Moving to Cape girardeau, any natives post here? (St. Louis, Springfield: real estate, loft) - Missouri (MO) - City-Data Forum

guitardude1985 · 12-17-2006, 06:05 PM

Hello everybody

I currently live in MA, wilbraham MA and me and my family are moving to Cape girardeau. Well, I'm not sure what to expect. I hear my my uncle who lives in St. Louis that it's more of a slower paced place than MA. Well, quite frankly we have to get out of MA because of the astronomical property taxes and all along with all the other BS. Also I have familiy in Chicago, St. Louis, Memphis and Gulfport Mississippi. So, what are the people like? And whats the culture like because I'm interested.

Take it easy people.

guitardude1985 · 12-17-2006, 06:18 PM

Oh, yea forgot. I'm currently a college student going to Holyoke Community college and plan to transfer to Southeastern Missouri state, a school of which seems pretty nice.

Rason44 · 12-29-2006, 02:05 AM

You couldn't pay me to live in Cape. I posted about this in another thread. You could search for that if you want but if you are from MA moving to Cape you will have one heck of a shock. If you are looking for a good college in southern Mo then check into Missouri State University in Springfield. Springfield is the third largest city in Mo (after St Louis and KC). You would be surprised how nice it is here and the property taxes are not bad at all. For instance, my house here is valued at $150,000. It's a newer 3bed, 2bath, plus office, loft over living area, 2 car, brick home on 1 acre. My taxes are about $700 a year. My house in MA would be about half a million $$. The cost of living in Southern Mo is pretty good, especially if you are coming from a place like MA. IMO

guitardude1985 · 12-29-2006, 07:00 PM

Heck of a culture shock eh? Actully so far my house has been appraised at 330,000 $. The situation is that we want to live close to familiy, just not to dang close.

Rason44 · 12-29-2006, 10:46 PM

Have you been to Cape before?

You could get a very large, nice house for $330,000 here (in S Mo). So I think you will like that aspect of it. I still have lots of family that live in Cape and they are fine with it. However in my opinion the city has some major problems that the city govt doesn't address. The roads are terrible. They start construction on the roads and never finish them, leaving them half done. The crime is bad, IMO. It just feels backward. Too me, it seems like a lot of people that live in Cape are there because they have no desire to change, make things better for themselves. That's just my take on it. I have been going to Cape all my life and every time I have to go I dread it. I want to see my family but I have no desire to be in that town. Make sure you have a good alarm system on your home and car if you do move there.

Springfield is about 4.5 hours from Cape and 3.5 hours from St Louis. Not too far.

Maui37 · 01-12-2007, 12:22 PM

I was born and raised there but moved away at 19. Frankly, it isn't that bad. I have lived in worse places. Memphis, is mush worse as far as crime and so is Gulfport. I lived in Biloxi for nine years. I'm sure the people have changed since I have been around, other than my parents, who still live there. There are a lot of drugs, but where is there not a drug problem? The place has grown substancially since I moved away. I considered it small town living when I was there. Jackson has actually "grown into" Cape since I moved which could be considered a good thing. Property is actually better there than in Cape. I can refer you to my parents if you need to find good real estate (honest) agents in the area.

I have thought about moving back several times, but Maui is growing on me.

There is a small municiple airport between Scott City, which hasn't grown much since I moved, and Cape. I think they take care of construction and the roads very well. Growth is slow but better than most. There are small cities around Cape and people from there work in Cape, and come into Cape for shopping. Traffic is bad near the mall which sits right off I-55. I like Missouri and Cape is not too big, not too small and in the right place to go to and get away from.

There are two big hospitals and the job market isn't too bad, not real good either, from what my dad tells me. Check out the local newspaper, The Southest Missourian on the internet for more information. I also have family in Chicago, and St. Louis. They visit Cape often the drive isn't bad.

Quote:

Originally Posted by guitardude1985

Hello everybody

I currently live in MA, wilbraham MA and me and my family are moving to Cape girardeau. Well, I'm not sure what to expect. I hear my my uncle who lives in St. Louis that it's more of a slower paced place than MA. Well, quite frankly we have to get out of MA because of the astronomical property taxes and all along with all the other BS. Also I have familiy in Chicago, St. Louis, Memphis and Gulfport Mississippi. So, what are the people like? And whats the culture like because I'm interested.

Take it easy people.

mcarthurpark · 01-21-2007, 08:19 AM

I really like cape actually. I don't know anything about what you like to do or if you have a spouse or children though, which might make a difference. I am currently getting my masters at Southeast and I also got my bachelors degree there. The college has actually improved a lot in the 8 years between my degrees. I enjoyed it as an undergraduate, but i think it is better now, and that is reflected in its rating by whoever rates colleges in magazines and such. I really don't think crime is bad at all. There are some problems, but I never lock my car doors, I do lock my house though. I leave my car running in the morning to warm it up and it's still there when I go outside, which is not true for my sister in St. Louis. I have never had my car broken into. In the past 13 years I have actually lost credit cards, my wallet, my paycheck, my cell phone, and other things (I know that makes me sound really flakey, but I have lived here since i was 17 and I don't lose things nearly as often anymore) and had other cape residents track me down to return them. Really, there isn't much problem of crime north of Broadway. I have always been impressed with how honest and friendly Cape residents are. All the other places I have lived in my life have been VERY small towns (population less than 1000) and in those towns you usually aren't accepted unless you were born there, even if you live there 20 years (which is how long my parents lived in the previous town) But cape really isn't like that. At the same time it isn't so big that I feel overwhelmed. I have heard some people complain that there isn't enough night life, which is probably true, but that really isn't my thing.