Hopefully I'll get a few responses, I know I've seen more than one or two mustachians from Missouri.
I've mentioned this before in other threads, but my fiance and I are looking to move south where it's warmer. We've investigated everywhere from Durham NC where one of my best friends lives, to Nashville TN, to Austin TX, and different parts of Missouri. Originally she was looking at St. Louis, but now we've started looking at southwest Missouri. My fiance is originally from Missouri, and lived in Springfield (and around that area) until she was a young adult and moved up here to Minnesota. Obviously she knows a lot about the area, but I kind of want some different perspectives. What does the average mustachian think? I've fallen in love with the low COL (even lower than where I live, and it's cheap here!) and the idea of a mild winter. It's snowed about 6 inches so far between last night and this morning, and we'd like to move far enough south to avoid that.
Not overly concerned about work/job prospects, as if we move there I would actually be either transferring and maintaining my current pay or I would be getting a promotion. And my fiance has kept up her license in the state of Missouri for what she used to do. I'm looking more at overall COL (can we REALLY buy a new and gorgeous house for as cheap as they appear on Zillow?), fun/frugal things to do, socializing with honest people, taxes, what weather is like year round, etc. A snapshot of life down there.
Want/Don't Want: I'm looking for a good place to start/raise a family. Good schools. Some outdoorsy type things to do. Nice local parks, semi-local state parks. Nice local restaurants and shops. Things that a young family would enjoy/need. And I don't mind a short commute (<20 mins) to have a gorgeous house and a nice place for the future wife and kids. Things I'm not a fan of are heavy urban areas (concrete jungle style), rush hour stop and go traffic, and trashy/high crime areas.
Any responses are appreciated!
Edited to add some of the things I'm looking for/looking to avoid.