Looking for opinions on Relocating to the Ozarks (St. Louis, Springfield: new home, job market)

[MoMark]

Originally Posted by sierrajude

I hear the mosquito problem is really bad in Arkansas ( & Texas ). How's the 'skeeter situation in Missouri? Oh, and what about 'chiggers' (something like that? I think they're aka 'no see ums') Thx!

I haven't noticed the mosquitoes being particularly bad here (Springfield, MO. area), and chiggers are more scare than bite really. It's a little mite like bug that climbs on you if you're traipsing around in high grass or wooded areas and when it bites, it injects a saliva that hardens into a tube while it dissolves the flesh inside it into a liquid which the chigger then uses this 'tube' to suck the dissolved flesh out of you, like a straw. By the time you become aware of it, the chigger is already gone and that horrible itch you feel isn't a chigger embedded in your skin, but the allergic reaction to the saliva by your body. There's nothing to do but wait for you body to remove the welt/tube. But the old wives tale about the chigger being under the skin is just that, a wives tale. It's already gone bye bye by the time you notice anything. My bete noir here are the ticks. I picked up a big one apparently last summer while out in some fields and brought it back with me. I wasn't aware of it until about 3 o'clock in the morning when I felt a tickle on my arm in my sleep. I finally woke up and flipped on the light and the biggest tick I ever saw wouldn't let go of my arm hair!!! I lost arm hair pulling it off! YECK!

[huntman58]

I to am from calif now by way of Idaho. I have also spent summers in the Ozark area and loved it with my grandparents. I am also looking for home cost as we are priced out of the market fully here (I am disabled but the wife is a social worker) we love the small town life and in fact we live in a town of less then 500 people with a drive of over 30 miles to go grocery shopping or any other kind of shopping. I am also looking for an area that dose not seam to get any or very very few tornados. I am worried about humid weather and how it will affect my arthrighties any one comment on how it is with them if they have arthrightes? We also want a 4 season area as the wife lived in New York and I as I said lived in Idaho and also I lived as a kid in North Dakota so we both know cold and heat. Were we live now it can get to over 110 f in the summer same with Idaho and teens low teens in the winter Idaho.

[SomethingELSE]

We are relocating from S. California as well; so far, the people I've met in the area are very nice. Nixa is just 5 miles south of Springfield and, we think, a good choice for an easy commute for better jobs.

Originally Posted by bullgear18

I am in the process of deciding where to live in MO and want to stay out of the Tornado Alley so we chose the Ozarks and are thinking about Camdenton. I have two young children so school districts are very important to me and I will need to either find employment or be in a location that will provide ample opportunity for a start up business.

What are your recommendations for areas to investigate further and your reason why you think it is the best place for a family to live?

Thanks and have a great day,
BG

[celicagt16]

Originally Posted by citybythebay

Wow....if your situation doesn't sound like mine! I am also in California. (Northern) And I will be relocating to Missouri in May. My major gripe about CA is the cost of living! It's off the charts! That's the only reason why I am moving. It is beautiful in CA. But I just can't justify the beauty as a reason to stay here.
I digress.

I am looking for small town living so I don't mind if I need to drive 30 mins or so to a more populated area. In South central MO the towns are small which I think is a nice change to the rat race of CA.

I have done quite a bit of online searching for different areas. I have heard wonderful things about the Pulaski county area. Which is Waynesville, Crocker, Richland, Devil's Elbow, St. Robert...and a few others. (which is also the area where Ft. Leonard Wood is located) It's very scenic and there is a lot of outdoor activities. I do ATV'ing as a hobby and there are many places to do that in MO.

If you do an online search about a particular town using Wikipedia it will give you a general idea of the areas with various info. Also, each town/county has a travel/tourism center that could send you information. If you have AAA, that is another source of information.

Good luck to you!

DONT MOVE TO PULASKI COUNTY! I have lived here for 3 years now and am originally from St.Charles, MO which is a suburb of STL which is a nice place. Pulaski county is full of trashy people, drugs, and all other sorts of corruption. Also, it is full of abandonded buildings, and slop all over. One good thing-if you think its good is that if you make $30,000, you are rich here!

[chupiechow]

Hello
I live in Kansas City MO, Moved back here after living in Vegas, Philly, Indiana. The weather is the best part of living here. I wouldn't concern myself with Tornados I have never seen or been near one in the time I have lived here. Ozarks is very over crowded, and unless you want to ride your boat in a dirty lake...there really isn't much else to do. Plus it's like living out in the middle of now where.....

[MoMark]

I don't know what part of the Ozarks you've been in, but your analysis is so far from reality as to be really bizarre! The Ozarks...crowded? Where are all the people then? Do you mean the tourists crowding Branson's main street, or lines of RV's at the lakes? If so, then that describes summer tourism, often with license plates that say "Kansas City" , not the day-to-day living in the Ozarks. If anything, this is one of the least crowded areas in the Midwest and the towns are usually very small. Even Springfield is only 160,000 people. Dirty?? What, did you run a white glove along the highway shoulder while hanging out an open car door at 25mph somewhere? The lakes are hardly dirty and great efforts are made to keep them clean. The Ozarks is practically pristine! Especially in comparison to Kansas City or any major metropolitan areas. Nothing to do? Well, all those crowds you're talking about seem to find something to do, and for those of us who live here, it's not much different than living anywhere else as far as modern conveniences are concerned. We have fine shopping, airports... we even have "lectricity"! Let's be fair Chupiechow and separate a preference for large city living (apparently yours which you're entitled to) from an unfair und factually incorrect blanket judgement of one of the most beautiful areas in the country. You're simply not correct, and anyone who doesn't need Braille can easily see that if they come through.

[Crackerjack]

MoMark, once again you are right! I have been to the Ozarks many times and I have to tell ya, I can't hardly find anybody! It seems so spacious with so few people. Maybe they are talking about Branson. It does get lots of tourists there but other then that, I think the Ozarks are one of the last frontiers! Just go to Phoenix with seas of people (not seas of water just people) and then you will realize just how great the Ozarks are!

[huntman58]

I would also have to add in on that. Every thing I remember of the place was great except for no people to hang out with. Now every one I talk to says the same thing still like that. Except for the big cities and Branson. But then again I am looking at it and comparing cities like san Fran ca. Oakland Ca. Boise Idaho, Reno Nevada, camas Washington. Spearfish South Dakota. Been around some and the one place that has always called me back was the Ozarks but then the stereo type of life in the area is the kind I want. Slow and easy with lots of fishing and hunting to boot. And some land to call my own and protect. Now just got to remember to get the supplies for the still before we all move and move there we area just not as soon as I want

[Crackerjack]

Huntman, Amen brother; some land, some quiet, some fishing and kicking back in a rocking chair on a porch listening to nothing but the wildlife! That is my kind of life!

[huntman58]

Originally Posted by Crackerjack

Huntman, Amen brother; some land, some quiet, some fishing and kicking back in a rocking chair on a porch listening to nothing but the wildlife! That is my kind of life!

but you forgot the best part and that is when the still lets ya know she is a done cooking