how about Rolla MO (Columbia, California: job market, private schools, university)

[k3JY]

Hi,
We may relocate to Rolla MO from CA soon, how is the weather over there? Heard lots of bad news such as hot/humid summer, cold winter w/lack of plan for snow (heard of one snow this year made many persons lost electricity). Really need some advice.
How is job market over there? How is the school?
Thanks for any advice!

[goat]

job scene is lousy and getting worse.

[M TYPE X]

Originally Posted by goat

job scene is lousy and getting worse.

The recent winter weather looks good in comparison!

[k3JY]

Thanks a lot!

[kcasserly]

Don't listen to these other people. Rolla is a wonderful little town. The weather isn't too bad, as the winters are mild. If it snows, it is gone soon after. The bad freeze last winter was completely unexpected, and hadn't happened for a LONG time. As for the schools, I can only tell you about the private schools. They are excellent! They are small, which is good for class size, and having a close knit community. Our two children did exceptionally well, and were in the advanced program upon moving to CA. What type of job market will you be looking in?

[twoboysnmygirl]

If you like little towns with no amenities, stores, sub-standard public schools, & very very old fashioned ideals, you will like it.

I can say that the weather and the scenery are the LEAST of the issues in Rolla, Mo. I would live here forever and ever if Rolla could just wake up and realize that change and growth aren't evil.

That won't be happening though, so I'll be moving just as many people do when they realize the direction things are headed...

[aragx6]

I like Rolla (to visit), but I'd have to probably agree with twoboysnmygirl.

[ShadowCaver]

Until those that oversee/govern the city's business depart or are replaced, growth w/in Rolla itself and the immediate area are stymied. Granted, I don't like growth just for the sake of such, but w/o the proper mix, the city will not be able to sustain itself - will become stagnant and lose tax base, as the jobs go away, so will the people. There is much potential there, a lot of beauty, and good folks, but, the town needs to get off its fixation of just being a university base, and get some industry there. twoboysnmygirl captured the some parts of the essence of Rolla fairly well...

[midwesterner7]

What is the story with the utilities? I'm used to utility bills no higher than $100/mo for electric and gas and $45/mo for sewer and water.

[cyrano]

um, are you moving there because one of you will work for or study at Missouri S&T? It's a wonderful school in its specialties, and I'm not sure that they offer anything else besides, er, science and technology.

I sure as heck wouldn't move there cold and hope to find good employment.

As for weather, let's see if [url=http://www.intellicast.com/Local/History.aspx?location=USMO0768]this link[/uwl] will port over. It is or is supposed to be Intellicast's historical averages for Rolla. My observation is that they get pretty much all of the bad winter weather that hits the rest of the state-- and oddly, despite the fact that they're significantly south of me here in Columbia, I think the winter weather down there has been significantly worse than it's been here. That's just an informal observation. And Missouri summers are pretty nice most ofthe time, except when they're not-- heat waves are brutal, worse than Houston (Texas, not Missouri), where I was born. That's simply a fact-- the all time high in Columbia is 111, while Houston's is 106. (Rolla's all-time high is 112) Springs in Missouri are mostly delightful, and autumns are pretty. What you will experience here that you may not have in California is the dramatic swings in climate. Look at that Rolla historical weather site-- there is a difference of 135 degrees between record high and record low.

And then there are tornadoes. Welcome to Missouri.