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I am in the process of deciding where to live in MO and want to stay out of the Tornado Alley so we chose the Ozarks and are thinking about Camdenton. I have two young children so school districts are very important to me and I will need to either find employment or be in a location that will provide ample opportunity for a start up business.
What are your recommendations for areas to investigate further and your reason why you think it is the best place for a family to live?
I am in the process of deciding where to live in MO and want to stay out of the Tornado Alley so we chose the Ozarks and are thinking about Camdenton. I have two young children so school districts are very important to me and I will need to either find employment or be in a location that will provide ample opportunity for a start up business.
What are your recommendations for areas to investigate further and your reason why you think it is the best place for a family to live?
Thanks and have a great day,
BG
I drove up to that area 4 months ago as I am wanting to move to Missouri also but haven't found the right place for me as yet. I went up to look at homes in Missouri & looked in the Camdenton area but quickly realized it was not for me. It was very congested with traffic on the 1 highway through town & I was told it was because of tourists. I live in Orlando now & there are too many tourists here also & that is one of the reasons why I'm moving, to get away from the congestion. The real estate salesman kept talking about this or that home being on the water & about all the lakes & the fishing in that area. I asked him why people move there & he said because of the water sports.....boating, fishing, swimming, etc. He said people that love being on the water love it there. Since I don't like any of those things, I knew I would be bored to death there. Also there was no shopping to speak of (just mom & pop type of stores) where I am used to Target, Home Depot, Rooms To Go, Sears etc. they don't have any of that, so I knew I would have to give up too many of the things that I am used to & wouldn't be happy there at all. I want a rural type of home on small acreage, yet not too far from a town with the good shopping. All of the ozarks seem to be more of the same, lots of really small towns, but not much to do if you don't like water. Springfield is the only larger town but I want to be more on the East side of MO rather on the West side. Less tornadoes. By the way, you mentioned tornado alley....where is that?
BG....Heddy is right about Camdenton. The Lake of the Ozarks is a big tourist destination and it can become a madhouse during summer. All of the towns surrounding it (Camdenton included) obviously have permanent residences/businesses, but tourism is the by far the primary source of income. As far as reccomendations have you considered the Columbia/Jefferson City area? Columbia is a growing city of around 80,000. It is a big college town (Mizzou)and has many 'big city' amenities, but is also located in a very rural area so its not hard to get away from the city headache. Plus being pretty much in the center of the state you are only about 2-3 hours drive from St.Louis, Kansas City and Springfield. What I know of the schools is very limited since I live closer to Jefferson City.
Heddy....If you want east and want the big city amenities you might be more interested in one of the smaller towns closer to St.Louis? Sullivan, Union, etc... It may not be a concern to you, but also keep in mind the southeast and northern parts of Mo have the best farming land in the state and the prices per acre are usually higher because of it. The Southwest part of the state is very hilly and unless you are looking to buy ground just past city limits the prices may be quite a bit better. I'm not a real estate agent so don't hold me to that.
BTW...The actual area of Tornado alley is generally is thought of as parts of the Dakotas, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, and north Texas. Depending on the map you look at it also contains parts of Colorado, Iowa, Missouri, Arkansas, and Louisiana. Do a Google search on it and you'll see what I mean. Personally I have lived in Mo for over 30 years and have never had any come anywhere close to me. They do happen in Mo and I have seen the results, but only on TV.
PS...If broadband internet is important to you at all, have your real estate agent check this out ahead of time. DSL and Cable as you probably know is limited to the Urban/Suburban areas and there is some terestrial wireless in the state, but it is very spotty.
...As far as reccomendations have you considered the Columbia/Jefferson City area? Columbia is a growing city of around 80,000. It is a big college town (Mizzou)and has many 'big city' amenities, but is also located in a very rural area so its not hard to get away from the city headache. Plus being pretty much in the center of the state you are only about 2-3 hours drive from St.Louis, Kansas City and Springfield. What I know of the schools is very limited since I live closer to Jefferson City.
That would be my suggestion as well, for the reasons you cite.
The Columbia-Jefferson City corridor is very nice. Great economy, small town with culture feel. Callaway County (Fulton) is an up and comer also.
JTSO, you seem like the knowledgable one, so may I ask you what you know about the Springfield area... or even Rogersville, where there is a home listed that I've fallen in love with? We too are quite serious about a possible relocation very soon, but we have to stay near the BIG city industry because of my husband's technical job title. (He writes technical manuals for defense industry, amusement parks, general industry standards, etc.) Our son lives in Branson and the ONLY thing we know about MO is that our son says we MUST move there because it's wonderful. We've investigated the housing prices and that is the reason we might move. We are in Southern California (Los Angeles - South Bay area near the beach) where an average 4 bedroom house costs well over a million dollars. We aren't talking about anything fancy... just average small houses on small lots. But we're TERRIFIED about moving to an area that we know virtually nothing about. We can see that we have a much better chance of finding a nice home that we can actually PAY for, but don't know if we'll fit into the community there - or if the community will work for us. Also, what about local trade? Supermarkets, malls, theaters, restaurants? There is a LOT to do in our area and while we don't mind leaving the headache of L.A., we are concerned that we'll end up in an area where there is NOTHING to do. Also, the weather. We don't mind a little bad weather, as long as it isn't freezing cold or miserably hot for very long at a time. Again, we live in Southern California near the beach and are used to really nice weather almost all year long. (In fact, we are nearing retirement age and have health concerns, so decent weather is going to be more and more important to us over the next few years.) We aren't Christians, so are also worried that we won't be welcome in an area where most people are Christians. What is your opinion? Is there anything you can tell me?
