Moving to Springfield this summer (St. Louis, Rolla: apartments, for rent, daycares)

[owenjay74]

Thanks all.Yeah I'm actually visiting next week and will be seeing a couple of catholic schools.@KonaKat-I'm going to be based at the S Fremont location.Btw I didn't have much luck using the sites recommended above.I heard I'm probably going to be better off looking closer to June,fingers crossed I hope I find something.

[pams73]

Originally Posted by owenjay74

Thanks all.Yeah I'm actually visiting next week and will be seeing a couple of catholic schools.@KonaKat-I'm going to be based at the S Fremont location.Btw I didn't have much luck using the sites recommended above.I heard I'm probably going to be better off looking closer to June,fingers crossed I hope I find something.

While you're in town visiting, go into the hospital and check the bulletin board just inside the cafeteria entrance (little hallway to the right as you come in). People post items for sale and sometimes places for rent on there as well. I swear I saw a couple houses for rent on the board the other night at work.

[gypsycv]

Hi, I think you will like Springfield. We moved here last April from St Louis. We were supposed to be here temporarily but we liked it so much that we decided to move here. We are retired with an adult son with a severe brain injury, which is what brought us to this area. We started by renting an apartment. The apartment was very nice but did not like the apartment style of living. Loved the area, which was in the 65810 zip code. It has everything close, including a fantastic library that would be great for you and the kids. We now rent a house in Battlefield, 65619. It is just at the edge of Springfield and we are still close to everything. We are even close to the Catholic school, St Elizabeth Ann Seton. I've heard that the public schools in Springfield are overcrowded because of the influx of young families moving to the area. It might be wise to choose your location according to school. There are public schools just outside of Springfield that have good schools. That is another great thing about Springfield area. There are many great choices of areas to live.
We rented our house through a property management company. So far, they have been great about responding to any repair. We had a few minor things that were fixed within two or three days. If it's an emergency, like heat, they will send somebody right away. We now like the idea that we have a company behind the rental rather than depending on an individual. BUT there was one agency I would never recommend. We went to a lot of their rentals and they were never as advertised. I'm not sure of the rules on this site but my email is sedona_max@yahoo.com if you would like to know about our experience with the agencies.

[the4hamptons]

Originally Posted by gypsycv

Hi, I think you will like Springfield. We moved here last April from St Louis. We were supposed to be here temporarily but we liked it so much that we decided to move here. We are retired with an adult son with a severe brain injury, which is what brought us to this area. We started by renting an apartment. The apartment was very nice but did not like the apartment style of living. Loved the area, which was in the 65810 zip code. It has everything close, including a fantastic library that would be great for you and the kids. We now rent a house in Battlefield, 65619. It is just at the edge of Springfield and we are still close to everything. We are even close to the Catholic school, St Elizabeth Ann Seton. I've heard that the public schools in Springfield are overcrowded because of the influx of young families moving to the area. It might be wise to choose your location according to school. There are public schools just outside of Springfield that have good schools. That is another great thing about Springfield area. There are many great choices of areas to live.
We rented our house through a property management company. So far, they have been great about responding to any repair. We had a few minor things that were fixed within two or three days. If it's an emergency, like heat, they will send somebody right away. We now like the idea that we have a company behind the rental rather than depending on an individual. BUT there was one agency I would never recommend. We went to a lot of their rentals and they were never as advertised. I'm not sure of the rules on this site but my email is sedona_max@yahoo.com if you would like to know about our experience with the agencies.

My family and I are moving to Springfield from St. Louis as well. We visited recently and like the area around 65 and Battlefield. Are you familiar with this area? School district is priority number one, as we have 2 little girls.

Thanks for any help you can provide.

[Arrby]

Originally Posted by the4hamptons

My family and I are moving to Springfield from St. Louis as well. We visited recently and like the area around 65 and Battlefield. Are you familiar with this area? School district is priority number one, as we have 2 little girls.

Thanks for any help you can provide.

