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I was born and raised in Springfield MO and now live in Greenfield (Tiny Rural Town) but all my business activities still in Spfld. Love SW MO and Springfield has it all.
I would recommend the suburbs like WILLARD or REPUBLIC very close to Springfield for Medical but nice small communities.
IF YOU LIVE IN SWMO YOU SHOULD LIVE IN A HOUSE WITH A BASEMENT - TORNADOES.
The Southside of Spfd near Nixa or Ozark is nice but growing out of control. You would like the Branson area also but it can be crazy in the summer with all the tourist. But inbetween Springfield and Branson is great.
Springfield really does have everything and the people are still very nice.
I've been wondering about Greenfield, I don't know anything about it, but is it old and quaint? I've been wanting to visit there
Greetings..boy are you getting an earful here. To be fair, you need to come and see for yourself and form your own opinions. Everyone has good and/or bad experiences and we often provide information based on personal experience....sometimes it's more positive than some would like, sometimes more negative....but it's always a good idea to check it out for yourself.
I'm from N. California and I loved it there and I love it here (I'm just north of Branson). In my OPINION I would say that if you don't like small rural town living in Oregon you won't like it here either. Carthage is a small town like many of the villages and towns around this area. The largest city in SW MO is Springfield which, in my OPINION, is a smaller mid-sized city (I'm from the SF Bay Area) followed by Joplin (a small city).
This area has lots of Master Gardener programs so your wife might love that aspect of it. There are many master gardener education/certification programs offered by the counties down here. And I know that the Women's Hospitality Club for Newcomers in Springfield has a big gardening club.
If you want statistics on tornadoes, City Data has the stats if you scroll way down on the city your interested in. There are several "tornado alley's" in the United States, but there is one that tends to follow I 44 so many of the storms seem to follow that route. I've been coming here for 25+ years and know of a few that have hit this specific area including a cluster of them that hit last winter..most are "relatively" small compared to what hits OK city and areas north. I don't have a basement in my house and I don't worry about tornadoes too much (statistically you have a greater chance of a fire destorying your house) although I am prepared with a weather radio, a safe room, etc. I find that people out here say that they couldn't live with earthquakes and people from the west are afraid of tornados. I lived in CA for 53 years without damage to a house and I was in the bay area during Loma Preita in '86 (it did shake the nerves though).
On the rural but "close to" thing....It all depends on what you want/need as far as ammenities. My husband was interested in more rural living until he realized how often he actually went to Home Depot/Lowes and such. An hour away became less interesting so now we are about 15-20 minutes from a few things.
Oh yea....I love the idea that there aren't any alcoholics or pregnant teens in Springfield. It must have been a nice dream but it certainly isn't statistically true. Yes, this area is part of the bible belt and people do wear their religion on their sleeve much more openly than in the West (not critisizing) , but none the less, we have all of the same problems as other small midsized cities..including drugs, dropout rates, teen pregnancy, crime, etc....just in smaller numbers.
Come see us. We'll show you the good side and help you figure out the bad....but only YOU can determine if what we offer is what your looking for relative to what you currently have.
Last edited by mrschilicook; 09-09-2008 at 12:43 PM..
Reason: typo
If the Joplin hospitals are so fabulou, why are they losing good doctors? Perhaps hospital policy to test, test, test and order new drugs when a patient is stable is the problem? That's an old OK HMO game. that is spreading throughout SW Missouri.
A new hospital does not a doctor make. Doctors in Carthage don't have the good sense to culture and infcection much less know the correct proceedure to care for MRSA. Maybe this is why CDC says MRSA is a community disease. Carthage hospital is now associated with the muslim staffed University hosptial in Columbia. It would be better served to associate with Barnes - but none of the Carthage doctors are experienced enough to work at Barnes.
Why did a certain Spingfield hospital transfuse a healthy newborn with HIV tainted blood? More to the point, why did the hospital even have tainted blood on the premises, why wasn't it tagged? The baby died a terribly painful and horrible death within few weeks. The hosptial got by with murder.
There is NO hospital between the Oklahoma border and St. Louis that I trust to care for anyone I love. We can start with the filty facilities and dumb admin, nurses and doctors that let sick patients puke all over the waiting rooms. Then we can go to the understaffed floors filled with sick patients. Jeez these people are too lazy to empty a dirty urinal. Been there done that once too many times with SW MO. hospitals.
