Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > Missouri
 [Register]
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
Reply Start New Thread
 
Old 09-01-2010, 02:03 PM
 
10,092 posts, read 8,167,466 times
Reputation: 3411

Advertisements

My husband's job is relocating our family to Missouri. He'll be working in Jefferson City, but I think we would be much happier in the Columbia area. We have children in elementary through high school who currently attend smaller schools--they'd be lost in a larger school district like Columbia's, plus we like raising our children in a little more rural environment with easy access to a larger city and everything they have to offer. We're looking for smaller communities with a very good school district that will be an easy commute to Jefferson City for him, but that will put our family closer to Columbia. Ashland seems to fit that description, but I know almost nothing about the town. My husband and I are what I would describe as moderately liberal professionals who grew up in small town America. We understand small towns--is this community open to newcomers (people who didn't grow up there living there?) Is there a big drug or alcohol problem with teenagers there? Anything you can tell me would be helpful at this point. Thanks so much in advance!
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 09-01-2010, 02:48 PM
 
10,092 posts, read 8,167,466 times
Reputation: 3411
I should have added this earlier. Is there another small town in the Columbia area that's still an easy commute to Jefferson City that we might like better?
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 09-01-2010, 06:45 PM
 
29,981 posts, read 42,770,513 times
Reputation: 12828
Is there any reason the OP already seems to have eliminated Jefferson City as a place to live? Do you consider it too large? The area around Ashland is very picturesque but I can't offer any first hand knowledge of the schools or town additude.

Last edited by lifelongMOgal; 09-01-2010 at 06:56 PM..
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 09-01-2010, 07:17 PM
 
10,092 posts, read 8,167,466 times
Reputation: 3411
I don't want to offend anyone--I'm sure Jefferson City is a VERY nice town, but I don't think it's a good match for our family. I work in the arts, and I like being part of an art community--there's not much there for me. We also seem to be a little more liberal politically than many of the people there. We visited Jefferson City to check it out--I think we would all be much happier living closer to Columbia. We currently live in a small town outside of a major college town and love it--it's the best of both worlds for our children. They get to grow up with a sense of community and small town values, and I can have a career and friends in my field. It works for us.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 09-02-2010, 08:49 AM
 
Location: Tower Grove East, St. Louis, MO
12,063 posts, read 31,469,745 times
Reputation: 3798
I think you're definitely right that JC won't be what you are looking for, but I don't really know enough about any of the small towns around Columbia to give you any valid advice other than that Ashland is small -- like really small. But I guess you've probably looked at the population already.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 09-02-2010, 09:31 AM
 
29,981 posts, read 42,770,513 times
Reputation: 12828
Quote:
Originally Posted by mb1547 View Post
I don't want to offend anyone--I'm sure Jefferson City is a VERY nice town, but I don't think it's a good match for our family. I work in the arts, and I like being part of an art community--there's not much there for me. We also seem to be a little more liberal politically than many of the people there. We visited Jefferson City to check it out--I think we would all be much happier living closer to Columbia. We currently live in a small town outside of a major college town and love it--it's the best of both worlds for our children. They get to grow up with a sense of community and small town values, and I can have a career and friends in my field. It works for us.
Maybe you should investigate Fulton. It is a college town. A bit further from Jeff. City than Ashland but it might lend the liberal atmosphere you seek without actually living in Columbia.

Rocheport may be another option (artsy flavor). It is just W. of Columbia with easy interstate access to I-70. Again a further commute to Jeff. City than Ashland but close to Columbia. You'll have to drive into Columbia or Booneville for your shopping needs.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 09-02-2010, 10:08 AM
 
10,092 posts, read 8,167,466 times
Reputation: 3411
Thanks so much! I need all the advice and leads I can get. As far as Ashland goes--we like small towns, and we're used to a 20 minute commute to shopping, etc. Unfortunately, all I know about the town is what I've read on school statistics, etc. I'll check out Fulton as well, although when I read their public school report it wasn't as strong as Ashland's--does anyone know more about that community? I have a number of friends who live at the Lake and went to Mizzou, but they know almost nothing about the small towns in the surrounding area--this is really helpful. I would probably love Rocheport--how bad is the commute across Columbia and down south to Jeff City? I hate being so focused on Columbia, but I have a kid heading off to college in a couple of years, and my job options (or ease at employing myself) is going to become a big factor fairly quickly. Thanks so much...
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 09-02-2010, 10:24 AM
 
Location: Tower Grove East, St. Louis, MO
12,063 posts, read 31,469,745 times
Reputation: 3798
I would definitely ditto Fulton. I kind of thought it was a longer drive to Jeff City, but that's because I forgot it was along 54. Very cute town and tons of history (If you didn't know, it's where Winston Churchill gave his Iron Curtain speech). And while it's a small town, it has more than 10,000 people unlike Ashland which is maybe a couple thousand.

Ashland is really just kind of empty.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 09-02-2010, 05:15 PM
 
Location: Rolla, Phelps County, Ozarks, Missouri
1,069 posts, read 2,548,928 times
Reputation: 1287
Quote:
Originally Posted by mb1547 View Post
My husband's job is relocating our family to Missouri. We have children in elementary through high school ...we like raising our children in a little more rural environment ...My husband and I are what I would describe as moderately liberal professionals ... We understand small towns...Is there a big drug or alcohol problem ....
Why are liberal parents (too liberal for Jefferson City) working so hard to avoid Columbia Public Schools, which offer the diversity and multi-culturalism I'm sure you want for your children?

You understand small towns and their general ethnic makeup, so is your reference to "a big drug or alcohol problem" coded language perhaps?

Are you activists looking to move to a small community and then begin a campaign to make the homogeneous school more diverse?

Perhaps I'm reading too much into your posts. Very likely you're just parents looking for the best for your children.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 09-02-2010, 08:07 PM
 
10,092 posts, read 8,167,466 times
Reputation: 3411
"Very likely you're just parents looking for the best for your children."

You got it--sorry to disappoint you on the rest--no sinister agenda here

We just like small schools and small towns. Some people like the anonymity of a city--we like to get involved, know our neighbors, and know all the families of our kids friends. My children are good students, plus they like to get involved and try different activities--they play a different sport every season, plus do everything from band to speech to student council. Larger schools have more competitive tryouts, so there are few opportunities to try new things. In a smaller school, you know all your classmates, and you don't get lost in the shuffle. My work needs to keep me closer to a larger, more arts oriented community, but we like the quiet of living of the country.

As far as the rest of it--if being a moderate democrat makes you an "activist," then Lord help us all, lol Their current school is rural, has top test scores, and it's racially and economically diverse. If we wanted them in a school where they wouldn't experience differences, we would have done private school from day one. I checked, and Fulton actually has a higher percentage of minorities living in the community than Columbia. As for drugs and alcohol, I'm more concerned about situations where the whole school shows up in a field for a kegger on Friday night after a football game than I am with hard drugs (Am I naive? Do I need to be worried about harder drugs?!?!). Some small towns have more of a reputation for partying than others, and since I'm moving a high schooler, situations like that create a lot of peer pressure for a new student trying to fit in.

On that note, if anyone knows anything about these communities, I'd love to hear from them. Thanks again for your advice so far--it's really been helpful
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.


Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:


Settings
X
Data:
Loading data...
Based on 2000-2020 data
Loading data...

123
Hide US histogram


Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > Missouri

All times are GMT -6.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top