Bolivar-,Pro's..Con's,please. (Springfield, Ozark: homes, schools, university)

[Fed up]

I and my family are moving to somwhere north of Sprinfield,and I have my eye on Bolivar.I have researched,but would like input from people that have actually been there,or,lived there.My daughter is 12,and we are Christen.Not extreme religious like some,but my daughter does attend a christen school presently.I am a mechanic/welder by trade and will need to secure work within a 40 mile radius.With medical.I know,I know...But any input would be great.Thanks in advance.

[Darren Stewart]

Bolivar is a great place, I have always liked the town but I myself have not lived there, like most of Missouri small towns it has a great atmosphere of community, local square etc. There is Southwest Baptist University there as well, my wife is a graduate of their nursing program.

Finding work as a welder the first places that I think of are Paul Mueller Steel Company located in Springfield, then there are welding positions usually where I live but I live South of Springfield, in Ozark, where we have a Tracker Marine Plant, they build trailers for boats.

Hope this helps.

Darren Stewart

[razzy]

As a matter of fact, just across Kansas Expressway from Paul Mueller, I'm pretty sure I saw a sign the other day that said they were hiring welders there. If you go north on Kansas Expressway, you'll see the sign on the right-hand side, just across from Paul Mueller, right before the Chestnut Expressway stop light.

[Jennifer.Paris]

I dont know if you have moved or not yet but i saw your post and had to reply. I also recently moved to Bolivar in April of last year. I love this town. It is nothing like Springfield(which is what i was looking for). The people here are very friendly and just about everyone waves as you drive by. The schools are also awesome. As for work i cant say there are a whole lot of places to work here but there is a Tracker here as well as in Springfield. As far as churches go there is one on every corner just about and several in between, and the schools are ranked pretty high too. If you want to know anything else feel free to ask.

[MoMark]

Originally Posted by Fed up

I and my family are moving to somwhere north of Sprinfield,and I have my eye on Bolivar.I have researched,but would like input from people that have actually been there,or,lived there.My daughter is 12,and we are Christen.Not extreme religious like some,but my daughter does attend a christen school presently.I am a mechanic/welder by trade and will need to secure work within a 40 mile radius.With medical.I know,I know...But any input would be great.Thanks in advance.

I like Bolivar very much. I find it to be an attractive small town. I almost bought a home there just about two miles northeast of the town square in 2005. The town was great, the sellers were a problem...so I bailed and ended up about 7 miles north of Springfield/ I-44 which turned out for me to be perfect as it's close enough to get into Springfield quickly, but far enough out to be completely country and unaffected by the city.
The only caution I'd give about Bolivar is any commuting if you have to commute south to maintain a job as 13 is a pretty dangerous road and people drive like bats out of hell on it. A lot of fatal accidents happen on it and when I was driving from Springfield to Bolivar to look at homes, I found it a bit unnerving at times.
The other thing about commuting is weather. The winter of 05 wasn't bad, very little snow, no ice, and fairly warm temperatures. This winter has been terribly cold since November with an ice storm on Nov.30 followed by 5" of snow, then a terrible ice storm in early January that wrecked pretty much everything and made roads impassable, and frequent snowfalls.
I worry even about driving into Springfield from where I live a lot this winter. You have to be very careful and the snowplows don't always get to the roads quickly. When it's iced, there's not much they can do as you can't just push it aside like snow.
But I like Bolivar a lot. Pretty town.