Moving to Missouri- need lots of advice

December 27, 2003 | Danette

[Danette]

I need to know about Missouri. I'm planning on moving from Minnesota to southwest Missouri. I'm retiring and need a warmer climate. I know nothing about Missouri.

[Danette]

What are the school districts like? Best school? Military retirement tax? All taxes? Home prices? Best area to live? Friendly? Employment?

Just post away your advice. I'm sure there are lots of questions I haven't even thought to ask.

[mlmr]

Let me understand this, you are moving from Minnasota to Missorie for better WEATHER?

[Danette]

Yup,
You've never been to deep freeze Minnesota, huh? It's been nice here lately, but that won't last.

Used to live in Iowa (better winters than MN), but want to go a little more south.

[al baby]

Dont do it

[squarebarb]

I'm from Missouri (show me)--- many generations in the Ozarks. As for home prices and taxes I am not sure. Sorry. As for the military retirement tax, sorry again. If you are retired military and are looking for the nearest PX - BX that would be Whiteman Air Force Base in Warrensburg. I suspect that the prices of homes in SW Mo. should be very reasonable.

The area is typical small-town and your schools should be good around Springfield. Economy tends to be self-generated in the small town areas. Branson of course employs many in its tourist industry (Silver Dollar City, as well as the big shows in Branson and tourist economy around Bull Shoals Lake, Table Rock). The extreme southwest corner of Missouri I would not suggest as it is almost entirely farming/cattle. Check in around Springfield. Battle Creek area is new homes, moderately priced and very lovely. My cousin has a woodcrafting operation there. Also lots of snowbirds and newcomers have moved in and it's a nice mix.It used to be very clannish (I know, I am from one of the clans) but not so now.

The weather is generally pretty good, nothing like the winters you're used to. Not more than one or two snows a year. Tornadoes, however, are truly exciting and as much fun as a horror show at the drive-in. Springfield is in the Ozarks but is actually on a plateau.

If you are retired military, look around the Rolla/Fort Leonard Wood area. Rolla is on the St. James River and Big Piney Creek, again a wonderful recreational area and with the School of Mines (U. of Mo.) in Rolla a nice mix of University and military. Home prices are, I think, reasonable everywhere in Mo. except St. Louis suburbs and K.C. suburbs but you don't want to go live there anyway.

Google Real Estate and Taxes on Springfield and county and Rolla and County. Good luck!

[jembows]

All of that really depends on where you want to stay. I grew up and lived in Missouri most of my life (now in Indiana..don't know why). I lived about an hour outside of St. Louis, small town. Depending on if you would rather stay closer to the city or in a smaller town...I would say more friendly than not. Home prices are very reasonable...in a small town. Employment would be better in the city, most of my family drive the hour to work in the morning and back rather than live in the city. Me personally, I wished we'd move back there, and we will...hopefully one day soon. I know, didn't help much did I?

[jembows]

Used to live in Rolla too, but I would consider that more of a college town. UMR is located there. Wouldn't the military base closest to there be Ft. Leonard Wood? Where is Whiteman?

[squarebarb]

Whiteman or Whitman Air Force Base is near Warrensburg, which is also a college town. SW Missouri State, I think. Fort Leonard Wood is close to Rolla, yes. Military people call it Fort Lost-In-The Woods. So it seems to me Rolla would be a good choice.

[Clintons Are White Trash]

If you want to be close to Ft. Leonard Wood, Lebanon is a nice small town close by. If that doesn't matter, I would recommend Springfield. Some years ago it was voted one of the best places to live based on cost of living, etc. It's a very nice large town with a few colleges, good hospitals, etc. If you want to go rural, the area between Springfield and Branson is beautiful Ozark Mountain country. The schools in the Springfield area are very nice, I've worked with some of the teachers from there.

Good luck, I've lived in Missouri all of my life and love it here.

