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Hey Missourians,
My hubby has gone back to school to get his paramedic on an accelerated program, and when he is finished we are planning to relocate to Missouri for many reasons-- One being that competition for jobs is really stiff on medical in our current area, another that we want to run a relatively sustainable small farm, and finally, we miss RAIN and seasons living in Arizona.
I'm in charge of property hunting and home town scouting. I've pretty much narrowed my search down to the Ozark Mountain area for the scenery and the weather (I'm hoping for milder winters and summers on the spectrum.)
Similar threads to this are literally years old, so was hoping for some new input.
My ideal hometown would be up to 30 minutes commute to a hospital or emergency clinic for my husband to work, About the same for basic shopping, and up to an hour for intense shopping (malls, outlet stores, Sams Club/Costco etc.) and a handful of farmers markets to choose from in about a 1 hour radius.
I like the "small town main street" feel, and I'm really into the art of "neighboring", any place that has a community feel to it (rather than just a collection of houses serving as a bedroom community for a larger area) would satisfy me. I'd like a down to earth community, and I get along just fine with bible belters and anabaptists (Amish and mennonites.)
Finally, I'd like to be located closer to mountains and further from lakes for the sake of tornados.
I only plan to keep a little bit of livestock on a 10-20 acre parcel, I don't need space to run anything like a 100 acre cattle ranch.
I've looked at Ozark, and there isn't much in the way of farmettes there, but I'd love suggestions of any other communities to look up.
In the future I may run a farm stand or quilt shop out of a building on my residential property. Historical areas are a big plus! When we arrive we will have kids in middle and elementary school. A decent public school or a choice or charter schools would be really exceptional, but for the right town and farm, I can supplement my kid's education myself.
Last edited by dusky_beauty; 07-14-2011 at 02:16 PM..
I'd say anywhere on the outskirts of Springfield, Cape Girardeau. Columbia, Jefferson City, Fayetteville, Ft. Smith, or Joplin.
Keep in mind that anywhere within 30 minutes of bigger towns with the shopping options you desire will be bedroom communities. The main streets don't do well because of the nearness to shopping destinations you have mentioned.
As far as the medical/paramedic jobs, I don't know what the job situation is like for that.
Hey Missourians,
My hubby has gone back to school to get his paramedic on an accelerated program, and when he is finished we are planning to relocate to Missouri for many reasons-- One being that competition for jobs is really stiff on medical in our current area, another that we want to run a relatively sustainable small farm, and finally, we miss RAIN and seasons living in Arizona.
I'm in charge of property hunting and home town scouting. I've pretty much narrowed my search down to the Ozark Mountain area for the scenery and the weather (I'm hoping for milder winters and summers on the spectrum.)
Similar threads to this are literally years old, so was hoping for some new input.
My ideal hometown would be up to 30 minutes commute to a hospital or emergency clinic for my husband to work, About the same for basic shopping, and up to an hour for intense shopping (malls, outlet stores, Sams Club/Costco etc.) and a handful of farmers markets to choose from in about a 1 hour radius.
I like the "small town main street" feel, and I'm really into the art of "neighboring", any place that has a community feel to it (rather than just a collection of houses serving as a bedroom community for a larger area) would satisfy me. I'd like a down to earth community, and I get along just fine with bible belters and anabaptists (Amish and mennonites.)
Finally, I'd like to be located closer to mountains and further from lakes for the sake of tornados.
I only plan to keep a little bit of livestock on a 10-20 acre parcel, I don't need space to run anything like a 100 acre cattle ranch.
I've looked at Ozark, and there isn't much in the way of farmettes there, but I'd love suggestions of any other communities to look up.
In the future I may run a farm stand or quilt shop out of a building on my residential property. Historical areas are a big plus! When we arrive we will have kids in middle and elementary school. A decent public school or a choice or charter schools would be really exceptional, but for the right town and farm, I can supplement my kid's education myself.
