Looking to Find a Good Place to Be - Is it here? (Kansas City: 2013)

[jonas3333]

Hi. I live in Southwest Michigan and have been considering Missouri for awhile as a possibility to move to. One of my most major motivations to move there is that Missouri appears to be a smoker-friendly state and I have had it with the tobacco laws and policies that are taking over the U.S. I favor liberty and want to live in a place that does not hinder that and is more like what the U.S.A. used to be. Aside from that, I'll just list things that I am seeking and/or prefer as well as things I am not looking for in a place of residence.

Factors I desire:

1. Again, tobacco-friendly. I understand St. Charles, Joplin, Cape Girardeau are all areas that have thankfully rebutted against the nanny state laws and propaganda surrounding tobacco use. I want to live in a place that has this kind of common sense and where I can enter an establishment, work or go to college and be treated like a regular citizen without these draconian laws surrounding me. Are these areas good places to live? Pros and cons?

2. There should be some sort of employment prospects. I ultimately would like to work from home or be involved with design in some way, but am open to other things and have a long history of production floor employment. I am currently unemployed, but my home is paid for and I am debt free with enough to live on for awhile. My plan would be to outright purchase a very low cost home and go from there.

3. I'm one of the few people who like humidity. I prefer it over a dry area like the SW U.S. After the majority of my life in Michigan, I'm looking to escape the winter and all that comes with it. I understand there is still winter in Missouri, but not the levels we have here. I like green places with water though and would like to have a garden in a place that is higher than zone 5. I love thunderstorms and when I lived in S.C. for a couple years, I realized how even more awesome they were in the South. Big on thunderstorms, fog and rain.

4. I currently live in a college area where the students have fun and I love that. While I'm no longer at that age, I prefer to live either privately rural or amongst the party zone that is a college neighborhood. Loud noise and partying does not bother me in the least.

5. Internet access is a must. No dial-up for me. I don't mean to insinuate that MO is some prehistoric area without modern tech, but I needs my fast connection as I spend almost all my time on the computer.

6. I like that MO is being progressive with marijuana/hemp and hope that continues. That is something that I still like about MI and it's hard to leave a place that is getting so far in that area while going backwards in many others.

Factors I do Not Desire:

1. Racism and general intolerance. My one negative memory from living in the south is the attitudes of the general populace towards others not like them. I know people are generally nice and I just need to state this so you can warn me of places that I might avoid where those attitudes still thrive.

2. On a similar note, as an atheist, I believe in freedom of religion, but I fear living in an area swathed in righteous religious indignation. I'm terrified of being surrounded(even more than here) by bible thumpers and such that might consider me to be some sort of evil infidel or demon.

3. Michigan has rapidly become a police state and that power continues to grow. Naturally, Ferguson's recent situation has brought concern to me about moving to MO. Should I be?

4. The sole silver lining of Michigan winter is how tough it is on the insect population. I get it that I'd have to give this up somewhat by moving South, but don't want to be living in an area crawling with bugs to the point where it's a serious problem. Mosquitoes don't hassle me for the most part. Any places to avoid on this note?

So, given my list, I'm just looking for advice on places in MO that might be suitable for me. I realize it's a large and diverse state that probably has a little of everything I am and am not looking for. I hope to visit there in the spring to get a better idea myself, but naturally cannot visit everywhere so I'm trying to narrow that down. Thanks for any help!

[Vols44]

Factors I desire:

1. Again, tobacco-friendly. I understand St. Charles, Joplin, Cape Girardeau are all areas that have thankfully rebutted against the nanny state laws and propaganda surrounding tobacco use. I want to live in a place that has this kind of common sense and where I can enter an establishment, work or go to college and be treated like a regular citizen without these draconian laws surrounding me. Are these areas good places to live? Pros and cons? The tobacco tax is the lowest in the country. Voter decided not to increase it in an election a few years ago. Municipalities enacted their own restrictions . Researching the different statutes will be beneficial.

