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Old 03-06-2007, 09:27 PM
 
3 posts, read 113,035 times
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My husband is being transfered to missouri. Neither of us have ever been yet and would like to know where is a good place to raise a family. Need to be within reasonable distance to airport for weekly commuting. Of course we want good schools,low crime, parks and shopping. Comming from AZ I would love to find a place that has trees and is beautiful, maybe lakes or rivers near. Don't mind being a little rural. Is the whole state really as hot and humid in the summer and cold in the winter as I hear? Home price range is approx. 300-350K if that helps.
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Old 03-06-2007, 10:21 PM
 
Location: North Idaho
2,140 posts, read 4,429,537 times
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I daresay you're going to be in for a real treat when you come to Missouri! I was born and raised in Florissant, which is near St. Louis. I moved to Santa Rosa, CA nearly 21 years ago, and am planning to relocate in or near St. Joseph, which is about 30 minutes north of the Kansas City airport.

If you're going to be moving to the St. Louis area, I would put Fenton at the top of your list. It is nicknamed the "City of Parks" because it has more park area than any other city in Missouri. Good houses start at around $150K and there are a lot of homes in your $300K to $350K range as well. There's a fairly new large shopping area in Fenton called Gravois Bluffs that sits on top of a hill. The Rockwood School District in Fenton and Eureka has a superb reputation. You should be able to find excellent Catholic and other Christian schools there too.

Runners-up to Fenton: Eureka (a bit further west on I-44), as long as you're not too close to Six Flags; Ballwin, Wildwood and Chesterfield. Castlewood State Park and Route 66 State Park are in gorgeous areas; Castlewood lets you look down at the Meramec River and the green, tree-covered hills surrounding SW St. Louis County. You'll probably want to bring some insect repellent with you and watch for ticks in Castlewood; otherwise you'll be fine. Each of these cities has very low crime, with Ballwin and Fenton boasting the lowest crime rates (at least in 2003).

The Kansas City area is one I'm a bit less familiar with, but I've heard very good things about Lee's Summit and Liberty. Possible runner-ups might be Blue Springs (just east of Independence), and Platte City and Smithville to the north, closer to the airport. I'm going to be visiting St. Joseph and KC in September, so I don't know if these areas are as forested or hilly as southwest St. Louis County where Fenton and Eureka are located. And you might want to consider St. Joseph! The 64506 zip code area, which comprises the eastern part of the city, contains a mix of fine old Victorian homes as well as newer properties; and you may find a great home for quite a bit less than $300K! You would be 30 minutes away from the KC Airport, like I wrote earlier. There is a 26-mile parkway greenbelt that runs through the city; Krug Park in the north part of town looks gorgeous in pictures (haven't seen it in person yet), and St. Joe is right along the Missouri River.

Weather: Well, it does get up in the mid to upper 90s in the summer, with 105 to 110 degree heat indexes not that unusual. If you're coming from Phoenix, it may not be that big of an adjustment. Winters are typically lows around 20 and highs in the upper 30s. It can get down to 15 below in St. Joseph and down to 5 below in St. Louis. Or it can briefly get up to near 60 in the winter and then the temperature can snap back down into the teens less than two days later. But look at it this way: You'll have four distinct seasons. Spring and autumn are beautiful. Summer is beautiful but quite hot. Winter looks comparatively bleak unless you've got some snow on the ground. During the fall, just think how the hills with all the trees on them will turn shades of red, orange and yellow during the fall as the leaves change color.

The Ozarks will only be 90 minutes to a few hours away, and the rivers and caves there will knock your socks off! I wish you and your husband much happiness wherever you end up in Missouri. I know my wife and I are looking forward to leaving California for St. Joseph next year!
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Old 03-06-2007, 10:36 PM
 
Location: North Idaho
2,140 posts, read 4,429,537 times
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Just a couple of other thoughts I have. If you're chiefly interested in subdivisions with a lot of newer homes, you might want to check out O'Fallon, which is along Interstate 70 in St. Charles County, about 35 miles or so west of St. Louis. I would still recommend the prettier (in my opinion) Interstate 44 corridor. But O'Fallon has low crime and very good schools, too.

Be advised that Highway 40 (okay, okay, Interstate 64! hee hee ) through St. Louis and west to Interstate 270 is going to be undergoing MAJOR construction during the next few years, so you'll likely have to put up with above normal levels of traffic along I-44 and I-270 for a while. The end result should be a thoroughly modern, safe corridor linking St. Louis with the west county. In its current state, that 12-mile stretch of I-64 undergoing construction is a lot like the Pasadena Freeway without all the 45 mph curves--obsolete, with crumbling overpasses. The construction has to be done, and it will be worth the inconvenience.

Again, whether you move to the Kansas City or St. Louis areas, I wish you and your husband the very best! I daresay Missouri will be very much to your liking overall.
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Old 03-08-2007, 11:05 AM
 
Location: SW MO
339 posts, read 1,419,260 times
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I cannot say enough good things about Springfield and the surrounding area. But it will depend on what kind of airport you need. Springfield has daily direct flights to Chicago, Dallas, Memphis, Denver, Las Vegas, Minneapolis, Orlando, Detroit, Cincinnati, Tampa, and Atlanta. If you need more direct flight options you will want to be closer to KC or St. Louis unless you are willing to make connecting flights.

In your price range you will be able to get a great home anywhere in Missouri. Check out the Greater Springfield Board of Realtor's website (or any of the local Realtor's websites) to do a multilist search.
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Old 03-08-2007, 11:31 AM
 
359 posts, read 1,833,657 times
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LOL, I see we all feel very loyal to the areas in which we live. Missouri really is a very nice state with lots to offer. Having lived all over the US, I think Missouri is highly underated, but that's ok 'cause it keeps this place so affordable.

