How's the MO Economy? (Kansas City, St. Louis: transplants, real estate, home)

[Nyse79]

Hi Everyone,

My husband and I are considering moving to MO out of CA (along with our 4-month-old). We are both young working professionals and have posted our resumes on a couple of search engines, (he's in IT, I'm a project manager). We haven't had any responses yet, but I'm thinking it might be because our address shows that we're in CA and companies don't want to deal with relocation. It's either that or the economy.

In CA we hear on a daily basis the companies that are doing massive lay-offs, (my husband's work is in the process of laying off 500 employees). Can anyone fill me in on the MO scoop?

We're driving out in February to check out the area and see if it's viable. So far in our internet search we're digging the Columbia area. Any suggestions on how to find job leads would also be appreciated. Thanks!

[STLCardsBlues1989]

The Columbia newspaper?
ColumbiaTribune.com | The Columbia Daily Tribune - Columbia, MO

If you decide on another city, here's some other newspapers:
St. Louis St. Louis Sports, News, Jobs, Classifieds, Entertainment & Weather
Kansas City: http://www.kansascity.com
Springfield: News-Leader.com | Springfield News-Leader | Springfield news, community, entertainment, yellow pages and classifieds. Serving Springfield, Missouri
Jefferson City: Untitled Document

Also, maybe try browsing Craig's List.There's like a half-dozen CA transplants on this board, so maybe they can also help you.

For the jobs, I would start with the newspapers and maybe Craigslist. Have you tried sites like Monster.com?

I hope once you do move here, you get a good job and can settle in.

If you need anything, just let us know.

[ozarksboy]

Don't overlook Rolla. This is a gem of a town, and it's the perfect place for transplants, for it's already full of 'em.

The historical nature of the town is such that it has always been a place open to newcomers. Because it's the home of the technological branch of the state university, Rolla is home to a transient population. Many, perhaps most, of the people who live here come from somewhere else. The major employers traditionally have been government offices, like the U.S. Geological Survey, and people transferred in and out of there, too.

This town is full of newcomers, so newcomers will feel right at home. Around here you don't have to walk on eggshells, worrying about holding your tongue for fear someone will take offense. That's true in most southern Missouri towns, and it's true when you're around a few Rolla residents (I'm talking about people like me who are very wary of necomers, but we're by far in the minority, so just ignore us.) Fortunately for newbies, though, the favorite pastime around here is griping about Rolla, so jump right on in the fray and do what lots of necomers and long-timers alike do: Write letters to the editor of the newspaper about the city council, the school board and the hospital. Go to Granny's Sawmill Cafe or Leona's Kitchen downtown, draw up a chair, and start griping about the newspaper. You can also always gripe about the coaches of the high school and university team because some team is always losing.


Go to this not-for-profit website, RollaNet, and explore away.

Also try the local newspaper and be sure to read the comments at the ends of the stories. They will give you a hint of what to expect.

Here's an alternative publication, the No Standing News (http://www.rollanet.org/~rwnash/nsn.htm - broken link), which refers to Rolla as the Outlaw City of the Ozarks.

And then here's my little blog, Ozarks Almanac. It's no where near as controversial as the No Standing News or the local paper. There's no griping on my blog, We try to maintain good humor, so we don't gripe about newcomers, transplants, newbies or city slickers. We just laugh about them.

Good luck to you.

Give Rolla serious consideration.

Ozarks Boy

[ShadowCaver]

Big picture, MO is not doing so well - better than some, but worse than many [see 2nd article]:
Layoffs, unemployment claims rise in Missouri, Illinois: bizjournals.com Business News - MSN Money (http://news.moneycentral.msn.com/provider/providerarticle.aspx?feed=ACBJ&date=20090128&id=95 57375 - broken link)
State unemployment tops out at 7.3% in December

To get glimpse of other areas, to maybe compare: Local Area Unemployment Statistics

I do wish yas the best, be it in CA, MO, or anywhere... right now, this is not pretty, at all. I know of suppliers and customers hurting, its going to be difficult times for too many people. As to your address, that may be part of the equation - a potential employer not wanting to deal with paying relo... you don't want to mislead, but you want to be able to get a shot at something, no matter where it is located - don't know, but maybe place something in the header of your resumes stating explicitly that your address is available upon request, or just leave it blank, leaving your name, phone, and email. Of course any interested party can see your CA employment history locations, but maybe by placing something in the header to denote your current address is immaterial, that you will pick up your own relo costs [if so],,,

