Moving to Springfield (Columbia, Nixa, Ozark: luxury, houses, college)

[skeating]

C44; Snake is right the influx to the Ozarks is growing not diminishing. Inside of Springfield City it may be changing but the townships surrounding are in a major growth.

Republic, Rogersville, Nixa, Ozark, Highlandville are definitely growing. New subdivisions all around these areas and the houses are selling and people are moving in. Here in Highlandville we are watching a new houses being built behind our property and seeing people moving in even this winter, no slow down here. We had a new restaurant open here in 2007. They are prepping the land on Hwy 160 for some type of retail businesses as I write this note.

Regarding foreclosure rate don't have any idea. If you look on the internet at domuswap properties and real estate exchange properties you will see the entire state of Missouri has a small list compared to alot of the states. This should be a good indicator of what is happening in Missouri. This is not to say there aren't foreclosures, but they aren't at level of some of the other states yet.

[C44]

I"m glad Springfield is growing! I'll be adding to the population real soon. Hey, btw, do I need to buy a GPS system to get around? Here in Utah, streets are laid out in a numbered grid system. Don't need a map to find anything if you know east from west and north from south. When I go back to visit in Cali-I'm forever getting lost

[SassyGirl2]

Originally Posted by C44

I"m glad Springfield is growing! I'll be adding to the population real soon. Hey, btw, do I need to buy a GPS system to get around?

IMHO, YES, Yes, and yes; by all means get a GPS or at least a good city map. Some of the street planning in Springfield will make you go gaa-gaa from pulling your hair out.

[8 SNAKE]

I've been here for a while, so take my input with a grain of salt. IMHO, Springfield is very easy to travel around. With few exceptions, all streets run North/South and East/West (VERY much like UT). There are some one-way streets downtown that can make navigation a bit confusing for newcomers, but even that isn't bad. If you like the layouts in UT, you will feel right at home here.

PS - The Nav system in my Grand Cherokee is in constant "idle" mode!

[sunshine girl]

The streets here are also on the grid system and most of the street signs have the numerical value (like 200, 1200, 3400, etc.) of the east/west and north/south printed on them which makes finding an address much easier. On the downside, some of the lesser streets dead end and then pick up again a few blocks over and you must find a way to find it again. Street maps are a few bucks at any grocery store.
I also do not "see" the decline in population in Spfld proper. It seems like more are moving here than leaving. No facts to support this however, my guess would be that they are not leaving the area, just the city limits. Some may be moving to Ozark and Nixa and commute to work here. Just a guess though. Talk to lots of folks when we yard sale, and some are doing just that. On the other hand, there are some moving into the city limits because they do not want the headache and wear and tear of a commute and/or because they want the historical style or cheap housing of the city. Some are loving the new lofts being created with the restoration of the downtown. Different strokes......

[C44]

Anyone interested in seeing the declining population report-pm me. Again, it wasn't a huge decline-but...would be interesting to know why. Anyone know of a reliable, good handyman who will do small jobs on my soon to be bought fixer-upper Do most of you go through cable to get the internet? I thought I read somewhere that there was only one cable provider in Springfield. Any comments as to cable or satellite?

[skeating]

Satellite and cable are basically the same. Possibly Cable is more stable during storms. Telephone company will offer a bundle package for everything. Haven't lived inside city limits in a few years, not sure if cable offers a bundle package. Call your phone company first and see what they offer. We have Centurytel, Springfield and Branson have a different phone service available.

[mrschilicook]

C44: Just read your query on Asian grocery stores. You will be glad to hear that they are here...not tons of 'em but they do exist along with other ethnic food sources. Some are in areas I would only go in daylight as an FYI.

Global Market (S. Grant)
Asian Food and Gift Market (S. Glenstone)
Seoul Oriental Market (S. Campbell)
Binh Tay Oriental Food and Fashion (W. Sunshine)

Also Price Cutter and Harter House carry a limited, but good selection of grocery items from around the world (Indian, German, English, Mexican, Thai, Japanese, etc.). We LOVE German chicken soup noodles and find them a PC all of the time.

Mexican goods are carried at:
Global Market (S. Grant) (also from other areas around the world like Africa)
Latino Market (St. Louis St) (Central and Latin Am. plus more)
La Tienda Mihqacana Mexicana (E. Division)

There is also a market that sells Indian foods and spices called Village Mart which is on W. Kearney.

Hope this helps...

[C44]

Thanks Mrs. Chilicook, for the great information! Have you or anyone else been up to Kansas City? Is it more diverse there? I am soooo excited to be moving to Springfield!

[8 SNAKE]

Kansas City is definitely more diverse than Springfield. KC is also a much larger metropolitan area, so the diversity is to be expected.