Joplin or Cape Girardeau? (St. Louis, Springfield: apartments, rentals, crime)

[Trailhiker]

A possible job transfer may be bringing me to Missouri. The two possible cities are Joplin and Cape Girardeau.

If you were to choose between these two, which one would you pick and why?

They both appear very inexpensive. Is one safer than the other? I know Joplin is in the SW and Cape is in the SE part of the state. Is the weather about the same in both? Are the people about the same, or does one seem friendlier and more welcoming to newcomers than the other?

Any insight is appreciated.

[Someone1515]

I've never been to Cape Girardeau, but I'll try to help with the Joplin area. I personally would pick Joplin as I like the location better.Its pretty small, bigger than Cape from what I've read and its not too far from bigger areas. I would think that the weather in the two would be fairly close, but not too sure. The city of Joplin has a problem with crime as everywhere does, but using common sense should keep you just fine. I don't consider it too bad. Plus the towns around Joplin seem to be pretty safe.

If you could I would advise to travel to each town and see which one you like the best.

[cyrano]

I don't live in either one but have been in both often. I think Cape is by far the more interesting city-- it's an old river town whose riverfront has been redeveloped nicely. The culture in each, I have found, to be quite different. Joplin is almost western in a lot of ways, not too different from towns of comparable size in Oklahoma or Kansas, while Cape is somewhat southern in culture. It's not as close to St. Louis or Memphis as Joplin is to Springfield or Tulsa, but my preference would be to be closer to St. Louis or Memphis. YMMV.

Crime figures are probably pretty easily obtained, although I don't know where-- maybe the parent website of this board?

[firebll31]

Doesn't Cape Girardeau frequently have flooding problems from the Mississippi?

[claddagh07]

Hi, I'm from Thebes, Il. About 15 miles from Cape. It is a great little city. Growing constantly. The city is doing a good job at improving the parts of town that are rundown. And new businesses are always setting up. Nice parks-Cape County Park is awesome. And two of the best hospitals in the country--St. Francis Medical Center and Southeast Missori Hospital. SEMO is also a great asset to the city. The new river campus is wonderful, the university's performance of Shakespeare's "The Twelth Night" was AWESOME. One of the funniest things I had ever seen. The riverfront is really nice, as cyrano, mentioned. There are several restaurants and stores that are musts like Buckner's Brewery and Renaissance(it mostly because the store front is always beautiful. Flooding happens but not that bad, because of the flood wall. And most of the flooding would be in the red star area which I wouldn't really recommend anyway. I can give you more info if you just let me know. Cape is great!!-Sam

[Trailhiker]

Thanks to everyone who has replied and offered information.

It sounds like Cape may be the better option, which is the way I was leaning from the beginning. I do have a few specific questions about Cape to ask though.

First, I have been reading other threads and can clearly tell that the south side of the city should be avoided if possible. Crime stats on city-data only go through 2006, and from researching stories on the SE Missourian website from 2008, it sounds like there has been a large increase in shootings and assaults. Most did not result in death, but just the idea of so many shootings concerns me. Are there a lot of random shootings, or are they mostly between people who already know each other? It sounds like you don't have to go too far from the "bad" areas to be safer. For example, everyone seems to say how nice the downtown area is, and yet that is only a short distance from the more dangerous streets of Good Hope and Hanover. Are the areas near Independence and Broadway safe?

My next question is about apartments. So many people in other threads have written about how high the rents are in Cape. I guess it might depend on what you're used to, but I must be missing something. Looking through the classified ads for apartments rentals, I found just about every listing to be on the inexpensive side, most bewteen $300 and $550. That is cheap compared to most places. Now I'm sure these places are not the newest or most luxurious, but is the entire classified section misleading me?

Lastly, I know Cape is near the New Madrid fault. Everyone expects this thing to cause a major earthquake at some point. Obviously, when it happens, it happens. But are there a lot of "mini" quakes on a frequent basis? Do you feel the movement often?

Anyway, thanks again.

[claddagh07]

I can't say much for the apartment part, but the crime is usually between people who know each other. I'm in Cape all the time late when I get off work and always feel safe. I would never recommend the area around Good Hope. The best cheapest apartments would probably be on Independence above Kingshighway. Not sure but they look to be pretty safe and I have a friend who lives in one around there and loves it. And we're in college and work part time and she can afford it. So that says a lot. As for the fault line. I'm 19 and can only remember two earthquakes in the area. Once when I was around 7 or 8 and then one last year. And I slept through that one. The experts do keep saying that we should expect a big one and sometimes you'll here of local emergency services doing drills but not often, but most people don't even remember that there is a fault line 95% of the time. Cape is a good choice, not that I know anything about Joplin. Good luck!!!

[ShadowCaver]

Both towns have their own unique pros & cons - have not spent long enough time in either to make much suggestion, but from what I've seen, I prefer Cape, but mainly due to its location; altho' Joplin is closer to another larger city, Springfield. As to the upcoming 'quake - its not IF, but WHEN... not saying that to scare, but to help make aware. Some sites that I've recommended in the past:

The New Madrid Fault Zone or System - Maps, Facts, Historical Information, and Prediction Information
New Madrid Fault Line Earthquakes: Intro [lots of info herein...]
New Madrid Fault Intro: Site Map

Oh, btw, and not saying this to sway ya away from Joplin, but keep things in perspective - whereas Cape has the fault, Joplin is dealing with, for many years to come, its Lead & Zinc Tri-State mining legacy... some pollution and sinking in the area at times. Of course, everyplace has its potential ills of some kind or another

[linicx]

The only top 25 ranked hospital in the midwest is Barnes-Jewish in St. Louis. If you have kids take the Cape or nearby. You will be glad you did!

All the rivers flood. Stay high: stay dry. If you are 10 or 12 blocks from the water you should not see flooding. If you are buying, be sure to check the basement for water marks and look for sump pump. If you are in IL and the river floods, you may be stuck in traffic for a long time trying to get to work because the small bridges that were build low and close to the water are closed.

[rrampage]

Cape Girardeau would be the better pick to me. I'd rather take my chances and suffer through an earthquake, which, by the way, I don't think will cause that much major damage, than face the risk of being caught in a disastrous tornado 6-7 months out of the year.