Why you should be careful before moving anywhere (Jackson, Ozark: fit in, transplants)

[ozarksboy]

I cringe whenever I read a new post from someone in another state saying they want to move to Missouri because they drove through here a couple of times and just loved the place. I know many of you do, too, because I've read your cautionary rebuttals urging those folks to visit several times, preferably in different seasons, to make sure there's a "fit."

There are so many things to consider before you leave your home state and move to Missouri--or any other state. Even the quality and freshness of avocados and the price of grapefruit should be taken into account, as this post, which I found on the Arkansas forum, attests:

Originally Posted by johncronejr

It seems that everytime my wife and I go grocery shopping we are frustrated with the produce quality and price. We shop primarily at Wal Mart and Kroger. Oftentimes avacados are hard as a rock or overripe, strawberries have mold, asparagus has mold, we have even seen one head of cabbage sit for 2 weeks in a Wal Mart produce area that was moldy when we first saw it and disgusting when we last saw it. The prices are high as well.

By comparison, when we were living in Austin, TX, we found produce at Wal Mart to be very good quality and cheap. One particular example was grapefruit. In Austin, the grapefruits were 35 cents each. Less than a month later, while back in Heber Springs, AR, the same type grapefruit was $1.55. I called the manager over and queried him on this. His reply was that "well Texas is so much closer to where they grow them so shipping is less". I asked him how in the world he figured shipping was $1.20 more PER GRAPEFRUIT. My wife, who is from Minneapolis, then told him that MN was certainly farther away from "where they grow them" than AR was and that selection and prices were far better there. The manager then just simply had no answer.

We have checked many stores in Little Rock, NLR, Jacksonville, Heber Springs, and Conway....and the result is always the same; poor quality, for the most part, and high prices. Why is this? Why do the prices vary so greatly on produce from AR versus TX?

It is quite a frustration.

The moral: Do lots of research. Investigate everything. Make sure you REALLY want to give up everything that's available in your home state and city.

[mo wannabe]

You're kidding right? I have dreamed about moving back to the midwest since I moved to Phx in 1980. Family,work and life got in the way for many years. Now we are finally in a position to move and you think avacados are going to get in the way??? I know what I am giving up with the beautiful desert, but what I will gain is peace in my heart and a better place to raise my 3 kids.

[simplewife&mom]

Originally Posted by mo wannabe

You're kidding right? I have dreamed about moving back to the midwest since I moved to Phx in 1980. Family,work and life got in the way for many years. Now we are finally in a position to move and you think avacados are going to get in the way??? I know what I am giving up with the beautiful desert, but what I will gain is peace in my heart and a better place to raise my 3 kids.

I agree with mo wannabe, in that I am willing to give up some things if we leave CA and head to MO. I do not expect all things to be the same - some may be much better, some worse. But I think Mr. Ozarksboy was speaking more to people who have not done enough research and looked at all angles of the move. People have to decide what they are willing to give up. Frankly, I don't give a hoot about the produce being less fresh, we're having a large garden anyway. But to the people he quoted, that was a big issue for them.

Mr. Ozarksboy is speaking to people like me. I've lived in the same little county in northern CA all my life. For years I've longed to be in southern MO and sincerely believe I would love it there, fit in perfectly, and overall our family would greatly benefit from the move. However, I've never set foot east of Nevada! It would be foolish and naive to act on my romantic dreams of our glorious life in the Ozarks without doing more serious research than just spending way too much time on city-data and other internet sites. But for mo wannabe, it might not be such a leap, having already lived in the midwest.

Although, these days sometimes families just have to go where the job offer is, regardless of how much they know about the area. Maybe that will happen to us. It's scary, but kind of exciting too.

[Huckleberry3911948]

i agree rep to come good post thanks op.

[Silvermouse]

I think there is only so much you can learn from internet sites. Most of the people on this forum are from other states anyway.

No one wants to hear it, but it's so important to visit the state you want to move to and rent first. Oh - and for heaven's sake, have a job before you move, particularly if you are searching for a small town.

Nice public service message there OB. Keep up the good work.

[Cali BassMan]

Well, I can recall not so long ago when OzarkBoy would get blasted for telling people they may not like living in Missouri especially rural Missouri...At first I took this like most folks do "The wrong way".. then I realized he was actually doing folks a favor, most posters around here have had a mostly good experiance, however there are plenty who moved to Missouri, hated it, and moved back, or are stuck here hating life. The don't post anymore.. This place need a Devil's Advocate so to speak...I remember bring my wife out here in 95, the first night she looks at me and says "Your relatives are bunch of Hillbillies" . Now after spending as much time out here as we can, she's grown to love the realness of the people, and the beautiful countryside, and is eager to move here... I still caution her though as we have always been extremley lucky when it comes to weather every trip. Being born and bred in the Bay Area we really don't have any weather experiance....
So anyway I think Ozark does a great service when he post negative things, and sometimes I try to help him because a person does really need to do thier homework before making a life changing decision...