[ahadams2]

my wife and I moved here from VA. I was born in WI, and have been snowmobiling in MN in January before so yeah, you're looking at comparatively milder weather *but* there are an amazing number of folks down here who do NOT know how to drive in snow. In WI such folks were self-eliminating by the end of DEC (figure it's pretty much the same in MN) but not here, so you have to be twice as careful when it snows.

Costs down here will be somewhat less, at least as long as you stay out of the KC, STL, and Columbia, as well as staying away from Lake of the Ozarks. Also watch out for people with Kansas plates with a JO county sticker - they come from one of the ritzy suburbs of KC and tend to drive like they own the road.

If you're into hunting and fishing the resident permits are cheaper here than most places...and there's an abundance of conservation land to hunt on, until you've been here long enough to make friends with the local land owners. One difference that I've never seen anywhere else: here in MO if a farmer paints the top section of his fence posts purple it's considered to be exactly the same as posting "NO HUNTING OR TRESPASSING" signs.

Schools vary somewhat in quantity and quality. Also there are substantially less 'consolidated' school systems here than elsewhere. Many little towns (such as the one in which we live) have K-12 schools, thus rural kids don't have to bussed as far from home (at least in theory).

Home prices: well not to brag but we paid in the low 40's for a house with a double lot... of course prices go up radically in the cities and as always your milage may vary.

The thing to remember when shopping for a home down here is that outside of the metropolitan areas there are NO building (plumbing, electrical, etc) codes. So when you go house hunting do NOT assume anything - this is especially true if you are looking at rural land - sewage treatment lagoons (rather than septic tanks) are still common in some areas of the state.

I'll probably take some static for this one but probably the worst place to live is St. Louis - does the name Dick Gephardt ring a bell? He's a living breathing example of all that's wrong with the demoncrat political machine that pretty much still controls St. Louis. If you're looking for a conservative city try Springfield - very strongly conservative...as are most of the rural areas as well.

As far as gun rights go, we're having to fight in the courts to keep the right to carry (CCW) laws we finally got passed this year - if you want more info on that I'd suggest contacting Luke Skyfreeper, as he's usually up to date on all things related to gun rights. There's one peculiarity of Missouri law with regard to purchasing handguns: for each one you buy you have to get a 'mother may I' form from the county sheriff. It's a 'must issue' form (i.e. if you aren't a convicted felon they have to issue it) but they can stall for up to three days (longer in St. Louis) and it costs 10 bucks - which is the REAL reason the sheriff's like that law so much - they get to keep the whole 10 bucks.

Employment can be an issue outside of the urban areas. Due to NAFTA much of the smaller manufacturing facillities have disappeared from rural areas - all headed to Mexico or where ever.

that's all I can think of for now...

[squarebarb]

Lebanon is now a large town with hospitals and colleges? Sheesh, I been away too long. Used to be known mostly for my redheaded hellion of a cousin.

[Danette]

Thanks so much for your replies. We just picked out southwest MO because it's a halfway point between MN and TX (families). We drove through Springfield during vacation a couple years ago and thought it was nice, but we didn't have time to see very much.

Where would YOU live if could in southwest MO?


*We would love a rural SMALL town to live. We live in rural MN.
*Reasonable housing prices.
*Friendly.
*Good school district (have a 13 year old with 4.00).
*Job is really not a must. Minimum wage is fine for something to do during retirement.

We don't want to make a mistake in choosing our FINAL move. Your replies are APPRECIATED.

[SAJ]

WHERE to live? Well, lots of choices.

I live in St. Louis County now, and would not recommend ANYone move here. As regards SW Missouri, I've travelled the state rather extensively for 20-odd yrs, and would definitely recommend considering the following:

Aurora -- 20-odd miles west of Springfield on Hwy 60
Cassville -- further south, perhaps another 20 miles, seat of Barry County, good conservative Americans all throughout
Carthage -- effectively a suburb of Joplin, good, straightforward people (just don't stay in the motels there)
Forsyth -- just to the East of Branson in Taney County, but the roads are so winding that the RVs don't infest them TOO badly, and the folks there are just THAT nice, all the way round.

