Rural Missouri (Springfield, Columbia, Jefferson City: fit in, top neighborhood, vacation home)

[arjr]

My wife, and I are researching possible relocation from NY.

We like the country and would appreciate suggestions on specific locales in Missouri.

Our plus list includes.

Rural rolling farm land.
Access to town with sufficient medical facilities and shopping, but not too close to an overly large metro area.

Also, how are the winters. I know it is cold this year, but I am asking in general. Are the winters long?

We have a vacation home in Upstate NY, that is in a beautiful, rural area....but the winters are so long, and so cold, that we have decided against retiring up there. By early December winter is pretty much set in, and spring stays away until May.

TIA for any replies!

[Ozarks21]

Central Missouri (Columbia and Jefferson City) has rolling farmland and excellent hospital facilities.

Southwest Missouri (Springfield, Branson) has more rugged forested hills and pasture (not crop farms) and excellent medical facilities.

Springfield is as conservative as Columbia is liberal. Both are great areas for shopping and dining and entertainment. Springfield/Branson has slightly milder winters than Columbia/JC.

I live in Springfield now, having moved from Columbia. As for a description of our winters here in SW Missouri, we get lows in the single digits and weeks at a time below freezing. But we get a few days here and there above 50*, and occasionally we get 60* weather in mid-winter. The true cold usually lasts from December through February. We get some snow every year, but it varies between a dusting to a foot or more. This year we got ice (a 75 year event). Our weather is best described as variable.

[teachcal]

Hi,

I've lived in Columbia, MO the past 5 yrs. After having lived in Atlanta, Birmingham, Oshkosh, WI, LA, and N. California, this is my favorite place for the combination of:

1. safety (murders extremely rare, robbery is low)
2. low cost of living-- I live in a nice 4000 sq. ft. house in a top neighborhood. We paid $245,000.
3. top public schools- standardized test scores are extremely high
4. top healthcare--most doctors and hospital beds per person in the nation--we're second only to St. Paul's Mayo Clinic.
5. Good mix of liberalism and conservatism-- we have both anti-war demonstrations as well as very active Boy Scouts troops and Knights of Columbus Chapters.
6. U. of Missouri is here. Brings in great football weekends and college bands/bars.

The weather is generally mild. This winter has been the harshest in 5 years and currently we have less than 6 inches of snow on the ground in February.
The seasonal changes are the best I've seen-- we get dogwoods and azaleas at easter, gorgeous falls, and mild winters (snow melts within a week).

The only major drawback can be the difficulty of making new friends. People here (as with most Midwesterners) focus almost solely on their families. Outsiders usually have to form a niche in order to "fit in." If your kids are your life, you will love it here.

Check out the attached links. Good luck!!

http://www.columbiamochamber.com/

http://gocolumbiamo.com/

Theresa Rezentes
Columbia, MO

teachcal@tranquility.net

[arjr]

Thank you for your kind replies.

I probably should have mentioned that we lean to the conservative side, both politically and socially, and that those are the areas we would most likely feel more comfortable relocating to.

[Ozarks21]

Originally Posted by arjr

Thank you for your kind replies.

I probably should have mentioned that we lean to the conservative side, both politically and socially, and that those are the areas we would most likely feel more comfortable relocating to.

Welcome to Springfield!

By the way, our temperatures will be in the mid-50s today and Columbia will be in the 30s. It seems like weather systems are often seperated between Springfield/I-44 and the Missouri River. Yesterday St.Louis had bone chilling cold while we were fairly comfortable.

[MrsDDalanD]

For a combination of rural area, rolling topography and access to amenities and medical care, you might consider the Rolla area. Prices can vary from reasonable to out of sight, but you can find pretty much anything you're looking for. If you're looking for a good realtor, check out Red Caboose Realty in Licking (just south of Rolla) as they have a nice assortment and can show land anywhere around. removed

(And, no, I'm not associated with Red Caboose. I've used them and they're great!)

[midwest456]

Might look at outside Liberty or the Kearney area northeast of the KC metro. It is not a really long drive to the city but you will still have that nice rural feel and breathing space from the city's traffic and other ills. Liberty itself has shopping and I'm sure there is a hospital there. Not sure if by "rolling" you prefer hilly landscape. In that case you would like the Ozarks better. Most of north Missouri is more akin to Iowa and Kansas and is flatter.
You should find the winters much milder here after spending time in upstate NY that time of year. The recent cold here has been unlike most of the last few winters around KC.

[Coldspring]

If you want to live in a rural area, with great scenery and rolling hills, and decent medical facilities, come to West Plains. It's a small town of 15,000 and growing. People around here are pretty conservative, or just laid back enough not to care anyway.

[Pirateman]

Hannibal MO is a town of 17,759 or around that anyways the land around hannibal is all country www.hanmo.com

[Pirateman]

http://www.hannibal.k12.mo.us/ school district website should help you