There are at least four distinct areas "around 65 and Battlefield".

But in any event the schools are all just fine. As good as any in Springfield. It is a wonderfully convenient area - schools, churches, shopping, groceries, roads to take you any direction.

[mrschilicook]

I have to laugh on the "ease of commute" after noticing
where you are coming from. After living
in the DC Metro area you can live ANYWHERE within 15 miles
of Springfield and still have an easier commute!

I moved here from the SF Bay Area via Las Vegas. Still hear
about the "horrible traffic" on Friday nights going to Branson.
After commuting the 101, the only traffic I've found here even
remotely similiar would be Campbell avenue if there's been
a fender-bender on Friday late afternoon.

Love it here though, so I hope you also find the same friendly,
helpful, warm friends and neighbors.

[gypsycv]

I agree with mrschilicook. Campbell is the only bad traffic we have found. There are just a lot of cars during certain hours of the day, like when the high school kids are leaving school or the after work rush hour. But it is nothing like big city traffic. I like the area around 65 and Battlefield. I don't have school age children. But I've heard that Springfield schools are overcrowded because a lot of young families are relocating to this area. I have met many people from St Louis, like me, who moved here to get away from the problems of St Louis. The last family I met from St Louis have young children and they moved from the Springfield school district to be in the Republic school district. But none of the schools are bad. Nothing like St Louis where it really makes a huge difference.

[imbored198824]

Why are so many Yankees moving to Springfield?

[bramberdon]

I also have small children close in age, I have 4 children 5 and under. I really like Springfield! We moved here from Colorado almost 5 years ago. I'm part of the local mom's group on Facebook. You can go there to find more moms to set up playdates, go to fun activities, and we even do charity work. It's called Super Moms in Action: https://www.facebook.com/groups/SuperMomsInAction/ Feel free to stop by and join! We love new members. Anyways, I use hotpads.com to find rentals. It's the most up-to-date and it's been easy for me to look for a new place (I used it when we moved houses a couple years ago-we also rent). This website is also good: City of Springfield, MO: Interactive Maps You can look for sinkholes, crime, etc. in Springfield. It's updated by the city. That way when you do find a place you can see if it's a good fit for your family. I think Southwest Springfield is good. That's where I live. I use to live in North Central Springfield, DON'T lol. That's all I can say! Anyways, hope that helps you somewhat. In the hotpads website you can enter the location of your work, and the kids school and then it will tell you how far the place you're looking at is from those locations.

Best of Luck!
-Amber

P.S. Nixa schools are suppose to be the best however, Nixa is having major problems with sinkholes. (type in Nixa Sinkhole 2006, lol) So they aren't on my list of where to move....Republic has too many tornados....Willard is fine, Ozark is fine, Rogersville is fine.

If you're concerned about tornados you can go to wunderground.com and then the 2nd tab over, called maps and radars, the third thing down is called wundermap. You can type in the address of where you are looking at moving and then on the right hand side of the map check the box that says, severe, and then tornados, and then click on the wheel and check All Storms (most recent first)....by doing this is shows you where tornado have hit in the past in Springfield. We do have tornado sirens all over town (something I'm still getting use to being from Colorado---they test them ever Wednesday at 10 a.m.---and it's usually tornado season around here in April-May and then again in Sept.)

Whew, that's a lot but I know it's what helped me make the best decisions about where to live So, happy house hunting!

[Arrby]

Willard has sinkholes. Ozark has sinkholes. Rogersville has sinkholes. See Missouri Speleological Survey

Willard has tornadoes. Ozark has tornadoes. Rogersville has tornadoes.

As does Springfield, Battlefield, Strafford, Bois D'arc, .... See File:Tornado Alley.gif - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Keep in mind that we have a rather short historic record of tornado activity - scarce more than 100 years - from which to draw data. It is simply not possible to say that location X gets tornadoes and location Y, 20 miles away, does not. The available record provides far too few samples for that kind of statistical analysis.