First let me just say that this is from someone that moved into the area from a very small town.
My family and I lived in Springfield for about 6 years and I have to say you would not be alone here. About 1/3 of the people we met were former Californians and they all said they were very happy with the decision. Springfield is Missouri's third largest city behind St.Louis and Kansas City. The population is listed at around 150,000 with a 'Metropolitan area' of 250,000. Tourism appears to be the city's largest source of income since the southwest part of MO is not as big of an agricultural area as the rest of the state due to the geography (very hilly). There is also quite a bit of Industry in the area as well taking advantage of Missouri's central location. Amenity-wise Springfield has 1 department store mall, lots of strip malls, 5 'super' Wal-marts, lots of grocery stores, 4 movie theaters, at least 2 art museums, 2 large hospitals, a zoo, 7 or 8 colleges (including trade schools, and some private Christian schools), lots and lots of restaurants, several large chain stores, and two airports. This is not a complete list either, just what I can remember. It is home to the original Bass Pro Shops outdoor world and also the Wonders of Wildlife museum. There is a very nice perfoming arts theater, convention center, a new ice skating rink and arena which is home to a junior amateur hockey team. The new Hammons baseball field is now home to the Springfield Cardinals which is a double-A team. The annual Ozark Empire Fair is a big summer attraction with lots of exhibits, concerts, contests and the mandatory truck and tractor pulls. Springfield is great for those that enjoy the outdoors. The city has a nature center operated by the Missouri Dept of Conservation, many walking/running/biking trails, several golf courses, city parks, and a Japanese strolling garden that has an annual Japanese arts and craft festival. There are several large lakes and cold water spring-fed streams in SW Missouri so fishing, floating, boating...etc are all very big here.
As a Christian myself, I can really only tell you that in my time here I have not seen any reason to think that you would have any trouble finding others that share the same religious outlook as yourself. Hopefully someone else seeing this forum will be much better able to advise you in this regard.
On the weather....I'll say to all non-midwesterner's Missouri has all four seasons. Barring the extremes, you can easily expect temperatures (fahrenheit) in the 90's in the summer and 20's in winter with spring and fall anywhere in between. There are a couple of sayings here in Mo, "If you don't like the weather in Missouri just wait 5 minutes" and the very accurate "It's not the heat, it's the humidity". 90 degrees in a dry climate feel's like about 80 degrees here. However seeing the hillsides turn every shade of red, orange and yellow in the Fall and then watching everything come back to life in the Spring is part of the reason why I love it here so much.
Here is a website that you might find helpful... http://www.springfieldmo.org/final/ (broken link)
We are in Southern California (Los Angeles - South Bay area near the beach) where an average 4 bedroom house costs well over a million dollars. We aren't talking about anything fancy... just average small houses on small lots. But we're TERRIFIED about moving to an area that we know virtually nothing about. We can see that we have a much better chance of finding a nice home that we can actually PAY for, but don't know if we'll fit into the community there - or if the community will work for us. Also, what about local trade? Supermarkets, malls, theaters, restaurants? There is a LOT to do in our area and while we don't mind leaving the headache of L.A., we are concerned that we'll end up in an area where there is NOTHING to do.
Wow....if your situation doesn't sound like mine! I am also in California. (Northern) And I will be relocating to Missouri in May. My major gripe about CA is the cost of living! It's off the charts! That's the only reason why I am moving. It is beautiful in CA. But I just can't justify the beauty as a reason to stay here.
I digress.
I am looking for small town living so I don't mind if I need to drive 30 mins or so to a more populated area. In South central MO the towns are small which I think is a nice change to the rat race of CA.
I have done quite a bit of online searching for different areas. I have heard wonderful things about the Pulaski county area. Which is Waynesville, Crocker, Richland, Devil's Elbow, St. Robert...and a few others. (which is also the area where Ft. Leonard Wood is located) It's very scenic and there is a lot of outdoor activities. I do ATV'ing as a hobby and there are many places to do that in MO.
If you do an online search about a particular town using Wikipedia it will give you a general idea of the areas with various info. Also, each town/county has a travel/tourism center that could send you information. If you have AAA, that is another source of information.
Wow....if your situation doesn't sound like mine! I am also in California. (Northern) And I will be relocating to Missouri in May. My major gripe about CA is the cost of living! It's off the charts! That's the only reason why I am moving. It is beautiful in CA. But I just can't justify the beauty as a reason to stay here.
I digress.
I am looking for small town living so I don't mind if I need to drive 30 mins or so to a more populated area. In South central MO the towns are small which I think is a nice change to the rat race of CA.
I have done quite a bit of online searching for different areas. I have heard wonderful things about the Pulaski county area. Which is Waynesville, Crocker, Richland, Devil's Elbow, St. Robert...and a few others. (which is also the area where Ft. Leonard Wood is located) It's very scenic and there is a lot of outdoor activities. I do ATV'ing as a hobby and there are many places to do that in MO.
If you do an online search about a particular town using Wikipedia it will give you a general idea of the areas with various info. Also, each town/county has a travel/tourism center that could send you information. If you have AAA, that is another source of information.
Good luck to you!
There seems to be a heavy trend of individuals either moving from California to save money or purchasing long distance investment property in Missouri due to the perceived low cost of housing here. I hear good things about the Ozarks, but I generally only talk to those who already know they want to live there.
John Mattingly
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Last edited by Marka; 03-07-2006 at 11:44 PM..
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I Made a trip to Camdenton
