South Jersey Transplant to Rolla, MO area - potentially??? (St. Louis: transplants, sales)

[aragx6]

^That's what I was wondering as well! Surely Rolla couldn't be considered, by anyone, to be Southeast Missouri. It's pretty central.

As far as the Jeff City suggestion I'll only say that if I were going to do a long daily commute I'd rather it be on the interstate -- 63 peters out into a pretty small road once you get well south of JC and in poor weather that commute could be significantly worse than a drive down I-44.

[BethP]

Now I'm really curious as to how long it takes us tomorrow to get to Washington! I'll also have to see just how fast my hubby goes on I44. I usually don't pay attention to the time it takes us to get there. lol

St. James is a nice, little community. But it is quite small, and until the WM DC opened up about 10 years ago, I would have considered it more of a bedroom community for Rolla. I grew up there, but my dad worked here in Rolla at the university.

As countryboy73 pointed out, another possibility would be Jeff City. But I don't know that I would describe it as "historic, main street with businesses, brick sidewalks, many mature trees, many things to do, white collar, educated, lots of young families." I just don't know enough about JC to give you any good info on it. I'm sure someone else more familiar can let you know if it might fit what you're looking for.

And I'm with GunnerTHB on this one...this isn't SEMO. I generally consider Rolla to be South Central MO, though I think we have more in common with SWMO than SEMO. Just my perceptions, though...YMMV.

ETA: I was composing this while you were posting, aragx6! lol I would agree with you on the Hwy 63 vs. I44 assessment. To get to Washington, you have most of your miles on interstate, with only a few on Hwy 47, which is fairly nice between 44 and Washington. Hwy 63 can be a meandering mess between Rolla and JC sometimes! lol

[mike0421]

Oh wow, the OP is inserting Rolla and Haddonfield NJ into the same post. Have you ever combined vegetable oil with water? I seriously could not come up with two more culturally disparate areas.

As an ex-New Jerseyan myself, you'd definitely thrive optimally on the inner ring of suburbs in St. Louis County, that is my interpretation. Rolla areas surrounding as a comparable to Haddonfield = zero.

[BethP]

Originally Posted by mike0421

Oh wow, the OP is inserting Rolla and Haddonfield NJ into the same post. Have you ever combined vegetable oil with water? I seriously could not come up with two more culturally disparate areas.

As an ex-New Jerseyan myself, you'd definitely thrive optimally on the inner ring of suburbs in St. Louis County, that is my interpretation. Rolla areas surrounding as a comparable to Haddonfield = zero.

The problem in this case is that the job is in Rolla, and in the OP's initial post they were asking for a commute of no more than an hour. I don't think you can get from a StL inner-ring 'burb to Rolla in an hour if you stick reasonably close to the posted speed limits.

[aragx6]

Originally Posted by BethP

Now I'm really curious as to how long it takes us tomorrow to get to Washington! I'll also have to see just how fast my hubby goes on I44. I usually don't pay attention to the time it takes us to get there. lol

St. James is a nice, little community. But it is quite small, and until the WM DC opened up about 10 years ago, I would have considered it more of a bedroom community for Rolla. I grew up there, but my dad worked here in Rolla at the university.

As countryboy73 pointed out, another possibility would be Jeff City. But I don't know that I would describe it as "historic, main street with businesses, brick sidewalks, many mature trees, many things to do, white collar, educated, lots of young families." I just don't know enough about JC to give you any good info on it. I'm sure someone else more familiar can let you know if it might fit what you're looking for.

And I'm with GunnerTHB on this one...this isn't SEMO. I generally consider Rolla to be South Central MO, though I think we have more in common with SWMO than SEMO. Just my perceptions, though...YMMV.

ETA: I was composing this while you were posting, aragx6! lol I would agree with you on the Hwy 63 vs. I44 assessment. To get to Washington, you have most of your miles on interstate, with only a few on Hwy 47, which is fairly nice between 44 and Washington. Hwy 63 can be a meandering mess between Rolla and JC sometimes! lol

Very true. Great for a beautiful drive out for a weekend camping trip, but not something I could see doing every day!

[mike0421]

Originally Posted by BethP

The problem in this case is that the job is in Rolla, and in the OP's initial post they were asking for a commute of no more than an hour. I don't think you can get from a StL inner-ring 'burb to Rolla in an hour if you stick reasonably close to the posted speed limits.

I actually know of one person who works here in St. L who lives next to Rolla who does the commute 4 days a week. No way in hell I do this commute.

[BethP]

Originally Posted by mike0421

I actually know of one person who works here in St. L who lives next to Rolla who does the commute 4 days a week. No way in hell I do this commute.

Yeah, I can think of two friends who live in StJ and made that commute to StL daily for a few years. One of them now works around here, and I don't know where the other one commutes to now. After the StL gig, he drove to Columbia and back daily for a while. He might still be doing that -- I don't know. Personally, I don't want to commute more than about five minutes, but that comes from living in Rolla/StJ for most of my life and the fact that my career has been a stay-at-home-mom.

[countryboy73]

I referred to rolla as being in SE MO because if you divide MO into four mostly equal quadrants, Rolla is most definitely in the SE quadrant. In addition, my experience with the town and the people there place it squarely in the same "area" (culturally speaking), as the rest of the southeastern part of the state. Ask most people where Salem, Licking, Bunker, or other small towns in the southeastern quarter of the state are, and Rolla will be put forth as a reference point. I did state that I had not driven from JC to Rolla, however, Google maps puts the time at about an hour, mileage at 60ish, depending on where one starts in JC and ends in Rolla. Not a commute I would prefer, but the OP's options are severely limited with respect to what she wants vs. where she needs to be.

[ozarksboy]

Originally Posted by MYP

The company in question is located in Rolla, MO, specifically.

We're looking for a white collar, ideally historic, town/city within an hour of Rolla. I'd prefer to live on the St. Louis side of the state, personal preference only (I like being closer to the city, I want to be nearer to the big airport so I can fly home to family, and frankly, I feel like it's more East so closer to home and maybe out of tornado alley??? . Great schools are very important. I'd like to meet some other "thinker" types and do some business networking. I'd like to have things within walking distance to do with my toddler - love shopping, biking, reading, the park, etc.

Does anyone have any suggestions for where to start analyzing potential relocation areas? THANK YOU in advance.

If the job is Rolla, why don't you want to live in Rolla and be a part of this community? This is a good place. It's a college town so I suspect you'll find "thinker" types, maybe even a few who can outthink you.

[Cali BassMan]

I would'nt think of moving from Jersey or anywhere else to Missouri, without first visiting it in August and again in January.....and spending several weeks there to see if it's a fit... These forums are full of posts from people who moved for a job, and hated life after that....