Relocation to St. Joseph (Commerce, Rea: transplants, for sale, real estate)

[gayleinAZ]

Hello everyone,

I too am thinking about relocating to Northern Missouri. Currently a resident of Phx, AZ and every excited about ESCAPING from this dead desert prison. My question about St. Joseph is what is the city REALLY like. I know it's a smaller city, but is it clean, safe and relatively quiet? All the things Phx is NOT! I'm looking to relocate to a smaller city with a much better quality of life, more opportunities to get involved with civic affairs and volunteer work. I will be visiting St Joseph in about 2 weeks and would love to hear feedback about the town and surrounding area from folks that are either natives or transplants that have found what they are looking for in this city and area of the county.

Thank all of you in advance for any ideas, suggestions or comments!

[kmcd715]

Originally Posted by gayleinAZ

Hello everyone,

I too am thinking about relocating to Northern Missouri. Currently a resident of Phx, AZ and every excited about ESCAPING from this dead desert prison. My question about St. Joseph is what is the city REALLY like. I know it's a smaller city, but is it clean, safe and relatively quiet? All the things Phx is NOT! I'm looking to relocate to a smaller city with a much better quality of life, more opportunities to get involved with civic affairs and volunteer work. I will be visiting St Joseph in about 2 weeks and would love to hear feedback about the town and surrounding area from folks that are either natives or transplants that have found what they are looking for in this city and area of the county.

Thank all of you in advance for any ideas, suggestions or comments!

hi im originally from st joe. lived there for 19 years! i love it. its small but not too small. its close to kansas city, which is good, and they still have everything u need right there in st. joe. if u have any inparticular questions feel free to email me!

[gayleinAZ]

Thank you for your reply. I'd forgotten I posted anything here. I was in St Joes in April and fell head over heals in love with the place. Talk about history. I was due to come back next weekend (May 13) but due to a family emergancy I'll probably reschedule to the 1st of June. I can't think of anything to ask right now becasue I only saw half the city, but I may have a billion questions after my next visit. My first visit was very nice, I love the convenience of the airport and everyone I talked to was very friendly!

Thanks again!

[StJoeFanatic]

I have lived in St. Joseph for the past 12 years. I LOVE IT HERE! If you have any questions, please send them my way! (I work in City Government, so I can help you with all kinds of information as well!)
-StJoeFanatic!

[gayleinAZ]

I really only have 2 quick questions. I've already ask the Chamber of Commerce and they were rather reluctant with the answer. I guess they didn't want to hurt anyone's feelings. My questions are 1. Is St. Joe's pretty quiet? I live in Phx and quiet is only reserved for people in $200K homes in a gated community with an HOA, and 2. are there areas in town they may be a little run down right now but are worth investing in as rebound property? I thought those were pretty easy questions.. but maybe not. I'm in the healthcare field with about 30 years of experience so I'm hoping getting a job, settling down to a slower pace, getting my ducks in a row for retirement in about 15 years, and I'm hoping that will work out in St. Joes. Thank you for your reply and if you have any friends in the real estate biz I'll be in town the week of June 12 and will stop by this website and check for any replys.

[pscad]

I currently live in St. Joe, and have a 4 bed, 2 bath house for sale in a decent neighborhood, if you've not found one yet. I also recently purchased a house for rehab, and am very excited about all of the history St. Joe has to offer.

[gayleinAZ]

Sorry sorry sorry - I keep forgetting about this board. I did note that you said ' also recently purchased a house for rehab'. When I orgianally read that I thought you were opening a rehab center.. I snapped out of it and grasp the concept that you 'bought an old house to redo'. ANYWAY - what I was really thinking about was a duplex to get my feet wet, and to have a roof over my head and then moving on to my own home. I'll FINALLY get back up there the 5th through the 8th of July. Summer in AZ takes a toal on ya' I'm here to tell ya' and this summer has been no exception for me. Maybe you can tell me more about your place at my e-mail address. wisehill2003@yahoo.com[/email]. Geez I hope we're allowed to do that!
I'm totally clueless about the entire town so EVERYTHING will be new and interesting. Where did you find you're rehab house? Was it downtown? That was a very pretty area and seemed pretty quiet except for the ELEPHANTS! I was there during the Shriner's Circus and thought someone has spiked my Diet Coke when I say 2 elephants from the hotel room of the Holiday INN!

[pscad]

Have you looked at the city website? www.ci.st-joseph.mo.us (government site), and www.stjoelive.com, and www.oldhouses.org. I found my house by going to the city's offical site, and there's an "Endangered Properties" link. It was also listed on www.oldhouses.org. The city's website doesn't seem to be working as of this writing, but I've never had problems before (figures!). http://www.city-data.com/forum/images/smilies/mad.gif


There are tons of duplexes in town. The local paper can be found at www.stjoenews-press.com. CUT Also, removed is a local real estate classifieds site.

If the city site ever comes back up, my house is (still) on the Endangered Properties link, as the Schumacher house.

[gayleinAZ]

I have an on-line subscription to the paper and check out the city's website even now and then. It doesn't change much, nor does the news, so I guess that's a good thing. More human interest than murder.. which is refreshing!

Anyway I was referring to your house for sale - if you had any more info on that you can contact me with it on my e-mail address.

I saw the REHAB house on-line. It looks like a real 'challange'. I'd love to eventually redo one of those homes - but how do you get the cold hard cash to redo them? I would assume you'd almost have to start from the ground up - or rather the studs in. Are there any programs, low interest loans or grants available for the projects?

I'll be in SJ the week of July 5th and I'm renting a car this time so maybe I'll drive by and take a look at your 'diamond in the rough.' Good luck with that project!

[christina0001]

I met someone from St. Joseph's yesterday and he raved about it - was totally homesick! Do most people who live in StJo also work there or do they commute to KC? Do most people who work in StJo live in StJo or do they live in the 'burbs?