[ozarksboy]

Originally Posted by mo wannabe

You're kidding right? I have dreamed about moving back to the midwest since I moved to Phx in 1980. Family,work and life got in the way for many years. Now we are finally in a position to move and you think avacados are going to get in the way??? I know what I am giving up with the beautiful desert, but what I will gain is peace in my heart and a better place to raise my 3 kids.

I apologize for not writing this clearly enough for you to understand what i was talking about. When a reader misses a writer's point, it is the writer's fault. No, I don't think avocados are going to get in the way of your moving to Missouri. Avocados are not the point. They are a metaphor for all the little things that you have in your life in your home state or home city that make you comfortable and that you count on to give you pleasure. This gentleman from Texas values produce, and he found that in his new home in Arkansas he was unable to obtain produce at the same level of freshness and at the same inexpensive price that he had come to expect in Austin, Texas. He should have investigated this prior to uprooting and moving to Arkansas.

If you're going to move anywhere, you need to assess your current lifestyle and figure out what it is you really like or dislike. Then, thoroughly investigate the places you THINK you'd like to live to see if they fit that lifestyle you have come to enjoy. Arkansas is a wonderful state and it has many strong points. This gentleman doesn't care about those attributes; he misses the cheap, fresh produce available in Texas, something apparently not available at his location in Arkansas for whatever reason; it could be shipping issues or contractual arrangements with suppliers, I don't know. Whatever the reason, this lack is causing unhappiness in his life. He should have discovered this before he moved.

Now, what is your "avocado"? What are the many things you have come to enjoy about life in Phoenix? What do you take for granted? Are you certain these expectations will be available in Missouri? If not, are you going to make adjustments or are you going to bemoan the fact that Missouri isn't like Arizona, the way this gentleman has done as he wails that back in Texas it was better than it is in Arkansas. To avoid such a tantrum, anyone planning a move anywhere should thoroughly investigate their targeted location. That means more than just a few posts on city-data, more than visits to the chamber of commerce website, more than some brochures. Silver Mouse has said on numerous occasions that people should visit more than once, and she's right.

Cali Bassman understands why I try to discourage people from moving to Missouri: I want them to be absolutely sure they want to become Missourians before they take up residence here. If not, they'll just be people who live in Missouri and they'll be unhappy, and they'll cause a lot of unhappiness around them. Do you think this gentleman from Texas is a joy to be around in Arkansas as he longs for the way it was in Texas? I doubt it.

Now, down in Texas, they're fond of saying: "We don't care how y'all do it up Nawth; here in Texas ...." I wonder what this gentleman would say if someone in his new home state would turn the tables on him.

I wonder what Californians and others who move to Missouri without understanding what Missouri is like and then complain about the things they miss would do if we started to say, "We don't care how y'all lived in California, here in Missouri we ..."

OK, I hope I've written this a little more clearly. Thanks for readin' it, and please understand I'm not bashing Californians or Texans or anyone else. I'm just trying to get you to think, investigate--and then move if you must.

Ozarks Boy

[OA 5599]

I went and found the original thread, and while the poster didn't seem too happy about the lack of a perfectly ripened avocado or reasonably priced grapefruit in Arkansas, he/she also did not say that they hated Arkansas or had any intention to move back to Texas. I can understand where he/she is coming from though...at least in rural Missouri, the selection of fresh produce at grocery stores often flat out stinks. As a health nut, I'm spoiled rotten here in Austin with the availability of wide variety of reasonably priced produce and other healthy foods in various stages of ripeness, all within a 5 minute drive of my house. I do, however, also complain about the lack of good Chinese food in Austin, and the oppressively hot summers...it doesn't mean that I hate Austin, but that there are things I miss about Missouri.

I do, however, completely agree with trying a place on for size before jumping in for good. I too often encourage city folks to visit rural Missouri for a fair amount of time (at least a week, if not more) before moving. It is just too different than an urban area, and the culture - along with lack of fresh avocados - may be a shock to some who have become used to a urban lifestyle. Some time to really survey the area - including things like grocery shopping and mingling with the locals at the busy neighborhood breakfast place - would be an excellent view into Missouri life for an outsider. Not everyone ends up hating Missouri...I've actually known quite a few transplants to rural Missouri who ended up absolutely loving it...they may occasionally gripe about some aspects of the area (much like ozarksboy on the attitudes of some newcomers), but you'll find that with people everywhere. As long as the positives outweigh the negatives, they are happy to stay.

[Hillman]

Well I've lived in Arkansas,California,Colorado and Louisiana.Hated all of them.

hillman

[Curmudgeon]

Originally Posted by Cali BassMan

So anyway I think Ozark does a great service when he post negative things, and sometimes I try to help him because a person does really need to do thier homework before making a life changing decision...

As much as I push back on him occasionally, I have to agree with you. Having lived in seven other states and three other countries, he's absolutely right about making sure you know what you're getting yourself into. That's especially necessary when moving from a high cost of living area to a lower cost one because once you've made the move, returning might not be an option.

OzarksBoy does, indeed, do a great serrvice for those who have the good sense to listen and pay heed.