Joplin=yuck-olo (St. Louis, Springfield, Louisiana: real estate, houses, rent)

[MNdad]

We have been here 6 years now. If you are from the North, West, or East it is going to be a CULTURE SHOCK. Evangelicals are EVERYWHERE (this is the buckle of the BILBE BELT). We are Catholic and it is the kind of place that thinks Catholics are not christians.

Meth cookers are all over the place. The education system stinks. We just put our kids in private school because of them.

School programs had that unforgetable mixed odor of alcohol/tobacco (smoked and chewed)/ and lack of soap for a long time. And our kid was at a "good" school.

I have done some real estate investing here. There ARE bad neighborhoods: Most of them. This is a town of have and have nots. Most folks her are poor and then the ones who are not live either on "Snob Hill" (an area where the rich mining people used to live, but is now professionals that love their old houses) or in the new developments with $300K+ houses. There is little in between.

Renovate a house? You better be handy. No one will do anything around here once they have enough money for rent/truck payment/beer/ and chew for the month. I did 80% of the work on everything I renovated.

Also, the houses are cheap, but most of the cheap ones are in VERY POOR REPAIR. Lots of knob and tube wiring, FUSE boxes, plumbing with no cut offs and next to no insulation. People also have an unnatural love of wallpaper down here. Get ready to steam it off.

Teaching pay is poor. Nursing pay is poor. If you are not a far right conservative people think you do not belong here.

Semi traffic is VERY busy on I-44.

Summer is hot and humid and winter is rainy and cold (far worse that snowy and cold in my book). I almost forgot the beauty of ICE STORMS, which are much worse than a blizzard.

Don't forget all the lead contamination from the mining days. We have culligan water because the city water is full of all kind of junk. It is also hard to find a decent dentist or doctor. There is only one (new) guy that can even do a root cannal here.

Also, the locals deny having a souther accent, but they do. When they can't understand what you said they said this stupid phrase: "Do what?" Just like every state, they think the state just south of them is the start of "the south". Trouble is, Arkansas is less than an hour from here....

Walmart (we have THREE Supercenters) is about the only place to shop, and it is pack on weekends, late at night, all the time. Packed with dirty 300+ pound people with 8th grade educations.

If my mother in law who is in Springfield didn't have a serious illness, we would have been out of here over a year ago. This isn't the worst place in Missouri, but it is right down there.

[Plains10]

Your personal experiences seem interesting. Joplin definitely has much more in common with the mid-south than with the Midwest that is for sure. Another thing that I can not figure out is why so many people keep moving into the Joplin area when the non-farm employment has decreased rapidly between 2000-2004. I do not know if non-farm employment has increased between 2004-2006 because the census data does not have the updated information. Yes, you are right about this area being part of the bible belt and that area extends further to the north and includes counties just to the south of the KC metro as well.

[MNdad]

Originally Posted by Plains10

Your personal experiences seem interesting. Joplin definitely has much more in common with the mid-south than with the Midwest that is for sure. Another thing that I can not figure out is why so many people keep moving into the Joplin area when the non-farm employment has decreased rapidly between 2000-2004. I do not know if non-farm employment has increased between 2004-2006 because the census data does not have the updated information. Yes, you are right about this area being part of the bible belt and that area extends further to the north and includes counties just to the south of the KC metro as well.

Maybe because it is a cheap are to live in on government benefits? I work in a hospital and see payment info. There is a TON of medicaid as payor down here. Lots of people on disability, too.

[Plains10]

Originally Posted by MNdad

Maybe because it is a cheap are to live in on government benefits? I work in a hospital and see payment info. There is a TON of medicaid as payor down here. Lots of people on disability, too.

That does not seem too surprising. The percentage of the population living below poverty is now 17% for Jasper County as of 2004, and the non-farm employment job losses were quite significant for the 2000-2004 time period. A problem I am seeing is that a lot of people are moving to southern Missouri and the gains in non-farm employment are lagging far behind.

[MNdad]

Originally Posted by Plains10

That does not seem too surprising. The percentage of the population living below poverty is now 17% for Jasper County as of 2004, and the non-farm employment job losses were quite significant for the 2000-2004 time period. A problem I am seeing is that a lot of people are moving to southern Missouri and the gains in non-farm employment are lagging far behind.

Yep. Unless you work at Leggett, Dyno-noble, Eagle Pitcher, Tamko, or the hospitals, you are kind of hosed. There are lots of retail jobs, but the don't pay much at all.

[nmnita]

Originally Posted by MNdad

Maybe because it is a cheap are to live in on government benefits? I work in a hospital and see payment info. There is a TON of medicaid as payor down here. Lots of people on disability, too.

Do you think this is much different than many area? We live in an area with a very low income base. We see so many on food stamps, medicaid, unmarried moms, etc. many don't speak English and don't care. As for the BibleBelt, and your not being a christian cause you are catholic. My granddaughter's inlaws in Colorado don't consider us Christians either because we are Episcopalians and say the Nicein (spelling) creed which as you know refers to one catholic and apostalic chruch.

I have not been to Joplin, I am sure much of what you say is true, I am simply saying what you are experiencing is all over. What we get out of where we live is what we put into it.

Nita

[MNdad]

I forgot to mention the scrap yard right on the rail road tracks crossing Main Street in down town. Classy.

There is nothing to do about it because it has been zoned that way for years.

[Inoxkeeper]

Wow! Joplin is getting whipped like a rented mule!

I have never been fond of the town myself, it's too flat for this hillbilly.

[DocGSD]

Originally Posted by MNdad

I forgot to mention the scrap yard right on the rail road tracks crossing Main Street in down town. Classy.

There is nothing to do about it because it has been zoned that way for years.

thats because the jerk that owns it has been a thorn in the city govt's butt for years. I heard they have tried and tried to clean it up but they cant touch the guy. It is a crap hole down there.

[NOLA2SGF]

Originally Posted by MNdad

People also have an unnatural love of wallpaper down here. Get ready to steam it off.

This might be one of those "potatos, po-tah-toes" issues. Personally I LOVE wallpaper. Beautiful, well done, tasteful wallpaper was a big "plus" for me when buying my present home here in New Orleans (along with the granite countertops, French doors, crown molding, alcoves, and so on.). It has really added to my quality of life for the past few years.

Originally Posted by MNdad

Teaching pay is poor. Nursing pay is poor. If you are not a far right conservative people think you do not belong here.

It seems to me that pay is generally poor in areas with low cost of living. I have heard that SW Missouri in general is pretty conservative. I don't know if I belong there or not. I tend to identify with being a conservative, but actually I am more economically conservative than socially conservative. Here in New Orleans people are pretty tolerant of different lifestyles and choices, and although I live a pretty ordinary lifestyle I don't feel the need to dictate what others should do.

Originally Posted by MNdad

Just like every state, they think the state just south of them is the start of "the south". Trouble is, Arkansas is less than an hour from here....

I live in Louisiana. We are pretty sure we are in the south! But then, there aren't any states south of us.

Originally Posted by MNdad

Walmart (we have THREE Supercenters) is about the only place to shop, and it is pack on weekends, late at night, all the time. Packed with dirty 300+ pound people with 8th grade educations.

I have never been to Joplin, but Wal-Mart just isn't much fun, is it? The crowds make it hard to park and an ordeal to check out.

Originally Posted by MNdad

If my mother in law who is in Springfield didn't have a serious illness, we would have been out of here over a year ago. This isn't the worst place in Missouri, but it is right down there.

Sorry to hear that it isn't working out very well for you. Could you move someplace like the St. Louis suburbs, and drive to Springfield to see her on the weekends? Maybe that would work out a lot better for you.