Calling all missouri people
 

Hello..My husband and I have been talking about moving to missouri. My mom was born there as well as her granparents ect. We were looking around the ozark area. Can anyone recommend what they would think would be a good town or area around that. We are big on beautiful scenery ect. We want to be outside of a small town in the country. We have been looking at property and the job industry and have emailed realtors but would like to talk to someone that lives there so maybe they could tell us more about it.

Any input at all would be helpful..thanks

I live in MO in the SW corner of it down by arkansas and oklahoma. I hate it hear bc thats all it is a country kind of place, but if thats what you are looking for then you will love it! Everyone is very friendly here and I am sure that you would make lots of friends in no time!

I am so happy to hear that. It sounds perfect for me. Now on the kid scale. What do you think of the schools? Are there things for teens to do to keep them off the streets and out of trouble? What town would you recommend for that area as being a good place for a family?

The schools as far as the teachers and staff are fine, the kids are really snotty though! What area are you kind of looking at and I can give you some ideas of towns! Around here where I am at there is absolutely nothing to do for the teens but in like Branson there are tons and tons of things to do but its a big city!

right around ozark. I don't want to live in a big city. I want to be around an hours drive from one though. That way if we do want to go it's not too far away to drive. We are looking at property at this point.
The problem I have here is i'm afraid to let my girls go to anyones house because so many kids in this area drink do drugs and are sexually active (not all but alot are) I"m very strict. I want to be someplace where my girls can have some good wholesome fun. I don't want to be in a place where everyone is fast if you know what I mean. I grew up in a small town in northern indiana and i want my kids to do the same. We lived in a small town before we moved here but we moved here so the kids could be closer to their grandparents. I hate to say it but the grandparents have no time for them and this is the worse place i've ever lived. I've wanted to move to missouri for a really long time. I just want to make sure I move to a good area. I could ask my mom but she was 7 when she left lol not much help there. I would like to be some place where there are kids that still act like kids. As well as adults that are friendly and old fashion would be nice cause my husband and I are a little on the old fashion side lol..

Hi!
I live in NW Missouri so I can't help you with anything around the Ozarks, but I am glad you are moving here. I love the part of the country where I live but then beauty is in the eyes of the beholder. Each season has its advantages and disadvantages.

I am not familar with towns around ozark. But I think that Missouri is a place that you would want to raise your family in. Everyone is very friendly and old fashioned as you say. There are going to be drugs and alcohol no matter where you live its up to the parents to keep their kids out of it. Its not as bad as what the big cities are but there is the occasional party, believe me I went to a few as a teen! I think that you would really like MO!

I agree with you. I would just like to be in a place where it isn't overcome with a drug problem. Where I live we are in the country..the district we are in is a small town and the people here are good..BUT are county as a whole is horrible. The drug problem in our surrounding counties are awful as well as the school. The town we came from there were teens that partied but it wasn't the majority like it is here.
It's an awful place for a family to live. We came from a good wholesome town and I'd like to find a place like that.
Your probably asking why don't we go back there. If we are going to move again I'd like it be someplace I've always wanted to live which is missouri. I hope i'm making sense here lol..
From what you all have told me. I think i'd LOVE it there. It sounds like my kind of place.
Just to give you an idea about this school..they have a suicide rate higher than i've ever seen at a school. I pulled my oldest (he was in high school) and home school him. The middle school isn't bad but my girls start high school next year and I refuse to send them there. My brother's half sister committed suicide last month. She left a note saying she was tired of hurting all of the time. The kids there are the worst i've ever seen.

Alot of my family lives in the Joplin /web city area and they love it. Its either part of the Ozarks, or not very far from it and the Ozarks are beautiful.

We live in the Neosho area. Ozark and Nixa are on the southern edge of Springfield, about an hour away from Branson. I dont know about the schools there, we are 2 hours from there ourselves, but we moved here from Dallas Texas 8 years ago and LOVE it!!!! You can canoe, camp, fish, hike and do many other things with your family.Branson has wet n wild, and 2 theme parks. Hope you make it here. Michele G.

YOu might be close to me. I live in Pittsburg, ks about 30 minutes from Joplin.

Yes pittsburg is only like 45 minutes from me, im 15 minutes from joplin.

We are contemplating a move to Springfield. Do you have any other thoughts about it? Schools, job market?

I have been sufing the web. I did a search 0n Missouri newspapers. You might want to do that. It might give you a little idea about the jobs.
I'm wanting to move to ozark. I figure it isn't too from springfield or branson. But it's not a definite. My husband wants to go around poplar bluff. Either way we want be in the middle of nowhere surrounded by trees and hills.
You girls have me wanting to be there today. It sounds like it has everything I want and more. We are hoping to go there sometime around april and check it out. I'd like to be there as soon as school lets out that way it'd give the kids time to adjust before they started school and give us all time to get a little comfortable. We'll see though. We have to put everything up for sale. There is plenty to do to prepare. I"m ready to go the kids are ready to go..my husband he doesn't like change..he's ready but nervous..

That is cool. We need to have a meet up. We had one in October in Fredonia. But I moved and have a bigger house with a fenced in back yard, I would volunteer it to be here. :p

We live 15 minutes from Ozark. I think that you would LOVE it here. I have lived in this area all of my life, except when I got married. I had to live in K.C. for 2 years & absolutely HATED it ! ! ! We moved back & will never leave again : )
If I had to choose a town around close to Ozark, my first choice would be Republic (15-20 minutes from Ozark) They have a pretty decent school system (compared to others) a lot of the teachers, principals, etc. are christians (if that matters to you) We homeschool so that is not one of our priorities for a town. Republic is still small town U.S.A. It is a very friendly little town. I grew up there so I am kinda partial but there are alot of other people here who feel the same way.

My second (& third) choice would probably be Billings (where I live) or Nixa (5 minutes from Ozark). If you are wanting to stay small town Nixa may not be what you are looking for, or Ozark for that matter. They are both growing super fast. Billings is definitely a small town. We have a Casey's, 2 gas stations & a Dairy Queen. Woo Hoo ! ! Oh & a post office & 1 bank too, sorry, forgot about those. We live in the country on 3 acres 1/8 of a mile from Republic School district, but like I said that didn't affect where we moved. If my kids were in public school I would want them in Republic school district.

As for things for kids to do, my kids are never bored. Republic just put in a new water park last year. It has a wave pool that is 1 of 3 in the nation. We received quite a bit of publicity over that, you may have heard about it. There are lots of things to do in Springfield, its about 15-20 minutes away. That is where most of the jobs are. Lots of jobs in the medical field, construction, insurance etc.
Then we have Branson which is exactly 1 hour from our house, it's about 40 minutes from Ozark, maybe a little less. You could never runout of things to do there.
If you have any other questions feel free to ask, I would be more that willing to help you out. If you want me to send you the Sunday classifieds for houses (or jobs) I could do that also. I really think you would love it here, in fact I would guarantee it :)

Good luck with your decision,
Melissia