I used to think the Chief of Staff was elected by his/her peers. Then I learned the only difference between Chief of Staff and the ER doc is one meeting. It does not inspire one to confidence in a system where hospital policy takes precidence over a life. These people are not gods, They are mere mortals - not terrribly well educated - that owe their allegiance to the banker. He's the guy that sets hospital policy for the HMO doctors and foots the bills for salaries, office space, and office staff. .
I grew up in the PNW, and moved to Webb City for two years before setting up shop in Southern Oregon.
One of the best days of my life was when I pulled my earthly belongings out of the Midwest. If you like twisters and constant siren warnings, golfball sized hail, 100 degree heat with 98 percent humidity, mud rain, snakes swimming in your lakes and streams and a little fact of satan-imposed life those folks like to call a wintery mix, by all means, move to Carthage.
For one who so obviously considers herself in the know, I am surprised that you recommended towns (Marshfield & Lebanon) right on the I44 corridor, which you had already listed as being tornado alley. Also, Lamar is only about 25 miles north of Joplin/Carthage and Nevada is only about 25 miles further. I think if you're trying to steer people away from tornado alley, you're going to have to do better than that.
My point isn't to point people away from those cities or even away from tornadoes. I just wanted to point out the discrepancies in your comments and your advice. I've never been to Lamar or Nevada and I'm sure they're nice places, as I know Marshfield and Lebanon are. Then again, so are Carthage and Springfield, in my opinion...although, I must admit, it is different going to any town than living in it and I've never lived in any of them. Come to think of it, I've read posts from people in some of these towns and their opinions are as different as night and day so maybe that's not very reliable, either. I think MrsC has it right. She says it's always best to visit a town for yourself and form your own opinions. And I will add that if you are going to get opinions or recommendations, don't take them as fact.
Oh, and while I'm hanging out here on the end of the limb, for the sake of Rogter, I want to say that we stayed in Carthage for a month three summers ago. It was very hot and we drove all over the area looking at homes to buy. We loved the quaintness of the town and never smelled a thing. It didn't work out for us to buy there so we didn't stay but we still have a fond place for it in our hearts.
Quote:
Originally Posted by linicx
If you do not read one more word, remember this. SW MO is Tornado Alley from Oklahoma City, OK to Springfield, MO. All of the major towns have had a direct hit in the last 25 years. The last one was Pierce City, not far from Carthage.
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If I was going to pick a MIssouri town for you I would chose Lamar, Nevada, Marshfield or Lebanon. I'm parial to the last because it is a little largeer and has more services.
The thing to know about MO tornado is it follows 1--44 through OK to the MO boder where it either follows 1-71 N or US 60 S, but not always. It's dicey until you get fathre north around Ashland and Jefferson City. Joplin was hit in 1999.
You did not read the post. As far as I know Marshfield and Lebanon have never been hit. And residents there will still have the same problem with lousy doctors and dirty hospitals.
Greenfield is a very very very rural farm town. Not much to do her but a few flea markets and school activities. To live and raise a family great to visit as a tourist not so great. Is about 15 miles south of Stockton Lake which is a great large lake for boating/Sailing, swimings, camping...
So Greenfield is really just a place onto somewhere else but nice is you want a very rural life.
Springfield is a church owned town. You'll never find an Octoberfest with beer, nor an alcoholic, nor a pregnant teenager. It doesn't exist.
This is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard. We lived in Ash Grove, about 20 miles from Springfield, (a small suburb) and of my sister's graduating class of less than 50, 4 of the girls had been pregnant or were currently pregnant. And Ash Grove was the "safe" suburb of Springfield. (Granted, this was about 13 years ago.) Springfield ABOUNDS in alcoholics and pregnant teenagers. (Much like any city it's size.)
This is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard.
I thought that was hilarious!! Even my GRANDMOTHER was a pregnant teenager in Springfield, back in 1914. True, she married my grandfather before giving birth to her first child, but she was most definitely a pregnant teenager and had three of her four children while she was still a teen. She was very active in her church, which did not frown upon her teenage pregnancies at all, and she had a lot of wonderful friends in the north central Springfield neighborhood where she lived for the rest of her life.
