Specific questions about Columbia, MO neighborhoods (California, Benton: best neighborhoods, for sale, houses)

[lil donna]

I hope someone can help me.

The neighborhoods we are considering are:

Mill Creek Manor
Smithton Ridge
Thornbrook
Cascades
Heritage Meadows
Westcliff

Can someone be blatantly honest with me and tell me the good and the bad about these neighborhoods?

I'm concerned about Rock Bridge Elementary scores. I have heard it's a good school but the scores don't show this. Can someone tell me about this school or any of the other schools. Mill Creek, Paxton Keeley, or Russell Blvd.
Can anyone recommend one school or neighborhood over the other and WHY?

Thank you very much!
Donna

[teachcal]

Hi,

I am a certified teacher who lives in SW Columbia. I have worked P-T at Grant and Ridgeway. I've subbed at several others. I live in Woodrail. Here goes:

1. RockBridge concentrates on special needs kids. They have an city-wide autistic population. Teachers are good. Some kids come from public housing which would explain lower test scores.

2. Thornbrook is prestigous. It is zoned Millcreek Elem. Excellent scores, esp. in math (overall very white school).

3. Principal at Paxton Keeley is excellent. She moved there from Fairview Elem. which had outstanding test scores during her tenure. Last year, Paxton's test scores were lower than was expected. That should be reversed . Don't let that keep you from Paxton (overall very white school).

4. Personally, I love Russell. The Principal is outstanding and has a Catholic School background. It has a more traditional approach. Very multi-ethnic/multi-cultural with mostly University kids living in an older neighborhood( which is good/not so good depending on how you look at it.) I loved subbing there. The kids were great.

If you're Catholic, you might consider CCS. Tuition is reasonable (under $3,000 per child) and most parents love it.

Private message me if you have further questions. Columbia Public Schools are all excellent. The difference in test scores is usually related to how learning is prioritized in the home.

Theresa (Modcut)
Columbia, MO

[KCWKEN]

My son attended Fairview for Kindergarden and 1st Grades and the staff and administration were excellent. They built Paxton Keely about 4 years ago and the principal of Fairview moved to Paxton Keeley along with many of the best and brightest faculty from Fairview. My son completed grades 2-5 at Paxton Keeley and we loved it there. Beautiful new school, EXCELLENT principal, and the music programs are some of the best you'll find anywhere in the country. My son was so inspired by his music teachers at Paxton Keeley that he now plays violin, clarinet, and dabbles in trumpet. FYI Columbia in general offers more opportunity than most public schools in music, art, drama etc. including orchestra/strings classes as well as the more common band instruments like brass, woodwind etc.

We live in the Valleyview neighborhood and really love it. You will get more house for your money in Valley View, and it has it's own neighborhood park. There are two sections in this neighborhood, one with older (circa 1960's-90's homes) and the new section which has homes built since 2000. We're just across I-70 from the Mall (less than 5 minutes), and also less than 5 minutes from Cosmo Park, the largest city park in Columbia.

All of the neighborhoods you mention are very nice, fairly upscale developments and any of them would be fine, but I like the feel of a more established neighborhood with mature trees, larger yards, and the "neighborhood" atmosphere that comes from long term residents.

As for schools, Paxton Keeley is excellent, and if at all possible you should try to get a home that puts you in that school. I have employees who's kids go to Mill Creek and they like it okay, and as I mentioned above, Fairview is nice also.

Another quality I particularly like about Paxton Keeley is that there is a substantial population of international kids (parents are mostly grad students or proffessors at MU) so my son (and now my daughter who is in Kindergarten at Paxton Keeley) are able to meet kids from all over the world.

One word of caution. Stay AWAY from the newer neighborhoods in North Central and Northeast Columbia. All of the schools in that are iffy at best.

In general West, South, Northwest, and Southwest Columbia are the areas where you want to be for good schools and nice neighborhoods.

Hope this info. helps.

Ken

[lil donna]

Thank you both soooo much for your very detailed replies. They help me so much. My realtor can only disclose so much information and we have no clue who to talk to there to find out the nitty gritty information. Thanks again!

I like the idea of the international students at Paxton Keeley. We have lived in Kentucky in a very very white area for the past 3 years. We are originally from suburbs of Chicago so we are use to diversity and I would really like to raise my kids in that kind of environment.

