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So one of my clients vacationed there this summer and told me all these wonderful things about Branson Missouri it definately made me want to come and check it out. But I have heard it is not to diverse Im White and my husband is Hispanic im from AZ he is from LA we are used to seeing diversity. We would love to come visit and check out some areas what towns would be good to check into? We have 2 kids 6 and 4 and we want a more home and community feel to raise our kids in. We have been considering Chicago because of the culture and all there is to do but the Winters have us a little nervous. How are the Winters there? Also what about Natural Disasters? In AZ we really dont have any. Thanks for your help
Location: Moved to town. Miss 'my' woods and critters.
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Welcome to the Missouri forum. You will receive many great posts shortly from some of the posters from the Branson area. Branson is one of the best tourist sites in Missouri as is the 'Lake of the Ozarks"
There are many cities and towns that would probably suit your desires. Missouri has become the home to many 'transplants' from both coasts, esp. the western states lately. Kansas City and Columbia are both excellent cities to look into. They are university/college towns and have a lot to offer families. Check out this site for additional information:
So one of my clients vacationed there this summer and told me all these wonderful things about Branson Missouri it definately made me want to come and check it out. But I have heard it is not to diverse Im White and my husband is Hispanic im from AZ he is from LA we are used to seeing diversity. We would love to come visit and check out some areas what towns would be good to check into? We have 2 kids 6 and 4 and we want a more home and community feel to raise our kids in. We have been considering Chicago because of the culture and all there is to do but the Winters have us a little nervous. How are the Winters there? Also what about Natural Disasters? In AZ we really dont have any. Thanks for your help
Where to begin?
Let's start with a great big welcome to our neighborhood...both literally and virtually! This forum is a great place to hang out...lotsa funny funny folk around here...
I live in SW MO...Springfield/Branson. Since you're asking about Branson, I'll just talk about my adopted home...
Answer about diversity: You can find out the ethnic background of the population on various websites and by checking with Taney County. Taney County Missouri Government
If part of your question has to do with being accepted, I think attitude has everything to do with how people are received here. One of the things I like most about the Branson area is that people have been moving here from all over the country for a long, long time and so everybody is from somewhere else. It's a melting pot, although a fairly pale one overall!
Living here is really small town living.
We are a series of small towns with a big influx of visitors (8mil in 2006?) making the infrastructure and available amenities MUCH more than you'll find in the typical town of 7500 good folk.
Some of that is good. Some of it may not be to your liking!
Answer: When you visit, if you can plan a week, that would give you enough time. To get a "feel" of the area, you'll want to visit Springfield, (2 days)...Branson (3 days at least)...Kimberling City (a day and a night...you really should rent a lake front condo for a weekend)...Silver Dollar City (OK it's not actually a town but you'll need at least a day there).
Answer: Winters are mild for the midwest. Much milder than Chicago. And they vary from year to year. I've seen 13 winters here (from Northern CA) and each one was different. The worst one we had 17" of snow ten days before Christmas. The storm hit early and the Mall parking lot was filled with cars. The mildest one we had about 4" of snow all winter. We kept waiting for it to get cold.
Answer: Natural Disasters? The area is known to have severe thunderstorms...mainly in the late spring/early summer. Occasionally they breed tornados...but don't get the picture of those monster funnel clouds that gobble up whole subdivisions...that's in tornado alley...over Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas way. The flatter the ground, the more those things tend to spin. Down here in the steeper part of the mountains, we get very little of that noise. Springfield had a major 100 year ice storm last January which devastated power lines & trees. We didn't get any ice from that storm. Our weather is really affected by the warm air coming up from the gulf.
Hope that helps!
Let us know more about what you are looking for...then we can give you better more specific answers!
Happy Searching!
(I was in your shoes 13 years ago!)
Last edited by Lake Junkie; 08-23-2007 at 07:25 AM..
Wow that is really good advice I will definatley check into those areas and plane a week when we come to visit. That is good to know about the weather and natural disasters. I've just heard great things about Missouri and now I want to see for myself. Im a native of AZ and have hated it since I was a kid now that I have my own family I want something different for my kids a place I can call home. So we are looking into different areas. My parents and sisters are in AZ all my extended family is in Chicago and My husbands family is in Cali. Cali is way way to expensive and we cant stand the desert. We have been looking into Chicago, Colorado, Missouri, and North Carolina. Thanks for all the help
Wow that is really good advice I will definatley check into those areas and plane a week when we come to visit. That is good to know about the weather and natural disasters. I've just heard great things about Missouri and now I want to see for myself. Im a native of AZ and have hated it since I was a kid now that I have my own family I want something different for my kids a place I can call home. So we are looking into different areas. My parents and sisters are in AZ all my extended family is in Chicago and My husbands family is in Cali. Cali is way way to expensive and we cant stand the desert. We have been looking into Chicago, Colorado, Missouri, and North Carolina. Thanks for all the help
Well good luck! When we decided to "abandon ship" in California, we were looking at Idaho, Oregon, the right coast and here.
Here won.
Please keep us posted about your adventures...we have a right fine time in this cyber-hood.
If you follow Lake Junkie's advice to come visit for a week, fly into St. Louis & spend the first couple of days there. Don't miss Forest Park! It's about 500 acres bigger than Central Park in NY. It houses the best zoo in the central United States, a fantastic Art Museum, History Museum, Science Center and the Muny Opera. You can easily spend several days in the Zoo, Science Center and Art Museum alone.
