Fort Leonard Wood and surrounds - Horses? (Springfield, Rolla: rental, buying a house)

[neverwinter2]

Hello all. My husband is an Army officer and was just given his next assignment. We will be arriving at Fort Leonard Wood in January.

We have extended family in Springfield and Bolivar but we are not at all familiar with FLW and the surrounding areas. If anyone has any information on availability of rental property, we would love to hear about the options - I am not finding many property management companies with rental housing. There are some companies but they have no listings - not too helpful. We prefer not to live on post, and need to find a rental that accepts pets (1 large dog, 1 cat.) Buying a house is financially an option but we'd prefer not to do so since we don't plan to be in MO long term.

My other question - is there any horse scene near FLW or in any of the surrounding areas? We are both active equestrians. My husband enjoys foxhunting and I like hunter/jumpers and eventing. Neither of us has a horse at the moment but we would be looking for a barn to ride/take lessons and possibly board a horse. Is there any horse scene near FLW or in any of the surrounding areas? This will also influence our housing decisions.

Also, and please forgive my ignorance on the topic - I have read through several threads with prominent mention of the Wal-Mart. For ethical reasons, we do not patronize Wal-Mart (yes, I realize we may be the only ones in the entire country, but there you have it).... Is Wal-Mart really the only store in town? Fortunately we will have access to the PX and Commissary but they frequently have limited selections. What's the shopping scene like?

[ozarksboy]

Originally Posted by neverwinter2

Hello all. My husband is an Army officer and was just given his next assignment. We will be arriving at Fort Leonard Wood in January.

We have extended family in Springfield and Bolivar but we are not at all familiar with FLW and the surrounding areas. If anyone has any information on availability of rental property, we would love to hear about the options - I am not finding many property management companies with rental housing. There are some companies but they have no listings - not too helpful. We prefer not to live on post, and need to find a rental that accepts pets (1 large dog, 1 cat.) Buying a house is financially an option but we'd prefer not to do so since we don't plan to be in MO long term.

My other question - is there any horse scene near FLW or in any of the surrounding areas? We are both active equestrians. My husband enjoys foxhunting and I like hunter/jumpers and eventing. Neither of us has a horse at the moment but we would be looking for a barn to ride/take lessons and possibly board a horse. Is there any horse scene near FLW or in any of the surrounding areas? This will also influence our housing decisions.

Also, and please forgive my ignorance on the topic - I have read through several threads with prominent mention of the Wal-Mart. For ethical reasons, we do not patronize Wal-Mart (yes, I realize we may be the only ones in the entire country, but there you have it).... Is Wal-Mart really the only store in town? Fortunately we will have access to the PX and Commissary but they frequently have limited selections. What's the shopping scene like?

You should do as many officers' families do: live in Rolla, about 30 minutes away. Google Investment Realty of Rolla; they handle the most rental property around here. You'll find more horse lovers in Rolla than in Waynesville/St. Robert.

[OA 5599]

Unfortunately, Wal-Mart dominates a large portion of the retail market throughout rural Missouri. Nearly every town with over 3,000 people has one it seems. As a result, your shopping options are somewhat limited. If you take ozarkboy's advice and live in Rolla (a fine town, IMO), you will at least have a K-Mart to shop at. Alternatively, you could just head over to Rolla when you want to avoid shopping at Wal-Mart.

I personally dislike Wal-Mart, and enjoy the fact that I don't have to shop there while living in the city. However, I will say the Wal-Marts in rural Missouri are generally very clean, well-lit, and well-run. Such is not the case with Wal-Marts I have visited in other states.

There are also a few other grocery stores in Rolla (a Kroger and Country Mart). I have no idea what the Ft. Wood area offers other than Wal-Mart, but I would be surprised if it didn't have any other grocery options.

FYI, the area surrounding FLW is really quite scenic. Many bluffs, caves, hollers', and a lot of public land can be found very close to FLW. I've found that portions of western Virgina remind me of rural Missouri, although Missouri is hilly while VA has many actual mountains.

[neverwinter2]

Thank you both so much for the suggestions. It looked like Rolla was a bit far from the post for a daily commute, but if other families are living there it must be do-able. Sounds like a nice town.

One of our family members in Springfield makes not-infrequent shopping trips to St Louis, so we're looking forward to taking part in that. Living Wal-Mart-free is not easy but to us, worthwhile. I can live with a Kroger (quite happily!)

We are looking forward to the scenery. We have visited some of the caves/caverns while staying with family and enjoy that, too. We're both scuba divers and looking forward to some of the springs and other dive sites we've heard about. We used to do a lot of camping but got away from it while in Texas - hopefully we'll get to do more again once we're settled in Missouri. I am trying to be excited and positive but it's tough - we truly love Virginia.

Again, thanks for your help.