We have moreless focused in on the Thornbrook neighborhood because we have heard so much good about it(great resale value) plus we like the pool and park in the neighborhood. When we drove through there it gave us a very family friendly feeling which we are in dire need of. BUT, we have heard that there are alot of snobs there also which is not something I am fond of and do not want my children around kids that have or expect too much.

We really like Smithton Ridge since it is right by Paxton and Smithton Middle but that neighborhood seems to have not alot of kids living there. Am I wrong?

We have focused in on newer neighborhoods because even though we plan on staying for at least 10 years, we also want the best resale value.
I will check out Valleyview and Woodrail. Can you suggest any other neighborhoods that are kid friendly and also has a great school?

Thanks again!!
Donna

[teachcal]

Donna,

I don't know anything about Smithton Ridge. Friends who live in Old SW near the university love it. It is mostly university people. Homes are older and large or cottage style. You can walk to downtown from there and the MKT is right there too.

Tell the realtor you want to see "Grasslands area" In fact, there is a home for sale there probably near $500K. All prices are found in Old SW, however.

Your elementary school there is likely to be Grant. VERY well-respected school (teachers are awesome) and the current principal taught there for 20 plus years. They have a good racial mix with 1/4 African American.

Old SW is well-established and eclectic. A bit snobish, BUT most who buy there are not sorry. Resale is usually excellent.

Kids are not rampant, but they will meet friends at school. I love Woodrail because it is well-established. Many neighbors have been here since they built their homes in the 1970s. Old SW is likely to be the same. In both places you know your neighbors and they don't move.

Good luck and welcome to Columbia,
Theresa

[teachcal]

By the way, some houses on Royal Lytham are in the "Woodrail South" Subdivision. This is not Woodrail... I am speaking of LAKE Woodrail or Woodrail Ave. along the CC and off-shooting drives.

[Raestlynn]

if you do not have school aged children are the new subdivisions in northeast a good deal? the best areas to buy still south, southwest, northwest, and west the best neighborhoods? I am thinking of relocating within the next 6 months but am already looking at houses. My kids at home now are the four legged kind. Any dog friendly neighborhoods. The answers given to Donna were a big help.

thanks,

Raestlynn

[teachcal]

Raestlynn,

Old SW is our most eclectic neighborhood. We have gays, inter-racial marriage, foreign-borns, etc. in this area. Most are affiliated with the university. Adult singles would feel most at home here. There is everything from apts. to million dollar homes in this area.

Be aware, many people in Columbia are very kid involved. Moms are always shuffling kids to activities. This is likely to be all over town, even in the NE area.

We do have a very nice off-leash dog park in SW Columbia. It is better than many I found in California. It has man-made lakes for dog paddling....

Theresa

[Raestlynn]

Thanks for the reponse Theresa. It is hard knowing where to look when you are relocating.

Raestlynn

[KCWKEN]

You can find lower priced new construction in the new developments in the Northeast and North Central parts of town. If your primary goal is more house for the money, and you're not worried about school quality or resale value, Northeast Columbia would get that for you. In my experience, resale value is greatly affected by the quality of schools, especially when you're talking about larger homes. That's why I would not see those areas of Columbia as being as good an investment as Western sections of town.

If I weren't moving out of the area shortly, and I was looking for good investment opportunity, I'd buy a home with some land just outside the city limits on either the Northwest (toward Midway), or Southeast (Deer Park) sides of town. There is discussion about building a new High School in Southeast Columbia near the Hwy63&AC Exit's... lots of rural areas just south of there should see their home values go up.

Teachcal is right, the "Old Southwest" neighborhood is really cool. We looked at houses there when we were buying. It's a really great place if you are single, or couple with no kids, or retired. We didn't buy there because you get older homes with smaller lots and busier streets. IMHO, not the best place for younger kids. You also need to know the boundaries of that neighborhood, because there are areas adjacent to it that are NOT good. Pretty much if you keep south of Broadway you're good, north of Broadway to Ash is okay, north of Ash to I-70 is NOT good.

Grant does have a pretty good reputation, but not as good as Paxton Keeley, Fairview, Mill Creek etc. Some other good schools to consider are Russell Blvd. Elementary and Shepard Elementary, Rockbridge Elementary, . IMHO, you should AVOID West Blvd. Elementary, Derby Ridge, Ridgeway, Field, Lee, and Benton. Check out test scores and parent feedback on schools at www.greatschools.net Columbia prides itself on having "excellent schools", but there are some problem areas, so do your homework.