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| Climate - 4/27/2013
Winter lasts about 4 months and is fairly cold. Mostly cloudy and dreary with very little if any snow. Spring lasts about 6 weeks and has plenty of rain. Summer lasts about 5 months and is hot! There is however not much humidity. [read more...]
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| To those insisting Joplin's a great family place.. - 1/31/2012
Really? With one sex offender for every 300 residents?[read more...]
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| growing up in joplin and seeing it all - 8/1/2011
i have grown up in joplin my entire life. i have been reading some of the previous comments on here about joplin and i am highly amazed over how many people actually have something nasty to say. when i was young i lived out in the country. i never really grew up around problems of any sort. yea, sure in school there might have been drugs around but that didnt mean everyone did them. but i still to this day have never been around meth. there have been meth labs around our area but it does not come out of joplin. it comes out of the baxter springs, galena, and riverton area. and all the remarks i see about crime and theft, since when is there a city were there isnt theft? yeah maybe cars get "broke into" if you leave them unlocked, or something may get stolen off your lawn thats up by the road, but seriously why would you put something out by the road like that or leave your car unlocked. i have never known anyone whos house has been broken into. and out version of fun is not going to casinos. and as far as smoking, there are designated smoking areas and places. you can only smoke in some restaraunts and they have smoking sections. there bars you can smoke at and the bowling alley and thats it. there is one club, where you can smoke after a certain time. and not everybody smokes. this really is a great town to live in. we do have a strong bond to each other even though we dont know each other. how i know this is from the EF-5 tornado. ive seen it all. cost of living is very reasonable to.finding a job, very simple to do. if you have the education to be somebody you can. going to college here is very great. its is a fantastic school (missouri southern state university). i hope you guys really take this into consideration. i have lived here my whole life so i see what new comers see and what people see who have lived here their whole life. when you move here, you cant have the idea of hillbilly town. or else you will look for problems[read more...]
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| A realistic portray of Joplin/Webb City, MO - 8/18/2010
Pros: Low cost of living. You can find a very nice house for far below the national average. If you happen to land one of the few worthwhile jobs (see below) in the area, then you will live very comfortably. If you want to live in a heavily Republican area, then you will be at home here politically. There are a decent number of good restaurants in the area, including great Thai and sushi, which one would not expect in a smaller Midwest town. Shopping is adequate for most people. There are several school districts that receive high marks, and the private schools are top notch. Just do your research before buying a home. The area seems to be growing, unfortunately it is only in retail and restaurants for the most part.
Cons: If you are a college-educated individual, you will have a very hard time finding suitable employment here. You will compete with many other individuals for the same low-paying job. Actually, you won't really compete, as the majority of the employers here seem to have a bias against college grads and place no value on education. This is truly a town where you have to know someone to land a job. If you have a degree, look at nearby Northwest Arkansas before Joplin.
The crime here is rising. We have experiences a number of property thefts and we live in a nice, newer neighborhood where everyone leaves their patio and garage lights on. The criminals are getting bolder, most likely due to their need to purchase more meth. Yes, the meth problems here are real. Recently, more and more residents have become aware that there truly is gang activity in the area as well. We have had to install greater security measures on our home, where we felt quite safe just 5 years ago.
Southwest Missouri is also home to high rates of child abuse and a disproportionate number of sex offenders. Presumably because the employers prefer to hire them over college graduates and they can afford housing here. Make sure and check the sex offender registries online before buying a house as you are sure to find one nearby no matter where in the area you go.
Which leads me to another point. In other places I have lived in the country, good neighborhoods and bad neighborhoods tend to be separated geographically. The proximity of the bad elements to where you buy your home is always pretty close. You can't escape the redneck trash.
Conclusion: You have to take the bad with the good. Ultimately, I suggest looking at other nearby locales that offer similar housing prices and cost of living but have more job opportunity and lower crime. Do your homework before you fall for the "cheap" nature of the area. You get what you pay for. Don't save a few bucks only to find yourself spending extra cash buying security measures for your home and worrying about the safety of your kids when you find out a sex offender just moved in next door.[read more...]
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| employment opportunities - 9/25/2009
I am getting out of the Army soon and am wondering what the job opportunities are like in the Joplin, Missouri area. I also have four children ranging from age 5 years old to 1 year old who will be attending school soon. Is there any way that I could get information on what the school systems are like. Frindley enviroment for children. What the crime rates are like. Just a good, clean, and quuiet place to live.[read more...]
