Planning To Move To MO From CA in a Month and Need Help!! (Ozark: transplants, 2009)

[joe stixpuck]

There are caregiver types of positions available here, even in the more rural areas, but they don't pay anything like what your father and brother would make in CA. My stepmom has been doing it for years, makes around $15/hr tops, and a brother has been doing it two years and makes around $10/hr. That's in a semi-rural area, but even near the cities these days the wages are bad for most anything. They could probably find work around the Springfield area, but it might take awhile....

Besides the Springfield area, there are lotsa rural/semi-rural communities outside the StL metro area that would provide the kind of living ya'all seem to be looking for maybe. As has been mentioned, it would be best to check this place up beforehand before hitching up the proverbial wagon. I spent much of my life out here, loved some things and hated others (esp. ticks, chiggers, and brown recluses!), and after living out in NorCal a few years still suffered a heckuva shock coming back. But after LA (especially if not such a nice area) maybe this place will suit your family perfectly. It's more affordable at least, IF you can find the jobs pretty quick after moving here. They don't pay as well and are not as plentiful, but they'll do to cover the rent and bills in most places.

Good luck if ya'all move out this way! It's a big step, and as a few people noted already, it's difficult (financially) to make the move back if you don't like it out here, or even to move most anywhere else for awhile in many cases.

[lone sailor]

Originally Posted by Cali BassMan

Isabel,

As fellow Californian, let me inject some negatives for you, First thing is Jobs, there are 10 times the jobs in California than there are in Missouri, and the jobs that are available won't pay anything. Most jobs in Missouri pay less than the California Minimum wage, so moving to MIssouri without solid employment is putting your family at risk.(imo)
Secondly, you said you've never been there? Prepare for some culture shock, The hiways are mostly two lane, as in one in each direction, not five in each direction like your use to. Often times there will be huge farm equipment chug a lug a luggin about 5 miles an hour down the hiway. So you definatley have to slow your pace of life down, unless you avoid the rural areas...
As for the weather, look thru the ice storm pictures recently posted in the Missouri Pictures section, then read the thread about them, These folks survive power outages that can last over a week, Us californian;s complain if it's out just long enough to miss American Idol...... And in Summers it get's hot, yeah I know LaLa Land gets hot too but if you've never been here you must learn about Hummidity... and Bugs, this place has bugs like you've never seen, they have bugs you'd mistake for a Hummingbird, and they have bugs that are so small you can hardly see them, and they make you itch... Of they even have bugs that shoot lightening out thier butt..... now I won't get started on the snakes....
You folks should really go for a visit for a few weeks in every season to see if you can handle it...
There are alot of CAlifornian's who move here and love it, but there are just as many who don't...I think Missouri is a wonderful place, if your moving there for the right reasons, but employment isn't one of them.................

You failed to mention that with Missouri having lower wages than California, Missouri also has an extremely lower cost of living. California is also 10 times bigger than Missouri, so the jobs obviously are more plentiful. These things need to be taken into consideration when talking about two completely different areas. As for some of the other things you said, well, from what I read from her posts it doesn't seem they're looking to set their roots on a 200 acre ranch and live the country life. Springfield and Branson both have lots of city life and not just the country bumpkin theme that many make it out to be. Let's flip the coin so they can see the other side of Southern Missouri too.

[Lake Junkie]

Yes, Cali Bassman is a good 'un... And lone sailor, you're echoing my thoughts...it IS a trade off, but in my mind the good FAR outweighs the bad.

We moved here 15 years ago from Sacramento. We didn't do all this research, we just decided to get out, stuck a sign in the lawn, loaded up the U-Haul...and left. I love it here and wouldn't want to live anywhere else!

We made several mistakes...I've moved around SW MO quite a bit since '93...and am happy to sit down with folks who are thinking they might want to move here and give them the ins & outs, the ups & downs, answer all the questions about SW MO. I've been told it's helpful, it's what I wish I had when we were first determined to move here.