If she was still alive, she would get a good laugh out of that post.
If you do not read one more word, remember this. SW MO is Tornado Alley from Oklahoma City, OK to Springfield, MO. All of the major towns have had a direct hit in the last 25 years. The last one was Pierce City, not far from Carthage.
I lived in Carthage for 10 years and couldn't wait to get out. The illegal aliens are invading the town. Crime is up. Slumlords are on the rise. The school is more interested in SPORTS than education. If you get Direct-TV you cannot get local channels. The cable system hasn't been worth a dime since the owners sold out 8-9 years ago. The local radio station plays more Mexican than American music. The Mexican grocery stores outnumber the others. The realtors in that city held a phony closing to try to get me out of my house once the buyer backed out of the contract to save their collective arses. The city owns everything and don't care whether you live or die. The medical services in Carthage is terrible. My husband had MRSA. I had him at the hospital, Then at the hospital owned wound care 6 Times. , I had him to surgeon 4 months who put him in a "U-boot". It caused his leg to swell three times its ormal size. Had him to the Chief of Staff four times.. Had him to another doctor 3 times. All these visits and all this money and all they did was feed him antibiotics and never tested for anything. I finally got him to a different doctor who did a culture. It took almost a year to heal his foot. If you come to his area, be prepared to be your own nurse. The hospital is not overly clean and they don't take very good care of patients. The hospital was the only place in 10 years that he had his shoes and sox off. CArhtage is redneck, country and religionists. If you never lived anywhere else you don't know the difference. The only cheap houses are in Mexican or red-lined areas. If you don't wear the :right" clothes, drive the 'right' car, and go to the 'right' church twice a week, and don't have ancestors that served in the Civil War in that town, you're pretty much unwelcome.
The good news is it is a beautiful "Maple Leaf", and "Main Street" City. The City owns everything. It's annual budget is $20M. The biggest churches are Baptist, Methodist and Presbyterian. It has a nice big park, an 18 hole golf course and a dozen ways to connect to the Internet. AT&T is by far the best. There's a family Y,
walking track, soccer, horse club, Kellog Lake, Precious Moments, and a Hardware Store you'll never forget on the square, and some nice CW museums. And there are a half-dozen businesses worth supporting. If you ever decide to move to Carthage, stay away from Walgreen's Pharmacy; you have three other pharmacies that are far superior, and they don't make critical mistakes.
If you ever plan on getting sick, the medical care in Grove and Fayetteville is far better than Carthage, Joplin or Springfield as those doctors are HMO owned. .
There are places in NW Arkansas, particularly around War Eagle that will make you think you are in the wilderness. I spent 25 years visiting friends there. Fayetteville is Urbane. Great living areas around it. Great University. Mall and all the national stores. Rock, country and Symphony. Crafts., etc., and Washinton General hospital is very good. The old Victorian houses area in nearby Eureka Springs. Tontitown is intersting too and goood food.
Grove, OK on Grand Lake is a great area to live. Good hospital and some pretty good doctors. I have a lot of friends there. The downside is Joplin is about an hour away, but Tulsa is two hours. This is a tourist/water/country town, but it is a lot of funa nd the folks are friendly. Lot of people from CA moving here.
Springfield is a church owned town. You'll never find an Octoberfest with beer, nor an alcoholic, nor a pregnant teenager. It doesn't exist.
Martha and I lived in Springfield many years ago. She moved to Fayetteville. I moved to Grove. and then to Carthage for the Cardiologist. He got sick of Jopln Hosptal games and moved his practice to Grove.
If I was going to pick a MIssouri town for you I would chose Lamar, Nevada, Marshfield or Lebanon. I'm parial to the last because it is a little largeer and has more services.
The thing to know about MO tornado is it follows 1--44 through OK to the MO boder where it either follows 1-71 N or US 60 S, but not always. It's dicey until you get fathre north around Ashland and Jefferson City. Joplin was hit in 1999.
I could not agree more Lebanon is the way to go cause I was born and raised there and to me there is no place like Lebanon for me . I now reside in Lexington ky but still feel close to home here and will go next yr for christmas . god bless you and hope your trip is a peace full one .
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Carthage and SW Mo...
I think if you're trying to steer people away from tornado alley, you're going to have to do better than that. 
