Marshfield, Any thoughts? (Springfield, Nixa, Ozark: houses, employment, construction)

[jodiT]

I'm from California and looking to move to Missouri. We have been looking into Willard and similar areas. Houses seem to be quite reasonable in Marshfield. I just wondered about schools, weather, community? Anybody from Marshfield?

[Ozarks21]

I live in Springfield, but I get to Marshfield a few times per month on business. I think the schools are good. It's convenient to Springfield (20 minutes or so) and quite a bit less expensive. It would certainly be small town living - little or no fine dining. And the prospects for employment in Marshfield would be limited.

As for weather, it's tough to nail down anywhere in Missouri. But generally it goes like this:
-- Late June to late August is hot (highs above 90) and humid with unpredictible rainfall from year to year. This year was drought.
-- Late August to late October is pleasant (highs in the 70s and 80s), cool nights, crisp air, more rain than the summer.
-- Late October to mid December maybe cool maybe cold (highs ranging from 30's to 60's), maybe snow, maybe rain.
-- Mid-December to mid-February cold (highs often below freezing) (with occasional surprisingly pleasant days and a few bitter bone chillers).
-- Mid-February to mid-April mostly cool with more pleasant days (highs ranging from 30's to 60's). Like late fall, maybe rain, maybe snow.
-- Mid-April to late June comfortable temps, occassional heavy rain and thunderstorms.

Just keep in mind the weather changes wildly here. I've seen fall and spring days that go from shorts weather to snow in a matter of a few hours. It may stay either cloudy or sunny with similar temps for weeks at a time - this is just to lull you into a false sense of weather stability. Don't be fooled.

[MoMark]

I live north of Springfield, still in Greene County but my mailing address is Pleasant Hope, which actually lies about 5 miles north of me in Polk County...some kind of historical geographic thing I suppose.. Anyway, going from California to the area around Springfield is night and day for housing. I had come here from Las Vegas last year after selling my home there (thank God I did it before the crash began) in June of 05 and bought my home here with cash from that sale. I bought a 2301 sq. ft. 3 bedroom, 2.5 bath, 3 car garage custom brick home (no plywood or particle board or stapled roof trusses...it's all solid brick and solid wooden plank construction..blew me away) built in 93 with cathedral ceilings, a full deck with built-in seating that runs the length of the house in back, floor to ceiling windows in many of the rooms, a huge dining room with 12ft. ceilings and a huge paned window with an arched window above that, two sets of French doors to the back, huge rooms, tiled bathroom and hall floors, and a custom kitchen on 4.3 acres and the house lies exactly in the middle with a blacktop driveway and the front 2.3 acres is rolling lawns with scattered Oaks and Hickory trees. Behind the house is private woods and the whole property is fenced. I paid $227K in Jan. of this year. I can't imagine what it would cost on the West or East Coasts..far out of my range. Many homes here are very well built and by most standards, extremely affordable. My home, though out in the country and labeled Pleasant Hope for my address, is located in the Springfield school district zone. I chose this area because it's close to Springfield, but completely country with gorgeous homes around on land, woods, and because it's not getting the tax increases like Nixa and Republic, which have attracted the most new families so schools are being built in those areas and the Mello Roos is high. Marshfield is an area I looked at. It is actually very typical, lots of older buildings and houses, but it lies directly on I-44 and about 20 miles from Springfield. It's on the highest part of the Ozark Plateau from what I understand and the area north of Marshfield is gorgeous country, breathtaking actually. To the Southeast of Springfield is kind of yucky in my opinion. The "town" of Sparta lies there (it's totally Beverly Hillbillies flavor) and the topography gets rougher. I don't like areas to the south or southeast of Springfield in general. Willard is ok, not my cup of tea, I'd choose more west toward Ash Grove if I wanted to live in that area. But truly, almost all areas around Springfield are nice. Just keep in mind that Nixa is the 'it' suburb right now and has been growing the fastest with the rising taxes and utilities. Ozark21 was dead on about the weather too. It's been drought-like unfortunately this past year for the most part with periods of very wet. The only violent weather so far this year was in March, both mid and the end of March, and that was scary, but otherwise, not bad.

[marshfield mom]

i went to high school here and have moved back several times when i needed a safe haven. i can tell you that it is a safe place to raise kids with only a token ammount of disruptuable characters.however employment is scarce as most people that work in town have had thier jobs and keep their jobs for a long time.best of luck to all that decide to relocate as it is a very slow paced place to live.

[manmana]

I was a teacher in Marshfield for 5 years. It is a very good school system. I have family in Marshfield and lived there for a little over a year. I prefer being close to Springfield myself, but that's just me. The commute between Springfield and Marshfield is quick so you can live there and have a job in Springfield. In fact, that's quite common.