Potosi, MO came to mind when I read this. You'd be about an hour away from St. Louis for your shopping needs (Maybe slightly more never traveled directly between the two). It's in the Ozark mountains & is a very small town that has a very busy main street. I'm not a local to Potosi, but I've been through there many times.
What do you consider a mild winter? Spending time in Rolla during the winter compared to Cape Girardeau was brutal to me, even though Rolla is known to have a more "mild" winter compared to most of the state.
If Potosi doesn't seem right, you could try the area around Cape Girardeau (If Cape has all of the shopping you need, not sure if it would be enough for you or not. Check google for your favorite outlet stores etc...). While Cape isn't in the Ozarks, west of Cape is quite hilly, especially when one gets into Bollinger County (very rural). Cape Girardeau also has a decent amount of history. Also depending on what you consider to be a mild summer, Cape may not fit the bill, but it is the most mild winter you will find in the state besides the Poplar Bluff area (Which may be another option for you to consider) while still having the scenery of hills around you. Cape also has two major medical centers that are both growing as well.
Taking into account everything you have listed, if you are interested in the Cape area, I would pick a spot out in the county that is in the Jackson School District. It has the best high school of the four (in my opinion) that exist in the county. Another option would be finding land in the Nell Holcomb School District (Best Primary education in the county & cheapest school taxes), and you can choose if your child will attend Cape High School or Jackson High School when they come of age since Nell Holcomb doesn't have a high school. The only problem is you may have trouble finding land for sale.
Last edited by GunnerTHB; 07-14-2011 at 03:16 PM..
To clarify, I'm not too big on the shopping. It doesn't matter if I live 15 minutes away or 90 minutes away, I probably wont get to clothes shopping more than once a month.
I'm more interested in good bulk food stores. I suppose 90 minutes wouldn't even be too bad.
we are planning to relocate to Missouri ... living in Arizona.
My ideal hometown would be up to 30 minutes commute to a hospital or emergency clinic for my husband to work, About the same for basic shopping, and up to an hour for intense shopping (malls, outlet stores, Sams Club/Costco etc.) and a handful of farmers markets to choose from in about a 1 hour radius.
I like the "small town main street" feel, and I'm really into the art of "neighboring", any place that has a community feel to it (rather than just a collection of houses serving as a bedroom community for a larger area)...
Finally, I'd like to be located closer to mountains and further from lakes for the sake of tornados.
If tornadoes scare you, stay away from I-44. Tornadoes travel from Oklahoma to St. Louis.
I think the best place for you would be Boone County or surrounding counties. Maybe Moberly would suit you. "Sophisticated" newcomers who want to live in outstate Missouri need to stick close to Columbia, so they can be close to the arts and Starbucks.
I don't know if many "Main Street" towns exist any more. Wal-Marts on the outskirts of town, plus mobility allowing people to travel every weekend to the nearest big city, have killed most downtowns in small-town Missouri. Rolla used to have a thriving downtown, People would ride the train from smaller towns into Rolla; downtown on Friday nights and Saturday crawled with folks. Construction of the interstate in the Sixties made it easier to get to St. Louis. Faster cars makes it even easier, so going to St. Louis is a typical weekend activity for Rolla residents (not for me, though, too poor and country). Downtown Rolla is empty on Friday; Saturday it pretty much shuts down at noon, except for The Readers Corner bookstore.
Potosi, suggested by another poster, is a good idea. There are other places around St. Louis that might fit you, and you could take your stuff into St. Louis County for farmers market and get rich people to pay you more. Some ole boy from Silex I once heard at a farm conference said he could sell his brown farm eggs for one price around home and three or four times that amount at a farmers market in the city.
I don't know where you are going to find mountains in Missouri. We don't have mountains; we have deep valleys in some parts of southern Missouri.
I think my idea of "main street" has less to do with small stores (I saw the family business die to all-mighty Wal-Mart many years ago.) But I guess more like a community invested in itself as a community (4th of july celebrations... kitchsy "days" festivals) rather than a place people just come home to sleep at, and then consider themselves "from" the nearest city they work in.
