Best city to raise a family??? (Kansas City, St. Louis: apartment, power lines, low crime)

[GaBoy-n-Iraq]

Hello Missouri,
I will be leaving the military in about a year, I’m from Georgia but I’m thinking about maybe moving to another state. I have done a lot of research on Kentucky, but would like to know what the residents think. What are some good places (cities) to live? Things like crime, schools, economy, state taxes, cost of living, are all important but a couple of things I’m looking for as well is “hospitality”, a sense of neighbor hood, and politeness. I’m looking for a place that has community events (festivals, parades, carnivals, fairs, concerts), with beautiful scenery, hunting, and fishing. I’m currently in the US Army serving in Iraq, I built power lines before I joined and I’m a (25L) Signal Corp Telecommunications Lineman inside the Army. I will be looking for work in the power lineman or telecommunications field when I separate from the military. My wife is a Registered Nurse (RN) and will be looking for a job as well. So any info on power companies, telephone companies, and hospitals in those areas would be greatly appreciated. Best place to raise a family? So what’s your states “Mayberry”?

[smithmi]

Look at Ellington MO. I moved here from Utah and have fallen in love with this community. Great people, great land prices. It has a hospital (small) and the power company is shorthanded according to the sevice folks. The school system is quite impressive. Great place to raise a family. I moved from an area of 1.2M folks to Ellington who has 1300 residents. Low crime, love it.
Good luck in your search.
Mike

[aragx6]

Any population requirements? Less than 5000? More than 500,000?

[GaBoy-n-Iraq]

Originally Posted by aragx6

Any population requirements? Less than 5000? More than 500,000?

Under 70,000!! But preferably, around 10,000 to 30,000.

[STLCardsBlues1989]

Ellington's nice, but it's only about 1,000 people. How about Poplar Bluff? 15k-20k people, basically any convenience you'll need, and relatively cheap. Parts of the city are dangerous, but I think most of it is alright. My cousin lives in an apartment behind Poplar Bluff and my parents used to live in an upstairs apartment when they first got married. We go there about one a week or so for appointments and groceries. There's also a waterpark, which is fun during the winter. Overall it's a nice place.

My sister lives in Sikeston, which is about the same size, and Cape Girardeau's a little bit bigger than that.

[jrhartwick]

Columbia Missouri is population 85,000+/-. Located halfway between St. Louis and Kansas City on I-70. Great downtown historical district, highly regarded schools and they love their festivals It is the healthcare hub of mid missouri. In Columbia alone there is the University of Missouri hospital, Boone Hospital, Columbia Regional Hospital. Excellent, Excellent job opportunities for nurses with a shortgage.

Centralia, Missouri has a population of approx. 3,500. It is located 20-30 minutes north of Columbia. Good schools and our local "Mayberry" Wonderful parks department with an annual Anchor Festival hosted on the cities town square.

Boone Electric Cooperative handles a lot of the rural area power supply.

Hope that helps!

[lilulu]

I would love to hear more about Centralia, MO. Thinking of moving there. I live here in Columbia and it's just getting too big..I would appreciate any input.

[DeanMoore]

Ozark MO near Springfield, and hospitals, there are a few power companies close by, great schools, they do have a active community spirit for a town of their size.

also the rest of the outlying Springfield area.