Lowry City, MO (Kansas City, Springfield, Belton: city hall, house, buying)

[beth0301]

Like so many, we are now faced with joblessness and bills piling up. We've been talking about chucking it all - the expensive house and bills in our fancy suburban subdivision - and buying a fixer upper in a less expensive, rural area. We actually found one near Lowry City that meets our needs but want to make sure we know what we're getting in to.

I don't know much about the schools there. Can anyone advise me?

Also, for groceries and shopping - where does one go? My niece lives in Clinton and I know she drives to Belton to Target/Kohl's and the like.

What are the building permits like there? Are there hoops to jump through to work on a home? Does the town even have a police department or city hall?

I'm excited but also scared and would love some info. Are there many families there? Are there activities (fairs, etc). What do the kids do all day when they are out of school?

I know we'll adjust - it's just a matter of getting used to the more rural life again (we both grew up on farms near small towns). I'm just worried about the kids (14 and 9). Anyone have any insight for me?

[christina0001]

I can't remember the name of the school the kids in Lowry go to (Lakeland?) but I've not heard anything bad about it. It pretty well covers the north part of St. Clair county and a bit of southern Henry county. School is what you make of it. There is also a small private Christian school in Lowry. I am not sure if they cover the high school years at this point, but if you have younger children, that would be another option. If you have very young children, there is a Head Start in Lowry.
There is a small grocery store in Lowry, right on the main drag. There's also two large gas station/convenience stores on 13 in Lowry. You could also go to Walmart in Clinton (no more than 20 minutes north); Clinton also has a Cato's clothing store, and any number of other stores you might need (dollar store, hardware stores, jewelery store, etc.). Lowry is about exactly halfway between Kansas City and Springfield and those are your closest towns with major malls. Warrensburg would be about 45 minutes away, if your kids are getting to be college age and would want to commute.
Sure there are lots of families there. I don't have kids...kids in the country do what they do. Lowry does have fairs (they just had a good size one a few weeks ago). Be aware of what is going on in surrounding towns - between Lowry, Osceola, Clinton, Montrose, etc. there's always something going on. Osceola (for example) is showing free (donations encouraged) movies in the park every Thursday night this summer. The Boy Scouts have a good size building for meeting right in Lowry, so I'm assuming they are quite active. Between that and sports, church activities, and the like, there's no reason for the kids to not have something to do, even in the summer.
The only negative thing I can say about Lowry, is the seemingly high frequency of car accidents from people going to/from Lowry crossing Hwy. 13. They've put up blinking signs to tell you when there are cars coming but I don't know that they have made a big difference. The traffic on 13 is fast, and you can't just pull out if a car is in sight, and you can't just fly across all 4 lanes, you have to stop in the middle. Those that don't, put themselves at risk.
Lowry does have a city hall, and I am 99% sure they have a police department. They are opening a local library right now, too.
Country living - either you like it or you don't. My only concern for you is jobs. There's not a wealth of local jobs in this area; it took me 3 months to find one when I moved out here. Many end up commuting a distance.