Anyone else from NW Missouri? (Kansas City, St. Louis: employment, college, living in)

[MoNative34]

Hi,
I've noticed on these threads that most of the attention going to outstate Missouri are Springfield, Branson, and the south missouri ozarks. Now don't get me wrong, I like the south part of the state. I went to college in Springfield back in the 90s and did the road trip thing all the time around south MO and north AR. Nice scenery, nice folks, and plenty of space.

The thing is though, the attention on the Ozarks tends to overshadow other rural parts of the state, leaving many to assume that if it's not in the Ozarks, it must be flat. Not really.

I settled in between Kansas City and St. Joseph in NW MO in '99 and I was very surprised at the overall relief of the land. Rolling hills with mixed cropland pasture and timber. The price for the acreage I bought was extremely reasonable for the proximity to the city for work, nightlife, shopping (if that's your thing... I'm a guy therefore I don't), sports, etc. And if you're into gardening, the topsoil is nice and dark...and deep! Rural water is available in most areas, (so no headaches dealing with a well). Yes, it doesn't have the tourism stuff going on like other parts of the state; I would say there's many out there that would agree that living in a tourist trap gets old very quickly.

For those interested in relocating to MO, check out NW MO. You may like it as much as the Ozarks!

MoNative

[MrsMo]

I am in the suburbs of Kansas City. Moved here when I was 5 from Pennsylvania. Although I miss Pittsburgh, I cannot imagine living anywhere else now. Only 3 hours from the lake for us. I guess you can say I was raised in central Mo. as we spent all summer at the lake with my grandparents and if we weren't there we were at my aunt and uncle's farm in Warrensburg.The KC area is a great place to live and raise kids. We always find something to do if we aren't at the lake on the weekends.

[kareybear]

I am moving to the North West of Missouri if that is where you would pinned point it next week. I still have not found a place and hope to find something soon as I get up there. Your right this forum seems to talk about the southern Missouri. I got a few help with the people on this thread but would love have more conversation with people in Northern part because you don't get a whole lot of answers there. My guessing people in Northern are to Busy to help Wannabe Missourians.

[northbayeric]

Generally true that SW Missouri has been receiving the lion's share of attention here. But there is a very notable exception to what may be the general rule of northern Missourians being too busy "to help wannabe Missourians" (and it's probably that they just don't know this website exists). That person is StJoeFanatic. If you check out what has been a very active St. Joseph forum and also the previous ones covering St Jo, you'll see that StJoeFanatic has been a veritable treasure trove of information! I'm a native of the St. Louis area, have lived in Santa Rosa, CA (an hour north of San Francisco if traffic isn't too ghoulish) for 21 years, and am planning to relocate to St. Joseph within 9 months, depending on employment opportunities. StJoeFanatic has even given me some promising leads on employment there.

So if Moberly doesn't work out, what would you think about heading a bit further west "where the Pony Express began and Jesse James ended"? Unless you've got family or anything else specific in Moberly.

Special thanks to you, MoNative34 too! I love the area around Camdenton, Bridal Cave and Ha Ha Tonka State Park, but am looking forward to seeing NW Missouri for the first time and think I'll like it even more than Lake of the Ozarks as a place to relocate.

[jesse78]

I was born in St Joseph and raised in a small town 10 miles to east, I went to college at NWMSU in Maryville. A great and often overlooked part of the state!