Branson a nice place to retire?

[Debbiedorite]

We were looking into purchasing a house in Branson but it's colder there in the winter than a lot of places and the heating is...electric or wood stoves/fireplaces. We like the economical heating with natural gas, it heats faster and is warm which is unlike a heat pump. I asked a relator why there is little to no natural gas heating in Branson and she said, "It's too rocky.' I'd still like to move there and may yet.

[Lake Junkie]

Originally Posted by Palestein

We're retired and live in Southern California and are thinking of locating to a town such as Branson, which seems to be the kind of place we'd like to be. My wife came from Southern Illinois and has family in the area. Climate-wise, the area sounds good. Strange question: What's it like for mosquitos in the Branson area? We've both lived near waterways and they can be really bothersome. Here, they spray so there's not a problem. Perhaps we've been spoiled.

It doesn't look like anyone has answered this question so here goes. The mosquitoes in SW MO aren't a big issue that I know of. Even here at the lake, and I don't know why. I have more trouble with wasps than anything. You just have to stay after the mud dauber nests!

I moved to Table Rock from Ca years ago and love it. I spent 10 years in and around Springfield before taking the plunge and buying my wreck of a fixer-upper lake house. There are many, many retirees at the lake living their dream.

It's DIFFERENT than living in town...you're AT THE LAKE all year long. You wake up looking at the lake, you watch the weather so you can get out on the lake. You make a game out of seeing how early in the year the lake warms up enough to swim...and the last date you got in it each fall. You see your friends at the local watering hole and talk about who has what kind of boat and what cove you like to hang out in. You join the lake groups on Facebook and post funny pictures about lake living.

I hope you let us know when you visit.

[Izzie1213]

Regarding no mosquitos in the area. Probably no standing water for mosquitos. There is even a portion of my state, Minnesota that has streams and rivers but no standing water or swamps so no noticable amount of skeeters. It all about topography/geology.

[miquel_westano]

Originally Posted by Palestein

We're retired and live in Southern California and are thinking of locating to a town such as Branson, which seems to be the kind of place we'd like to be. My wife came from Southern Illinois and has family in the area. Climate-wise, the area sounds good. Strange question: What's it like for mosquitos in the Branson area? We've both lived near waterways and they can be really bothersome. Here, they spray so there's not a problem. Perhaps we've been spoiled.

Old post, but I will chime in just in case anyone is still curious. The lakes near Branson are both comprised of moving water flowing in from a dam at the headwaters and out at a dam at the start of the next lake in the chain. Lake Table Rock flows into lake Taneycomo at Branson and neither has many backwater areas of stagnant water to harbor huge mosquito breeding areas.


Lake Taneycomo which is directly touching Branson is almost more of a river than lake, has a brisk current that flows constantly and is also very cold. It is fed from the bottom of Lake Table Rock and thus maintains a temp cold enough to be an excellent trout fishery and a horrible swimming/skiing lake.


As to crime, Branson is home to a huge transient population of retail and entertainment workers and thus gets some bad apples. Like all areas, drugs are more abundant than they were years ago, resulting in higher property crimes than in years past. Branson is not a particularly dangerous city with regards to random violent crimes. Most of the violence is between people known to each other and often over drug disputes.


Branson does however have a tenuous economy affected greatly by season and overall economy issues. Missouri, despite the poor press, is a fine place to live and great place to raise kids. We are not toothless, drug laced, racist hillbillies looking for a tourist and a tree stump.


Hope this helps, from a resident since 1959.

[Lake Junkie]

Originally Posted by Debbiedorite

We were looking into purchasing a house in Branson but it's colder there in the winter than a lot of places and the heating is...electric or wood stoves/fireplaces. We like the economical heating with natural gas, it heats faster and is warm which is unlike a heat pump. I asked a relator why there is little to no natural gas heating in Branson and she said, "It's too rocky.' I'd still like to move there and may yet.

We don't have natural gas everywhere here, true...but we do have propane gas which is functionally the same thing. You can have your gas furnace, gas cooking, gas fireplace etc. And actually they are putting natural gas lines in to some areas of Branson...it is a big deal because of the terrain and geology which is why also it's a big deal to bury power lines and other things.

I have a dual fuel heat pump at my house which is great...when it drops below a certain temp the heat pump becomes a fuel efficient gas furnace. I buy my propane in July when the price is low, and even 'pre-buy' a tank in case we have an unusually long cold winter. Then it gets delivered, already paid for, when I need it.

I'd love to help you look at moving to Branson.

[hoss73ford]

I see this thread is 9 years old, however I'll throw my two cents worth in for those current readers who come across this thread. It's been about four years since I've been to Branson and the biggest negative is the traffic from April to the end of October. On virtually all their main streets it was always at a crawl, seven days a week. Since I was last in Branson, there is little reason to think different now.
Another thing to consider is the Branson/Springfield area is in tornado alley though the last time the area was hit was in late 1991 in the southern end of Springfield. Further west is even worse as there was the Pierce City tornado in 2003 and the one that made international headlines which was the Joplin tornado in 2011. Joplin was hit by a previous tornado in 1971. More recently the town of Carl Junction just north of Joplin was hit by one in 2019.
All & all, southwest Missouri is an ok place to live. There are good areas in town and bad areas (stay out of the north side of Springfield as it is every run down)

[MOforthewin]

Originally Posted by hoss73ford

I see this thread is 9 years old, however I'll throw my two cents worth in for those current readers who come across this thread. It's been about four years since I've been to Branson and the biggest negative is the traffic from April to the end of October. On virtually all their main streets it was always at a crawl, seven days a week. Since I was last in Branson, there is little reason to think different now.
Another thing to consider is the Branson/Springfield area is in tornado alley though the last time the area was hit was in late 1991 in the southern end of Springfield. Further west is even worse as there was the Pierce City tornado in 2003 and the one that made international headlines which was the Joplin tornado in 2011. Joplin was hit by a previous tornado in 1971. More recently the town of Carl Junction just north of Joplin was hit by one in 2019.
All & all, southwest Missouri is an ok place to live. There are good areas in town and bad areas (stay out of the north side of Springfield as it is every run down)

Hmm. Last time I was in Branson was 2013. It was around May 15th and during the week and it wasn't very busy at all! Even SDC wasn't that busy except for a few of the water rides cause it was about 90 degrees. You might recall that was the year there was snow on May 1st in Arkansas! Just a week before that was was way below normal. Odd cause the day we drove down the high was only about 72 in St. Louis and it was still cool. Got to Springfield it was about low 80s, then the drive to Branson and it was close to 90 all in the same day and the humidity was quite noticeable in the short distance.

Fishing was terrible because the water was still quite cool for that time of year. So glad my trip wasn't the week before. I was considering waiting a week until I saw it was going to be warm.

Problem with Branson is it's pretty compacted into one area all the traffic and tourist.

Is it still crowded around Christmas at SDC for the Christmas stuff?

One nice thing about that area of Missouri it's warm most of the year, hence SDC open thru late Dec. Average high late Dec is still almost 50 degrees! I can see why some want to retire there who don't want the heat of FL and want change of seasons but not bitter cold or where it snows constantly. Similar weather to TN, except the summers in Branson can be hotter than eastern TN due to the Ozark mountains not being as high elevation as Eastern TN.