There's also a coffee club started by newcomers to the Springfield-Branson area that will have a special get-together if you want...you can ask a group of newcomers how it's goin...http://www.city-data.com/forum/sprin...b-part-ii.html

Some basics:

The further north you go, the colder it is in the winter.
The closer you are to a big lake, the less likely it seems you'll get the roughest weather.
The closer you are to the big cities, the higher the crime rate.
Even in the middle of nowhere, there's some crime.
(Mayberry was a fictional town, even in the '60s...)
Small towns that haven't seen much growth in generations might be a little cliquey.
There's a difference in the culture. That may or may not be what you want.
Cost of living, overall, is much much better, especially the cost of housing.
Weather is not the reason to move here.
Availability of good produce is not the reason to move here.
If you're a salmon fisherman, stay in CA.
If you like wide mouth bass, crappie, catfish, and various other slithery critters...c'mon.

Oh, and contrary to popular opinion, you CAN go back.

[simplewife&mom]

Hello Belle813,

I've been wanting to move to rural MO for years, and have been all over this forum doing lots of research and listening to the posters here. We live in a little country town in northern CA and have been here all our lives. Last week my husband had to take a huge pay-cut, so that has ratcheted things up a bit in the decision to leave CA or stick it out for now. Here are some things we are mulling over and that may help you in your decision:

--Jobs: at least we still have one here (for now), will we be able to find one easily in the Springfield area? We know no one there, have no connections. At least here, as much as we are unhappy with CA for many reasons, we have family and friends who are helping us out with finding extra work. We would not have that in a new town. If possible, take some time off work and take a visit to the areas you are interested in. Look at rentals and apply for some jobs. Maybe you'll find a job where you could delay the start date enough to give you time to make the move. Then you would have employment when you get here.

--Housing: Will we be able to sell our home? Should we rent it out so it'll be here if we have to move back? We used to have so much equity that we could sell here and buy outright in MO. Now it's not the case. So the job situation is more important, because we have to earn enough to pay rent/mortgage there. Housing is much cheaper than CA, but wages are lower too, so will we struggle just as much in MO? But without the support of friends and family?

Mr. Bassman is correct, and my husband says it all the time too: if we leave CA it will be very difficult to return. I sure do wish you and your family the best. There are lots of difficult decisions to make and many things have to fall into place just right, but in the end you may find that this big decision was a real blessing. Sometimes taking that first step of action is the hardest part.



P.S. To any of you who pray, I would greatly appreciate prayer for wisdom for our decisions, and that I will be able to keep staying home with our children. Hard times for lots of people right now.

[Cali BassMan]

Lone Sailor,
Flipping the coin, so to speak is what I was doing....I could write pages about the greatness of Missouri, but most of the folks on these pages already do that, so I was just playing devil's advocate.......For me the plusses outweigh the negatives, but if folks don't know some of the negatives, they can't do the math for themselves.. I always rememeber Cabool Bound who was counting down the days till she moved for 6 months, she slowly quit posting and the last one said "I hate it here"........

[STLCardsBlues1989]

Missouri's not a bad place to live, but you'd better have a job lined up beforehand.

Cost of living is lower, but so are wages.

Come visit before you make a decision. It'll be a culture shock.

[lone sailor]

Originally Posted by Cali BassMan

Lone Sailor,
Flipping the coin, so to speak is what I was doing....I could write pages about the greatness of Missouri, but most of the folks on these pages already do that, so I was just playing devil's advocate.......For me the plusses outweigh the negatives, but if folks don't know some of the negatives, they can't do the math for themselves.. I always rememeber Cabool Bound who was counting down the days till she moved for 6 months, she slowly quit posting and the last one said "I hate it here"........

Fair enough.

[OA 5599]

Originally Posted by lone sailor

You failed to mention that with Missouri having lower wages than California, Missouri also has an extremely lower cost of living. California is also 10 times bigger than Missouri, so the jobs obviously are more plentiful. These things need to be taken into consideration when talking about two completely different areas. As for some of the other things you said, well, from what I read from her posts it doesn't seem they're looking to set their roots on a 200 acre ranch and live the country life. Springfield and Branson both have lots of city life and not just the country bumpkin theme that many make it out to be. Let's flip the coin so they can see the other side of Southern Missouri too.

Missouri may have some city life, but even St. Louis and Kansas City are very, very different culturally than LA, where the poster is coming from. Springfield is very, very different demographically and culturally.