Once you have seen how a real city does it, come down and visit our little wannabe city of Springfield. As a life long resident I can tell you it is a great place to live if you are ok with not having much to do besides bars and movies.
We have a 9 year old daughter & usually just end up at the mall for entertainment. It's alright but it gets old.
Branson is a decent get away but once you have seen it once it's not really much to see. I guess if you like 40's & 50's Rock or 80's Country it would be heaven. But if you are like the rest of the country & follow the mainstream scene it's just a bunch of washed up artists trying to cash in on what they once were.
The Branson Landing is pretty neat, but you can cover the whole thing in a couple of hours. The outlet malls don't have as good of deals as the Battlefield Mall in Springfield or any other mall in St. Louis. Trust me, we compare prices with Branson only 30 minutes away it pays to. If you really want a shopping experience check out the St. Louis Galleria or the Chesterfield Mall in Chesterfield, MO. (A suburb of St. Louis.)
Speaking of the suburbs of St. Louis, the cost of living in most of them are about the same or just slightly higher than Springfield. Springfield is a college town, so the housing is cheap, the gas is high, & the pay scale is low. Branson is going to be next to imposible to find work doing anything other than service or entertainment.
As far as cultural diversity, both Springfield & Branson are about 95% white. You will occasionally see a black or hispanic with the blacks outnumbering probably 5 to one.
If you are looking for a great place to live not just visit, I'd suggest you check into Chesterfield or one of the other nicer suburbs of St. Louis. You will be giving your kids a lot more to enjoy as they mature, & yourself a real treat in things to do.
I absolutely love Forrest Park...and St. Louis is my favorite city to visit this side of San Francisco! But having DONE city life, with all the positives ( ) and negatives ( ), I prefer to keep that scene for a long weekend a couple of times a year.
There are many people in Springfield (especially the younger set) who turn up their nose at Branson. That's ok...we have plenty of traffic the way it is! Those of us old people who live here and make our lives around our friends, jobs, the lake , and normal real life, don't need the bars or the mall. I find all the shopping I need between the mall in Springfield, 35 miles away, and three outlet malls and the Landing.
My next door neighbors have children 3 & 6...I don't think they suffer for getting to swim in the lake all summer long, have their birthday parties at the go cart track, and visit Silver Dollar City anytime they want...sounds like a pretty neat childhood to me!
To everyone, I say, see for yourself. There's a saddle for every...ahem..er...cowgirl... as they say.
Not sure which category of hispanic your husband falls under....but Chicago has one of the largest Mexican populations in the United States. It also has a decent, sizeable Puerto Rican population.
Diversity will be much higher there. Not as integrated as the coasts, but prety decent diversity.
Location: Moved to town. Miss 'my' woods and critters.
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The Windy City
Quote:
Originally Posted by Leaving AZ
Wow that is really good advice I will definatley check into those areas and plane a week when we come to visit. That is good to know about the weather and natural disasters. I've just heard great things about Missouri and now I want to see for myself. Im a native of AZ and have hated it since I was a kid now that I have my own family I want something different for my kids a place I can call home. So we are looking into different areas. My parents and sisters are in AZ all my extended family is in Chicago and My husbands family is in Cali. Cali is way way to expensive and we cant stand the desert. We have been looking into Chicago, Colorado, Missouri, and North Carolina. Thanks for all the help
Oh Chicago, now there is one heck of a city. I love it!! The Lake Michigan beaches. Talk about shopping: nothing compares to Navy Pier. The Magnificent Mile. Could go on and on, but I am sure that you have already done your homework. I have many Puerto Rican friends that live both in the city proper as well as some live in the suburbs.
But on the other hand, you can't beat Missouri and the wonderful places that folk have gathered. Whether it is 'big' city life you want or small town living, you can definitely find it here. St. Louis is my favorite big city. What the heck, I was born there. So much to do and see. Many fine 'burbs. Also good mix of ethnic areas. Good luck to you in your search. Lot of homework
Lot of great responses here already. Keep us posted and if you have additional queries, let us know.
We've both lived in Springfield all our lives. We don't plan on moving anytime soon, but if we were going to it would probably be into one of the suburbs of St. Louis. (Probably Chesterfield) Some of them are so much like Springfield it feels like home when we are there. Plus you get the benefit of being within an hour or less from what we feel is one of the coolest city's we've ever been to.
My wife & I have been together for 12 years & on our honeymoon we went to Branson like a lot of people around here do. We stayed the night of our wedding, spent the day putzing around spent the next night then drove down to Eureka Springs. (The next cool little tourist trap south of Branson.) We spent about 3 hours there & got bored. When we got back to the car I got out the map & asked where she wanted to go. We ended up in St. Louis. So we are a little partial.
Whatever you decide Missouri has a LOT going for it & I'm sure you will be happy here.
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Happens all the time...
The mildest one we had about 4" of snow all winter. We kept waiting for it to get cold. 
Happy Hunting!
Try St. Louis!
To each his own...
, and normal real life, don't need the bars or the mall. I find all the shopping I need between the mall in Springfield, 35 miles away, and three outlet malls and the Landing.