I was laughing with my husband the other day at just how rural we are. The only time we have EVER lived in a city, he still had a one hour commute to his job at a rural resort.
I really want to know my neighbors, the people who live near me here hide from each other rather than wave, and if you ride by on a bicycle or a horse while they happen to be in their yards they eye you suspiciously! lol
Give me my garden, give me my canner, give me my ducks, give me my jersey cow, but most of all, give me a neighbor I can borrow a cup of sugar from!
I consider a mild winter about 25-30 Fahrenheit lows, light snow-- and I consider a mild summer in the mid 90s or less an average high
I suppose "mountains" are relative. Most place I have lived are totally flat, and what most people call "hills" are mountains, and in the desert what most people would call a muddy seasonal creek they call a "river."
Last edited by dusky_beauty; 07-15-2011 at 07:40 PM..
You might like West Plains, Cabool, or Mountain Grove. Those are all within a couple of hours of Springfield and in the Ozark Mountains. I'm pretty sure W. Plains has good schools--not sure about the other two. Cabool and Mt. Grove are near Seymour, an Amish community. Boonville is a pretty town about 1/2 hour from Columbia and it sits on the MO river. There are several Amish communities around Columbia too and perhaps Jeff City and Boonville--it's been awhile since I lived over there. Good luck in your search.
If tornadoes scare you, stay away from I-44. Tornadoes travel from Oklahoma to St. Louis.
I think the best place for you would be Boone County or surrounding counties. Maybe Moberly would suit you. "Sophisticated" newcomers who want to live in outstate Missouri need to stick close to Columbia, so they can be close to the arts and Starbucks.
I don't know if many "Main Street" towns exist any more. Wal-Marts on the outskirts of town, plus mobility allowing people to travel every weekend to the nearest big city, have killed most downtowns in small-town Missouri. Rolla used to have a thriving downtown, People would ride the train from smaller towns into Rolla; downtown on Friday nights and Saturday crawled with folks. Construction of the interstate in the Sixties made it easier to get to St. Louis. Faster cars makes it even easier, so going to St. Louis is a typical weekend activity for Rolla residents (not for me, though, too poor and country). Downtown Rolla is empty on Friday; Saturday it pretty much shuts down at noon, except for The Readers Corner bookstore.
Potosi, suggested by another poster, is a good idea. There are other places around St. Louis that might fit you, and you could take your stuff into St. Louis County for farmers market and get rich people to pay you more. Some ole boy from Silex I once heard at a farm conference said he could sell his brown farm eggs for one price around home and three or four times that amount at a farmers market in the city.
I don't know where you are going to find mountains in Missouri. We don't have mountains; we have deep valleys in some parts of southern Missouri.
There is so much wrong with the above post I don't even know where to begin!
OP, the main determinant appears to be sticking close to a major city so your spouse can work in a hospital, is that correct? I suggest pulling out a map and drawing a 30 mile circle around Springfield, Columbia, Jefferson City, St. Louis, and St. Joseph if that and "big box" shopping importance is the case.
Frankly, with your request for milder winters and mountains I think you should be looking instead at Arkansas instead of Missouri. Tornados happen in the central USA. If you don't want to play the odds, don't move to the central USA. Go to the extreme, NE, SW, or NW USA instead.
Last edited by lifelongMOgal; 07-16-2011 at 09:22 AM..
I think my idea of "main street" has less to do with small stores (I saw the family business die to all-mighty Wal-Mart many years ago.) But I guess more like a community invested in itself as a community (4th of july celebrations... kitchsy "days" festivals) rather than a place people just come home to sleep at, and then consider themselves "from" the nearest city they work in.
I was laughing with my husband the other day at just how rural we are. The only time we have EVER lived in a city, he still had a one hour commute to his job at a rural resort.
I really want to know my neighbors, the people who live near me here hide from each other rather than wave, and if you ride by on a bicycle or a horse while they happen to be in their yards they eye you suspiciously! lol
Give me my garden, give me my canner, give me my ducks, give me my jersey cow, but most of all, give me a neighbor I can borrow a cup of sugar from!