Welcome to Missouri! Always nice people (away from the cities), crappy gov't, but still fairly low taxes.

At all events, best wishes for the New Year to you, be warm and well and prosperous!

[ETERNAL WARMING]

Might I suggest that you check out Belle Vista, Arkansas? It's right across the border. It'sbasically a very large retirement community...5 lakes, 7 golf courses, two golf clubs, a yaght club and a Country Club. It's affordable. When we lived there the dues were $16.00! It's pretty, lots of trees and topography. Nice people from all over the country. There is a Minnesota club in addition to 99 other clubs on just about anything imaginable. You can live rurally or closer to the action..if I remember correctly it's area is 7 sq. miles. It's close to Joplin Mo, close to Branson and is in the NW ARk. area, so it also borders Okla. Used to shop in Tulsa as well as Springfield Mo. It's a burb of Bentonville, Ark...home of Sam Walton and WalMart corporation. Tons of millionaires in Bentonville. :0) I still have friends there. Forgot to mention, there's a good climate as well.

[ETERNAL WARMING]

Prices were around $100,000 and up a few years ago. Plenty of rentals if you wish to give it a try first. There are a few condos, I'm not sure what they go for. Low taxes. Decent living at a reasonable price. Renters can't belong to any of the facilities tho..you have to pay to use the pools, be invited to attend functions, etc.

[DeepDish]

Rent till you settle in

Sprigfield has excellent hospitals

About the driving. I moved here from Illinois which has colder winters but not like Minnesota. We get some snows which can turn the roads into icy snot. It takes a different style of driving than what you are used to. This happens because the pavement in the winter stays warm until it snows. As a snow storm begins the first half inch or so melts and the follow on snow takes the pavement temp down to freezing. This explanation is not the best, but trust me,
there some snows you don't want to drive in unless you have to.

We also get more freezing rain than you are used to and what that does to pavement is obvious.

[PreviouslyA-Lurker]

"Tornadoes, however, are truly exciting and as much fun as a horror show at the drive-in."

We had tornadoes in K.C., MO, in May 2003. Tornadoes may be fun if you don't lose your home, your job, your livelihood, or your loved ones.

[BallandPowder]

Powder..Patch..Ball FIRE!

Lebanon is within an hour of Springfield, Lots of recreational opportunities what with Bennet Springs (trout fishing), river floating, Lake of the Ozarks etc...
I think that Fort Leanord Wood has a px as well as med facilities for retired military.

Welcome to Missouri!

[Just another Joe]

Where would YOU live if could in southwest MO?

*We would love a rural SMALL town to live. We live in rural MN.
*Reasonable housing prices.
*Friendly.
*Good school district (have a 13 year old with 4.00).
*Job is really not a must. Minimum wage is fine for something to do during retirement.

We don't want to make a mistake in choosing our FINAL move. Your replies are APPRECIATED.

If I was going to live in Southwest Missouri, I have family in that region, I would live about 45 minutes to an hour either east or west of Springfield. If schools are important Springfield has a fairly good school district but so do most of the rural districts around Springfield.
About 30 to 45 minutes East of Springfield are several small rural towns (2K to 5K).
The housing prices are extremely reasonable, my mom is a real estate dealer/retired school teacher, practically the entire are is friendly.
Jobs aren't exactly hanging off the trees anywhere nowadays but there are some around that area, especially if you don't mind doing the drive to Springfield.

If I could only move one time and have to live the rest of my life in that area I would move somewhere in the Ozarks. Rolling hills, meadows, small towns, semi-large city, good people (as a rule), reasonable living costs, tourist attractions, good hunting and fishing close (but not as good as it used to be), what more could you want?

If you do decide to go east of Springfield let me know and I'll give you my mom's name and the address of her real estate office. She'll treat you right.

[Just Lori]

Missouri winters can be pretty knarly too. Ice storms, bone chilling cold..... then there are the summers...... intolerable! 95degrees with 95% humidity... I don't miss it at all. Good luck.