I'm dreaming..... (St. Louis, Branson, Macon: houses, living, prices)

[RamblinRoseRanch]

Of getting OUT of Tennessee :-)

Too many people, too much development, too much humidity.

Our situation:

Myself and my husband, three ankle biters ranging from seven to fifteen years, cats and dogs and horses.

What we want:

Friendly people, property, LOTS of property, horse friendly, family friendly area, to live *out there*, mild winters and low humidity

What we need (doesn't being the adult BITE sometimes?!?!)

Someplace that either needs a cellular/paging store or is an easy commute to a larger city that has a need for either management or a new store.
(that'd be him)
I'm a photographer and my company is headquartered in St. Louis, so methinks finding a job there wouldn't be difficult....

What else?

Oh, inexpensive cost of living, as much horse property as I can humanly get for two hundred thousand or less. Less would be good. Less would be REAL good. Oh, and a house. Need not be fancy, just needs to hold five people and their stuff. Would even consider a place with two houses, as the oldest will be approaching eighteen during the date of the proposed move and what better time to shoehorn them out of the nest? lol

So, am I dreaming? What does Missouri have to offer?


Thanks!

Charaty

Ramblin Rose Ranch, Equine Rescue

[ShadowCaver]

Hey - sounds like a wonderful dream, and even betterer would love to have some TN horse folk in Missouri . I'm sure that Northwoods Voyager, CellarBelle, Lake Junkie, and a couple others will have some excellent suggestions for ya regarding land and areas. Just wanted to 'virtually' welcome ya to Missouri. However, keep in mind, if you are not aware as of yet, but TN and MO weather [of course depending upon which part, but here I am referring more towards MO below the Missouri River, which for the most part more resembles the rolling hills and climate of TN] are not all that different - for the most part you will get more snow and freezing rain in MO, but the humidity and summers are IMHO fairly similar. Which part of the Volunteer State are you from? BTW, Missouri is kinda semi-infamous for her humidity... Me, I love it. Some however can't stand it at all. While others can acclimate and get used to it. Just depends on the person. Anyhow, again welcome and best of luck!

[kareybear]

Well said ShadowCaver. I live in Macon,MO which is about 3 hour drive to ST. Louis and we got rolling hills here to and the humidity and don't know about the winter yet since I just moved here in August. I have to tell you the Humidity is not as bad as NC. So I think it is good although the local said it was unusually hot this year. What are they thinking? I think it gets hot every year here. Who knows until I live here for awhile.

[RamblinRoseRanch]

Thanks for the welcome, guys.

I'm in the Knoxville area. The need for low humidity is due to my asthma, recently discovered and making me miserable.

Is the weather across the state pretty similar, I wonder?

Thanks again.

[Lake Junkie]

Ramblin...is there still a place that NEEDS a cell phone store?
Seems like they're everywhere and fighting each other for business.

The weather across the state is NOT similar.
The further north you go, the colder it is...but the humidity across the state...not sure. It's pretty humid where I live a couple of months a year.

For your 200K you can find some decent horse property around SW MO if you're really willing to fix something up...and our property values are fairly secure. Haven't yet seen a major value crisis.

You will love the friendliness...I do.
Love Missouri.

[8 SNAKE]

I think that the humidity remains pretty consistent across the state. I've lived in both northern and southern portions of Missouri and have never noticed a discernable difference in humidity.

[mrschilicook]

I agree with Snake. We've lived up near St. Louis and now down here near Branson. The humidity is pretty much the same. Not as bad as Florida the southern coastal states, but it can get humid. The weather, however, is different in that the more north the colder it gets. And if your tucked into the hills, it doesn't seem as hot as out on the plains.

I think Tennessee, however, has different weather between east and west.
We've spent a bit of time out there and it always seemed wetter the further east we went.

If you want really dry weather, I'm afraid you'll have to go southwest.
CO, AZ, NM, NV, MT, UT, etc...all have pretty non-humid climates. But the housing prices aren't as attractive unless you go rural. We looked at 'em all before settling on this area.