I consider a mild winter about 25-30 Fahrenheit lows, light snow-- and I consider a mild summer in the mid 90s or less an average high
I suppose "mountains" are relative. Most place I have lived are totally flat, and what most people call "hills" are mountains, and in the desert what most people would call a muddy seasonal creek they call a "river."
The most mild winter you will find will be around the Poplar Bluff area. However, the summers can be pretty brutal (several days at 98+ degrees. Most days will be in the low 90's.). However, it can get pretty dang cold anywhere in the state.
My recommendation to you will be to go to any of the areas your considering & go on a weekend & go to church on Sunday. That will really tell you the mindset of your neighbors.
What I am used to for winters is from oregon and northern nevada. We typically had 1 major regional shut down a year in oregon from ice storms and 1 in blizzards, and it often froze, I think the lowest low we ever had was in the teens in early morning. In Nevada we had a couple blizzards a year, no ice storms, and 8 ft snow drifts (from the wind working 8" of snow just right) and temps got a bit lower. I've maybe seen 3 days in my entire life where the night time low was 0.
I consider that "average" for me, but mild compared to upper midwest in the dakotas/wisconsin/michigan. I realistically expect to lose power due to storms for more than 8 hours twice a year anyplace I have lived or expect to live.
What I'm REALLY craving relief from is the 115 highs we have in Phoenix and the dryness. I've done humid before but the sensation of your skin cooking under the sun in 15 seconds of being outdoors is really uncomfortable. There are documented cases of people walking across asphalt and having their shoes melt. These temps last for 3 months. My research seems to indicate that Missouri temp spike for a couple of weeks in mid summer. Huge difference.
In Oregon we often got into the mid 90s with NO Ac of any kind.
Hubby and I love rainy days. Not just to sit inside and listen to them outside, we love to be outside IN them. Sometimes it doesn't rain here for 4 months. When it finally does rain, it may only drop 2 inches in 1 hour and be finished.
I'm not "afraid" of tornados. I believe in carrying a good insurance policy and a good prayer policy and not dwelling on what "might happen". Disasters can happen anywhere. As a parent, I think it's "smart" not to build or buy in a particular spot that sees 50 tornadoes over it's head every summer, just like I think it's smart not to build a house on a cliff face like they do in socal. A good storm shelter or basement and I don't see much reason to waste effort worrying about twisters again.
My mother has tried to talk me out of moving the family to the entire state because of what happened in Joplin this spring. I've explained time and time again that Joplin is THE worst tornado ever. The odds of one like that hitting that extent again are slim in my estimation. Joplin may well be one of the safest tornado places in coming years because 1. It's already been hit, and 2. the area is going to be hyper aware of tornadoes in safety and building practices in the near years to come.
There's a quote from the movie "The Thirteenth Warrior" that has stuck with me. In it one of the vikings says: "The All-Father wove the skein of our lives long before we were born. Worrying (about how long we will live) profits a man nothing."
TDLR: I want a farm. I want my hubby to have a job in his field. I want the farm to have a chance at being modestly profitable. I want a winter (just one not too cold for my animals to tolerate, or to be snowed or iced in for a week.) I want a fall and spring. I want a summer where I can actually be outdoors. I want rain. I want trees. I want grass. I want a grocery store close enough to home that I can buy ice cream and get it home before it turns to soup.
We've talked about moving back to Oregon or Washington instead because it's familiar in every way, but the property is two to three times as expensive on the same wage and there's no real industry outside of Portland. On average people can't afford to buy from the farm natural products--It's wal-mart generics or nothing. Also property taxes are nuts.
Fiscally, the numbers in favor if MO work, and we can't hate anything as much as we hate Arizona rofl! The weather sucks, the commercialism sucks, the job market sucks, the wages suck, the land sucks, the people suck, the crime sucks, the drivers suck, the taxes suck, the politics suck.
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There is so much wrong with the above post I don't even know where to begin!