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| Joplin, MO is my CHOICE! - 6/18/2009
I've lived all over the country on both coasts as well in the Northern Mid-West. I've also lived in huge metropolitan areas as well as small towns of less than 20,000. I've finally come to roost in Joplin and find it to be the perfect place to live. The town's size is perfect - not too much traffic, violence, crime, good public schools and higher education choices, cultural events, and recreational choices. The cost of living here is very reasonalbe. Added to all of that is our great climate - we actually get four fairly EQUAL amounts of all four seasons and the beautiful Ozarks region - what's not to like? I've made my choice as I face retirement and it's to stay right here in Joplin![read more...]
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| We love Joplin !!! - 6/2/2009
Joplin has been our home for the past 20 years. We raised our 3 children here and plan to stay .
Joplin is a nice , friendly, safe town , with good schools , medical care , shopping, and beautiful four seasons . We found a church, doctors, friends and independent auto repair (on 15th street ) we love - what more could you ask for...? .. ;))
If you want "big city" for a day or weekend , you can drive to Tulsa, KC or Springfield.
We never run out of things to do right here in the Joplin area.
Did I say it is a beautiful area too ? It is ...with a lot of history too !
We love to travel - but home is best ![read more...]
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| I use to live in Joplin - 3/24/2009
The schools I went to were filled with drugs, fights, rapes, and recently I've heard on the news a school shooting. The people in Joplin are inbred. There is a good ol boy network for sure. Jobs? YOu get to choose between factories, resturants and if you're REALLY lucky, you can be a bank teller.
Everyone has a gun and they shoot at things like power line insulators, houses, buildings, street signs, etc. Joplin has an EXTREMELY HIGH NUMBER OF METH ADDICTS!
One night, I was woke up by gunshots. I look out the window and the guy across the street from me was drunk, shooting his .357 magnum down the street and yelling. You see, about half the crime here goes unreported. Most of the time, no one calls the cops. Joplin is the place I take white racist snobs to prove that white folks have ghettos too.
Seriously, the schools are horrible. After I dropped out, I got my GED, went to college and became an engineering technician. The closest Engineering school is in Fayettville. I had to get out of the school system in order to succeed.
Housing? You like 200 year old add on shacks with funky floorplans, like 5 foot wide kitchens and the only bathroom is inside a bedroom with a sinkhole in the back yard? You like having wife beating, redneck creep, child molesting neighbors with dirty, Wal-Mart clothes wearing, cigarrette smoking adolescent children? You like being woke up in the middle of the night by glasspacks?
Joplin is a "King of the Hill" cartoon kind of place. They're idea of culture is going to Indian Casino to gamble. Let's not forget the 70's themed tapistries they sell at the flea market. And somebody PLEASE tell these people that mullets and big hair are longer in style! The women have their hair parted on the sides, with a great big, 2 foot tall, curly fluff above their foreheads. I don't know what to think about that. Wow. They look like poodles.
People here look about 15 years older than they are and EVERYBODY SMOKES! You cannot get away from it. Everywhere you go people are smoking! They blow it in your face and think they have the right to fill your air with cancer causing poison! They're even still allowed to smoke inside resturants and bars and pretty much any public building.
I live in Southern California now. It costs 5 times as much to live here. I'm not fond of the town I live in now. But I will never go back to Joplin.[read more...]
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| great place to live - 10/18/2008
Joplin is a bible belt town.. if you are religous then you would be a pefect addition to Joplin. The cost of living is cheap to. It is growing really fast but still there is really nothing to do for teenagers. There is alot to do for little kids and adults though.[read more...]
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| Good Life - 8/13/2008
I moved to Joplin for a job 4 years ago. I have not been dissappointed. It is not a glitzy nightlife town, which I consider to be a plus. I see a lot of comments in here about the high crime rate, yet, I never feel unsafe and when I compare the numbers with other cities that people say are better the crime numbers for them are as high or higher. It seems to be more perception than reality. Traffic is reasonable, we have two good hospitals and most of the services that a person could need. It is a short distance to Tulsa, Springfield and KC, where you can go to zoos, museums, etc.[read more...]
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| I hate Joplin - 4/22/2008
I've lived in Joplin for almost eleven years now. Perhaps it's because I don't enjoy bizarre, unpredictable weather, methheads on every street corner, and religious hypocrites (this is the bible belt after all), but I despise this town with a passion so strong I cannot really describe it in words effectively. Every day I wake up and pray I'll be living somewhere else, where the humidity is below 99%, somewhere I can get a job and make a living doing something that challenges me artistically and creatively, somewhere there's not a church on every street corner, all preaching the same fundamentalist dogma while hating each other for being different denominations. I'm going to leave Joplin as soon as I possibly can. The only reason to live here is if you are poor and want to be even poorer since jobs are very hard to find here. I'm sick of everyone saying it's such a great place to live because it's "cheap". Sure, it's cheaper than most cities in the US, but that doesn't excuse the fact that this town has absolutely nothing to offer to someone who wants to do anything with their life other than work in factories, restaurants, banks, retail stores, etc. The only thing I can think of that I like about Joplin is the University. In conclusion, if you like the midwest and small cities that close up at about 10:00 every night, Joplin may be great for you, however, I'd suggest if you're going to move to this area, move to Springfield instead. It's about twice as big and is a very cool town with several universities.[read more...]
