Cape Girardeau Missouri (St. Louis, Springfield, Sikeston: houses, construction, school)

[summer grace]

What's Cape Giradeau Missouri like? What's Southeastern Missouri University there like? I've seen pictures and it's really pretty. What's the climate like? Is it any wamer than say Northeastern Iowa or Minnesota would be? I thought it might be, just a bit. I couldn't find a thread on Cape Giradeau ( well, I found a couple older ones, now that I searched spelling it properly, but a new one can't hurt). How Southern is it? Or is it more Midwestern? I'm looking for more Southern. I'm from NE Iowa and LOVE the South, but a place that kind of combines the Midwest and the South would be nice.

[STLCardsBlues1989]

I don't live in Cape. I've only visited. It seems like a nice enough town. I don't know about the southern/midwestern thing. It's probably warmer than Iowa and Minnesota (I've never been to either). Seems like we might get a foot a snow in a winter, and the summers can get over 100 occasionally. We had a bad cold snap recently, but it's close to normal again. I say we because I'm in the general area. The local weather and news station comes out of Cape. Cape has a charming little riverfront also, though it's probably seen better days.

Are you moving to Cape?

[summer grace]

No, just wondering what it's like.

[midwesterner7]

Cape is a really nice mid-sized town. The University is wonderful. There are definately parts of town you want to stay away from though. I answered those questions from someone else on a blog not too long ago - it should still be out there.

[stepka]

I can answer the question about the southern-ness of the Cape--it is right on the borderline between being a southern town and a midwestern town--the cotton belt starts just south of there. I like it and it reminds me of a mini St. Louis and the climate is fairly moderate--not nearly as cold as the other places you mentioned. Also, the Cape doesn't get some of the severe weather patterns that you see more often in the bootheel. And yes, you must call it "The Cape."

[oneteam onedream]

i lived there for 3 years and never once heard it called "the cape"

[STLCardsBlues1989]

Everybody I know just calls it "Cape".

[JackieB23]

My father's family is centered around Sikeston/Cape/Cairo. I spent many summers in a small town called Morley when I was a kid.

I've heard it called "Cape" but not "THE Cape".

[oneteam onedream]

exactly....

[westvissouri]

My wife is from there, and all of my in-laws live there. To my knowledge, I've never heard it called "THE Cape", but instead just "Cape" - The actual cape that the name refers to is no longer there physically - it was destroyed upon the construction of a railroad.

We lived there for a short time in transition between jobs/houses, etc. It's a nice enough town - I would consider it average. There are definitely, like previous replies, places in Cape you want to stay away from - My bad experience personally comes from the area around Hanover St. - My brother-in-law was beaten with a metal pole by some nutjob. I would stay around the areas West (?) of Kingshighway. There are some good areas on the Eastern part of town (near the river) but it's very spotty.

SEMO is a good school, as far as I know and they have the Show Me Center which brings some major acts into town. So, with that, there are things to do - it just depends on your looking for, what your preferences are, etc.

We lived in Springfield for a good while (2-3 years) and absolutely loved it. IMO, in a tossup between Cape and SGF, Springfield wins in my eyes, hands down.