What about Missouri

[molly]

Currently I live in Slidell, LA and have been a reader of this forum for quite awhile. I have been following Unclemick, who gratis of KATRINA, relocated to Missouri. Since Missouri (Columbia area specifically) is on my retirement radar, I am most curious about the cost of living. From Unclemick's posts, can I conclude that Missouri is a far more expensive place to live as a retiree than was LA...or are the increased costs primarily due to continuing relocation expenses?

 

[Rich_by_the_Bay]

My kids and a couple of grandkids live in Columbia. It seems quite nice if you like small towns. The U. of Mo. adds alot. Some traffic concerns amongst the locals. My kids like it. They wish it were closer to St. Louis, and don't like 2 hour drive to a major airport. Summers are brutal - worse heat than Fla, lots of bugs, the occasional tornado scare.

The do like the mild winters, safe streets, proximity to country settings. There are lakes nearby. Housing is average in price and rising.

Funny thing - more and more small towns are getting overrun with franchises. Go there (among many places) and all you see are Applebys, Panera Bread, Starbucks, Olive garden, etc. etc. with the usual department store-based malls.

 

[Martha]

I think UncleMick is having a midlife crisis. Redoing his floors and talking about spec homes. But I think he spent about $85,000 for his house. Can't get anything for that price where I am.

I know JPatrick has been looking at Missouri and his posts indicate to me that it is fairly inexpensive. And you can get some mighty fine houses for not a lot of money.

 

[wildcat]

Molly -

I guess I will come out of the closet - no longer anonymous - and tell you that is where I received my MBA degree last year (http://early-retirement.org/forums/index.php?topic=7113.0 includes a little info about it). What kinds of questions would you like me to answer?

 

[JPatrick]

I know JPatrick has been looking at Missouri and his posts indicate to me that it is fairly inexpensive.  And you can get some mighty fine houses for not a lot of money.

I am zeroing in on the Ozarks area Near Branson, not to far from Springfield.  This area is right near the border of AR.  I looked at both states and found the overall cost of living to be a bit higher in AK.  If you are interested in that area of MO, , I can give you many websites and leads. 

 

[molly]

Well one of the main attractions to Columbia would be..........two daughters, two sons-in-law and a grandchild.

Our kids love the area and we have visisted many times over the past ten years.  We especially enjoy the area around Branson...not because of the entertainment but rather the topography, rivers (trout fishing), etc.  However, that would be a bit too far away from the kids were we to decide on MO.   We would likely opt for something outside of town but knowing that the University "extras" (plays, entertainment, sporting events, etc.) were near at hand would be a big bonus in the wintertime. 

Yes.........the summers are indeed hotter than Louisiana... BUT.......minus the hurricanes.  However, I was there just in time a few weeks ago to be pelted by two hail storms.  There is no one PERFECT location.  However, cost of living is always a consideration and I was getting the idea from some previous posts that costs were expensive compared to LA.  However, if these mentioned costs are covering "home improvement" ..... well...........let me tell you about KATRINA costs!

 

[wildcat]

Well, I guess your question is the cost of living. Overall, it is very very reasonable for what you get in my opinion. I can't imagine LA is more expensive than CoMo. Housing is inexpensive and you really have 2 options - live in an older home near the university (Columbia has 2 small, private colleges and the flagship U of Mizzou) or you can buy on of the newly developed areas further from the university. The older homes are very nice and again most of them are unique rather than some mass produced model. I recommend staying somewhat close to campus b/c you will have easy access (walking/biking) to the u, the public library (really nice one) med facilities, downtown, the sports arenas, etc. The campus is really beautiful and was by far better than my undergrad alma mater. You will have access to the "trail" that hooks up with the MKT trail which is an old railroad turned into an off road biking/running trail. It spands through nothing but forest, bridges, streams and covers the entire state from east to west with Columbia being the central point. Crime is low and the public schools seemed to be pretty solid.

 

[youbet]

Summers are brutal - worse heat than Fla,

Naw......not even close.

 

[unclemick]

Hey

The locals tell me winters have been warm lately. Having not been here a year yet - I have not formed an opinion as to cost of living/climate /lifestyle/etc - still cruising down the learning curve in MO.