[Cali BassMan]

Nyse
Have you ever been to Missouri?
If work is your primary reason for wanting to leaving Southern California for Missouri, I believe you are making a mistake, The wages we make in California are close to triple what you'd make in Missouri, and from what I hear anyway, getting a job in Mo. making more than minimum wage is fairly difficult, very difficult in the rural areas away from St.L or K.C.
If you watch the news you'll see they just had an icestorm blow through, even the experianced native Missourian has some trouble navigating around in that stuff, imagine how us 5 lane freeway born and bred folks would fare on a two lane iceroad..........
Remember California is easy to leave and tough to return too, even in this real estate downturn....
Now don't get me wrong, I love everything about Missouri ( except the K.C. Chiefs) and plan on moving there in the future, but I'm waiting to retire there, so in the winter I can just look out the window, and see some dumb cow that fell through the ice over the pond, and have go out in 10 degree weather to rescue dumb cow, so I can take him to market and then discover that after feeding him all year I have actually lost money on him...............Umm hey Ozark when did we switch jobs here??????????

[ozarksboy]

Originally Posted by Cali BassMan

Umm hey Ozark when did we switch jobs here??????????

Bassman, LOL, I was reading through your little essay, thinking to myself, what is going on here? I've been snubbed, chastised and even reprimanded several times by Shadow Caver for my attempts to dissuade folks from moving here. I've changed my attitude and am now trying to be an ambassador of goodwill to Califoreigners, uh, I mean lovely California folks, and here you are trying to portray this place as hell on earth for them.

Oh, wait, I know what it is. You've got six years before you can make the move. You're trying to keep the price of land down. You're thinking that if a bunch of them birds get the flock out of California and land here before you do, the price of land is going to be so high that your millions won't go so far.

The weather is fine here. It was cold, we got ice, sleet and snow in southern Missouri. A whole bunch of people got into accidents. Now we're going to have temperatures in the 50s for the weekend. It's great here in Missouri.

[ozarksboy]

Originally Posted by Cali BassMan

The wages we make in California are close to triple what you'd make in Missouri, and from what I hear anyway, getting a job in Mo. making more than minimum wage is fairly difficult, very difficult in the rural areas away from St.L or K.C.[/i][/color]Umm hey Ozark when did we switch jobs here??????????

Oh, yeah, I forgot to add. Don't worry about jobs and wages in Missouri. Even though the pay is low, you can learn to live within your means. Maybe you'll develop a taste for what is my favorite meal, ham and beans and cornbread. Delicious and inexpensive. Do they ever eat that out in Califoreignya? It's practically the state meal here.

[Cali BassMan]

Originally Posted by ozarksboy

Maybe you'll develop a taste for what is my favorite meal, ham and beans and cornbread. Delicious and inexpensive. Do they ever eat that out in Califoreignya? .

Ahh Ozark, lest you forget my good ole Pappy and Mama are from there, so yeppers we had us a mess of Hamhocks and Beans and cornbread.. Fried Chicken mash taters and gravy...Bisquits and gravy...Rabbit and gravy...brown eggs over easy with a side salt pork.. aaahhh heck I'm going to have a heart attack just thinking of it.....

[Silvermouse]

Originally Posted by ozarksboy

Don't overlook Rolla. This is a gem of a town, and it's the perfect place for transplants, for it's already full of 'em.

Give Rolla serious consideration.

Ozarks Boy

Hey Ozarksboy, you need to spread the love down south a bit. The Springfield/Branson folks are always begging transplants to come make their towns bigger. Poor little Rolla doesn't have jobs anyway.

[moncheri]

The weather sounds fabulous to me, the snow is really coming down here, and we're all preparing for the volcano to blow . As for the job situation in MO my daughter and her fiance are in the Branson area and are having a heck of a time trying to find work.
I offered to let them move in to our Marceline home for just the cost of utilities but there doesn't seem to be any jobs around there either.
As for Bassman not wanting all the cheap property being bought up, he maybe he should consider getting his now, thats what we did. Don't plan on moving for 15-20 years yet.