2. There should be some sort of employment prospects. I ultimately would like to work from home or be involved with design in some way, but am open to other things and have a long history of production floor employment. I am currently unemployed, but my home is paid for and I am debt free with enough to live on for awhile. My plan would be to outright purchase a very low cost home and go from there. My advice here is networking, job fairs and building an employment bridge so you move, rent while working and gradually settle into an area.

3. I'm one of the few people who like humidity. I prefer it over a dry area like the SW U.S. After the majority of my life in Michigan, I'm looking to escape the winter and all that comes with it. I understand there is still winter in Missouri, but not the levels we have here. I like green places with water though and would like to have a garden in a place that is higher than zone 5. I love thunderstorms and when I lived in S.C. for a couple years, I realized how even more awesome they were in the South. Big on thunderstorms, fog and rain. Known as the I-44 corridor, it triples as the belt buckle of the bible belt, ice belt when winter storms leave snow in KC and rain in Fayetteville, and a tornado alley.

4. I currently live in a college area where the students have fun and I love that. While I'm no longer at that age, I prefer to live either privately rural or amongst the party zone that is a college neighborhood. Loud noise and partying does not bother me in the least. The Columia-Jeff City pro/con thread goes into detail about the aspects intrinsic to each town. The MU is the largest campus in the state by far. Research into the power and light district in the Kansas City forum will interest you.

5. Internet access is a must. No dial-up for me. I don't mean to insinuate that MO is some prehistoric area without modern tech, but I needs my fast connection as I spend almost all my time on the computer. Are you familiar with the installation of Google fiber in select Kansas City neighborhoods? I'll speak for the Springfield area and let others chime in on St. Louis. Springtown has free wifi for downtown lofts. Mediacom has tiers as high as 150/10 with a 3000GB monthly usage limit.

6. I like that MO is being progressive with marijuana/hemp and hope that continues. That is something that I still like about MI and it's hard to leave a place that is getting so far in that area while going backwards in many others.

Factors I do Not Desire:

1. Racism and general intolerance. My one negative memory from living in the south is the attitudes of the general populace towards others not like them. I know people are generally nice and I just need to state this so you can warn me of places that I might avoid where those attitudes still thrive. This topic is a hornet's nest and you'll get all kinds of opinions so all I'll say is pull up the demographics for each area and lower your expectations.

2. On a similar note, as an atheist, I believe in freedom of religion, but I fear living in an area swathed in righteous religious indignation. I'm terrified of being surrounded(even more than here) by bible thumpers and such that might consider me to be some sort of evil infidel or demon. If it's an integral part of their lives there's nothing you can do except change the subject. Drive around and count how many places of worship exist and make up your mind on which direction to go.

3. Michigan has rapidly become a police state and that power continues to grow. Naturally, Ferguson's recent situation has brought concern to me about moving to MO. Should I be? The St. Louis area has some unique laws in place that require a lot of reading to understand. SW Mo has a more traditional relationship between the state, county and each town's force.

4. The sole silver lining of Michigan winter is how tough it is on the insect population. I get it that I'd have to give this up somewhat by moving South, but don't want to be living in an area crawling with bugs to the point where it's a serious problem. Mosquitoes don't hassle me for the most part. Any places to avoid on this note? The first freeze comes early in November and lasts til, mid March. We like to say everyday it gets below zero the permafrost reaches deeper into the ground and kills bugs burrowing underground for the winter. Last year's eleven days exceed the norm of four. KC & STL were below normal 65% of their winter days in 2013.

So, given my list, I'm just looking for advice on places in MO that might be suitable for me. I realize it's a large and diverse state that probably has a little of everything I am and am not looking for. I hope to visit there in the spring to get a better idea myself, but naturally cannot visit everywhere so I'm trying to narrow that down.

Jobs in St.Louis are plentiful and the international options are larger than Kansas City which has it's own niche market. I classify STL & KC as midwestern cities ans Springfield as a southern one. Each are vastly different and only you can see what each offers yourself.