So far not bad.

heh heh heh heh

 

[youbet]

I looked at both states and found the overall cost of living to be a bit higher in AK. 

Any specifics on the cost of living differences between the two states you could point out?

 

[JPatrick]

Any specifics on the cost of living differences between the two states you could point out?

This site is helpful.
http://www.retirementliving.com
Take a look at taxes by state.
In my case, I looked at the Mountain Home area in AR compared with the general Branson area in MO.
Using a 250K house and figuring income tax, MO was cheaper.  Regarding income tax,  it will vary depending on your income source and amount, but that's how it went for me.
That said, neither of these places are real bargains IMO, especially when compared with places like TN and AL which I also looked at.

 

[youbet]

Thanks. Very useful site!

I used to live in middle Tennessee. Have friends in eastern Tennessee. Know nothing about western Tennessee. Where did you look?

 

[JPatrick]

Thanks.  Very useful site!

I used to live in middle Tennessee.  Have friends in eastern Tennessee.  Know nothing about western Tennessee.  Where did you look?

Paris and Maryville.
Sometime ago looked at Knoxville, but like so many cities- - ain't what it used to be.
In Alabama we looked and almost landed in Fairhope.  Still a great place, but those hurricanes really suck, plus it is an area that has seem a huge runup in prices over the last couple of years.  Not good if you are the buyer. 
This site is also helpful
http://www.city-data.com/

 

[setab]

About the heat...to badly paraphrase Mark Twain, the hottest summer I ever spent was a weekend in St. Louis.  There is no beach there and no winds off the ocean, gulf, whatever,  Been to florida in the summer many times;  MO is hotter!

setab

 

[unclemick]

Hottest in my memory - 74,75 in Huntsville AL - running a lot of tests in the VAB(vertical assembly bldg) - no A/C.

heh heh heh - I actually got used to LA heat/humidity - usually had at least a little breeze off Lake Ponchartrain.

 

[Ed_The_Gypsy]

What about Missouri? I dunno. Ya gatta show me.

Why would I stay in a hot place with no beach? And no wahinis?

 

[Orchidflower]

This is a beautiful area of the country, but JPatrick is right on about taxes not being so low in Arkansas and you can get a better deal than Missouri taxwise; however, if that is not a concern of yours--again, check with retirementliving.com which will give you tax info by State--then you might love the downhome living style they have there.

 

[unclemick]

Currently I live in Slidell, LA and have been a reader of this forum for quite awhile. I have been following Unclemick, who gratis of KATRINA, relocated to Missouri. Since Missouri (Columbia area specifically) is on my retirement radar, I am most curious about the cost of living. From Unclemick's posts, can I conclude that Missouri is a far more expensive place to live as a retiree than was LA...or are the increased costs primarily due to continuing relocation expenses?

New SUV(2006 with payments), new house with 30 yr mortgage/ a bit higher utilities, and now health insurance - vs fish camp in Lake Catherine, paid off pickup trucks, and no health insurance.

Also the dang things like FireCalc imply I should spend more cause I'm not getting any younger.

heh heh heh - I recently paid off the vehicle but may keep the 5.75% mortgage and got (age 63/almost 64) at 10k vs 5k deductible insurance(BC/BS of Kansas City down to about 138/mo - try that in LA.

Dunno what I could do if I put my El Cheapo hat on and really tryed.

heh heh heh - I have yet to get off my butt and check out the Missouri Ozarks - the locals say that's where a retiree should start looking - lot of territory to look over. Nice cool 92 today.

 

[Dawg52]

Funny thing - more and more small towns are getting overrun with franchises. Go there (among many places) and all you see are Applebys, Panera Bread, Starbucks, Olive garden, etc. etc. with the usual department store-based malls.

How true. 15 years ago the only franchise restaurants we had were places like McDonalds. Now we have them all as mentioned above. Not complaining though, at least we have a little more variety.

 

[heyyou]

In northern Arkansas, east of Bentonville and Fayetteville, land is cheap. Work your way through the Real Estate listings at the Newton County Chamber of Commerce. The county seat, Jasper, has a few hundred people living there. There is a bug season.