We have lived in the KC area for over 12 years. We absolutely love it. There is affordable housing in a wide variety of price ranges. The Plaza (fancy shopping, dining, and architecture) is accessible from all areas. There are locally run places all over. Many of the surrounding towns have wonderful old fashioned main streets with weekly farmers' markets, (Like Overland Park, Parkville, Belton, Lee's Summit to name a few.) There is a thriving art comminity, parks, theatre, zoo. The Katy Trail runs across the entire state. St. Louis and KC have professional sports teams, and there are many college teams throughout the state. We definitely have all four seasons here.

Of course, I have to suggest Kansas City, but you will probably be happy whatever you choose
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Old 03-08-2007, 11:53 AM
 
Location: Springfield, Missouri
2,815 posts, read 12,955,273 times
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I love Missouri. I grew up and began my working career in California and had lived in San Francisco for 10 years, then in the East Bay where I bought a house until 2000. I was transfered to Las Vegas.
I LOVED Las Vegas!!! The desert air, deep aquamarine blue skies, spectacular mountains, just a great place to live.
But...
I had been researching Missouri for a couple of years and flew out here from LV to look myself. I fell in love with it. My area of choice was southwestern Missouri in the Springfield area.
The countryside here is some of the most beautiful I've ever seen. The greenery is spectacular and it's so classically American.
My first evening in Missouri back on that trip in Aug. of 04 I sat on a stone wall with a realtor out in the country near Ash Grove and as the light began to diminish and evening set in, thousands of lightning bugs began to twinkle and light up and there were green "stars" by the thousands everywhere. I had my head out the window watching the sides of the roads as we drove back to Springfield enchanted by the twinkling lights.
Summer here is hot, not the heat you'd find in the desert southwest, it's humid, but it's bearable. I also noticed that there are frequent breezes and thunderstorms, so you get cooled off now and then. It's not like Las Vegas where you can walk outside at 1am to 100F. Here it cools off at night...sometimes quite a bit. I love the heat here in the summer. It's lazy with fluffy white heat clouds drifting by seemingly just above the treetops and the colors are so vivid.
Fall is AMAZING! It's a kaleidescope of fantastic colors and the big topic of converstation is trying to gauge when all the leaves will drop as if it's early..bad winter...late..good winter...etc. Everyone seems to have his theories here.
Winter can be a booger. My first winter here was 2005 into 2006. November into the first week of Dec. 06 was miserably cold, but no snow. January was balmy and then Feb.06 was frigid. By March 12th it was 80F and humid and we had tornadoes.
This winter has been what the locals call "normal". To me it's been difficult. It's been mostly frigid since late November, then on Nov. 30 came 3" of rain in huge thunderstorms that turned to freezing rain by morning, then sleet until 11pm Dec. 1st, then snow and it was not pleasant. January was the historic ice storm I'm still cleaning up from and there's been frequent snow this winter. I have found it extremely cold, but maybe part of that is we had to work in it because of the ice storm damage and the power was out for a week.
Spring is coming now. I see the trees trying to bud and hope there's no March freeze. As soon as I feel sure we won't have any more freezing nights, I'm going to buy my years worth of Impatiens..BRIGHT RED, geraniums (bright red too!) and get to work on the flower beds so that they'll be fantastic by June
I love Missouri. I think you will too. It's...amazingly beautiful with very good people. Just be ready to shop for a full four season wardrobe
December 06. Winter

Spring 06

Summer 06, across the road from my home and with the heat clouds
http://i144.photobucket.com/albums/r199/MoMark/Landschaft.jpg (broken link)
Fall 06. Spectacular.

Last edited by MoMark; 03-08-2007 at 12:17 PM..
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Old 03-08-2007, 04:31 PM
 
3 posts, read 113,035 times
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Thanks so much for your descriptive detail. I can tell you love it there. And thanks for the pictures too! I can't wait to live with real trees and not cactus!
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Old 03-08-2007, 05:37 PM
 
75 posts, read 107,383 times
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KC here - and laughing because we will all plug our own spots! We live near the Plaza, in Brookside - very old fashioned neighborhood - houses built in the 1920's or so, big families, and family lifestyle - but a trendy market on houses. Bike paths, funky shopping, big grocers nearby, but the area does not look built up, commercial or like modern suburbs. Big stone/wood houses with old fireplaces and original woodwork.

Here we are in winter , the houses in this picture are approx 250-400K, 3* bedrooms 2+ baths:



It DOES get sticky in Missouri in the summer, especially if you are used to a nice dry heat. But this is the city of fountaings - and there are plenty of ways to cool off here
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Old 03-08-2007, 11:22 PM
 
359 posts, read 1,833,657 times
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Awesome Photos!! We are moving to Raleigh later this spring and it is going to be so hard to leave KC. These photos are making it even harder I will have to spend a day driving around to all my favorite places and snapping photos. I lived all over the US and the people in KC are the warmest by far!
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Old 03-09-2007, 07:30 AM
 
Location: Currently:Cleveland...can't wait to be back in Missouri! :)
24 posts, read 187,583 times
Reputation: 18
Quote:
Originally Posted by kmflan View Post
I will have to spend a day driving around to all my favorite places and snapping photos. I lived all over the US and the people in KC are the warmest by far!

I agree, the photos are really nice!...and I'm laughing at what you said about taking the day and driving around to all your fav places snapping photos...that's just what I did when I moved from Rolla, Mo back to Cleveland recently. I spent most of the days leading up to my move taking tons of pics...*sigh*
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