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| Joplin - Pros/Cons - 3/28/2008
Pros:
1. Good school system
2. Low cost of living and housing
3. Affordable place to live
Cons:
1. High crime rate
2. Very hard to find a job
3. Not much to do
4. It was a good place to live, but that attracted people from all around the country that screwed it up[read more...]
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| It used to be a good place to live... - 3/28/2008
10 years ago, Joplin was a model for how a Midwestern city should be. It had very low crime, the lowest living and housing costs in the country, and good schools. It was a peaceful, quiet community where people could walk the streets without the fear of being shot, stabbed, beaten, raped, or mugged.
10 years later, Joplin is a complete mess, with more than triple the crime it used to have. Don't believe me? In 1999, Joplin had 275 violent crimes per 100,000 residents (where 450 is the national average); today, it has 875 (where 700 is considered high). The reasons are unknown, but looking at the population statistics, I would have to say that population growth is to blame. Joplin is by no means a boomtown, but no doubt about it, it has attracted people from other parts of the country seeking extremely low living costs and a slow-paced, small-town lifestyle. This obviously attracts economically disadvantaged individuals and even gangs from L.A. (OK, I don't know if there are really any gangs in Joplin, but I wouldn't be surprised if there was...) One of my friends even survived a SCHOOL SHOOTING at one of the middle schools in Joplin (has anyone ever heard about that in the news?). Still, the schools retain their high quality of education, and cost of living is still low, despite a rise in home prices over the past 10 years.
Overall, I would not recommend Joplin as a place to live or raise a family. The crime rate is high and bound to get even worse over the next 10 years, and the poor job market does nothing to help. And if you want quality schools, Springfield (which is about 100 miles northeast) is a better option. The living costs are a little higher there, but at least it has low crime and a better job market.[read more...]
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| Joplin is a wonderful place for family living - 12/23/2007
Joplin is great. We moved here 2 years ago and found it to be affordable with above average housing, low rate of crime and lots of really nice people. We have found them to be friendly and non aggressive. You can have your privacy yet meet outgoing christians here. We wouldn't have been any better off anywhere else. The ozarks here are beautiful.[read more...]
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| joplin is ok. but check out bentonville-fayettevil - 2/25/2007
check out northwest arkansas area first. bentonville, rogers, springdale, fayetteville area is 110% better.90 miles south of joplin[read more...]
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| Information please. - 2/21/2007
My family and I are considering a move to Joplin, and we currently live in the Chattanooga, Tn. area. We like the climate here and the mountainous terrain, but not the high price in real estate. We had initially been looking at the Springfield area (because of it's proximity to the lakes and it's hilly terrain) but have scince changed our mind do to the many negative comments on the city. Anyway, can anyone who has lived in this area of Tn. tell me a little about there views on Joplin? Also, is it hilly like the Sprinfield area?[read more...]
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| Thinking of moving to Joplin - 10/20/2006
Can somebody answer some questions for me? How's the job market in Joplin? Are home prices cheap?[read more...]
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| great place to live - 8/25/2006
Housing is cheap and so is th COL. They are renocating downtown, so better get here fast![read more...]
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| Diamond in the Ruff-64804 - 5/31/2006
While traveling my car broke down in Joplin. I was forced to stay for a while and turns out I never left. There are four beautiful seasons here, and I find the winters mild. The air is clean, the people are great and the prices are very reasonable. I purchased a nice 3 bdrm/2bath home on an acre(deck, fireplace) for $129. Gasoline here is $2.49/gal. It is known as the 4 states area (bordering OK.,AK., & KS.) smack dab in the middle of the US. Ive lived here 6 mos. and have met many people like me, who stopped for a visit & just never left. It is growing rapidly and there are folks here from all over the country. 2 great hospitals and Southern Missouri University. Unemployment is 4.1%.[read more...]
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| About Joplin Mo - 1/9/2006
Joplin is a growing city the Northpark Mall is getting ready for a $11M renovation,
many resturtants, hotels but not a lot of entertainment they are talking about building a facility for a hockey team, time will tell on that one. Several good Hospitals in the area with some homes in the area are out of this world is size 22,000 square feet is the highest so far with 20,000sq ft next in line. Job market is OK but pay could be better. Overall a good place to live and can travel to several lareger cities in an 1 hour or so the same with going to other states.[read more...]
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