I'm in the opposite position of the OP and many people who ask about to relocating to Missouri as I grew up in the rural Ozarks and then left for the city. I do agree that everyone is most definitely not a country bumpkin, but someone moving from LA will likely experience some rather extreme culture shock, much like I did when I moved from the Ozarks to DC. Although I didn't have too much of a problem adjusting to city life after a few weeks, I think adjusting to rural from city life is a bigger change for a lot of people, especially if they have lived in a huge metro area like LA all of their lives.

I think Springfield is a fine town and the OP and her family could very well enjoy it, but they really need to visit and have some realistic expectations about things like employment, shopping, and the local culture before they dive right in.

[Belle813]

Thank you to all of you who have taken your time to help me out,either by giving me the Negatives or the Positives. I really appreciate your advises.Well I didn't mention that We actually have family in the city of Branson.They have been living there for 5 years and they really enjoy staying there.After all we do have a little knowledge about the place,and well we at least have them there.
Now, like some of you said that if we leave CA it will be hard to come back,we aren't really planning on coming back.If we are taking the decision to move to a new place and start all over,it really is to stay at the new place were we decide to live.
About the weather,bugs and snakes.........That really ain't a negative fact.1st.Cold weather we love,which we don't have much here at CA,that's one of the things we don't like.2nd.Bugs,don't mind........we have been to South of Mexico a few times and I don't think it can be any worse than how it was down there(specially in the summer)......plus I don't think bugs can kill us right??and 3rd.Snakes,........well ummm........that is kindda scary there,but we'll be sure to look out for that!!lol
About the jobs,I really don't think that we won't be able to find jobs in a few months,many of my friends haven't been able to find jobs in the last 5 or 4 months here.Yea my dad does have a job now,but it's only a part time,and it ain't enough..........We pay A LOT FOR RENT,plus all the bills which are really something,plus food,plus the cars,PLUS GAS.I mean I know that maybe we will have to do the same payments were ever we move to,but at least we'll be in a nice state with much much slow way of life,which is what we really want.
We really just wanted to get second opinions,since we got the firsts from our family and their friends,but we tough it would be nice to hear from people that ACTUALLY LIVE there.......
Once again,Thanx a lot for your ups and downs,pros and cons!!!......I will love to keep on hearing your opinions!!
Now be safe and have a Great Day!!!!!!

Belle

[Curmudgeon]

DANG, Cali BassMan. You make it sound very enticing for us retired types, with appropriate cautions.

OzarksBoy, you make it sound real as well as challenging and your candor is always appreciated.

We'll be out in April to have a first-hand look (last time I passed through was about 1960).

For Belle813, I don't know if you've always lived in and around California but you will be in for a culture shock. As a fellow Californian, but one who has lived in AL, NC (X2), VA (X2), MN, KY and GA, and who's married to someone who lived in the AR Ozarks for seven years, here are my observations as a seemingly perpetual outsider.

You'll find some people who will be stand-offish and might even appear resentful but they will likely be in the minority. What you're more apt to find is people for whom hospitality is a way of life, not a vague concept. Neighbors actually take the time to get to know neighbors and are there to lend a hand. They'll also know all your business in short order.

It will take some time but you'll eventually come to appreciate a slower pace of life where getting somewhere in a hurry isn't really all that important, unless you punch a timeclock, and people might engage you in conversation after a greeting that actually matters. If they ask how you are, they really want an answer. Be sure to ask after them, then listen.

The quiet. DID YOU HEAR ME? The blessed quiet of not being in or near a big city. Will you really miss the sounds of loud music blaring from cars, horns blown by the perpetually frustrated who are so important you just HAVE TO get out of their way, shopping carts rumbling down the alleys and sidewalks, sirens throughout the night, overhead police helicopters with loud announcements warning of peril and, yes, even gunshots?

Telephone calls won't usually require you to punch numbers to have the conversation in English. This is America after all. Ballots and DMV pamphlets and tests won't be printed in 23 languages for use by those who supposedly have to speak English to become citizens so they can vote in the first place or should be able to read traffic signs in English before being allowed on our roads.

Foods will be somewhat different. Some will be the same products with different names. Produce might not be quite as varied as you're used to and common names of markets we have here you won't find there.

What makes it fun is that all this is only for starters!