLE. HOPEFULLY MY JOB TRANSFER ME DOWN THERE BUT THEY HAVE OFFICES IN BILOXI AND JACKSON AND THATS KINDA FAR FROM STARKVILLE AND COLUMBUS........ I HAVE RECCOMENDATIONS FROM MY EMPLOYER ALREADY AND IVE ONLY BEEN THERE 6 MONTHS. MY BIGGEST FEAR IS THAT IF I DONT GET A TRANSFER HOW FAST AM I GOING TO GET A JOB??? I HAVE A GREAT WORK HISTORY AND REFERENCES. WHICH AREA IS BETTER VERSES CRIME, SCHOOL, JOBS, AND AFFORDABLE RENT? IS THERE A JOB SITE FOR MS BECAUSE CRAIGSLIST DONT POST THAT MANY? I WOULD APPRECIATE ANY RESPONSES GOOD OR BAD JUST GIVE ME THE REAL!!!!!!! IF U CAN PROVIDE ANY SOURCES PLEASE DO SO......

GREATLY APPRECIATED,

NIKKI

[Listener2307]

Columbus? Starkville? Actually, neither, as far as I am concerned. I've never lived in either place, but I go down there a lot. Old... poor. And Columbus has been in no-growth mode for many years. Got passed up by the freeway system.

Best areas are the ones in which you can get a job! No kidding. Having a job makes a huge difference, and I would not take my child anywhere that does not pay me.

PS: I've been to Appleton. Pleasant area, and some of the towns around there are wonderful - like Mayville. We don't have a town that looks like that.

[An Einnseanair]

I grew up about 40 miles west of Starkville (no, there's nothing there on the map), then attended Mississippi State for 6 years (took off a few semesters to work). The university dominates Starkville (student population is about 1/3 of the total population of the town). Major highways go one-way when SEC football games let out, and if you're in an apartment you may have to deal with loud college student neighbors. I'm not as familiar with Columbus. It's slightly larger than Starkville, some "old money" mansions downtown, an Air Force training base up north, and a tiny mall. Little MUW only has a small impact in Columbus.

A in-company transfer is almost always the best option, especially if you can work it such that if things don't work out down here you can transfer back. If you don't get the transfer then I'd highly suggest finding a job BEFORE moving. Too many people pull up roots and blindly move across the country only to get stuck with no money and no options.

If you find yourself looking for a job then MSU is by far the biggest employer in Starkville, and they prefer that most positions are held by permanent employees instead of temporary students. My mom worked as a payroll clerk there for a few decades. There are also several factories out by the tiny Starkville airport. The nearby Golden Triangle industrial area (between Starkville and Columbus) has been growing for a while and houses several major factories. Also the Golden Triangle Regional Airport is the only commercial airport in the area. That being said, the economy is just as bad in MS as it is in WI. People everywhere are still looking for work.

Lots of rental houses and apartments available in Starkville, so even if you're planning on buying I'd recommend renting for a year or so to get a feel for the area. The "bad" area is north-west of the main portion of the town; between the new Hwy 82 bypass and old 182, and generally west of Hwy 389 (Jackson St.).

One thing, though... I'm not aware of ANY form of public transportation in either town. They're just too small.

[nikki2883]

Does anyone know about columbus, ms? Whats the good side of town to live on and any big names in job search?

[viverlibre]

Most people consider public schools in both cities to be poor (the county schools of Oktibbeha (Starkville) are also bad). I understand that Caledonia and New Hope (Lowndes (Columbus) county schools) are adequate.

Unless you can afford private schools, the best education for your daughter is likely where she is now. Most public education in Mississippi is poor due to MS being the poorest state and carrying a large percentage of children from poor home situations.

Crime in either place is not rampant (lower in Starkville), but plenty of opportunistic property crime/robbery exists. Even in the rural areas of the state, there is often more than expected crime due to the factors mentioned above. The crime rate will be much higher than Appleton. Oh, and don't be fooled by crime statistics, sometimes they are not an accurate depiction of the situation (i.e., a police report may refer to an auto burglary as vandalism or mischief to keep reported crimes low).

Since you have a background in housekeeping, you may want to look in the hospitality (Starkville has several busy hotels) or medical industries (both have hospitals).

DO NOT MOVE WITHOUT A JOB AND EMERGENCY SAVINGS. Unlike Wisconsin, most southern states offer little in the way of social services or safety nets.